EFFICENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN BUILDINGS.

On September 9th, Prof. Giulia Forestieri presented the issue of efficiency and
sustainability in buildings. Before discussing the central issue, which was buildings, was
analyzed why sustainability is important in a general way; in a global framework where the main
drawbacks are overpopulation and global warming, which are taken as the basis for setting the 17
global goals to improve the world by 2030. Forestieri also noted that the carbon footprint
produced by each person contributes greatly to greenhouse gases, but another more striking fact
is that buildings emit about 50% of CO2 emissions (according to the words of Forestieri herself).

Professor Giulia, in addition to the aforementioned, indicated some relevant data to

understand the importance of the subject already mentioned. First, there are about 8 million tons
of plastic in the ocean. Second, there are about 61 years of copper, 40 of tin and zinc and 29 of
silver in the world. Third, 8500 million tons of construction material waste are produced
annually. This last point is where the speaker focused, but not in terms of why they occur, even
so what can be done with them in terms of circular economy (resource reuse), and it is from here
that she talked about the Nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) which are buildings of great
energy efficiency and where their sources are renewable energy. Finally, he treated the buildings
with better energy efficiency and also with natural materials for low-income people, but he did
not delve into the subject, and this is where this document will be addressed, in social,
environmental and economic terms.

In the first instance, many houses have not been energetically reformed. In general, the
home of low-income people is related to energy poverty, which is the low capacity to maintain a
house with a pleasant temperature and meet the usual energy consumption at a feasible cost [1].
In turn, this factor is related to poor physical health because changes in temperature reflect
changes in housing, which translates into the presence of mold and moisture, especially in cold
countries [2]. However, Capdevila et al. (2012), establishes three interventions in buildings: first,
insulate the elements with heat losses such as windows and pipes (passive elements); second,
improve heating systems (active elements); third, improve energy habits through information and
education to the inhabitants [3]; this way you can reduce heating fuel costs. It should be noted
that the interventions mentioned above do not apply to all cases, they may change in a tropical
climate, for example. Therefore, one of the factors to improve efficiently, in terms of energy, a
home is the right information.

Secondly, people with low resources have more limitations to reform the energy of their
homes. At this point, social inequality plays, since not all people can finance a change, "it is less
likely that tenants can undertake a modification, since the cost must be borne by the owner,
rather than the main beneficiary" (Camprubí et al., 2016, p.307) [4]. However, Asdrubali et al.
(2015) present a series of materials that can be recycled naturally, which mitigate the use of
petrochemical products such as polystyrene [5]. The materials mentioned in [5] are selected
according to the properties and the ease of obtaining them according to the place of the dwelling,
but they also have the problem of not being fully characterized. Hence, it is the responsibility of
governments to encourage and support energy improvement.

All in all, energy efficiency in homes is a topic of great importance for society in general
and for the government. First, we must reform the houses with the passive elements also, it is
possible, with the active elements; Second, consider the use of natural raw materials, taking into
account the cons and pros. The proper use of energy is everyone's responsibility, and not just the
government.

REFERENCES

[1] Colinas, H. (2011). Fuel Poverty: The Problem and its Measurement, Department for Energy
and Climate Change, London (2011)

[2] [4]. Camprubí, L. Malmusi, D. Mehdipanah, R. Palència, L. Molnar, A. Muntaner, C. &

Borrell, C. (2016). Façade insulation retrofitting policy implementation process and its effects
on health equity determinants: A realist review. Science Direct.

[3] Capdevila, I. Linares, E. & Folch, R. (2012). Eficiencia energética en la rehabilitación de

edificios. Guías técnicas de energía y medio ambiente. Barcelona, España.

[5] Asdrubali, F. D’Alessandro, F. Schiavoni, S. (2015). Sustainable materials and technologies.

Science Direct.