Holistic analysis to reduce energy poverty in social dwellings in southern Spain considering envelope, systems, operational pattern, and income levels

Abstract

Energy renovations carried out in energy poor households should consider a holistic view in the short-, mid- and long-term, especially in warm areas such as Andalusia, in the south of Spain. This study addresses the existing knowledge gap on technological and economic interactions in the energy poverty of family units in warm areas of Spain. To do this, the study performs a parametric analysis. In this parametric analysis, a dataset of 36,230,400 instances was developed considering envelope, HVAC systems, an operational pattern (based on static and adaptive thermal comfort models), and family units’ income levels. Likewise, the energy poverty ratio was compared based on the high share of energy expenditure in income (2 M). The results showed that improving envelope and establishing adaptive operational patterns did not effectively reduce energy poverty cases in low-income families in the south of Spain. However, these strategies were appropriate in family units with greater incomes to remove energy poverty cases, regardless of the low reduction in energy consumption by improving the envelope. This study is a starting point to combine social aids, energy improvements and rational energy use through adaptive operational patterns.