The laboratory has developed a set of IT tools to support public administrations in the implementation of energy refurbishment of school buildings to the status of Near Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB).
The "TEESCHOOLS" toolkit is designed to be simple and intuitive, so that it can also be used by non-experts in the sector. The toolkit consists of three tools:
• Energy analysis tool for school buildings (Energy Profile Module)
• Evaluation tool for energy efficiency solutions (Renovation Options Module)
• Best practices catalogue.
The activities were carried out within the Interreg Teeschools project in collaboration with regional, Italian and European educational institutions.
Teeschools toolkit
The TEESCHOOLS toolkit allows a fast and effective initial scan of the potential benefits that can be achieved by implementing energy efficiency actions. Compared to more advanced applications, that require expert knowledge in the field, TEESCHOLS is easy to use and is hence expected to provide benefits all across Europe.
The TEESCHOLS toolkit was developed for school buildings (primary, secondary schools, high schools).
Screenshot of the "Energy profile module"
Renovation of the “Don Milani” primary school of Castel San Pietro Terme, Bologna, Italy
The tool was used, within the TEESCHOOLS project, for the energy renovation of the primary school “Don Milani”, located in Castel San Pietro Terme (project partner, a town located in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy)
Researchers from LAERTE provided to the local operators a basic course on energy efficiency and the necessary training and instructions to use the TEESCHOOLS toolkit. This allowed the institutions involved to use the tool independently.
The use of the “Energy Profile” module allowed validating the assumption that the school is below standard with respect to its energy efficiency, after comparison with the baseline. This led to the identification of a series of interventions (insulation of external walls and roof, substitution of the windows) that were considered to be the most promising, through the use of the “Renovation Options” module. This analysis was used as the basis to prepare and file a funding application to national and regional incentive schemes, that allowed financing 85% of the expenses.
Today the renovation process is over, and the school has reduced its energy demand by 24%.
“Don Milani” School in Castel San Pietro Terme (Bologna)
The toolkit is available in several languages, and within the TEESCHOOL project was tested on over 50 schools all across Europe. The use of the toolkit, enabling a number of energy efficiency renovation works, allowed the collection of the information required for the drafting of the “Best Practices” catalogue.
Example of intervention on the primary school of Loiano (Bologna, Italy)