Potential energy savings and mitigation of emissions by insulation for residential buildings in Mexico

Well-designed buildings with optimal construction materials and insulation are crucial for controlling the current and future power consumption and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The environmental conditions, such as the air temperature and solar radiation, have a complex relationship with the heating and cooling power requirements of residential buildings. In this study, the power consumption of climate control systems (air conditioners, fans, electric heaters) in all locations in Mexico were determined (187,719 rural and 4,525 urban locations), which were classified into three climate regions (extremely hot, mild, and tropical). Subsequently, the optimal insulation thickness of the walls and roofs was determined, and occurrence maps of five different insulation materials (expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, glass wool, rock wool, and polyurethane) were established. Moreover, spatial data mining was conducted with the Geographic Information System (GIS) and databases of the main construction materials; the method includes the heating degree day and cooling degree day parameters (HDD and CDD, respectively). The results show that 19% of the power consumption in the residential sector is intended for climate control systems (13% for urban and 6% for rural households), whereas 95% of households in Mexico do not have thermal insulation. The estimated electrical power consumption of climate control systems is 4.5 times the electricity consumption of the entire residential sector. Finally, an insulation system for all existing and projected houses until 2030 is presented that could realize an accumulated power savings of 94.72 TWh, which correspond to 44.67 MM tons CO2. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.