Energy

Manuscript Draft

Manuscript Number: EGY-D-13-00101

Title: Environmental metabolism of educational services. Case study of

Agenda 21 kindergartens in the city of Barcelona

Article Type: Full Length Article

Keywords: kindergarten; services; energy; water; emissions;

sustainability

Abstract: Public buildings are expected to show high environmental

standards and their role is thus of great importance. Among them,
kindergartens present a priori a higher level of consumption. This paper
aims to analyse the environmental profile of a sample of 15 public
kindergartens in the city of Barcelona and evaluate good environmental
practices. Therefore, energy, water and transport flows have been
analysed. Results show that the annual average energy intensity is 966.3
kWh/child and 114.0 kWh/m2, which is less than the average consumption of
educational centres taken as a whole, while a child requires 12.9 m3 of
water annually. Lower energy consumption takes place in centres with
higher use of energy-efficient devices, a trend which could not be found
in the case of water. In the case of transport, car usage accounts for
84% of CO2eq emissions, though only 19% of the children commute by car.
Since these kindergartens belong to the Scholar Agenda 21 of Barcelona,
these emissions were thought to be lower than in non-belonging centres
and than those in other cities, because Barcelona is compact and has a
huge public transport network. However, further research in the field is
needed, given that few case studies were found.
*Highlights (for review)

HIGHLIGHTS

- The environmental metabolism of 15 kindergartens belonging to the Agenda 21

of Barcelona was analysed
- A kindergarten is one of the greatest energy consumers in the educative sector.
- CO2eq. emissions were thought to be lower than in kindergartens out of the
Agenda 21
- High-efficiency devices enable lower energy consumption
*Manuscript
Click here to download Manuscript: sanjuan et al_submitted (10-1-13).docx Click here to view linked References

Environmental metabolism of educational services. Case study of Agenda

1
2 21 kindergartens in the city of Barcelona
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David Sanjuan1, Anna Petit-Boix1,*, Julia Martnez-Blanco1, Joan Rieradevall1,2
6
1
7 SosteniPrA (ICTA-IRTA-Indit), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA),
8 Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
9 2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193
10
Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
11
12
13 *Corresponding author at: anna.petit@uab.cat
14
15
16
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18
19
ABSTRACT
20
21 Public buildings are expected to show high environmental standards and their role is
22 thus of great importance. Among them, kindergartens present a priori a higher level of
23 consumption. This paper aims to analyse the environmental profile of a sample of 15
24
25
public kindergartens in the city of Barcelona and evaluate good environmental practices.
26 Therefore, energy, water and transport flows have been analysed. Results show that the
27 annual average energy intensity is 966.3 kWh/child and 114.0 kWh/m2, which is less
28 than the average consumption of educational centres taken as a whole, while a child
29 requires 12.9 m3 of water annually. Lower energy consumption takes place in centres
30
31 with higher use of energy-efficient devices, a trend which could not be found in the case
32 of water. In the case of transport, car usage accounts for 84% of CO2eq emissions,
33 though only 19% of the children commute by car. Since these kindergartens belong to
34 the Scholar Agenda 21 of Barcelona, these emissions were thought to be lower than in
35
36
non-belonging centres and than those in other cities, because Barcelona is compact and
37 has a huge public transport network. However, further research in the field is needed,
38 given that few case studies were found.
39
40
41 Keywords: kindergarten, services, energy, water, emissions, sustainability
42
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 1. INTRODUCTION
1
2 1.1 Sustainable Development and Agenda 21
3
4 Resource consumption in European cities is a relevant vector for their environmental
5
6
performance. Currently, 70% of European energy consumption takes place in cities [1],
7 and 17% of water abstraction in 2007 was used for public water supplies [2]. Moreover,
8 2,615 million of tonnes of waste were produced in European towns during 2008 [3].
9
10 Therefore, the environmental impact of cities should be minimised.
11
12 Since the Rio Earth Summit (1992), the concept of Sustainable Development (SD) has
13 become known around the world [4]. Locally, it has led to the development of Local
14 Agenda 21 (A21), according to which every community adapts to its own needs. It
15
16 follows the statement, think globally, act locally, which is why each social actor has to
17 contribute to global environmental action.
18
19 Local governance has acquired great importance in climate change mitigation and
20
21 adaptation, among other impacts, especially after national leaders failed at Copenhagen
22 [5]. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities [6], for instance, suggested that
23 local and regional governments ask their national leaders to recognise the governments'
24
25 roles in climate change mitigation. On the other hand, as a central tool of strategic
26 governance for sustainable development, A21 has been embraced by more than 5,000
27
28 cities [7].
29
30
1.2 Municipalities for climate change
31 In the context of the current European Climate Change policy, Energy for a changing
32
33 world, also called 20-20-20 [8], the Covenant of Mayors, which involves local
34 authorities from the European Union, was signed to improve energy efficiency and
35
36 promote renewable energies in services [9]. The key document of the Covenant of
37 Mayors is the Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP). This document has had great
38 importance for environmental policies in the last years.
39
40 To achieve the recently fixed 20-20-20 goal, which involves reducing greenhouse gas
41
42 emissions and energy consumption by at least 20% and increasing the contribution of
43 renewables to 20% of total energy consumption by 2020, all economic activities must
44
45 be considered. The service sector plays a significant role within urban regions and
46 society in general, representing between 60% and 70% of the Gross Domestic Product
47 in developed countries [10]. Therefore, its contribution to environmental issues must be
48
49 taken into account. Energy consumption in the service sector was 11.3% of the total in
50 the EU-27 [11]. In the world, energy consumption increased by 37% between 1990 and
51
52 2005, reaching 27 EJ in 2005 [11].
53
54
Public buildings for services have great importance, as their administrations are
55 expected to use them to demonstrate good examples of sustainability. A part of the
56 actions in SEAP are dedicated to public buildings (e.g., administration and offices,
57
58 educational facilities, sports facilities and socio-cultural facilities [12]), which are
59 mostly used to provide services to citizens, and energy consumption varies depending
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62 2
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 on the service. Many studies have, therefore, recently examined energy-consuming
1 buildings, such as hotels [13, 14], office buildings [15, 16], schools [17] and museums
2
3 [18], while others have made comparisons between different types of buildings [19]. For
4 hotels, it was found that the average annual electricity consumption in Singapore [14]
5
6
was 361 kWh/m2, and Xin et al. [13] showed that the building area was highly
7 correlated to the energy consumption in four- and five-star hotels in Hainan (China),
8 while building age and occupancy rate presented weak correlations with energy
9
10 consumption.
11
12 Among these services, this article focuses on educational facilities, specifically
13 kindergartens, which present a priori a higher level of consumption, as specified in 1.2.
14 As observed in the following chapters, plans, programmes and projects have recently
15
16 been developed to improve educational services in the municipal framework.
17
18 1.3 Environmental protection in kindergartens. International experiences
19
20 In the framework of the A21, the Scholar Agenda 21 (A21S) has been developed in
21 several cities (belonging to countries such as Italy, Germany, Spain or France), and it
22
23
aims to involve educational centres in the citys environmental improvement. Apart
24 from helping schools increase their level of sustainability, A21S wants to include
25 environmental education in the centres and involve children in different environmental
26
27 issues, such as waste and resource management and contact with nature. It is crucial to
28 include childrens participation to let them learn how to respect the environment
29
30
because it will ensure the protection of the environment across generations [20].
31 Few articles regarding this topic have been published to date. A study carried out in
32
33 secondary schools in Finland [21] concluded that environmental projects and
34 participation programmes linked to the environment increased the students interest in
35
36 environmental issues. In Turkey, Incekara and Tuna [22] concluded that students had a
37 relatively high knowledge about the environment but were not so knowledgeable about
38 Sustainable Development. Another study showed that Nigerian teachers in primary and
39
40 secondary schools had significantly positive attitudes toward environmental
41 sustainability issues and teaching environmental sustainability topics [23].
42
43 The case of the Agenda 21-kindergarten (A21S) in Gelsenkirchen (Germany) is an
44
45 example of an action related to improvements in energetic efficiency in these facilities.
46 A checklist was made by the work group Kinder und Jugendliche (Children and
47 Youth), with the support of the North Rhine-Westphalia Energy Agency [24]. There
48
49 were several questions for the kindergartens to answer about energy saving, material
50 recycling and social topics, such as the participation and interaction of children, parents,
51
52 and teachers.
53
54
On the other hand, the German Energy Agency has also been developing projects in
55 other cities, such as Hattingen, Witten and Schwelm (Germany), where children
56 attending kindergartens were willing to participate in the saving task. Moreover, the
57
58 Agency carries out several seminars on the environment and energy efficiency for
59 teachers and families.
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62 3
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 From a slightly different point of view, the construction of a sustainable kindergarten is
1 taking place in Hrsholm, Denmark [25]. It is an Active House, which means that it
2
3 produces more energy than it consumes and will control light incidence as well as
4 energy consumption. Its construction aims to encourage future sustainable building
5
6
designs.
7 In the Nordic region, there is a well-known environmental distinction called Nordic
8
9 Swan [26], in which pre-school buildings, as well as small houses and apartment
10 buildings, constitute one of the categories. The requirements of the building are
11
12 qualitative (such as ventilation or the constituent material) as well as technical,
13 including energy efficiency and the limitation of substances in construction materials
14 that are hazardous to health and the environment.
15
16 On the other hand, an experimental green roof was installed in a kindergarten in Greece
17
18 and its environmental performance was analysed [27]. Results showed that there was an
19 increase in the energy efficiency due to the plant insulation and the lower energy
20
21 requirements for cooling the building.
22
23
Some particularities of the educational facilities in kindergartens may have a greater
24 impact than in the other education levels previously mentioned. Given the ages of the
25 users, water consumption and waste production are expected to be potentially higher
26
27 because children ages 0 to 12 months need their diaper changed 7 times every day and
28 an average of 5 times when they are 1 to 3 years old [28], so they need to be washed
29
30
more often. Moreover, thermal requirements are stricter to preserve the childrens
31 health; studies have shown that bed overheating during sleep can increase the risk of
32 sudden infant death syndrome [29]. Apart from the mentioned topics, environmental
33
34 education is also important at early life stages because children are already able to
35 understand everything that surrounds them and the effects that environmental changes
36
37
can produce to the world [30].
38 In his doctoral thesis, Gerardo Wadel studied the environmental impact of the different
39
40 stages of a building (e.g., construction, decommission, use and maintenance) [31]. The
41 results show that the use and maintenance phase accounts for 60% of the environmental
42
43 impact. Thus, this stage should be considered in future studies regarding the
44 environmental impact of buildings.
45
46 1.4 Environmental experiences in kindergartens in the city of Barcelona
47
48 Barcelona has been chosen as one of the best environmental cities in the EU and is one
49 of the finalists for the European Green Capital Award 2012 [32].
50
51 Globally, Barcelona has a total population of 1,601,828 inhabitants [33] and, in the
52
53 2008-2009 school year, 29,906 children ages 0-3 years attended kindergartens [34],
54 totalling 1.9% of the population.
55
56 Since 2001, the A21S in Barcelona has been adopted by more than 350 schools and
57 kindergartens, and 207 are presently active [35]. Each school/kindergarten designs its
58
59 own project for the improvement of the centre and its environment.
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62 4
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 The project can be annual or triennial, and the only requisite is that the process of
1 reviewing the plans and educative practices and making commitments to improvement
2
3 actions for the environment and sustainability has to be a participatory process.
4
5 1.5 Justification and goals
6
7
This article aims to supply new information about the kindergartens' metabolisms.
8
9
Previous studies in the field have only focused on energy consumption in buildings,
10 without considering other vectors. Thus, there is an important lack of data regarding the
11 metabolism of this system. A kindergarten is thought to be an educational service with
12
13 great levels of resource consumption per child. Furthermore, it is the scholastic phase in
14 which greater contact between schools and families takes place. It can thus be a key
15
16
point to visualise environmental improvement actions from the perspective of
17 environmental communication.
18
19 The specific goals of the study consist of the following: elaborating an environmental
20 profile of a sample of kindergartens in the city of Barcelona through the inflows of
21
22 energy, water and materials and the outflows of equivalent CO2; comparing the flows
23 between kindergartens and identifying the main variables affecting the results, e.g.,
24 building area, opening hours and school age; and evaluating good environmental
25
26 practices in the centres. Both the scale of the system (i.e., the kindergarten) and the
27 expanded system, which includes the neighbourhood, have been considered when
28
29 studying transport (Figure 1).
30
31
Thus, this article aims to evaluate the environmental state of the A21 kindergartens,
32 which is expected to be higher than that of conventional kindergartens, and identify
33 which kindergartens in the sample have the greatest impact, trying to find explanations
34
35 for the differences found.
36
37 1. METHODOLOGY
38 The first stage of this study involved choosing a sample of kindergartens in a
39
40
Mediterranean geographic region within the EU: the city of Barcelona. Barcelona has a
41 Mediterranean climate, characterised by cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The
42 level of heating consumption in the winter is very high.
43
44
45 Among the different phases in which facilities produce an environmental impact (e.g.,
46
47
construction, use, decommission), this article focuses on the use stage of the
48 kindergarten facilities because it results in a larger impact (60%) than the construction
49 stage, as reported by Wadel [31].
50
51
52 Performance indicators, such as energy/water per square metre and energy/water per
53
54
pupil, are calculated in order to analyse the energy and water efficiency in the buildings
55 [36]
56
57
58
59
60
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62 5
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 2.1 System under study
1 Fifteen public kindergartens were included in the sample, representing 6% of the centres
2
3 included in the Barcelona A21S programme. Centres included in the A21S usually
4 demonstrate greater interest in the environment, and the required data are available for
5
6
most centres. For this reason, all kindergartens in the sample are part of the A21S. As a
7 result, the findings of this study may be representative for centres belonging to the A21S
8 in Barcelona, as their inclusion in the programme framework might have represented
9
10 more sustainable behaviour; moreover, Barcelona is a compact city with a well-
11 developed public transportation network, which enables lower car usage. They might,
12
13
therefore, illustrate the trends among those involved in the programme.
14 These centres are identified with a letter in Table 1, along with some of their main
15 features. To study the centres, fifteen working groups were organised, and each was
16
17 assigned a kindergarten.
18 <Table 1>
19
20
21
Figure 1 shows the inflows (energy, water, transport and material) and outflows
22 (emissions to the atmosphere) that the system considered.
23
24
25
<Figure 1>
26
27 2.2 Data collection and treatment
28
29 To obtain the necessary data, each of the working groups visited its assigned
30 kindergarten several times to understand the centres performance. Different methods
31
32
for data collection were used depending on the variables needed and the school.
33
34
2.2.1 Fieldwork
35 The studies assessed energy, water and transport, which are the three main points in the
36
37 environmental performance of the schools. To know the status of schools, a complete
38 inventory was conducted to provide data about energy and water facilities, as well as
39
40 material flows. This inventory also included the presence of solar cells and other
41 renewable energy sources in the schools.
42
43 2.2.2 Registers
44
45 For energy and water, registers for the 2008-2009 period were used to obtain
46 consumption data because they were the ones available. It was assumed that the greater
47
48 energy contribution came from the built area, i.e., the interior area of the kindergarten
49 (including the kitchen, toilets, laundry, office and rooms). The values per area unit were
50
51
thus calculated with this built area. Energy represents the total electricity and gas
52 consumption. On the other hand, the study considered that water was also consumed for
53 watering gardens or playgrounds. The whole area of the kindergarten was thus taken
54
55 into account when analysing the water-area relationship.
56
57 2.2.3 Surveys
58
59
For transport, parents completed surveys about the distances travelled and the means of
60 transport that families used to deliver children to kindergarten. Other relevant flows,
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62 6
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 such as waste or other material inputs (e.g., toys, food, cleaning products) were not
1 taken into account due to the difficulties of obtaining and integrating the required data.
2
3 Table 2 summarises the methodology used in data collection, classified by data type.
4
5 <Table 2>
6
7
8 After data collection, a simple environmental analysis was conducted. For each type of
9 energy consumption and transport, the equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2eq) emissions
10
11 were calculated to determine the schools impacts on the environment. Different
12 conversion factors were used to translate each flow to CO2eq emissions. For energy
13 consumption, the Catalan ratio of electricity emissions was used, i.e., 0.14 kg
14
15 CO2eq/kWh, and 0.20 kg CO2eq/kWh was used for natural gas [38]. An emission factor
16 was considered for each means of transport, which was converted after using the
17
18 appropriated CO2eq value, depending on the source of energy used in each means of
19 transport [38].
20
21 Furthermore, analyses of the facilities water efficiency and energy consumption were
22 carried out based on the occurrence and use of different types of devices, such as low-
23
24 energy lighting, aerated and timed faucets, toilets with dual-flush capacity and drip
25 irrigation, as well as ecological food consumption and the separation of waste fractions.
26
27 A comparison was made between the degree of energy and water consumption and the
28 implementation of efficient devices.
29
30 In addition, statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and correlations, which
31 were developed with the aid of PASW Statistics 17, from the Statistical Package for the
32
33 Social Science (SPSS) developed by EBM (Armonk, New York, United States)
34 software and Microsoft Office Excel.
35
36 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
37
38 In the following sections, each consumed flow (i.e., energy, water and transport) is
39 analysed, with a focus on possible causal relationships between each flow and
40
41 kindergarten features (e.g., area, number of children, building age and opening hours).
42 Table 3 shows a compilation of the data related to the energy and water consumption for
43
44 each of the kindergartens included in the sample.
45
46
<Table 3>
47
48 3.1 Energy and water flows
49
50 3.1.1 General trends
51
52
In this section, analyses were carried out to study water and energy consumption in ten
53 kindergartens using two different reference units: consumption per unit of area (m2) and
54 consumption per child, as observed in Figures 2 and 3. The assumptions made are
55
56 presented in Section 2.
57
58 <Figure 2>
59 <Figure 3>
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62 7
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 First, it can be observed in the data that the energy and water flows show similar trends
1 in both the consumption per child and per unit of area. Half of the centres (50%) surpass
2
3 the mean energy consumption per unit of area, while only 20% do in the case of water
4 (Figures 2 and 3). Thus, with the exception of two centres, kindergartens present a
5
6
greater similarity with each other in terms of water.
7 There are several variations between centres behaviours. The maximum values are 4- to
8
9 6-fold greater than the minimum values for both energy and water flows. Considering
10 that they belong to the same geographical area, they carry out the same activities as
11
12 educative facilities; because they all belong to the A21S, these are important variations.
13 These variations could be related to different levels of environmentally friendly
14 behaviours in the kindergartens and/or childrens well being, and differences in the
15
16 centres management likely play an important role.
17
18 Drawing comparisons to existing data, Oliver-Sol et al. [39] (unpublished results)
19 evaluated the municipal facilities metabolism of the Province of Barcelona, including
20
21 the facilities of 21 kindergartens. According to the study, the average annual energy
22 consumption of a kindergarten was 123.2 kWh/m2, which differs little from the value
23 obtained in the present study (114.0 kWh/m2). The slight difference in the mean energy
24
25 value could be because the kindergartens included in the present study are members of
26 the A21 programme. However, this study presented greater variations between
27
28 kindergartens because the maximum value is 1760-fold greater than the minimum (0.24
29 - 422.2 kWh/m2).
30
31 3.1.2 The environmental profile of a child
32
33 To establish the environmental profile of a child, it was determined that on average each
34 child requires 966.3 kWh of energy and 12.9 m3 of water every year to fulfil his or her
35
36 educational needs, which means, in terms of daily consumption, 5.03 kWh and 67.3 L of
37 water. Data regarding energy consumption could be compared with existing analyses, as
38 observed in Section 3.1.1, while there is a lack of studies of the kindergarten
39
40 metabolism for other flows.
41
42 Oliver-Sol et al. [36] also focused on the school system and found that, on average, a
43 student consumed 172.6 kWh annually, which is approximately one-fifth of the
44
45 calculated value for kindergartens. This highlights the importance of the kindergarten
46 system, which is found to be one of the greatest energy consumers in the educative
47 sector.
48
49 For water, a comparison could be drawn in relation to the daily consumption of an
50
51 individual throughout a 24-hour period. An average inhabitant of Barcelona consumes
52 between 130 and 200 L of water every day [40]. The lower consumption per child (67.3
53
54
L/day) could be explained considering age and habits. In general, children under 2 years
55 old are not able to use toilets because they wear diapers, and this fact reduces the
56 number of children consuming water. Furthermore, children do not spend 24 hours a
57
58 day at the kindergarten.
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62 8
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 3.1.3 Correlation analysis
1
2
3 The correlation between energy and water flows and the area, the number of children,
4 the number of yearly opening hours and the building age was also analysed (Table 4). A
5 significant correlation was obtained only in the case of the area (p<0.05), in which case
6
7 the Pearsons correlation index was higher (r=0.680), showing a stronger relationship
8 with water consumption. This fact may be due to the use of the total area in the case of
9
10 water, which was only partially considered for energy (i.e., only the built area,
11 excluding the garden).
12
13
14 <Table 4>
15
16 Even though the correlation index is not high (R2=-0.394) and the result was not found
17
18 to be significant (p>0.01), the influence of the building age presents an inverse effect,
19 which means that older school consume less water. However, values obtained with
20
21 Pearsons correlation do not present a high grade of dependence within the variables
22 because they are not close to 1.
23
24
25 Finally, because a relationship between water and energy can be observed in the
26 services sector, a function model was created to show this relationship, but the
27
28 correlation was also weak, as R2 = 0.215 and was not significant. A positive relationship
29 was observed in a similar study conducted by Farreny et al. [18] regarding the
30 metabolism of museums.
31
32
33 3.2 Transport
34
35 In this case, the percentages of the mean of transport used by children (and their
36 families) to commute from home to school were determined, as well as the transport-
37 derived CO2 emissions. Table 5 shows the percentages for the use of each transportation
38
39 type, CO2 emissions derived from cars and public transport, and their relative
40 contribution to the kindergartens emissions.
41
42
43 More than half of the children (61%) commute by foot or bicycle, and 20% use public
44 transport. This means that most children do not produce any CO2 emissions derived
45
46 from motorised transport. Thus, kindergartens have sustainable mobility habits in
47 general terms.
48
49
50 It can be observed that the percentage of children using cars is less than one-fifth (19%),
51 which is similar to the percentage using public transport (20%). However, most of the
52
53 emissions are derived from the former (84% of the total), while the latter produces a
54 smaller part (16%). Commuting by private car is, then, the most important factor to take
55
56 into account to reduce emissions derived from transport, even though it represents a
57 smaller percentage of children.
58
59
60 Great differences can be observed in the percentages of each means of transport.
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 Sustainable transport patterns (i.e., a higher percentage in the use of public transport,
1 bicycle and on-foot) can be related to factors shaping a kindergartens neighbourhood,
2
3 such as topography, average economic income, population density or the presence of
4 adequate infrastructure (e.g., train station, bus stop).
5
6
7 <Table 5>
8
9
10 3.3 Emissions derived from transport and energy
11
12 The emissions derived from energy and transport have been calculated for each
13 kindergarten based on the data provided by the registers and the surveys, as illustrated
14 in Table 6.
15
16 Most of the emissions from the kindergartens (87%) are derived from transport. Both
17
18 energy and transport present great variability. This variability reflects the differences
19 between the consumption levels captured by the registers, in the case of energy, and the
20
21 differences in the percentages for using each means of transport, in the case of transport.
22
23
<Table 6>
24
25
26 3.4 Application of efficient devices
27
28 Efficiency also contributes to the level of consumption by the facilities, and it should be
29
30 a subject of study. Thus, the infrastructure of the kindergartens was analysed in depth to
31 identify possible relations between the level of the facilities efficiency and the noted
32
33
environmental fluxes. Table 7 shows the degree to which kindergartens adopted
34 measures to save energy and water and manage waste. This degree has been symbolised
35 using crosses: + represents the low application of a specific device, ++ medium,
36
37 and +++ high. Details of the ranks considered for each measure are found in the
38 legend. The measures considered were as follows: the relative application of several
39
40
devices for low-energy lighting, time/aerated faucets and toilets with dual-flush
41 capacity; the presence or absence of solar panels and drip irrigation; and the number of
42 fractions being separated. Additionally, the ratio of ecological food in the school was
43
44 also assessed. According to the kindergarten food regulations, at least 5% of foods
45 consumed at school must be ecological.
46
47 It was observed that low-energy lighting, solar panels and toilets with dual-flush
48 capacity are measures with lower implantation. Drip irrigation and separated waste
49
50 fractions have been broadly adopted (+++) by over half of the centres. Timed or aerated
51 faucets and ecological food have different degrees of implementation among
52
53 kindergartens. Although, as mentioned above, 5% of foods must be ecological at every
54 kindergarten, 4 centres did not reach this minimum. In the so-called green schools
55 framework, this fact must be taken into account, as it is compulsory but not
56
57 accomplished by 26% of the kindergartens.
58
59
60 <Table 7>
61
62 10
63
64
65
 1 According to the total punctuation marks in the water and energy measure categories
2
3
(i.e., adding all the plus signs) and the water and energy consumption per area unit in
4 each kindergarten, it could be determined whether applying efficient devices had an
5 impact in the total consumption. In the case of energy, this relation was positive because
6
7 kindergartens with a higher use of efficient devices (e.g., E, F, H, O) presented a
8 generally lower mean level of energy consumption (88 kWh/m2) than the others (131.3
9
10
kWh/m2).
11 This relation is not so clear for water. An approximation could not be developed because
12
13 there were some difficulties in the determination of open areas. The garden/playground
14 uses were heterogeneous and varying between vegetable gardens, and some centres had
15
16 autochthonous plants and a paved playground. Thus, finding a relation held great
17 difficulty, and the use of these types of water-efficient measures could not be directly
18 associated with lower water consumption. It is believed that future investigations should
19
20 focus on these assumptions, given that it is of great importance to manage and analyse
21 the real efficiency of these well-known devices.
22
23 4. CONCLUSIONS
24
25 The environmental analysis of the case study kindergartens, considering the inflows of
26
27
energy, water and transport, shows that these systems have an important demand for
28 resources. As a result, it is confirmed that these facilities have a high impact on the
29 environment. Nevertheless, it has to be considered that the kindergartens selected in this
30
31 sample were included in the A21 program. The environmentally friendly state of the
32 kindergartens could thus be significantly higher than the mean of all kindergartens in
33
34
Barcelona.
35
The annual average energy intensity was 966.3 kWh/child and 114.0 kWh/m2.
36
37 Comparing the sample of 15 kindergartens, it was detected that the 50% of such
38 educational centres surpass the mean energy consumption per unit of area, and any
39
40 fluctuations were important.
41
42 In the case of water, each child requires 12.9 m3/year of water to fulfil his or her
43 educational needs, while there is an average consumption per unit of area of 0.80
44 m3/m2year. Only 20% of the kindergartens surpass the mean consumption.
45
46 No significant correlation could be identified between energy and water, but the
47
48 relationship between water consumption and building area was the strongest
49 (R2=0.680), which implies that bigger buildings consume more water. This greater level
50
51
of consumption could be a result of considering the whole kindergarten area instead of
52 the built facility, which could lead to lower deviations.
53
54 On the other hand, the environmental effect of car usage was evident because only 19%
55 of the children commute to the kindergarten by car, but this mode of transport produced
56
57 but 84% of the transport-derived CO2eq emissions. Thus, future studies on services
58 should focus on transport, especially those that can present greater percentages of car
59
usage, as it can account for the greater part of CO2eq emissions. Moreover, other
60
61
62 11
63
64
65
 factors such as topography, neighbourhood design, environmental actions or mean
1 economic intake can modify the transport patrons, varying the usage of car, bicycle and
2
3 public transport.
4
5 Considering the implementation of efficiency devices, more than 50% of the
6 kindergartens adopted measures such as drip irrigation and waste fraction separation,
7 while others presented a lower level of application, as observed in low-energy lighting,
8
9 solar panels and toilets with dual-flush capacity. Drawing relations between these results
10 and energy consumption, it could be observed that a higher use of efficient devices
11
12 implied lower energy consumption. However, this relation could not be determined for
13 water, due to some difficulties derived from the open areas.
14
15 To improve these results and contribute to the kindergarten data system, further research
16 is needed, as few case studies were found in this field.
17
18 5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
19
20 The authors would like to thank the students of the Environmental Sciences Degree
21
22 (academic year 2010-2011), matriculated at the Autonomous University of Barcelona,
23 the headmasters of the 15 kindergartens considered in this study, the Acci 21
24 programme of the A21 in Barcelona, and the Barcelona City Council.
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62 12
63
64
65
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Figure

FIGURES AND CAPTIONS

INFLOWS
NEIGHBOURHOOD SYSTEM

ENERGY KINDERGARTEN SYSTEM

Electricity OUTFLOWS
Natural gas
Renewable SUBSYSTEMS
ENERGY and
Kitchen Toilets Laundry TRANSPORT
WATER
Global CO2eq
Office Classrooms emissions

TRANSPORT Garden/Playground +
Vegetable garden

Figure 1 Inflows and outflows in the kindergarten system

250 2.0
1.8
Water consumption (m3/m2)

200 1.6
Energy intensity (kWh/m2)

1.4
150 1.2
energy
1.0
water
100 0.8
mean (energy)
0.6
mean (water)
50 0.4
0.2
0 0.0
N I B H L O F D E M
Kindergarten

Figure 2 Yearly energy and water consumption per unit of area. Data for the period 2008-2009
 2000 35
1800
30

Water consumption (m3/child)

1600
Energy intensity (kWh/child)

1400 25

1200
20 energy
1000
15 water
800
mean (energy)
600 10
mean (water)
400
5
200
0 0
N I B H L O F D E M
Kindergarten

Figure 3 Yearly energy and water consumption per child. Data for the period 2008-2009
Table

Table 1 Characteristics of the selected kindergartens (Barcelona, Spain) in 2010-2011

Opening
Building Building
Kindergarten a Registered 2 hoursb
area m /child agec
ID 2 children (yearly
(m ) (years)
hours)
A 2,142 63 34.0 1,779 4
B 200 36 5.5 1,218 36
C 1,352 63 21.5 1,779 9
D 1,009 63 16.0 1,779 4
E 1,300 63 20.6 2,591 9
F 1,047 73 14.3 1,779 6
G 825 73 11.3 1,779 11d
H 1230 63 19.5 1,779 20
I 432 35 12.3 1,779 10
J - 91 - 1,779 1
K 1035 82 12.6 1,779 7
L 2,554 63 40.5 1,779 9
M 1,064 63 16.9 1,779 7
N 750 63 11.9 1,779 29d
O 782 63 12.4 1,779 6
a
Total built area
b
Weekends and holidays have been excluded [37]
c
From the foundation year
d
Since the last location change

Table 2 Data procurement protocol depending on the information type required.

Procurement
Notes
methodology
Water consumption Registers
Electricity consumption Registers
Gas consumption Registers
Surveys were fulfilled by the
Transport Survey
parents of the children.
Each group carried out one or
Infrastructure and devices Fieldwork
more visits to the kindergarten.
Table 3 Total annual (2009-2010) consumption of gas, electricity and water and total annual
emissions derived from transport and for transport and energy in the kindergartens
Energy consumption Water
Kinder-garten
(kWh) consumption
ID
Electricity Gas Total (m3)
A nd nd nd nd
B 4,921 13,104 18,025 265
C nd nd nd nd
D 31,703 17,092 48,795 628
E 25,479 3,853 29,332 1,013
F 36,267 9,147 45,414 458
G nd nd nd nd
H 23,453 94,741 118,194 663
I 12,794 32,831 45,625 262
K nd nd nd nd
L 28,170 87,999 116,169 1,593
M 19,660 12,174 31,834 1,886
N 12,523 57,256 69,779 479
O 30,391 11,412 41,803 553
Mean 22,536 33,961 56,497 780
Max. 36,267 94,741 118,194 1,886
Min. 4,921 3,853 18,025 262
Standard
9,940 33,966 34,779 553
deviation
nd: no data

Table 4 Correlation analysis for energy/water inflows in relation to the remaining variables
Number of Opening Building
Area Energy Water
children hours age
Energy Pearsons correlation 0.484 0.314 -0.005 0.017 1 0.215
a
Sig. (two-tailed) 0.156 0.383 0.989 0.963 0.551
Water Pearsons correlation 0.680 0.404 0.293 -0.394 0.215 1
Sig. (two-tailed) 0.030 0.247 0.411 0.259 0.551
a
A correlation is significant when p<0.05 (two-tailed)
 Table 5 Percentage of use for each transport and percentage of emissions derived from each
Mean of transport use Emissions Relative
(%) (kg CO2eq/year) emissions (%)
Public On- Public Public
Car Bicycle Car Car
transport foot transport transport
A 21 36 43 0 56.7 17.3 77 23
B 9 21 70 0 13.8 5.8 71 29
C 54 33 13 0 145.7 15.9 90 10
F 45 18 37 0 140.7 10.0 93 7
H 8 26 56 7 22.4 12.5 64 36
I 14 18 64 5 20.9 4.9 81 19
L 15 0 84 1 40.4 0 100 0
M 0 16 84 0 0 7.7 0 100
N 11 11 79 0 28.3 5.5 84 16
O 11 26 57 6 29.7 12.5 70 30
Mean 19 20 59 2 49.9 9.2 84 16
Standard
17 11 23 3 51.4 5.4 28 28
deviation

Table 6 CO2eq emissions derived from energy and transport for each kindergarten

Kindergarten Emissions (kg CO2eq/child)

ID Energy Transport Total
A Nd 74.02 nd
B 3.36 19.66 23.02
C nd 161.64 nd
D nd nd nd
E 3.66 nd nd
F 7.05 150.78 157.83
G nd nd nd
H 22.52 37.93 60.45
I 8.47 25.93 34.40
K nd nd nd
L 21.83 40.48 62.32
M 5.28 7.71 12.99
N 19.59 33.82 53.41
O 6.67 42.21 48.88
Mean 10.94 59.42 56.66
Max. 22.52 161.64 157.83
Min. 3.36 7.71 12.99
Standard
7.98 53.91 44.54
deviation
nd: no data
 Table 7 Punctuations for the application of different efficient devices in each kindergarten.
Energy Water Food Waste
Toilets
Low- Use of Timed/ with Consumption Separated
Drip
energy solar aerated dual- of ecological waste
irrigation
lighting panels faucets flush food fractions
capacity
B + + ++ + +++ + ++
D ++ + +++ +++ +++ ++ ++
E + +++ +++ + + ++ +++
Energy and water

F +++ + + +++ +++ +++ +++

existing data

H ++ +++ ++ + +++ ++ +++

I + + ++ + +++ +++ ++
L ++ + ++ + + ++ +++
M + + +++ ++ + +++ +++
N + + + + + + +++
O + +++ + + + + ++
A + +++ + +++ +++ ++ +
existing data
Energy and
water non-

C + + + + + ++ ++
G +++ + ++ + +++ ++ +++
J + + +++ + +++ + ++
K + + +++ + +++ +++ +
+ 67 73 33 73 40 27 13
Mean
(%)

++ 20 0 33 7 0 46 40
+++ 13 27 33 20 60 27 47

+ 0-25% No 0-25% 0-25% No <5% 0-1

Legend

++ 25-75% 25-75% 25-75% 5% 2-3

+++ 75-100% Yes 75-100% 75-100% Yes >5% 4