Reducing energy consumption in homes is a necessary step on the road to mitigating climate change. To do this, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby significantly improving the quality of life of Buenos Aires’ citizens.
As a way to measure the level of energy consumption, we implemented the Energy Efficiency Label for residential buildings: a document containing a scale of letters from "A" (the highest level of energy efficiency) to "G" (the lowest level of energy efficiency) which determines the energy efficiency class of a home associated with a range of values of the Energy Performance Index (value that represents the primary energy requirement to meet the needs of heating, cooling, water heating and lighting for a year per square meter). This measurement provides us with the necessary information to retrofit the dwellings and reduce electricity consumption.
We carried out, in collaboration with the National Secretariat of Energy, a first pilot test in 150 dwellings in all the municipal urban divisions of the City, 130 (87%) belonged to multi-owner residential buildings and 20 (13%) were single-family homes, the results revealed that the average value of the Energy Performance Index obtained was 228 kWh/m2/year. With this value, the scale of the energy label for the City's pilot test was constructed, using the criteria of the Secretariat of Energy. This label represents the first step in the construction of a definitive scale. Using a color code (red, yellow or green), preliminary recommendations were made to guide possible improvements.
These measures will be complemented by:
Incentive programs for the replacement of inefficient equipment.
Migration from the use of natural gas for heating and hot water to electric systems.
Energy talks aimed at the community, teaching programs for children from 3 to 9 years old, a virtual school for high school students and a web portal for building retrofitting.
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Learn more about the new 2050 Climate Action Plan.
Learn more about the residential building energy labeling pilot test.