Evaluation of School Building Energy Performance and Classroom Indoor Environment

Abstract

Existing building stock represents potential for energy saving renovations. Energy savings and indoor climate comfort are key demands for sustainable building refurbishment. Especially in schools, indoor comfort is an extremely important issue. A case study of energy consumption in selected school buildings in temperate climatic conditions of Central Europe region was performed. The studied buildings are representatives of various school premises constructed throughout the last century. The evaluation was based on data analysis of energy audits. The goal was aimed at assessment of the school building envelopes and their influence on energy consumption. One of the studied schools was selected for detailed evaluation. The school classroom was monitored for indoor thermal and visual environments. The monitoring was performed to compare the current state and renovation scenarios. Results of the evaluation show that the school buildings are highly inefficient even if renovated. Indoor climate in classrooms is largely influenced by windows. Solar gains affect interior thermal stability and daylighting. Thermal insulation quality of building envelopes and efficient solar shading systems appear to be fundamental tasks of school renovation strategies.