The neighbourhood of San José, located in the municipality of Langreo-Asturias is one of the oldest in the Asturian public housing stock. It was built around the 60’, as accommodation for workers and their families of the incipient chemical and electrical industry. Currently, the profile of the tenants is mostly elderly people, over sixty, and retired.
As a result of the construction rules in the 60’ (with very poor requirements in terms of isolation and energy efficiency), buildings and dwellings were suffering important damages. Wet walls, damaged windows, a mix of heating systems through carbon and gas, etc, were some of the most critical problems, with a very negative impact on health, and the economy (e.g. in order to heat the dwellings, tenants had to plug in many heaters) and comfort.
In 2018, VIPASA (the public company that manages public and social dwellings in Asturias) developed a monitoring study of hygrothermal and energy parameters in nine dwellings in the neighbourhood of Lada. The findings, mainly in terms of temperature, humidity and CO2 levels, were decisive in order to start with the project design and seek appropriate funding.
After negotiations with the Minister of ecological transition, and while the project was being designed, specific funds were allocated in the framework of the decarbonization programmes. At the same time, a specific budget from the Regional Minister of social rights and welfare in Asturias was also allocated for this initiative, including not only energy efficiency but also accessibility.
A presentation of the Project was held with all the tenants and the city council of Langreo, in the middle of 2019. At the same time, the project was tendered with a total budget of 7m€.
After the renovation project, the neighbourhood looks renovated, bright and the quality of life of tenants has improved substantially, mainly in terms of comfort and accessibility of the dwellings.
The action carried out improves the energy efficiency of the buildings, which implies a significant environmental improvement with great influence on its surroundings, since CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are reduced along with the consumption of non-renewable primary energy in the whole neighbourhood. This is because the energy demand of the buildings for optimal comfort in the dwellings was considerably reduced. According to the evaluation, the improvement in non-renewable primary energy consumption is 59.9%, the improvement in heating energy demand is 51.3% and the improvement in CO2 emissions is 61.6%.
This means great economic savings for tenants since the production of hot water becomes much more efficient and the need for heating is very limited. About 1 200 euro per year per dwelling is the estimated saving.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The project consists of improving the building envelope, incorporating a double-flow ventilation system with a heat recovery system to ensure the quality of the air inside the dwellings and allow savings in heating, as well as installing a central aerothermal system in each doorway to obtain domestic hot water.
PUBLIC AWARENESS
During the execution of the project, intensive work was carried out to raise awareness among residents of the importance of energy efficiency and the impact that the proper use of buildings has on sustainability. The first-hand experience of the comfort achieved by neighbours with very different profiles has led them to take on this responsibility as their own and to pass it on to others. More than 50 meetings with tenants in every building were held, with the participation of the subcontracted companies, the General Directorate of Housing, VIPASA, city council, and community services providers.
EASILY REPLICABLE MODEL
Another of the objectives achieved, which represents an innovation in the way of undertaking this type of intervention, is to carry out the work without interrupting the use of the inhabitants of the dwellings. This will allow the model to be replicated in other buildings more easily and at a lower cost.
Tools used
local
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