Energy savings potential of socio-technical interventions in secondary schools

Due to the geopolitical crisis in fall 2022 a shortfall of fossil fuels was feared, why many public administrations saved energy by reducing indoor temperatures and consequently impacting severely comfort. To address this conflict with the support of the public building owner in Luxembourg (ABP) and other academic partners, we proposed to analyse the savings potential of socio-technical interventions, without major renovation and without comfort reduction. School buildings were chosen due to their great outreach and excellent dissemination, as those adolescents will be the citizens of the future. They should receive a basic education in energy & comfort and should therefore later lead by example in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The focus is on human interventions combined with technical operational adjustments. Our project proposes to start with an energy audit and comparison with good benchmarks, allowing to distribute the thermal and electric consumption to different parts and activities. An in-depth analysis of these consumers indicates where to act. The chosen approach is to involve the complex chain of the school stakeholders to participate into the technical analysis, identify savings opportunities and define reduced operational modus for absence periods, when the buildings are not occupied.