Addressing Large-Scale Energy Retrofit of a Building Stock via Representative Building Samples: Public and Private Perspectives

Abstract

Scientific literature about energy retrofit focuses on single buildings, but the investigation of whole building stocks is particularly worthy because it can yield substantial energy, environmental and economic benefits. Hence, how to address large-scale energy retrofit of existing building stocks? The paper handles this issue by employing a methodology that provides a robust energy analysis of building categories. This is denoted as SLABE, "Simulation-based Large-scale uncertainty/sensitivity Analysis of Building Energy performance". It was presented by the same authors and is here enhanced to investigate a whole and heterogeneous building stock that includes various categories. Each category is represented via a Representative Building Sample (RBS), which is defined through Latin hypercube sampling and uncertainty analysis. Hence, optimal retrofit packages are found in function of building location, intended use and construction type. Two families of optimal solutions are achieved. The first one collects the most energy-efficient (and thus sustainable) solutions, among the ones that produce global cost savings, thereby addressing the public perspective. The second one collects cost-optimal solutions thereby addressing the private perspective. EnergyPlus is employed as a simulation tool and coupled with MATLAB ® for data analysis and processing. The methodology is applied to a significant share of the Italian public administration building stock, which includes several building categories depending on location, use destination and construction type. The outcomes show huge potential energy and economic savings, and could support a deep energy renovation of the Italian building stock.

Development and Performance Assessment of Prefabricated Insulation Elements for Deep Energy Renovation of Apartment Buildings

“…Case studies have shown the viability of the nZEB renovation measures to improve the condition of residential building stock in Croatia [5], Spain [6,7], Poland [8], and the Mediterranean climate [9]. The outcomes show huge potential energy and economic savings and support deep energy renovation needs [10,11].…”

Energy Retrofit in European Building Portfolios: A Review of Five Key Aspects

“…Article [6, [84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91] Conference paper [92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105] [ [106][107][108][109][110][111][112] Review [113][114][115][116][117] After every publication in Table 1 was accurately analyzed, it demonstrates that the methodologies employed are rather heterogeneous, and sometimes they even show conflicting results. Hardly any research proposes a comprehensive study, covering all the aspects that should be considered, from the early audits to the final decision-making processes.…”

“…Three multi-function buildings in Bologna (Northern Italy) were selected as representative case studies, and the decision support system was tested on them. Another relevant work is presented in [84]; the authors analyzed an Italian building stock, creating 30 macro-categories of building typologies. The categories were defined according to five Italian climatic locations, three uses, and two types of envelope construction.…”

Sensitivity Analysis of Passive Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Cold Semi-Arid Climates

“…Bre et al (2016) investigated the potential of residential building design optimisation using sensitivity analysis in Paraná, Brazil [35]. Ascione et al (2017) investigated the potential of large-scale energy retrofit measures on the building stock using sensitivity analysis techniques [36]. Chen et al (2017) performed a sensitivity analysis of passive design strategies for a high-rise residential building in the hot and humid climate of China [37].…”