Prediction of Thermal Comfort and Energy Behaviour Through Natural-Based Solutions Implementation: A Case Study in Badajoz, Spain

Abstract

Climate change impacts particularly affect vulnerable populations such as children. Therefore, it is necessary to address the adaptation of educational buildings to prevent their negative impact on school performance and to increase their resilience. This study is part of an ongoing project, LIFE myBUILDINGisGREEN (LIFE17 CCA/ES/000088), which aims to optimise learning conditions in schools in southern Europe affected by heat waves during warmer months. This first part of the project focuses on predicting the impact of nature-based solutions (NBS) implementation. The main concern of this stage is to analyse the benefits on both interior comfort and energy efficiency. This paper presents the results of the influence on space cooling demand via dynamic building simulations after successively applying the different NBS. Further improvements in indoor environmental conditions such as CO2 concentration reductions will be evaluated later. For this purpose, a demonstration building, located in southern Spain, characterized in terms of thermophysical parameters of the envelope and air infiltrations was selected. The energy model was calibrated with actual monitoring data. Different scenarios have been analysed through an energy prediction software, leading to a wide range of outcomes in terms of improvements in both energy demand-assuming a cooling system-and temperature reduction.

Shaping resilient buildings and cities: Climate change impacts, metrics, and strategies for mitigation and adaptation

“…• Identified Gap: While there is growing interest in nature-based solutions [153] , there is a need for empirical research to quantify their benefits, assess their long-term sustainability, and determine best practices for implementation.…”

Selection of nature-based solutions to improve comfort in schools during heat waves

“…Previous studies have analysed the effects of NBS implementation on comfort and energy demand through energy simulations applied to an educational building according to the local climate [20]. The cooling effects mainly depend on shading, whereas a lower proportion was due to transpiration and insulation provided by the direct greenings, which reduce radiation during night-time [21].…”