Assessing Thermal Comfort Perception in the Context of Social Housing. Case Study in Northern Spain

The influence of people on building performance in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact is becoming increasingly significant. It is essential to include users’ perspective, their comfort and satisfaction in decision making to ensure not only their well-being, but also the feasibility of interventions and the adequate performance of the building stock. Furthermore, understanding residents’ level of thermal satisfaction can enable more appropriate measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Although there are several methods for studying thermal comfort, such as qualitative analyses based on surveys or perceived comfort indices such as PPD and PMV, thermal satisfaction is susceptible to the subjectivity of the responses. It may be necessary to contrast different indices or methods. This study aims to define an indicator that measures the level of thermal satisfaction of social housing occupants so that it can be contrasted with other methods of analysis of perceived comfort and can be replicated in different building contexts. A way to analyse users’ thermal satisfaction is proposed in a quantitative way, measured as the difference of the desired temperature and the perceived indoor temperature. The index is applied to a sample of 283 social housing dwellings in the Basque Country, Spain, with the data obtained via surveys that include questions on thermal comfort in winter and households’ characteristics. The thermal satisfaction has been analysed and the results have been contrasted with the perceived thermal comfort in winter and the household’s capacity to maintain the dwelling at the desired temperature. Moreover, it has been observed whether there may be energy vulnerabilities by contrasting the satisfaction result with the income and expenditure per person in the household. The obtained variable provides occupants’ opinion and perception to ensure the suitability of the solutions for improving the energy efficiency of the building and the thermal comfort. It is also possible to apply it to different building typologies and compare the results with other models of perceived thermal comfort

Proposal for Prioritizing the Retrofitting of Residential Buildings in Energy Poverty Circumstances

The energy poverty derived from socio-economic imbalances affects mostly households with fewer economic resources, being social housing complexes one of the most vulnerable sectors. The insufficient access to energy and the incapability to maintain dwellings at an adequate temperature can have negative impact on people’s health due to the prolonged exposure to poor hygrothermal conditions. Therefore, the prioritization of building retrofitting actions must be carried out regarding the actual state of the housing and the family economy. This paper proposes the definition of a prioritization map that gave a general knowledge of the energy vulnerability situation of the existing building stock. To this end, the dwelling’s energy performance is analysed, focusing on the correlation among its characteristics and the energy vulnerability of its inhabitants. In this way, dwellings with high energy poverty potential are identified in order to develop different energy retrofitting strategies. By applying this method to 14 case studies of social housing in Bilbao, Spain, it was obtained a prioritization map with six levels of vulnerability that can serve as a tool for public entities to design their future strategies. It has been proven that building compactness and year of construction are important factors with a great impact on the heating demand and final consumption in dwellings. Acknowledging the vulnerability context of the building stock eases the decision-making process and the definition of intervention guidelines, prioritizing those in a situation of greater vulnerability

Evaluation of Thermal Comfort Perception in Social Housing Context

The influence of people on building performance is becoming increasingly significant. Including users’ perspective in decision-making and design processes could help to improve occupants’ well-being and the feasibility of interventions by providing more accurate information about heating preferences for energy models. Furthermore, understanding residents’ level of thermal satisfaction could enable more appropriate measures to be taken to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. This study aims to define an indicator that measures the level of thermal satisfaction of social housing occupants so that it can be contrasted with other methods of analysis of perceived comfort and can be replicated in different building contexts. A way to analyse occupants’ thermal satisfaction is proposed in a quantitative way, measured as the difference of the desired temperature and the perceived indoor temperature. The index was applied to a sample of 283 social housing dwellings in the Basque Country, Spain, with data obtained via surveys that include questions on thermal comfort in winter and households’ characteristics. Furthermore, the indicator was compared to other variables, such as household income and energy expenses, to observe behavioural trends and possible cases of energy vulnerability. The obtained variable provides occupants’ opinion and perception to ensure the suitability of the solutions for improving the energy efficiency of the building and the thermal comfort. It is also possible to apply it to different building typologies and compare the results with other models of perceived thermal comfort