Design and integration of innovative rehabilitation technique

Improving habitability in social housing

Abstract

The current commitments proposed by the European Union to mitigate the effects of climate change lead to the necessary action on the building sector. Acting on the existing building stock, improving energy efficiency becomes a key point on the road to 2030, where the role of air conditioning will change completely. Unsatisfied basic needs for energy supply characterize the energy-poor social housing districts in Spain. The energy inefficiencies of the dwellings worsen this situation. This situation is aggravated in the south of Spain, presenting a severe overheating problem in cooling, making residents outside the comfort limits a high number of hours. In these cases, conventional strategies to improve the performance of the building envelope are not enough. In this work, an innovative active roof solution of more than 2000m2 is designed and integrated in a district of social housing blocks. Said roof reduces the energy demand for conditioning through the exploitation of thermal inertia and the integration of environmental sinks, enhancing its effect with direct evaporative cooling systems through water micronization. It stands out for being a climate-adaptive design, intelligently controlled based on climate predictions and with different operating modes, which allows it to adapt to the needs of the building. The assessment of the impact of this innovative solution has been analyzed both in the pre-design phase and after the completion of the intervention, thus allowing us to know the actual improvement of the dwellings. Serving as an example of the integration of high-tech components, its objective has been to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock, allowing it to reduce energy demand, as well as increase comfort levels for residents.