Comparative Analysis of Residential Energy

• Autor(a) principal: Gaibor, Mario Andrés Viteri
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/4732
• topic: Human behavior and energy consumption; Mediterranean energy consumption; Dynamic simulation of energy consumption in residences; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Engenharia do Ambiente

Humanity consumes more natural resources than the Earth has the ability to regenerate them. Given this problem, world eyes are over sustainability. Several actions for reducing and consume natural resources efficiently are being carried out worldwide. The European Union has developed several strategies for the efficient use of resources, including energy. There is a high potential for energy savings in the building stock sector, mainly in the residential buildings area. This study focused on the single-family houses to know the factors that affect the energy consumption through a comparative analysis of the energy used in dwellings of different European Mediterranean countries. The countries chosen for this analysis were Greece, Portugal, and Spain, countries that share similar geographical, political and meteorological conditions. For this analysis, only was taken into account the energy used for space heating and cooling and water heating. Using statistical data and national regulations, two regions of each country were chosen, and a typical house from each region was represented to obtain annual energy consumption results through simulation. Variable parameters such as internal temperatures, system operation hours and occupant behavior were tested on the models to see their impacts on energy consumption. As a result of simulations, it was concluded that space heating is the activity that consumes the most among the selected ones, therefore, having a great potential for energy savings. The efficient use of energy keeps the thermal comfort of the occupants reducing the energy consumption. The study showed that several factors affect energy consumption, but the main one is human behavior. The role of energy policies are important over the consumption through people´s behavior. The evolution of the policies in Europe has been remarkable in recent years, but they are not enough. Tighter policies that act fast enough are necessary. Occupants must balance the consumption between comfort and energy awareness, aiming to shift some of the multiples small decisions and actions taken every day, in order to create a more sustainable future on our planet.