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Energy use and Indoor climate in Livestock buildings for Pigs in North America and Europe : A Literature review

Malm, Therese ; Jeppsson, Knut-Håkan ; Johansson, Dennis LU ; Nik, Vahid LU orcid ; Yngvesson, Jenny and Dubois, Marie-Claude LU (2024) p.1136-1145
Abstract
Climate change can raise average temperatures and humidity and induce more frequent and stronger extreme weather events. This intensifies the need for studies on indoor climate and energy use in livestock buildings as it will affect animal welfare and farmers’ economy in terms of production, energy demand and needed investments. The aim of this review was to identify knowledge gaps and the need for further research about energy use and indoor climate of livestock buildings for pigs, including passive and active adaptation measures. In total 29 articles were reviewed, published during 2000-2023, from Europe and North America.

One key finding was that the studies conducted had different aims and approaches regarding the scope and... (More)
Climate change can raise average temperatures and humidity and induce more frequent and stronger extreme weather events. This intensifies the need for studies on indoor climate and energy use in livestock buildings as it will affect animal welfare and farmers’ economy in terms of production, energy demand and needed investments. The aim of this review was to identify knowledge gaps and the need for further research about energy use and indoor climate of livestock buildings for pigs, including passive and active adaptation measures. In total 29 articles were reviewed, published during 2000-2023, from Europe and North America.

One key finding was that the studies conducted had different aims and approaches regarding the scope and presentation of results. The energy use data were presented using various definitions and units with total energy use for a specific category and number of pigs and a given period being the most common. However, when housing area and pig data were provided, key figures on energy use could have been calculated to enable benchmarking. Indoor climate conditions were also reported in different ways, ranging from detailed information on temperature and humidity to no information on indoor climate conditions at all.

Our review revealed that the variety of scopes, periods and types of results make it difficult to compare or generalise research findings with different production systems. Studies are needed on energy performance related to building and housing systems, outdoor climate conditions, and fulfilment of indoor climate requirements for good animal welfare, expressed in well-defined key figures. Furthermore, more research is needed to understand the effect of climate change and the potential of adaptation measures, to improve energy-efficiency, cost-effectiveness, indoor climate, and animal welfare in buildings for pigs.
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Proceedings of AgEng 2024
editor
Katsoulas, Nikolaos
pages
1136 - 1145
publisher
Hellenic Society of Agricultural Engineers
ISBN
978-618-82194-1-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
547cf5e8-bc02-4c9c-9f49-0eed6e745c23
alternative location
https://eurageng.eu/?page_id=257
date added to LUP
2025-10-10 15:30:33
date last changed
2025-10-15 09:35:18
@inproceedings{547cf5e8-bc02-4c9c-9f49-0eed6e745c23,
  abstract     = {{Climate change can raise average temperatures and humidity and induce more frequent and stronger extreme weather events. This intensifies the need for studies on indoor climate and energy use in livestock buildings as it will affect animal welfare and farmers’ economy in terms of production, energy demand and needed investments. The aim of this review was to identify knowledge gaps and the need for further research about energy use and indoor climate of livestock buildings for pigs, including passive and active adaptation measures. In total 29 articles were reviewed, published during 2000-2023, from Europe and North America.<br/><br/>One key finding was that the studies conducted had different aims and approaches regarding the scope and presentation of results. The energy use data were presented using various definitions and units with total energy use for a specific category and number of pigs and a given period being the most common. However, when housing area and pig data were provided, key figures on energy use could have been calculated to enable benchmarking. Indoor climate conditions were also reported in different ways, ranging from detailed information on temperature and humidity to no information on indoor climate conditions at all.<br/><br/>Our review revealed that the variety of scopes, periods and types of results make it difficult to compare or generalise research findings with different production systems. Studies are needed on energy performance related to building and housing systems, outdoor climate conditions, and fulfilment of indoor climate requirements for good animal welfare, expressed in well-defined key figures. Furthermore, more research is needed to understand the effect of climate change and the potential of adaptation measures, to improve energy-efficiency, cost-effectiveness, indoor climate, and animal welfare in buildings for pigs. <br/>}},
  author       = {{Malm, Therese and Jeppsson, Knut-Håkan and Johansson, Dennis and Nik, Vahid and Yngvesson, Jenny and Dubois, Marie-Claude}},
  booktitle    = {{Proceedings of AgEng 2024}},
  editor       = {{Katsoulas, Nikolaos}},
  isbn         = {{978-618-82194-1-0}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  pages        = {{1136--1145}},
  publisher    = {{Hellenic Society of Agricultural Engineers}},
  title        = {{Energy use and Indoor climate in Livestock buildings for Pigs in North America and Europe : A Literature review}},
  url          = {{https://eurageng.eu/?page_id=257}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}