A Sustainable Approach towards the Retrofit of the Public Housing Building Stock: Energy-Architectural Experimental and Numerical Analysis

Abstract

Nowadays, energy retrofit interventions on the existing building stock are of paramount importance towards energy consumption and emissions reductions in the construction sector. Such interventions are also crucial in the view of increasing cities resilience with respect to the intensification of frequent extreme weather events, such as cold spells and heatwaves. Indeed, a wide portion of our cities is dated and lacking with respect to performances. These are the motivations behind the proposed sustainable approach, which deals with the environmental perspective, but also with social and economic ones, by proposing the retrofit of the Public Residential Building stock (Edilizia Residenziale Pubblica, ERP). The objective is to improve the energy performance of ERP stock by means of construction materials coming from local km0 agricultural waste and by-products. The research was conducted by means of in field and numerical analyses of the energy performances of a relevant case study building. Different layers of bio-based, recycled construction materials for the envelope were tested with respect to their efficacy in improving the energy performance of a case study building. The results demonstrate that the most performing envelope solutions and their combination are able to reduce up to 36% of the yearly energy consumption for heating.

Living Labs in Social Housing Upgrades: Process, Challenges and Recommendations

“…The upgrading of buildings, based on sustainability, is widely acknowledged as the axis of the building's stock reformulation [13], especially for social housing. For instance, retrofit interventions are critical to reducing energy consumption and CO 2 emissions [14,15]. In addition, conventional energy-efficiency approaches should be complemented by community or user-centred initiatives as opportunities for experimental, flexible, and customised SH upgrading [16].…”

Assessing the Transformability of Public Housing through BIM

“…A huge share of ERP apartments are located in post-WWII buildings, the so-called "great-size" interventions, started in the 1960s and characterized by prefabrication, industrialization and located in suburbs outside the historic centers [8]. Due to the widespread current state of obsolescence and inadequacy, most of the post-WWII ERP buildings require retrofit interventions [9]. Several efforts have been done in the last few years concerning the seismic-energy retrofitting strategy for residential buildings [10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

A Case Study on a Stochastic-Based Optimisation Approach towards the Integration of Photovoltaic Panels in Multi-Residential Social Housing

“…Some examples of refurbishment interventions in social housing are described in the literature, mostly integrating measures pointing towards a better indoor environmental quality and reduction of the energy consumption, such as increased thermal insulation, new windows and doors with enhanced thermal characteristics, and new energy-efficient HVAC systems [18][19][20][21][22]. The cost-effectiveness of these interventions is important to ensure housing affordability, minimising the risk of tenants being unable to cover energy costs [23].…”