Ramísio Paulo J, Pinto Lígia Costa, Almeida Manuela
University of Minho, CTAC, Department of Civil Engineering, Campus de Azurém, Guimarães, 4800-058, Portugal.
University of Minho, NIPE, Department of Economics, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, 4710-057, Portugal.
Heliyon. 2024 May 23;10(11):e31688. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31688. eCollection 2024 Jun 15.
The quest for improving energy efficiency is transversal to all areas of society. Higher education institutions represent an important sector in this quest due to their high demand, but also for the role model that they can play in educating energy-efficient citizens and piloting new approaches and experiences. Thus, decreasing energy consumption in higher education institutions, in addition to reducing the carbon footprint, contributes to ameliorating countries' energy bills, and, most importantly, contributes to a more sustainable society. The purpose of the paper, based on the energy consumption of the University of Minho, Portugal, between 2007 and 2022, is threefold: first, to evaluate how energy consumption and associated carbon footprint indicators have performed under a sustainable strategy program, second to reflect on total energy and specific energy indicators, and lastly to emphasize the need to improve energy metering and planning systems to account for the distinctive needs of the different scientific area buildings. This is not only relevant but also rare to find in scientific literature. Findings suggest that UMinho's energy consumption is in line with the numbers reported in the literature. Moreover, detailed indicators, specified by scientific area building, show diverse patterns in energy use, demonstrating the limitations of an overall analysis of buildings in the university campi. The results show that energy efficiency improved as a result of the implemented action plan, and demonstrate the need for detailed and specific indicators that reflect the different needs of each scientific area. The results provided by this refinement call for the design of tailored initiatives to decrease energy consumption, since they allow the planning of specific measures and programs for different energy use patterns, and therefore improve their efficiency. Finally, the preliminary results of the analysis of building specific energy use point to the need for more detailed data on hourly and daily consumption and academic term given the relative contribution of users' behaviour.
提高能源效率的追求贯穿于社会的各个领域。高等教育机构因其高需求，在这一追求中代表着一个重要部门，同时也因其在培养节能公民以及引领新方法和新经验方面可发挥的榜样作用。因此，降低高等教育机构的能源消耗，除了减少碳足迹外，有助于改善国家的能源账单，最重要的是，有助于建设一个更具可持续性的社会。本文基于葡萄牙米尼奥大学2007年至2022年的能源消耗情况，目的有三个：第一，评估在可持续战略计划下能源消耗及相关碳足迹指标的表现；第二，思考总能源和特定能源指标；最后，强调需要改进能源计量和规划系统，以满足不同科学领域建筑的独特需求。这不仅具有相关性，而且在科学文献中也很少见。研究结果表明，米尼奥大学的能源消耗与文献中报道的数字相符。此外，按科学领域建筑指定的详细指标显示出能源使用的不同模式，这表明对大学校园建筑进行整体分析存在局限性。结果表明，由于实施了行动计划，能源效率有所提高，并表明需要有反映每个科学领域不同需求的详细和具体指标。这种细化所提供的结果要求设计针对性的举措来降低能源消耗，因为它们允许针对不同的能源使用模式规划具体措施和方案，从而提高其效率。最后，对建筑特定能源使用情况分析的初步结果表明，鉴于用户行为的相对贡献，需要关于每小时、每日消耗以及学期的更详细数据。
