Energy Modeling in neighborhoods of Valdivia: Application of the Energy Rating of Houses for the Analysis of Typologies and their Improvement Potential

Abstract

Cities in south-central Chile face serious problems of air pollution and energy poverty. In this scenario, massive housing retrofitting would allow several benefits such as the reduction of air pollution, the reduction of household expenditure, and the improvement of indoor comfort conditions, which would lead to an improvement in the health and quality of life of the population. Availability of information to plan and prioritize the areas of the city to be intervened is key to obtain better results in the short and medium term and to invest resources efficiently. In this context, it is proposed that the energy modelling of dwellings extrapolated to an urban scale -using the city of Valdivia as a study case- would allow to identify the areas that have greater urgency to be intervened and greater potential for improvement. The methodology was based on hybrid energy modelling using bottom-up methodologies and the city was divided into 35 sectors in which a detailed constructive survey of all housing models, grouped into 74 typologies, was carried out. Subsequently, the current performance of each typology and its potential for improvement through the implementation of rehabilitation strategies within the framework of the Atmospheric Decontamination Plan for the municipality of Valdivia was simulated using the Housing Energy Rating (CEV). Results show a significant theoretical potential for improvement, with an average of 68% for all typologies. With this information, an extrapolation of the results of the housing simulations to a neighborhood scale was carried out, and maps were drawn up with the purpose of visualizing the improvement potential of massive retrofitting in the city. These constitute a tool for planning and prioritization, replicable for other cities in which the aim is to minimize energy consumption, air pollution, and energy vulnerability of neighborhoods, thus promoting sustainable and fair energy transition processes.