Influence of thermal insulation of facades on the performance of retrofitted social housing buildings in Southern European countries

Abstract

The socioeconomic reality of the social housing neighborhoods in Southern European countries imposes the application of passive energy rehabilitation schemes to minimize the thermal discomfort.A program to evaluate the indoor climate using experimental measurements was developed during one year, in a social housing neighborhood in Porto, Portugal. The results allowed validating a dynamic numerical simulation model for a reference dwelling, to assess thermal comfort in eight cities of Portugal and Spain.The study allowed concluding that for social housing buildings without heating or cooling systems installed, it is possible to have thermal comfort for a scenario without additional thermal insulation in facades, considering the remaining construction elements well insulated. During winter, in Lisbon, Faro and Seville, the percentages of thermal discomfort are less than 8% for the category III of EN 15251:2007. In summer, the thermal comfort may be achieved in Porto and Bilbao, since the percentage of thermal discomfort is negligible. The small reduction (13%) on thermal discomfort with the increasing of the thermal insulation in facades makes evident that it is impossible to have thermal comfort in Bragança, Madrid, Bilbao and Porto without heating the buildings and in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Faro without cooling the buildings.