Energy consumption of UAE public schools. Mapping of a diversified sector assessing typology, conditions, and educational systems

Abstract

The UAE school sector impacts several Sustainable Development Goals of the UAE Vision 2021. The sector is designed according to a standardized system of Model buildings, repeated several times throughout the country, comprising facilities that are often obsolete at both functional and technological level; hence, frequently presenting poor energy performances. The paper presents the first comprehensive review of the energy consumption state-of-the-art of the public-school sector in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, including the first necessary dataset for future upgrade actions. The study was completed by means of a deep mapping, functional, typological, and pedagogical analysis. The collected data of real energy consumption of 69 schools highlighted an average energy consumption of 174 kWh/m2 year, with very consistent results for each educational cycle, even if a larger variance was expected due to difference in size, typology, and working hour. More significant differences can be observed when comparing the result of school with different typologies, stressing the relevance of further investigating the standardized Model system. To quantify their correlation to the buildings’ energy consumption, linear regression analyses were conducted on a number of notable factors, such as building age, net floor area, roof area, shape coefficient, number of students, number of classrooms and labs, presence of gyms and multipurpose halls, and implementation of digital technologies. Schools’ capacity/occupancy ratio, net floor area and roof area, and the use of energy-demanding devices for novel smart learning techniques were found having the highest impact. The tested multiple regression model, which displays a marginal error of 5–30 % when applied to single buildings and 9 % when used to assess larger clusters, could facilitate the estimation of the energy consumption of schools and support stakeholders’ decision making. The outcomes of the study can assist governmental agencies in elaborating suitable refurbishment policies for the energy and functional upgrade of the educational sector, both at the building and urban scale, and school administrator in tackling appropriate actions toward the schools use and resources optimization