Methodology for Quantifying the Energy Saving Potentials Combining Building Retrofitting, Solar Thermal Energy and Geothermal Resources

Silvia Soutullo, Emanuela Giancola, María Nuria Sánchez, José Antonio Ferrer, David García, María José Súarez, Jesús Ignacio Prieto, Elena Antuña-Yudego, Juan Luís Carús, Miguel Ángel Fernández and María Romero
Additional contact information
Silvia Soutullo: Department of Energy, CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Emanuela Giancola: Department of Energy, CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid, Spain
María Nuria Sánchez: Department of Energy, CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid, Spain
José Antonio Ferrer: Department of Energy, CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid, Spain
David García: Department of Energy, University of Oviedo, 33203 Gijón, Spain
María José Súarez: Department of Energy, University of Oviedo, 33203 Gijón, Spain
Jesús Ignacio Prieto: Department of Physics, University of Oviedo, 33203 Gijón, Spain
Elena Antuña-Yudego: Division of Information and Technology, TSK, 33203 Gijón, Spain
Juan Luís Carús: Division of Information and Technology, TSK, 33203 Gijón, Spain
Miguel Ángel Fernández: Division of Information and Technology, TSK, 33203 Gijón, Spain
María Romero: Department of Projects and R&D, GEOTER, 28703 San Sebastian de los Reyes, Spain

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-25

Abstract: New technological, societal and legislative developments are necessary to support transitions to low-carbon energy systems. The building sector is responsible for almost 36% of the global final energy and 40% of CO 2 emissions, so this sector has high potential to contribute to the expansion of positive energy districts. With this aim, a new digital Geographic Information System (GIS) platform has been developed to quantify the energy savings obtained through the implementation of refurbishment measures in residential buildings, including solar thermal collectors and geothermal technologies and assuming the postal district as the representative unit for the territory. Solar resources have been estimated from recently updated solar irradiation maps, whereas geothermal resources have been estimated from geological maps. Urbanistic data have been estimated from official cadastre databases. For representative buildings, the annual energy demand and savings are obtained and compared with reference buildings, both for heating and cooling. The GIS platform provides information on average results for each postal district, as well as estimates for buildings with particular parameters. The methodology has been applied to the Asturian region, an area of about 10,600 km 2 on the Cantabrian coast of Spain, with complex orography and scattered population, qualified as a region in energy transition. High rehabilitation potentials have been achieved for buildings constructed before the implementation of the Spanish Technical Building Code of 2006, being higher for isolated houses than for collective buildings. Some examples of results are introduced in specific localities of different climatic zones.

Keywords: energy modelling; building thermal performance; refurbishment potential; multivariable evaluation; GIS; TRNSYS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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