Monica Aguado's research while affiliated with Centro Nacional de Energías Renovables and other places

Although widely used for energy production, fossil fuels pose a challenge in the fight against climate change. They are used in various sectors, with construction accounting for 40% of total energy demand.. To address this issue, the article looks at alternative technologies and fuels that can effectively reduce our dependence on fossil fuel-based energy, reduce our carbon footprint, and make existing buildings more self-sufficient. Hydrogen-powered fuel cells have the potential to completely transform energy production in buildings, generating energy on-site and reducing the carbon footprint of existing constructions. This article compares four commercial fuel cell options (SOFC and PEMFC) based on their technical, regulatory, and economic viability. Moreover, the selected equipments, suitable for domestic use and scalable, will be evaluated for their integration into an existing building to provide a proportion and knowledge of space. In conclusion, Equipment B (PEMFC) was chosen for installation after carefully considering the spatial and technical requirements that had to be met. The low maintenance costs of Equipment B played a crucial role, and the use of disruptive technology was in line with the case study strategy. Some parameters, such as space, ventilation, and temperature, are future fuel cell policy benchmarks. The comparison of PEMFC shows a developing competitive sector applicable to our building.

Existing educational buildings built with old normatives suffer a lack of technology, even though they are the frame of reference for our future society’s architects(/builders). These buildings, usually promoted by the public sector, don’t have significant economic investment, even if they are going to affect our children’s world perception. The object construction of this study is a building from 1978. It has an educational use located at the Pamplona campus of the Universidad de Navarra. The building is part of the Living Lab of the Campus, where technologies, solutions and strategies can be proved It is a protected building by the “Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement” (Do. Co,Mo.Mo.), so all actions that can affect its aesthetic aspects need to be justified because of the value of the building. The methodology presented concerns the development of a replicable technical, constructive, and economical feasibility model to reach an off-grid disconnection of an existing building. The steps followed for this study are classified in seven main steps. This proposal aims to define a replicable solution that is going to be applied to other buildings of campus Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona. Even that the first solution is going to be limited by the aesthetic aspect, the final objective is to develop a Plug & Play solution following the methodology, answering the energetical deficiency and complexity of existing constructions.