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Water and energy consumption in schools: case studies in Brazil

Author

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  • Lucas Niehuns Antunes

    (Federal University of Santa Catarina)

  • Enedir Ghisi

    (Federal University of Santa Catarina)

Abstract

Over the past decade, rising water and energy consumption in educational institutions has become a topic of increasing attention among the scientific and policy communities. This work assesses the potential for water and energy savings in 100 public schools in southern Brazil. There was great variation in the water consumption (0.81–35.43 l/student/day) and also great variation in the energy consumption (0.31–66.47 kWh/student/month). Two schools were selected for assessing the implementation of a rainwater harvesting system and improvements in the artificial lighting system. One of the schools has high water and energy consumption, while the other has low consumption. In the school with high consumption, the potential for potable water savings by using rainwater varied from 2996 to 5431 l/day; and the payback period ranged from 20 to 36 months. The potential for energy savings by improving the artificial lighting system was 62%; and the payback period was just five months. In the school with low consumption, the potential for potable water savings by using rainwater ranged from 542 to 1574 l/day; and the payback period ranged from 46 to 83 months. As for the improvements in the artificial lighting system, there was an increase of 13% in the monthly energy consumption due to the current low illuminance levels in the classrooms. The results show the importance of choosing strategies for decreasing water and energy consumption in schools. Such strategies are usually economically and environmentally feasible, bringing significant reduction to the consumption of water and energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucas Niehuns Antunes & Enedir Ghisi, 2020. "Water and energy consumption in schools: case studies in Brazil," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 4225-4249, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:22:y:2020:i:5:d:10.1007_s10668-019-00380-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-019-00380-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mahlia, T.M.I. & Razak, H. Abdul & Nursahida, M.A., 2011. "Life cycle cost analysis and payback period of lighting retrofit at the University of Malaya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 1125-1132, February.
    2. Raatikainen, Mika & Skön, Jukka-Pekka & Leiviskä, Kauko & Kolehmainen, Mikko, 2016. "Intelligent analysis of energy consumption in school buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 416-429.
    3. Bertone, Edoardo & Sahin, Oz & Stewart, Rodney A. & Zou, Patrick X.W. & Alam, Morshed & Hampson, Keith & Blair, Evan, 2018. "Role of financial mechanisms for accelerating the rate of water and energy efficiency retrofits in Australian public buildings: Hybrid Bayesian Network and System Dynamics modelling approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 409-419.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mariko Almeida Carneiro & Diogo Da Fonseca-Soares & Lucian Hendyo Max Pereira & Angel Firmín Ramos-Ridao, 2022. "An Approach for Water and Energy Savings in Public Buildings: A Case Study of Brazilian Rail Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Jéssica D. C. Schultt & Andreza Kalbusch & Elisa Henning, 2022. "Factors influencing water consumption in public schools in Southern Brazil," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1411-1427, January.

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