Potential of applying adaptive strategies in buildings to reduce the severity of fuel poverty according to the climate zone and climate change: The case of Andalusia

Abstract

The reduction of fuel poverty is among the major challenges of countries, policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers. Many contributions have today emerged; however, two aspects should be widely considered. On the one hand, the use of strategies based on the reduction of energy consumption through the adaptive approach, and on the other hand, the impact of climate change on fuel poverty, particularly considering the recent representative concentration pathways (RCP). This paper addresses both issues in Andalusia, which is among the regions with the highest population ratio under poverty risk. For this purpose, 4 zones with possibilities of applying adaptive strategies were distinguished in the Andalusian geography, and 3 climate change scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5) were projected in each decade (from 2030 to 2100). A total of 6,528 cases of representative social housing, simulated in all scenarios, were parametrically studied. All data were assessed from the point of view of fuel poverty risk. The results showed that the adaptive strategies influence the reduction of fuel poverty, both in annual and monthly values. Moreover, the increase in fuel poverty cases because of global warming could be reduced by this approach in the four zones detected in Andalusia. © 2021 The Author(s)