OR-16-025 -- EU Project “School of the Future”—Refurbishment of School Buildings Toward Zero Emission with High-Performance Indoor Environment ✓ Most Recent

The aim of the School of the Future project (Fraunhofer-IBP 2015), which receives funding within the EuropeanUnion’s 7th Framework Program, is to design, demonstrate,evaluate, and communicate shining examples of how to reachthe future high-performance building level. School buildings,their owners, and their primary users, namely students, i.e., thenext generation, are the focus of the project. The energy andindoor environment performance of four demonstration buildingsin four European countries and climates have been significantlyimproved due to holistic retrofits of the buildingenvelope, their service systems, and the integration of renewablesand building management systems. It is anticipated thatthe results of the project and the associated research anddissemination efforts will support others dealing with buildingretrofits and will thereby have a multiplied impact on otherschools and on the residential sector since the students will actas communicators to their families. Training sessions specificallytailored to their needs have improved user behavior andawareness of energy efficiency and indoor environment. Thesuccess ismeasuredbyhowwell the retrofitsmeetthe followinggoals:• Reduction of the total energy use by more than a factorof 3, verified through monitoring• Reduction of the heating energy use by more than 75%,verified through monitoringThe improvement of the indoor environment quality (air,daylight, acoustic, thermal comfort) and the associated impacton the students’ performance will be analyzed by short-termmeasurements and questionnaires.