Energy retrofit of historic buildings: Environmental assessment of cost-optimal solutions

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThis paper describes the implementation of an integrated cost optimality and environmental assessment involving alternative energy efficiency retrofit packages for a building that dates from the beginning of the 20th century. A building typical of the building stock in the centre of Coimbra (located in the central region of Portugal and recently classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site) was used to illustrate the methodology presented. The results were also analysed for the same building in two other locations. A life-cycle (LC) model was implemented to assess different energy efficiency measures for an apartment. The economic assessment complied with European Directive 2010/31/EU. The results show that the lowest life-cycle environmental impacts were obtained for insulation thicknesses between 50 and 120 mm, which are also cost-optimal. It is also shown that insulation thicknesses of more than 80 mm do not improve energy efficiency or global cost reduction. This paper shows that, even though historic buildings in Portugal do not have to comply with building energy codes, significant energy savings can be achieved for them without changing their historic character. It was also concluded that economic and environmental costs can both be minimised by choosing the most suitable energy efficiency retrofit measures.

A comparison between cost optimality and return on investment for energy retrofit in buildings-A real options perspective

“…10. This confirms that credit lines with lower interest rates can encourage investment in energy retrofit and efficiency measures with lower environmental impact, a fact also detected in previous studies (Tadeu, Rodrigues, Tadeu, Freire, & Simões, 2015). However, GB + ST T without insulation remains the best investment option, since GB without insulation does not meet the minimum national requirements.…”

A Quantitative Method for Prediction of Environmental Aspects in Construction Sites of Residential Buildings

“…According to data from the historical series, the rate of urbanization in Brazil of 80% in 2002 reached 84.36% in 2010 [44], with an increase in concentration in the state capitals and some medium-sized cities, boosting the construction industry segment.…”

“…In the construction market, there are also databases of sector organizations such as the Civil Construction and Public Works Industry Association of Portugal and those for private sectors such as CYPE Prices Generator maintained [82] which bring together data from 27 countries with languages of Latin origin. Beyond being used in the budget, CYPE Prices generator has also been adopted as an auxiliary tool to estimate the use of resources in different studies on environmental issues such as life cycle analysis and rehabilitation [35,83,84].…”

Relevance of Embodied Energy and Carbon Emissions on Assessing Cost Effectiveness in Building Renovation—Contribution from the Analysis of Case Studies in Six European Countries

“…In addition, studies taking an environmental assessment perspective of cost-optimal solutions for building renovation are scarce and geographically inconsistent. Previous research includes multidimensional Pareto optimization using LCA in three residential buildings located in France, Sweden and The Netherlands [23], an optimization matrix development for a multistorey residential building in Northern Italy [24] and an integrated life-cycle assessment and cost optimality assessment at a historic building in Portugal, which showed that these kind of buildings (which do not have to comply with energy and thermal codes) can achieve significant energy savings (taking into consideration also economic and environmental costs) [25].…”