Validation of Alonso-Frank & Kuchen's methodological tool to determine the energy efficiency level indicator for users of a high-rise residential building in San Juan, Argentina.

Abstract

The residential sector represents the largest consumer of energy in the building sector. Although in recent years there has been an increase in regulations and projects to establish strategies for the rational and efficient use of energy, this process is still underway. This research is based on the hypothesis that users are responsible for the unforeseen energy consumption during building use. The objective is to validate a methodological tool that expresses the User Efficiency Level (Nivel de Eficiencia del Usuario, NEU) of a high-rise residential building located in San Juan, Argentina. To this end, a survey was carried out in the building. The habits that the average users use to satisfy their thermal comfort in summer were revealed. The values were then shown in the graphic form of a label. The evaluation of results demonstrated the massive use of passive strategies that do not consume energy, instead of active strategies, thereby leading to a low energy consumption of 14.6 kWh/m² Person. Correspondingly, the User Efficiency Level indicator found was valued as "good" and did not correlate with parameters such as user age, number of inhabitants per home or dwelling floor. Therefore, it is concluded that energy efficiency level depends on user awareness of energy consumption.