Possibility of Upgrading Public Buildings to Become Climate Neutral

Abstract

Between February 2024 and February 2025, 27public buildings, selected to be representative of the region, located in the Silesia region of Poland and comprising schools, offices, and cultural facilities, were equipped with advanced measuring systems that allowed the measurement of energy consumption for the purposes of heating and the powering of electrical devices. Thermal and energy data were logged in one minute intervals. After the measurement campaign, the buildings were subjected to multi-variant analysis for the possibility of generating sufficient energy on-site to cover the energy needs of the buildings. Four different photovoltaic panel technologies and three different heat sources were modeled for each building, using the real measurement data. The effects of energy storage were also evaluated. It was determined that despite the diversity of the buildings, and despite the assumption of no further thermal modernization in the buildings other than on the side of the supply, the results are generally favorable.