Impact of COVID-19 countermeasures on the energy and water consumption and CO2 concentration of municipal buildings

Abstract

As a disease, COVID-19 has shaken the world in 2020/21. Countermeasures have been taken by governments to protect against infection, which have also affected the water and energy consumption of buildings. In particular, buildings managed by public authorities (e.g. kindergartens, schools and administrative offices) have been closed and reopened with different concepts. In this paper, the impact of countermeasures on the electrical and thermal energy and water consumption of municipal buildings is investigated using monitoring data of 100 buildings from 2018 to 2021 of a city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in Germany. Where available, data of CO2 sensors from building automation systems are included in the evaluation. The CO2 concentration is in a range of concern (1500-2000 ppm) for 2% of presence periods. A value in the unacceptable range (>2000 ppm) is not found in the CO2 data. Since only ventilation-conditioned spaces are equipped with CO2 sensors, no conclusions can be drawn about non-ventilated buildings. We investigate to which extent the measures taken have changed the energy and water consumption. On total average, the heat demand increased lightly by 5 % and water and electricity demand decreased by 15% and 12% respectively.