Assessment of the Retrofit Strategies on Thermal Insulation Applied in Buildings Located on the Southern Border of the EU: The Case of the Canary Islands

  1. González-Díaz, Eduardo 1
  2. Márquez-Martinón, José Miguel 1
  3. Pérez-García, Ana 1
  4. Martín-Dorta, Norena 1
  5. González-Díaz, Benjamín 1
  1. 1 Universidad de La Laguna
    info

    Universidad de La Laguna

    San Cristobal de La Laguna, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01r9z8p25

Journal:
Buildings

ISSN: 2075-5309

Year of publication: 2022

Volume: 12

Issue: 11

Pages: 1994

Type: Article

DOI: 10.3390/BUILDINGS12111994 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Buildings

Abstract

Nowadays, a large amount of the total primary energy is consumed by buildings, accounting for about 40% of the total energy demand. Aligned with the EU objectives and the strategies to reduce the demand, cooling and heating are stated as the most energy consuming processes and the building envelope plays an important role to reduce the energy consumption. In this work, the energy demand related to heating and cooling in a typical building has been evaluated, which has been simulated in 35 cities located in different climatic zones, using the DesignBuilder v.6.1.7.007 software. Although the increase in insulation and the replacement of windows lead to a reduction in energy demand, in the case of the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria without insulation, the demands are lower than 1.7 kWh/m2/year and 5 kWh/m2/year, respectively, and these results indicate that energy saving strategies, driven by policies and economic support, based on the renovation and improvement of the thermal insulation of the building envelope, are not the most appropriate due to the need for an additional energy load for cooling and to maintain comfort within the regulatory limits.