Energy consumption analysis of school buildings in Manitoba, Canada

Abstract

Buildings contribute 20–40% of the world’s energy consumption, making the need to investigate their energy performance a necessity. Given the lack of empirical evidence on the energy performance of school buildings in cold climates, this study aimed to benchmark historical energy consumption over a ten-year period in a sample of 30 school buildings in Manitoba, Canada. Results showed the median total energy consumption of these schools was higher than other Canadian benchmarks. School building age had a statistically significant effect on their energy consumption, with newer schools consuming less gas but more electricity than older and middle-aged ones. The retrofits implemented in some schools did not for the most part have a statistically significant effect on their energy consumption, although a decrease in energy consumption was observed. The results also showed that middle-aged schools were the largest energy consumers, with the results changing depending on the metric used to report on schools’ energy consumption, reinforcing the need to standardize those metrics. There is also a need to investigate how occupancy may be contributing to the increase in electricity consumption in newer schools. This study is the first to provide empirical evidence on existing school buildings’ energy consumption in Manitoba, establishing benchmarks that practitioners can make use of in similar cold climates.