In order to support and collaborate with the development of projects and research on energy efficiency in La Araucanía Region, Dr. Alejandra Schueftan —manager of Instituto Forestal (INFOR) Los Ríos, an institution attached to the Ministry of Agriculture— submitted in Temuco the project “Sistema de apoyo a la inversion en eficiencia energética para el sector residencial de la ciudad de Valdivia” (Support system for investment in energy efficiency for the residential sector in the city of Valdivia), an initiative funded by CORFO and currently implemented by INFOR in Valdivia.
“As far as fieldwork is concerned, this initiative carries out a thermographic analysis, using drones and manned aircraft flights. They are able to detect housing heat losses and sources of pollutant emissions in the city. This allows to prepare sheets aimed at guiding people on the actions they should take to improve the energy efficiency of their houses and to make better use of their own resources as well as those provided by the state”, explained Alejandra Schueftan in relation with the objectives pursued by the project.
The activity was organized by the Facultad de Arquitectura y Construcción of the Universidad Autónoma (UA) in Temuco and included the participation of several government authorities —such as the Regional Secretary of the Energy Ministry, the Regional Secretary of the Environment Ministry, the regional director of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MINVU), and representants of the Instituto de Estudios del Habitat (IE+H) from the UA. After the exposition by Dr. Schueftan, the authorities above- mentioned examined the possibility of replicating this study in residential areas in the city of Temuco.
“This meeting not only allowed to bring together several regional authorities related to the energy efficiency issue, but also to learn about this innovative project carried out by INFOR in the city of Valdivia. This project has an interesting methodology and significant progress in terms of its implementation. This represents an excellent opportunity to work together and validate its implementation in our region”, claimed Héctor Ramírez, director of IE+H.
At the end of the meeting, the authorities underlined that the INFOR study could be a contribution to focus on and stimulate the implementation of the plan for eliminating air pollution in Temuco and Padre las Casas, and thus address the pollution problems that affect other towns of the region. Therefore, an agreement was reached with the aim of seeking for funding sources and unifying the work between INFOR and Universidad Autónoma de Chile, through the Instituto de Estudios del Hábitat.
