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The thermal comfort models defined in existing standards are usually ineffective in predicting students' mean thermal sensation. Accordingly, overheating and overcooling are frequently reported, which affect students’ well-being and cause unnecessary energy waste. Existing studies have not further explored the model improvement strategies for educational buildings. Hence, this research aims to improve the mean thermal sensation prediction model for students in naturally ventilated schools by incorporating correlated factors, based on a holistic field survey in the Mediterranean climate. The results indicate that the modified extended predicted mean vote of thermal adaptations reinforced around thermal neutrality has the highest accuracy among all validated adaptive predicted mean vote models. However, the performance of the adaptive predicted mean vote models is limited by the deficiencies of the original predicted mean vote model. The overall performance of the improved models was doubled after introducing the identified correlated factors, but the intrinsic error of the predicted mean vote index can slightly affect the models. As a result, the improved model built directly with the identified correlated factors achieved the best performance. Moreover, the potential of the machine learning models is limited by the volume of the mean thermal sensation vote data that can often be obtained, therefore conventional models such as multiple linear regression can be considered an effective and practical tool for developing the mean thermal sensation vote models. The findings of this study benefit the well-being of students and the energy conservation of educational buildings., This research is part of the R&D project IAQ4EDU, reference no. PID2020-117366RB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. This work was supported by the Catalan Agency AGAUR under their research group support program (2021 SGR 00341). The author Sen Miao is funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) as a full-time PhD student, reference no. 202208390065., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de Qualitat, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::5 - Igualtat de Gènere, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Postprint (published version)

L’objectiu d’aquest treball és comprendre l’origen del consum per poder extreure conclusions sobre quins són els punts on cal treball, i així idear propostes per reduir el consum. Es realitza descripció dels edificis, on s’especifiquen els diferents dispositius que consumeixen aigua i el seu respectiu consum. Seguidament, es duu a terme una modelització mensual del consum d’aigua durant l’any 2023 en cadascun dels edificis que conforma el campus i es compara amb les factures d’aquest període. A partir dels resultats obtinguts, s’extreuen conclusions i es calculen indicadors de consum. En últim lloc, es fan estudis preliminars de diferents propostes de reducció.

BIM4CLIMATE aims to implement a PBL approach in construction engineering courses within the UPC CampusLab. The developed methodology serves as a catalyst for the comprehensive digitization and management practices of all university buildings., Postprint (published version)

In recent years, stricter regulations aimed at improving indoor air quality have led to increased energy consumption in ventilation systems. This is particularly noticeable in the service sector, where high occupancy requires frequent air renewal. Therefore, it is crucial to apply control methods in these buildings to ensure proper indoor air quality and comfortable temperatures at minimal energy consumption and cost. However, addressing these operational requirements demands the utilization of advanced control methods and the integration of renewable energy sources. In this context, this article aims to design a model predictive control capable of managing indoor air quality levels to ensure occupants’ comfort while minimizing operational costs. The novelty of this work lies in the development, for the first time, of a model predictive control that incorporates solar electricity production, changes in grid electricity prices, occupancy levels, and weather profiles. Additionally, several indoor CO2 concentration limits based on current regulations and building users’ activities were employed to evaluate the model performance. Results demonstrated that model predictive control could achieve economic savings of up to 15¿% when indoor CO2 concentration must be below 750¿ppm compared to binary control modulation with photovoltaic panels. Moreover, the model effectively shifted ventilation necessities to off-peak electricity hours and fully harnessed energy generated by photovoltaic panels. Consequently, the presented model predictive control exhibited promising performance for potential applications in service sector buildings., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Postprint (published version)

The European cleantech sector has flourished in the past decade, positioning itself as a leader in innovation. However, challenges persist in scaling and industrializing these technologies. Europe’s ambition to claim a significant share of the 650 billion euro clean technology market by 2030 necessitates addressing gaps in growth equity and scale-up finance for sustained competitiveness. The European Green Deal (EGD) establishes legally binding objectives for both the EU and its member states, requiring new regulations and revisions to facilitate an eco-friendly transition. On February 1, 2023, the Commission presented the Green Deal Industrial Plan in Brussels, aiming to bolster the EU’s manufacturing capacity for net-zero technologies. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, envisions Europe leading in clean technology development, promoting quality jobs, innovation, and mass production. European entrepreneurs stress the importance of streamlining regulations, ensuring fair competition, and addressing funding gaps. To quantitatively assess these challenges, this thesis conducts a survey involving 332 companies from 25 European nations. The participants align with the cleantech sector’s mission (73 percent) , driven by business opportunities (59 percent) and regulatory compliance (27 percent). Challenges include strict regulations (22 percent), technological complexities (17 percent), and limited external financing (17 percent). Environmental, product safety, and operational safety policies significantly impact companies, emphasizing the need for a simplified regulatory environment. Access to finance proves challenging for 66 companies, citing complex application processes and high competition. Current financing methods include internal funds, bank debt, and grants, with considerations for future options like green/ESG bonds and hybrid financing. Skill shortages, notably in design (15 percent) and intellectual property (13 percent), are evident.

Aquest Treball de Fi de Grau consisteix en l’estudi per obtenir la certificació energètica de l’Escola Agrària de Tàrrega. S’han estudiat els dos edificis que la conformen, l’edifici d’Oficines / Aules i l’edifici Residència i se’n han realitzat les certificacions energètiques corresponents mitjançant el software CE3X. S’ha fet una certificació energètica simplificada i una d’exhaustiva per a cada edifici. S’han analitzat els resultats obtinguts d’aquestes certificacions juntament amb un estudi dels consums energètics reals i finalment, en base a l’anàlisi s’han presentat unes propostes per millorar l’eficiència energètica dels edificis.

Indoor CO CO 2 2 concentration serves as an indicator of indoor air quality, which is mainly influenced by occupants’ generation rate, outdoor ventilation rate and outdoor CO 2 levels. Determining the CO 2 generation rate is fundamental to design effective ventilation systems that ensure good indoor air quality. The ASTM D6245 standard offers a method to estimate human CO 2 generation based on sex, age, body mass, and activity level. However, due to the limited number of studies on CO 2 generation rate for children and adolescents in daily scholarly activities, accurated values are difficult to estimate. This research uses a stochastic grey box modelling approach to estimate CO 2 generation rates in naturally ventilated schools and compares it with the standard approach. This method can address the complexities and variations in real educational environments. The proposed model was verified through an experimental campaign including 32 classrooms with students aged 4, 10, 13 and 16 years. The model provided a detailed description of the indoor CO 2 cases. Estimated CO 2 dynamics in 72% of the studied generation rates were found to be in line with the expected standard value of between 1.0 MET to 2.0 MET activity levels (7.07–12.65 L/h for a 4-year-old, 9.63–13.29 L/h for a 10-year-old, 14.54–19.32 L/h for a 13-year-old, and 12.11–20.53 L/h for a 16-year-old). These findings not only bridge the gap in children’s CO 2 generation rates but also introduce a novel approach to assess human CO uncontrolled conditions., This research was supported by predoctoral contract grants (reference no. PRE2021-099606) as a part of the R&D project IAQ4EDU (reference no. PID2020-117366RB-I00), funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033/FEDER. This work was supported by the Catalan agency AGAUR through its research group support programme (2021 SGR 00341).The Government of Catalonia and Sabadell city council is gratefully acknowledged for allowing access to public centres. In addition, appreciation is extended to the MOVE4EDU project (reference no. PID2021-126845OB-C21 and PID2021-126845OB-C22), funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar::3.d - Reforçar la capacitat de tots els països, en particular els països en desenvolupament, en matèria d’alerta primerenca, reducció de riscos i gestió dels riscos per a la salut nacional i mundial, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de Qualitat, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de Qualitat::4.a - Construir i adequar instal·lacions escolars que responguin a les necessitats dels infants i les persones dis­capacitades, tinguin en compte les qüestions de gènere, i ofereixin entorns d’aprenentatge segurs, no violents, inclusius i eficaços per a totes les persones, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura::9.1 - Desenvolupar infraestructures fiables, sostenibles, resilients i de qualitat, incloent infraestructures regionals i transfrontereres, per tal de donar suport al desenvolupament econòmic i al benestar humà, amb especial atenció a l’accés assequible i equitatiu per a totes les persones, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar, Postprint (published version)

Aquest treball se centra a fer una avaluació d’impacte ambiental d’una activitat de nova implementació d’una empresa dedicada a la valorització de residus en un establiment que se situarà a la ciutat de Barcelona, concretament a la zona portuària. L’objectiu principal és valorar l’impacte ambiental que generarà l’activitat, avaluant els diferents vectors com són les aigües residuals, l’atmosfera, els residus, el sòl, el paisatge, el medi humà, la biodiversitat i els recursos naturals. Per fer-ho, s’haurà de tenir en compte tota la normativa legal aplicable en els tres àmbits, autonòmic, estatal i europeu. Per poder fer l’estudi, serà necessari tenir informació sobre l’empresa, dades generals i informació sobre els processos que realitzarà, els consums de recursos i matèries que tindrà i els residus que produirà i gestionarà. També caldrà conèixer les característiques que té el medi ambient on es troba l’establiment. Es voldrà saber l’estat del medi abiòtic, del medi biòtic i del medi antròpic, per poder fer un estudi més acurat i real. Després de conèixer-ho tot, s’analitzaran tots els vectors ambientals i els possibles tractaments, per finalitzar amb la descripció dels impactes quan l’activitat estigui funcionant. S’avaluarà el possible impacte en una situació d’emergència o funcionament anormal que pugui patir l’empresa en algun moment de la seva vida productiva. Així doncs, es podrà veure, que l’impacte global és compatible per la majoria dels vectors ambientals, menys per l’atmosfera i les aigües pluvials, que serà moderat. També es conclourà que el vector més afectat serà els recursos naturals i per cas contrari, el que menys serà el paisatge.

Com s’indica en el títol del treball de fi de màster, l’objectiu és la realització d’una auditoria energètica que permeti avaluar la realitat actual d’una masia segle XVII situada a La Quar (Berguedà) en aspectes energètics, i permeti estudiar la viabilitat tècnica i econòmica de diferents propostes de millora d’eficiència energètica amb l’objectiu principal de reduir la demanada d’energia i d’emissions de CO2. Per poder assolir l’objectiu, s’ha dividit el treball en dos blocs diferenciats, el primer bloc ha estat la definició de l’edifici amb les seves instal·lacions i mètode constructiu, el qual ha permès juntament amb la modelització del consum energètic realitzar l’auditoria energètica de la masia obtenint uns resultats molt poc eficients que han reforçat la justificació del treball alhora de buscar propostes de millora. La segona part, i la que més importància s’ha donat és amb l’estudi de les propostes de millora, amb un pre disseny, estudi de viabilitat econòmica i d’impacte ambiental. Gràcies aquestes mesures s’ha reduït la demanda energètica del edifici i de les emissions de CO2. Per acabar, donar rellevància a l’obtenció satisfactòria d’un treball, on s’han complert els objectius marcats prèviament i s’han complert els objectius segons l’abast del projecte

Desenvolupament d'una metodologia per avaluar el potencial d’autoabastiment d’electricitat d’un territori i se n’il·lustrarà l’ús a la comarca del Solsonès. Per això, es compararà l’actual demanda energètica amb l’oferta provinent dels recursos actualment explotats a la comarca i s’estimarà la possibilitat d’explotar-ne de nous, bàsicament d'energia fotovoltaica i eòlica instal·lada en entorns urbans.

Maintaining good indoor air quality and thermal comfort is a challenge for naturally ventilated educational buildings, as it can be difficult to achieve both aspects simultaneously. Nonetheless, most of the existing studies only focus on one aspect. To explore the potential of balancing indoor air quality and thermal comfort, both topics must be investigated concurrently. This study assessed indoor air quality and thermal comfort in 32 naturally ventilated classrooms of 16 primary and secondary schools in the Mediterranean climate, based on a large on-site measurement campaign lasting one year that gathered over 460 hours of data. The research investigated occupants’ adaptive behaviors, analyzed the actual thermal comfort of around 600 students, and characterized the representative scenarios leading to good and poor indoor air quality and thermal comfort by clustering analysis. The results showed that poor indoor air quality was mainly due to closing windows and doors in winter, while thermal discomfort mainly occurred in summer because of the high indoor temperature. The findings suggested that a proper ventilation protocol is the key to balancing indoor air quality and thermal comfort., This research is part of the R&D project IAQ4EDU (reference no. PID2020-117366RB-I00), funded by the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. This work was supported by the Catalan Agency AGAUR under their research group support program (2021 SGR 00341). The author Sen Miao is funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) as a full-time PhD student (reference no. 202208390065)., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de Qualitat, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Postprint (published version)

Modeling indoor air quality and thermal conditions in educational buildings is significant for protecting students' health, well-being, and productivity. The predictive models in existing studies were mainly built and applied in controlled environments with HVAC systems. These models did not involve occupant-related factors, had limited scope in a single building or space, and required indoor environmental monitoring data for the model input. This limits the applicability and generalization ability of the model in a large number of schools relying on natural ventilation, where indoor air quality and thermal conditions are significantly affected by occupants’ activities and ventilation practices. Hence, this paper proposes a methodology to develop a data-driven model for predicting the level of indoor air quality and thermal comfort in naturally ventilated educational buildings, and identifies the key influential factors. The model was developed using the class-weighted random forest algorithm with data collected from a large measurement campaign. The developed model demonstrated good accuracy, generalization ability, and robustness. The analysis concluded that occupancy, windows and doors operation, and outdoor environmental parameters are key factors must be involved, whereas building characteristics have no practical contribution to the prediction. The model inputs are easily accessible data for schools. Once the model is developed with data collected from an initial measurement campaign in representative educational buildings, it can be used in all local schools without requiring monitoring sensor networks, thereby rendering a “cost-effective” way of assessing indoor air quality and thermal comfort to help relevant stakeholders improve building management practices in schools., This research is part of the R&D project IAQ4EDU, reference no. PID2020-117366RB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. This work was supported by the Catalan Agency AGAUR under their research group support program (2021 SGR 00341). The author Sen Miao is funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) as a full-time PhD student, reference no. 202208390065., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de Qualitat, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar, Postprint (published version)

Aquest treball estudia la petjada de carboni d’un habitatge unifamiliar situat a la població de Matadepera, mitjançant un estudi d’Anàlisi de Cicle de Vida a través de Simapro, un software especialitzat. S’analitza l’impacte ambiental produït per les diferents fases de la vida útil de l’habitatge i s’interpreten els resultats finals juntament amb el plantejament d’un escenari alternatiu

Current indoor air quality strategies are based on the measurement and control of carbon dioxide (CO2) indoor concentration. Most educational buildings rely only on natural ventilation, making indoor air quality highly dependent on weather conditions. Therefore, to ensure the safety and well-being of students and teachers, it is necessary to determine the factors influencing CO2 concentration in naturally ventilated spaces. The aim of this paper is to estimate the students’ CO2 emission rates in naturally ventilated classrooms using grey box models., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar, Postprint (published version)

In recent years, poor indoor air quality and thermal comfort have been widely reported in related studies on indoor environmental quality in classrooms. Improving indoor air quality through ventilation is common and effective. However, it compromises occupant’s thermal comfort and well-being, thereby consuming more energy to meet increased heating or cooling demand and challenging energy conservation for Sustainable Development Goal 7. The existing researches imply the significance of conducting an extensive review on the three domains mentioned above (indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and energy consumption) in educational buildings, as individual cases are of peculiarity due to the specific characteristics of buildings and occupants. In contrast, the standards for indoor air quality and thermal comfort in educational buildings are not explicit and unified for all countries. This paper summarizes relevant features from reviewed cases, including: the geographic and demographic characteristics, field investigation parameters, indoor air quality and thermal comfort standards, ventilation protocols, heating and cooling strategies, energy consumption, as well as important and valuable findings in order to investigate the progress on such a topic., Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant, Postprint (published version)

El present estudi pretén analitzar les alternatives d’elements constructius i instal·lacions d’un habitatge unifamiliar aïllat. Consta de dues parts, l’estudi d’alternatives, i l’avaluació de les alternatives estudiades. En l’estudi d’alternatives s’incorpora una breu descripció de cadascuna d’elles, un recull de dades basades en alguns dels productes del mercat o diferents opcions de material i una valoració de l’impacte ambiental de cada alternativa. En l’avaluació de les alternatives es realitza una comparació mitjançant un sistema de factors ponderats que permet seleccionar la combinació més sostenible. Finalment, per tal d’estandarditzar el resultat de l’avaluació, s’introdueixen els resultats en el software de certificació energètica CE3X.

The urban management industry has recently shown interest in implementing digital twins in cities to improve urban planning, optimize asset management and create secure, sustainable cities. Built on the knowledge gained with the development of smart cities and the implementation of digital twins in other industries, urban digital twins have experienced a significant expansion in just a few years. However, this rapid growth has led to a fragmented situation where the definition of the concept of urban digital twin is not clear and implementations share few similarities. For this reason, the main objective of this paper was to contribute to the conceptualization of the digital twin in urban management. To do so, existing initiatives were mapped in terms of applications, inputs, processing and outputs. Requirements were elicited and the basic structure of a city digital twin was defined. Benefits, open issues and key challenges were also identified. This paper will be useful for stakeholders within the urban management area as it establishes the basis for the future design, development and widespread adoption of urban digital twins., This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities via a doctoral grant to the first author (FPU19/ 04118), the Catalan authority AGAUR (2017SGR00227) and the University Service of the Terrassa City Council., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant::7.3 - Per a 2030, duplicar la taxa mundial de millora de l’eficiència energètica, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant::7.b - Per a 2030, ampliar la infraestructura i millorar la tecnologia per tal d’oferir serveis d’energia moderns i sos­tenibles per a tots els països en desenvolupament, en particular els països menys avançats, els petits estats insulars en desenvolupament i els països en desenvolupament sense litoral, d’acord amb els programes de suport respectius, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura::9.1 - Desenvolupar infraestructures fiables, sostenibles, resilients i de qualitat, incloent infraestructures regionals i transfrontereres, per tal de donar suport al desenvolupament econòmic i al benestar humà, amb especial atenció a l’accés assequible i equitatiu per a totes les persones, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura::9.4 - Per a 2030, modernitzar les infraestructures i reconvertir les indústries perquè siguin sostenibles, usant els recursos amb més eficàcia i promovent l’adopció de tecnologies i processos industrials nets i racionals ambiental­ment, i aconseguint que tots els països adoptin mesures d’acord amb les capacitats respectives, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.6 - Per a 2030, reduir l’impacte ambiental negatiu per capita de les ciutats, amb especial atenció a la qualitat de l’aire, així com a la gestió dels residus municipals i d’altre tipus, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.2 - Per a 2030, proporcionar accés a sistemes de transport segurs, assequibles, accessi­bles i sostenibles per a totes les persones, i millorar la seguretat viària, en particular mitjan­çant l’ampliació del transport públic, amb especial atenció a les necessitats de les persones en situació vulnerable, dones, nenes, nens, persones amb discapacitat i persones grans, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.3 - Per a 2030, augmentar la urbanització inclusiva i sostenible, així com la capacitat de planificar i gestionar de manera participativa, integrada i sostenible els assentaments humans a tots els països, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.4 - Redoblar els esforços per a protegir i salvaguardar el patrimoni cultural i natural del món, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.5 - Per a 2030, reduir de forma significativa el nombre de morts causades per desastres, inclosos els relacio­nats amb l’aigua, i de persones afectades per aquests, i reduir substancialment les pèrdues econòmiques directes causades per desastres relacionades amb el producte interior brut mundial, fent un èmfasi especial en la protecció de les persones pobres i de les persones en situacions de vulnerabilitat, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.7 - Per a 2030, proporcionar accés universal a zones verdes i espais públics segurs, inclusius i accessibles, en particular per a les dones i els infants, les persones grans i les persones amb discapacitat, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.a - Donar suport als vincles econòmics, socials i ambientals positius entre les zones urbanes, periurbanes i rurals enfortint la planificació del desenvolupament nacional i regional, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.b - Per a 2020, augmentar substancialment el nombre de ciutats i assentaments humans que adopten i posen en marxa polítiques i plans integrats per promoure la inclusió, l’ús eficient dels recursos, la mitigació del canvi climàtic i l’adaptació a aquest, així com la resiliència davant dels desastres, i desenvolupar i posar en pràctica una gestió integral dels riscos de desastre a tots els nivells, d’acord amb el Marc de Sendai per a la reducció del risc de desastres 2015.2030, Postprint (published version)

Accurate information on the actual thermal transmittance of walls is vital to select appropriate energy-saving measures in existing buildings to meet the commitments of the European Green Deal. To obtain accurate results using the heat flow meter (HFM) method, good thermal contact must be madebetween the heat flow meter plate and the wall surface. This paper aimed to assess the influence of the non-perfect thermal contact of heat flow meter plates on the accuracy of in situ measurement of the façades’ U-value when a film was applied to avoid damage to the wall surface. Given the fact that to avoid harm to the wall surface, the laying of a film is a usual procedure in the installation of equipment during the building’s operational stage. The findings show that deviations between measured U-values when an HFM was installed directly on the wall surface and when an HFMwasinstalled with a PVC film were found to differ significantly from the theoretical effect of including a PVC film during the monitoring process., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima, Preprint

Buildings are responsible for 40% of the EU's total energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions. Although difficult to quantify, individuals' attitudes to energy use significantly impact the energy consumed in households. In this context, serious games provide an opportunity to enhance buildings' energy efficiency through changes in users' behaviour. This chapter presents the results obtained in the EnerGAware-Energy Game for Awareness of energy efficiency in social housing communities project (2015–2018), funded by EU H2020. The project developed a serious game for household energy efficiency called “Energy Cat: The House of Tomorrow.” The game was deployed and tested in a UK social housing pilot for one year. Cost-benefit analysis in the energy, environmental, and economic domains prove that serious gaming is among the most cost-effective energy efficiency strategies for households on the market, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant, Postprint (published version)

Currently, there is great concern about adequate indoor ventilation to prevent adverse effects on occupants’ health, and, within educational buildings, to ensure students and professors’ well-being and improve learning processes. This paper aims to present an innovative framework, developed within the IAQ4EDU project, to improve the effectiveness of the ventilation strategies in educational centres considering the indoor air quality, thermal comfort, energy consumption and global costs. This consists on characterise indoor air quality, simulate building ventilation strategies using reduced order models and develop multi criteria decision making method. 40 classrooms located in 20 Spanish educational buildings are used as case study., This research is part of the Catalan agency AGAUR under their research group support programme (2017SGR00227)., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i Benestar, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::4 - Educació de Qualitat, Postprint (published version)

Exceptional pandemic lockdown measures enabled singular experiments such as analysing the energy consumption of vacant buildings. This paper assesses the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the energy use of academic buildings. For this purpose, weather-adjusted energy use was compared before and during the lockdown, including different levels of lockdown restrictions. Results obtained for the 83 academic buildings of Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - Barcelona Tech (UPC) reveal that the avoided energy consumption amounted to over 4.3 GWh during the post-pandemic year. However, the results indicate that academic buildings were still using approximately 46.9% of their typical energy consumption during strict lockdown. This revelation emphasizes the high environmental burden of buildings, regardless of whether they are occupied., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Postprint (published version)

Nursing homes are designed and operated to meet general thermal specifications outlined by existing standards. This paper presents adaptive thermal comfort models for nursing homes based on the field survey administered in 100 common rooms of five nursing homes in the Mediterranean climate. The survey included simultaneous measurements of outdoor and indoor environmental parameters and an assessment of the occupants’ thermal comfort sensations using questionnaires. In total, 1,921 subjective questionnaires were obtained. The analysis focused on: Building Operation Mode (naturally ventilated and air-conditioned mode (cooling and heating)); and type of occupant (residents and non-residents (caregivers and therapists)). In naturally ventilated rooms residents were found to be more adaptive than what EN and ASHRAE 55:2020 standards propose (Tc (naturally ventilated) = 0.26 Trm + 18.83 (R2 = 0.81)). Residents in air-conditioned rooms were found to be less sensitive to outdoor conditions (Tc (air-conditioned) = 0.16Trm + 20.41 (R2 = 0,91)) than in naturally ventilated rooms. Both adaptive thermal models fall in limits set by these standards but in the lower acceptable levels. These adaptive thermal comfort models for nursing homes will allow extending the use of natural ventilation and the adoption of setpoint temperatures when air-conditioning is needed with the consequent reduction of heating and cooling use., The authors thank the International Center on Aging (CENIE), the General Foundation of the University of Salamanca (FGUSAL) and the Programa de Cooperación Interreg V-A España – Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and the FEDER funds for their financial support of this study under project reference 6/2018_CIE_6. This research was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness under R&D project Thecoelen, reference no. PID2019-106777RB-C21. We would also like to thank Sanitas Mayores and specially the Eng. Marc Vallet and Eng. Albert Ayala for providing their nursing homes and helping to collect all the required data. We would also like to extend our appreciation to all the caregivers, maintenance staff and elderly people who participated in this project., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Considering the progressive population aging, the fact that old people spend around 90% of their time indoors and the high energy expenditure of heating systems, thermal comfort in nursing homes should be analysed. The aim of this study is to analyse the thermal comfort during the winter of elderly people living in nursing homes (residents) and compare it with the thermal comfort of caregivers and therapists (non-residents). Longitudinal field measurements were conducted in 25 common rooms of five nursing homes in a Mediterranean climate during the winter, from January to March 2019. Room air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (HR%), mean radiant temperature (Tr) and air velocity (va) were recorded using a Delta Ohm HD32.1 instrument with an anemometer, thermometer and a black globe thermometer. “Right-here-right-now” thermal responses of occupants were collected using a face-to-face questionnaire delivered intermittently. A total of 881 questionnaires were collected and then matched against concurrent indoor and outdoor thermal conditions. The results indicate that residents of nursing homes in the Mediterranean climate were less sensitive to variations in room temperature than therapists and caregivers, and less sensitive than found in previous studies conducted in non-elderly adults. The neutral temperature for residents was 21.6 °C while for caregivers and therapists it was 21.9 °C. The results also showed that clothing adaptation to the activity of caregivers would increase their thermal comfort and might help thermal adaptation to residents’ thermal needs. The modification of temperature setpoints in nursing homes based on the results of this study could influence energy use and should be carefully considered by policy makers and nursing homes’ facility managers., The authors thank the International Center on Aging (CENIE), the General Foundation of the University of Salamanca (FGUSAL) and the Programa de Cooperación Interreg V-A España – Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and the FEDER funds for their financial support of this study under project reference 6/2018_CIE_6. This research was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness under R&D project Thecoelen, reference no. PID2019-106777RB-C21. We would also like to thank Sanitas Mayores and specially the Eng. Marc Vallet for providing their nursing homes and helping to collect all the required data. We would also like to extend our appreciation to all the caregivers, maintenance staff and elderly people who participated in this project., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

Accurate information on the actual thermal transmittance of walls is vital to select appropriate energy-saving measures in existing buildings to meet the commitments of the European Green Deal. To obtain accurate results using the heat flow meter (HFM) method, good thermal contact must be made between the heat flow meter plate and the wall surface. This paper aimed to assess the influence of the non-perfect thermal contact of heat flow meter plates on the accuracy of in situ measurement of the façades’ U-value when a film was applied to avoid damage to the wall surface. Given the fact that to avoid harm to the wall surface, the laying of a film is a usual procedure in the installation of equipment during the building’s operational stage. The findings show that deviations between measured U-values when an HFM was installed directly on the wall surface and when an HFM was installed with a PVC film were found to differ significantly from the theoretical effect of including a PVC film during the monitoring process., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

This paper analyzes the impact of an innovative approach based on gamification to promote reduced energy consumption in social housing. The game was developed and validated under the auspices of the EU-funded project EnerGAware-Energy Game for Awareness of energy efficiency in social housing communities in an affordable housing pilot located in Plymouth (United Kingdom). The results showed that the future exploitation of the game holds important energy- and emissions-saving potential. Assuming that the game is distributed freely by European energy providers to their domestic end-users, the game was found to be able to save more than 48.9 secondary terawatt-hours per year (TWhs) and 18.8 million tons of CO2e annually, contributing up to around 8% to the target set for the European buildings sector to keep global warming under 2 °C. The results also showed that the game is highly feasible from the energy point of view, even when we consider the energy consumed upstream, due to its low cumulative energy demand and its potential for household energy reduction. The results of this research provide helpful information for private and public stakeholders, as they contribute to determining the sustainability of promoting energy saving through gaming., This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the EnerGAware project—Energy Game for Awareness of energy efficiency in social housing communities, grant number (649673,2015)., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima::13.3 - Millorar l’educació, la conscienciació i la capacitat humana i institucional en relació amb la mitigació del canvi climàtic, l’adaptació a aquest, la reducció dels efectes i l’alerta primerenca, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima::13.3 - Millorar l’educació, la conscienciació i la capacitat humana i institucional en relació amb la mitigació del canvi climàtic, l’adaptació a aquest, la reducció dels efectes i l’alerta primerenca, Postprint (published version)

To determine the air ventilation flows in a room deterministic approaches based on the CO2 tracer-gas mass balance equation are usually used. Those equations do not enable to introduce to the system uncertainties such as the sensor measurement error. In this paper, the use of the stochastic differential equations based on the CO2 tracer-gas mass balance are presented to obtain the air ventilation flows in a room introducing uncertainty elements. This kind of modeling, also known as grey-box modeling, combines physical knowledge of the system and information embedded in the monitored data to identify a suitable parametrization of the differential equation used. Finally, a set of statistical tests are used to assess the model's accuracy. Models that fulfill the tests are considered correct, and as a consequence, its parametrization too. Having the parametrization a physical meaning, it is possible to obtain the air ventilation flow of the room. Results show the viability of this kind of approach., Postprint (published version)

Este informe representa el hito número 9 del proyecto de investigación EOFF - Soluciones individualizadas ambientalmente y económicamente sostenibles para la rehabilitación energética del parque de edificios de oficinas (BIA2016-75382-R), financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad a través Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad., Este informe representa el hito número 9 del proyecto de investigación EOFF - Soluciones individualizadas ambientalmente y económicamente sostenibles para la rehabilitación energética del parque de edificios de oficinas (BIA2016-75382-R), financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad a través Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad. El objetivo general de este proyecto es el desarrollo de un modelo integrado para la determinación de la solución óptima de rehabilitación energética del parque de edificios de oficinas, teniendo en cuenta las repercusiones energéticas, económicas y ambientales asociadas a diferentes medidas de mejora y particularizadas a las características del edificio objeto de análisis. Este informe describe el resultado de los trabajos realizados en el marco de la Tarea 7 - Análisis de los resultados, estrategias de pre-explotación y conclusiones del proyecto. La identificación y estudio de las necesidades de los potenciales usuarios de la herramienta permitirá proponer las estrategias de navegación y visualización óptimas, con el objetivo de que los resultados que obtengan sean fácilmente interpretables y generen el mayor impacto al usuario., Preprint

Within the European framework, the passive house has become an essential constructive solution in terms of building efficiency and CO2 reduction. However, the main approaches have been focused on post-occupancy surveys, measurements of actual energy consumption, life-cycle analyses in dynamic conditions, using simulation, and the estimation of the thermal comfort. Few studies have assessed the in situ performance of the building fabric of passive houses. Hence, this paper explores the applicability of non-destructive techniques—heat flux meter (HFM) and quantitative infrared thermography (QIRT)—for assessing the gap between the predicted and actual thermal transmittance of passive house façades under steady-state conditions in the Mediterranean climate. Firstly, the suitability of in situ non-destructive techniques was checked in an experimental mock-up, and, subsequently, a detached house was tested in the real built environment. The findings revealed that both Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques allow for the quantification of the gap between the design and the actual façades U-value of a new passive house before its operational stage. QIRT was faster than the HFM technique, although the latter was more accurate. The results will help practitioners to choose the most appropriate method based on environmental conditions, execution of the method, and data analysis., This research was partially funded by the Government of Catalonia, Research Grant 2017–SGR–227, Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Elderly people are vulnerable to cold environments, due to aging’s impact on the density of nerve fibers. Nevertheless, automatic controls of HVAC systems do not consider the user’s real-time thermal sensation and most of algorithms were tested in manikins using climatic chambers or simulated by CFD. Indeed, a standardization of a non-invasive technique as infrared thermography (IRT) for human body responses was not detected in the literature review. This paper proposes a method to determine the indoor thermal comfort of elderly people by IRT. The campaigns took place in a nursing home of the Mediterranean Climate during Winter. A total of 15 old adults were monitored to measure the skin temperature of four face points (nose, forehead, cheekbone and chin) and clothing temperature. A thermal sensation questionnaire and indoor conditions were also collected. The results demonstrated that the IRT model could estimate the thermal exchange from three body-segments (head, back-pelvis, thorax-limbs) to the surroundings by user’s features and environmental parameters. The thermal neutrality was achieved when all facial points reached a skin temperature of 35ºC, the clothing temperature was equal to 31ºC, and the operative temperature and relative humidity were 23.5ºC and 54% respectively. Statistically, 31.70% of the variance of PMV could be attributed to increases of facial skin temperature, while changes in user’s features could have minor influence (from 0.88 to 6.40%). As regards the main contributions of heat losses, they were given by respiration (11-21%), convection (20-32%) and radiation (35-39%). Finally, an innovative HVAC control strategy was posed., The authors thank the Programa de Cooperación Interreg V-A España – Portugal, (POCTEP) 2014–2020 and the FEDER funds for their financial support to this study under the project reference 6/2018_CIE_6. We would also like to thank Sanitas Mayores for providing their nursing homes., Postprint (author's final draft)

The number of people living in nursing homes is increasing due to the growth of ageing population. However, existing standards on thermal comfort do not consider how occupants of nursing homes perceive their thermal environment. This study investigated the thermal sensation of elderly people during summer season in care homes from the Mediterranean climate. The study was conducted to 623 nursing occupants (both residents (elderly people) and non-residents (caregivers)) using a thermal sensation questionnaire and measurement of indoor climatic parameters. Elderly’s results were compared with the results of caregivers to study the differences between these groups of population that coexist in the same building. The results showed that elderly people have a different thermal comfort perception than adults. The comfort temperature for elderly people was found to be 24.4ºC while for non-elderly was 23.5ºC while residents were found to be more tolerant with high temperatures than non-residents. Results also showed that residents do not modify the clothing to adapt to unsatisfactory thermally conditions or to the activity. The results of this research may assist regulatory bodies to develop guidelines to design and operate nursing homes based on real thermal needs of their occupants., The authors thank the Programa de Cooperación Interreg V-AEspaña – Portugal, (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and the FEDER funds fortheir financial support to this study under the project reference6/2018_CIE_6. We would also like to thank Sanitas Mayores andspecially the Eng. Marc Vallet for providing their nursing homesand helping collecting all the required data. We would also liketo extend our appreciation to all the caregivers, maintenance staffand elders who participated in this project., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The European Green Deal establishes the need to renovate buildings in an energy efficient way, to address climate and environmental challenges. The purpose of this study was to devise a model for identifying environmental, cost-effective retrofitting measures by assessing their energy, economic and environmental impact when they are applied to the entire office stock. The methodology builds upon the energy performance certificate scheme to identify the life-cycle energy, economic and environmental impacts of a set of energy renovation measures for each representative office. The results can then be applied to the entire office stock. For any real office, a dozen characteristics are entered. Then, a user-friendly interface provides information about the expected performance of the renovation measures in that case along with the representativeness of the results. This methodology was implemented in a Spanish case study of 13,701 energy performance certificates. The findings showed that the most efficient energy renovation measures are heat pump replacement (18.1%) and replacement of lamps with LEDs (14.4%). Although the most effective retrofitting solutions depended on the evaluation criteria (energy, economic or environmental), 99.5% of the cost-effective measures also reduced emissions during the life cycle., This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy,Industry and Competitiveness under R&D project EOFF, reference no.BIA2016-75382-R (AEI/FEDER, UE). The Catalan Institute of Energy(ICAEN) is gratefully acknowledged for allowing access to the energy performance certificates database., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

The application of gamification to encourage energy conservation behaviour in house occupants is an emerging field of research. However, empirical evidence of its effectiveness is lacking. This paper presents lessons learnt from the EU-funded EnerGAware research project, in which an innovative serious game (a game designed for purposes other than purely entertainment) was developed to promote reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions by changing social housing tenants’ energy efficiency behaviour. The game was validated in a sample of European social housing using a longitudinal, two-stage experimental design, employing both pre-post and control group approaches. While some aspects of the game did not work as intended, there were nevertheless some positive impacts. The intervention increased social housing tenants’ awareness and engagement in certain energy saving behaviour and provided an average electricity saving of 3.46% and an average gas saving of 7.48%. Although savings were found not to be statistically significant, an effect size was detected (0.2). Therefore, future steps should exploit all available opportunities to replicate the pilot and increase the sample size so as to gain stronger evidence of the game’s impact. Preliminary results support the utility of gaming investment in the household energy efficiency field, and provide useful insights and pathways that could be incorporated into the development of future serious game interventions to foster their effectiveness., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Este trabajo se enmarca en el proyecto EOFF del grupo de investigación GRIC de la UPC. En fases previas del proyecto EOFF, se obtienen los consumos energéticos de los casos de estudio en sus estados iniciales y cuando han sido rehabilitados con distintas medidas de rehabilitación, para los cuales se encontrará su equivalente en emisiones de CO₂ a través de la unidad de conversión proporcionada por el SimaPro. El estudio de esta tesis se centra principalmente en el análisis de ciclo de vida de las medidas de rehabilitación a través del SimaPro, identificando primeramente el inventario de sus componentes y el kilometraje de transporte de las medidas de rehabilitación para introducirlas posteriormente en el SimaPro agrupados en seis distintos procesos. El SimaPro devuelve las cargas ambientales por proceso por medida de rehabilitación los cuales serán analizados con el objetivo de comparar que medidas de rehabilitación y procesos significan una carga ambiental mayor y en qué casos resulta más favorable la rehabilitación. Finalmente, se validará o rechazará la hipótesis del proyecto EOFF el cual propone que el impacto ambiental de los casos no rehabilitados es mayor que el de los rehabilitados más el impacto ambiental de las mismas medidas de rehabilitación., This work is part of the EOFF project of the UPC's GRIC research group. In previous phases of the EOFF project, the energy consumptions of the case studies were obtained both when they had been rehabilitated with different rehabilitation measures and when they had not, for which their equivalent in CO₂ emissions will be found through the conversion unit provided by the SimaPro. The study of this thesis focuses mainly on the life cycle analysis of the rehabilitation measures through the SimaPro, identifying the material and transport inventory of the rehabilitation measures and introducing them into the SimaPro, grouped into six different processes. SimaPro returns environmental charges per process per rehabilitation measure, which will be analysed in order to compare which rehabilitation measures and processes have greater environmental load and in which cases rehabilitations are more favourable. Finally, the hypothesis of the EOFF project will be validated, which proposes that the environmental impact of the non-rehabilitated cases is greater than that of the rehabilitated cases plus the environmental impact of the rehabilitation measures.