We have published a new study about the impacts of climate change in an office building in Portugal. This study presents several mitigation and adaptation measures to improve its energy performance. Find out more in the following link.
Article
Even though global warming is expected to raise the energy demand in office buildings, most energy analyses and design studies neither consider its impacts nor adaptive energy solutions. This study evaluates the effects of future climate on the energy demand of an office building in Portugal and proposes mitigation measures to improve its energy performance and environmental sustainability. The study simulates the energy demand of the building in 2055 and 2090 under different future scenarios using data from the latest climate model experiments, considering systems, envelopes, and operations interventions, and assesses the potential of photovoltaic panels to meet the energy demand. The results show that the interventions may reduce electric energy consumption between 16 % and 25 %, and the photovoltaic panels can meet 23 %–59 % of the total demand, depending on the scenario and the year. However, storage technology and equipment efficiency must evolve favorably to reach low energy. The findings reveal if a building designed and optimized for the current climate will remain optimal in the future and demonstrate the benefits of applying cleaner production and sustainable consumption principles to the office building sector. The study provides valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers.