Apart from residential buildings, non-residential buildings such as offices, hospitals, administrative buildings and schools also consume considerable amounts of thermal energy – 37 percent of the total energy consumed by buildings. The project “Transitioning heating systems in public non-residential buildings” looks at these kinds of buildings. Specifically, it takes a close look at school buildings and analyses the effects of energy-efficient refurbishment as part of the Berlin school construction campaign.
A close look at school buildings
Did the rehabilitation measures fully harness the potential efficiency? Were the potential greenhouse gas reductions actually achieved? To what extent did user behaviour influence these effects after refurbishment? In addition to these questions, the project also analyses the level of involvement of school stakeholders in the refurbishment measures, how to improve their participation and make it more successful and what obstacles they face.
Combining refurbishment with an education campaign
It would be particularly useful to combine the refurbishment measures with a more extensive education campaign on energy efficiency and climate change mitigation. The participating schools would then turn into active living laboratories and the school refurbishments would form an integral part of the heat transition. The project therefore also looks at the question of what conditions, measures and support would be necessary to achieve this goal.
In methodological terms, the project evaluates data and consumption from existing documents, conducts on-site inspections and analyses the findings. The socio-economic aspects are assessed through interviews with the groups of people involved. The results are presented and discussed in workshops