Energy Efficiency: New Antarctic scientific stations projects

Описание: Marcelo Leppe, Ricardo Faundez, Andres Lopez
Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH), Chile

In order to effectively support the development of national Antarctic scientific research, the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) has developed three replacement projects for the facilities of the scientific bases Profesor Julio Escudero, Yelcho and Teniente Luis Carvajal; these projects are governed by international standards in items such as thermal envelope efficiency (requirements of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers - ASHRAE) in thermal transmittances, polar zone and mechanical ventilation flow rates (ANSI/ASHRAE 62.1, ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality), with evaluations using computational thermal models and calculations to optimize aspects such as potable water savings, artificial lighting, acoustics, ventilation, energy demands and consumption for air conditioning.
The passive architectural design criterion translates into a highly efficient thermal envelope, in accordance with the extreme climatic conditions of the area, for the residential building (Laboratory Building), which is characterized by two envelopes; the first in contact with the exterior, composed of blown panels, and a second envelope in the living modules. There is an intermediate space between the two envelopes, which contemplates a semi-climatized air by the rejection heat of the equipment in the Technical Plinth. The building is erected on a structural chassis consisting of columns, beams, sidewalls and steel profile braces on prefabricated concrete foundations, which support the modular units. All the pillars of the structure discharge to the ground by means of concrete foundations. For the interior of the structural chassis, modular units are considered, fully assembled at the factory and ready to be installed on site. Additionally, Non-Conventional Renewable Energy (NCRE) systems are incorporated to contribute to the generation of base energy and reduce fossil fuel requirements, allowing the generation of 30% of electricity through photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. The photovoltaic panels will provide a total of 54,966 kWh annually. The wind turbines are expected to generate 6,000 to 12,000 kWh per year, depending on wind conditions, among other factors. During the operation phase, the generation will have optimizations of the generating equipment as technological development progresses, in order to increase the contribution of NCRE, and therefore, reduce the use of fossil fuels.
In addition, the possibility of using H2V as fuel at the Julio Professor Julio Escudero station has been studied together with the German institution GIZ, developing a technical and economic pre-feasibility study for a project that allows the energy transition to the use of green hydrogen as energy in that station.
The project considers regulating or eliminating the use of luminaires that emit blue light spectrum, preferring warmer or green luminaires, in addition to prohibiting the installation of permanent luminaires facing the sea and reducing unnecessary lighting as much as possible.