Collaborative project to improve the thermal comfort and the energy consumption at the faculty of engineering vitoria-gasteiz (university of the basque country)

Resumen

In this work, we present the project a group of students, researchers, lecturers and administrative and services staff of the Faculty of Engineering Vitoria-Gasteiz (University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU) are carrying out in order to take care of our World and make others be aware of it.In particular, the current project is aimed at monitoring the energy consumption of the heating system of the Faculty and identifying discomfort situations. Some thermal discomfort situations have been detected, which affect the comfort of the entire university community and, of course, the environment. In spite of the heating system being in operation, there are cold areas that require the switching on of auxiliary electric radiators. At the same time, there are other areas which are too warm and the members of the university community are forced to open windows even when the heating system is on. These measures are clearly harmful to the environment. This is due to the fact that the current air-conditioning system of the Faculty is unbalanced and has a deficient control system. This discomfort and waste of energy requires a study of the current state and a readjustment of the system in order to reduce emissions and air conditioning costs.For decades, the Faculty of Engineering Vitoria-Gasteiz has shown its commitment to the environment and sustainability. In addition, this Faculty is very involved in trying to improve the results of the students and it has taken part in several actions. It is probed that students involved in the University life and working together with other students improve their academic results and motivation in their studies.In this way, we developed our Project as an opportunity to involve our students in the Faculty’s life and problems and, at the same time, develop a very interesting project focused on 5 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 3. Health and well-being, the improvement of thermal comfort is a very important factor for the health and welfare of the university community. SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, this work intends to make a study to improve infrastructure reducing the energy consumption in air conditioning and to improve comfort by promoting innovation. SDG 11. Sustainable cities and communities and SDG 12. Production and responsible consumption, our work aims to improve the sustainability of the Faculty by reducing consumption and raising awareness about a more responsible consumption of energy for air conditioning, making our community more sustainable. SDG 13. Climate Action, after making the measures and proposing possible solutions, these measures will fight directly against climate change.All this framed in a context of quality education, as it will be implemented in a course and in three final year projects that will involve academic staff from five different departments and areas of knowledge.Likewise, it is intended that the university community, once they have seen the good and bad practices results, collaborate in the dissemination of this experience by promoting good practices on a domestic, industrial and social level, in line with the Agenda 2030 for Sustainability.