Result description
Energy efficient refurbishment upgrades existing properties in order to ensure a better quality of life for the residents, lower the environmental impact of the property and ensure a better safekeeping of the architectural heritage. This provides increased comfort and generates monetary savings for residents living in a social housing complex.
In Barcelona, different types of insulation were employed in the energy efficient refurbishment. Wool was used on ventilated facades while polystyrene was used on unventilated facades. This solution is designed to protect indoor spaces from outdoor weather conditions in hot and cold climates and help decrease energy leaks in buildings.
Barcelona’s Municipal Housing and Renovation Institute completed a passive energy refurbishment of a building with a total of 207 dwellings and over 14,000 m2. External thermal insulation was added to the retrofitting of the existing facade, and all blinds were replaced by more insulating blinds.
The resulting impact is a proven increase of the indoor comfort of the tenants documented by survey campaigns before and after the intervention. All baseline survey results were improved with fewer tenants being dissatisfied with indoor temperature during both hot and cold weather. Gas energy consumption for space heating was also reduced by 30%.
Lessons learnt
The Municipality gained new insights into user interaction aspects, such as the need for an early integration of neighbour-representatives into the project board in order to minimize social barriers and guarantee a majority’s acceptance of the retrofitting action. Involvement of tenants also increased energy efficiency awareness among the users of the energy-retrofitted building.
Price-dumping in public tenders is a significant risk for this type of contracts. Guarantees and non-dumping strategies are recommended.
Upscaling & replication potential
It is recommended that relevant policies are adapted in advance to take advantage of the need for building structural refurbishment in the social housing sector and include energy efficiency criteria. This lowers the investment costs and fosters project replicability.
Addressing target audiences and expressing needs
- We are sharing our knowledge
- Others/ No specific audience
- Other Actors who can help us fulfil our market potential
- Research and Technology Organisations
- Academia/ Universities
Result submitted to Horizon Results Platform by FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA DE L’ENERGIA DE CATALUNYA
