Analysis of the Relationship of the Improvement of Facades and Thermal Bridges of Spanish Building Stock with the Mitigation of Its Energy and Environmental Impact

The energy improvement of building stock is essential to achieve a low-carbon economy. The improvement of facades is among the most common measures to reduce energy consumption. However, the effect of thermal bridges is undervalued in most cases. This study assesses the effect of improving building facades and thermal bridges. For this purpose, a case study is assessed for all climate zones in Spain, both in current and future scenarios, considering operational patterns from the COVID-19 pandemic. The study shows that the application of energy conservation measures focusing on reducing the thermal transmittance of facades and the linear thermal transmittance of thermal bridges has a more significant energy and environmental effect than other, more economical energy conservation measures that do not improve the effect of thermal bridges. Likewise, the application of energy conservation measures to improve facades can reduce carbon dioxide emissions but are far from achieving the 90% reduction set by the European Union by 2050. Consequently, these measures should be combined with other measures.