Climate protection measures in schools
The EUKI project YESclima has contributed to measures that can lead the way for climate protection in buildings in the southern European province of Cádiz.
The regional government in Andalusia recently decided on a comprehensive programme to save energy and use climate friendly electricity in 30 schools in the province of Cádiz. This was preceded by the work of the EUKI project YesClima with students from the University of Cádiz in 2019 and 2020, led by professor Francisco Sánchez de la Flor.
The students used energy audits to develop proposals for 11 schools in 8 formerly rural small towns in the province on how to bring forward energy-saving measures and at the same time generate the electricity they need on the roof. They presented their results to city councils and the provincial government for discussion. Among other things, they suggested air-conditioning the buildings with a special form of evaporative cooling via the roof. At the same time, solar power systems should be installed there mainly for self-consumption.
The progamme will start in the running year. Teachers of one of the schools who collaborated with the YESclima project have already achieved to be included in these plans. More schools are about to participate.
Especially in Southern Europe, these methods for cooling in buildings are a central option for climate protection because in contrast to the most commonly practised air-conditioning it saves energy. Also, it is conducive to healthy indoor air. The YESclima project also proposed greening the buildings with plants to increase the cooling effect and to improve the microclimate in and around the buildings.