Bettergy has been the company awarded the contract to carry out energy audits, energy certifications and drafting of action plans in various municipal facilities in Vitoria-Gasteiz, specifically in the Abetxuko Sports Center and the Civic Centers of Salburua, Ariznabarra, Iparralde I and Iparralde II, Ibaiondo and Hegoalde.
The city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, which in 2012 became “green capital” and in 2019 was proclaimed “global green city”. is a city whose administration maintains high levels of demand in terms of energy efficiency and savings, and carrying out work in the field of energy for this City Council is a challenge due to the high level of demand required.
The purpose of this project is to carry out energy audits in order to identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvement and thus achieve the requirements established by the Basque Government in terms of energy savings with Decree 254/2020 and Law 4/2019.
Achieve energy savings of 35% by 2030 and 60% by 2050.
To achieve by 2030 that more than 40% of the buildings have energy rating B or A.
In addition, the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council has a more ambitious objective, seeking to ensure that most of its buildings comply with the EnerPhit (Passivhaus) standard, seeking to improve comfort with the lowest possible energy consumption.
The age of some of these centers, some of which were built at a time when construction criteria were far removed from the desired standard, has been an added difficulty for the Bettergy team, which has relied on the participation of engineers and architects specialized in the Passivhaus standard.
Solutions proposed by Bettergy
After an exhaustive study of each of the facilities, the most important measures proposed can be summarized as follows.
- Renewable energies: In each center, the available photovoltaic power has been analyzed according to the available surface and the needs of each building.
- Climate control: Acting mainly on heating and DHW equipment, we have sought the most efficient equipment on the market that can replace the current ones. In addition, the decarbonization of the installations has been sought, proposing whenever possible the elimination of natural gas boilers for high efficiency heat pumps or aerothermics.
- Envelope: In order to comply with the EnerPhit standard sought, actions on the envelope to improve airtightness play a fundamental role. Improvements have been proposed both in the facade and in the openings and windows.
- Openings and windows: Actions have been proposed both in the carpentry and in the glazing, such as the replacement of the current ones with low transmittance glazing that meets the requirements of components demanded by Enerphit.
- Facades and roofs: Depending on each building, insulation improvements have been analyzed and proposed, such as the installation of external thermal insulation (SATE) with EPS or XPS, or the incorporation of a ventilated facade. For these measures, not only the desired standard has been taken into account, but also compliance with the requirements of the Technical Building Code (CTE DB-HE1).
- Ventilation control: When improving airtightness, ventilation control is another essential aspect to achieve the desired objective. Therefore, for each building we have studied and proposed the installation of ventilation equipment with heat recovery units of at least 75% recovery.
Results obtained
After the energy audits carried out and the proposed measures, these buildings will be able to comply with the requirements demanded by the regulations of the Basque Government and the City Council itself.
Current energy consumption of the buildings studied: 11,580,044 kWh.
Energy savings with the proposed measures: 4,472,919 kWh (38.6% of current consumption).
Economic savings with the proposed measures: 470,690 euros/year.
CO2 emissions savings: 574,577.24 Kg CO2/year.
Furthermore, in terms of energy rating, with the implementation of the proposed measures, the Iparralde I Civic Center would achieve an energy rating of B, while the rest of the buildings would achieve a rating of A, so 100% of the buildings studied are in a position to achieve an A or B energy rating.
