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Caro, R.; Sendra, J.J. (2021). Are the dwellings of historic Mediterranean cities cold in winter? A field assessment on their indoor environment and energy performance.

REVISTA: Energy and buildings, 230, 110567

IMPACTO:  JCR (2019): 4,867. ENGINEERING, CIVIL, Q1 (5/134)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110567

ABSTRACT:

Although European heritage buildings are excluded from energy efficiency targets, it would be beneficial to include the largest group, that of listed housing, in energy retrofit plans, in order to encourage its occupation and contributing to the sustainable maintenance of historic cities. This requires reliable experimental studies, which have been rare so far, in order to establish energy rehabilitation plans that do not jeopardize the conservation of their values. This paper aims to contribute to addressing this gap. It evaluates the energy performance and indoor environmental quality of dwellings within listed buildings of the conservation area of Seville, Spain, in the Mediterranean climate zone, under actual winter use and occupation conditions. An experimental campaign was conducted, generating energy models and measuring rates of indoor air temperature to validate them. The findings highlight important health and environmental issues: despite the mild winters of southern Spain, intensive use of the heating system is needed to maintain thermal comfort indoors, increasing polluting emissions; CO2 concentration in bedrooms is usually excessive overnight and, regularly, indoor relative humidity remains too high; heat losses depend entirely on the physical condition of the constructive elements (walls, roofs, air leakage and glazing) which occupants cannot easily improve.

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Highlights:

Listed dwellings of southern Spain were monitored in winter to evaluate IEQ and EP.
Lengthy high rates of IRH were observed.
High levels of CO2 concentration were recorded in bedrooms at night.
Thermal comfort is only achieved through a constant use of the heating systems.
Heat losses are entirely building-driven.