On the energy performance of the Mediterranean school building stock: the case of the Apulia Region

The refurbishment opportunities provided by climate policies require an adequate knowledge of the school building stock, characterised by an urgent need of maintenance. Nevertheless, empirical evidence on energy performance of school samples appears limited due to the difficulty in retrieving data, although field data analysis is crucial in the built environment management. This study aims to explore existing energy conditions of an educational building sample hosting pre-schools, primary and lower secondary schools, located in southern Italy (Apulia Region). Firstly, an overview of the schools based on data retrieved from the regional dataset was performed. Then, more than 1000 buildings were clustered based on two predictors (construction year and surface-to-volume ratio), identifying five clusters representing the majority Apulian schools. In addition, billed gas and electricity data collected for 47 schools over a five-year period (2017-2021) were analysed, identifying annual and monthly trends, benchmarks, and mean values, which account for 46.5 (gas consumption), 15.59 kWh/m2 (electricity consumption). On average, source total consumption in 2020 experienced a reduction of 20%, partly due to Covid-19 restrictive measures. Finally, factors affecting heating consumptions were explored, and a regression analysis was performed, identifying heating degree days, construction year and boiler power to be the most significant.

Novel Technologies to Enhance Energy Performance and Indoor Environmental Quality of Buildings

Furthermore, numerical simulations were carried out to assess energy savings for heating and cooling, for several international locations, confirming the potential of this novel building component, embodying super-insulating materials, which revealed its suitability for extremely rigid climates. The authors investigated the main issues about building integration of perovskite-based solar cells, showing their main features, opportunities but also critical issues and current limits, which perhaps will soon be overcome, thanks to future scientific efforts. [16] investigated the relevant role of ventilation rate, to achieve air quality in public buildings, with special attention to the required compromise between indoor air quality and the control of energy consumption.