Pandemic and bills: The impact of COVID-19 on energy usage of schools in South Africa

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on global operations and economies. Inadvertently, lock-downs and working from home have reduced the daily carbon footprints of transport and office buildings. A beneficial consequence of these reductions is the ability to measure the differential demand of occupants, to benchmark the base load of these buildings, and identify opportunities for efficiency improvements. In this paper we evaluate the change in energy demand in five public schools in South Africa with changes in occupancy due to the COVID-19-imposed lockdowns.