Mejoras de eficiencia energética en calefacción. Potencial de intervención en edificio escolar existente del área Metropolitana de San Juan, Argentina

Climate change, the constant growth of energy consumption, and the high levels of emissions recorded by the energy sector, require the implementation of concrete solutions. Building rehabilitation offers a significant opportunity to contribute in this regard. The purpose of this work is to analyze the potential for intervention in a school building from the “Programa Nacional 700 Escuela” (National 700 Schools Program). The improvements in energy efficiency are evaluated through a dynamic simulation and indicators are calculated regarding the annual energy consumption for heating. The values for the reference building are 74.5 kWh/m2 year and 158 kWh/student. With the rehabilitation proposals, energy savings could be achieved of between 39.7% and 60%. The R-Mean alternative appears as the most convenient one as it achieves energy benefits of 47%, with lower investment costs. The energy efficiency indicators for said set of improvements are 39.2 kWh/m2 year and 83.1 kWh/student. The results achieved can serve as reference for the rehabilitation of 71 school buildings built in the province of San Juan between 2004 and 2015, which belong to a construction typology with a similarity of materials of their envelope and functional configuration.