Oltaz Nicolas Buxens and Patricia Molina Costa, from Tecnalia, are the authors of “Demand Aggregation as a Strategy for Untapping Buildings’ Energy Renovation Potential: Diagnosis and Prioritization Methodology and Case Study from the Basque Country” published in Sustainability.
The article is in the journal’s special issue on “Energy Efficiency & RES in Building Communities: Challenges and Opportunities of Comprehensive Building Renovations at District and Urban Level.
Abstract:
Energy revocation of post-World War II private multifamily residential buildings has been identified to have a great deal of energy-saving potential but faces a great challenge across Europe, and especially in South Europe, due to fragmented property structures and longer return periods in energy efficiency investments. However, there is a great deal of potential in activating demand aggregation in areas with homogenous typologies. Local authorities play a key role in leading district-scale renovation but lack adequate methods for analysing and prioritizing areas from an integrated perspective, including social aspects. The methodology presented in this paper aims to support local authorities by providing a tool for the diagnosis and prioritization of homogenous groups of residential buildings to address their renovation based on an analysis of their needs and opportunity factors. First, the methodology sets the universe of analysis; second, based on indicators, it provides comparative information within the municipality, which leads to a prioritization of areas for building renovations according to the state of the building and to the socio-economic profile of the residents; lastly, a detailed diagnosis of selected groups is performed, providing information to design the Renovation Action Plans accordingly. The application of the methodology in Basauri is presented in this paper.
The full article is available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413881
Tecnalia, the applied research centre to which the authors belong, is a member of the Agree project consortium, along with the Basque Government’s Ministry of Housing, Ihobe, the technical secretariat of the Basque Network of Sustainable Municipalities, and Donostia-SanSebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Basauri local councils.
