Environmental and economic benefits of optimal insulation thickness: A life-cycle cost analysis

Annibaldi, Valeria; Cucchiella, Federica; Berardinis, Pierluigi De; Rotilio, Marianna; Stornelli, Vincenzo

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2019.109441

Cited by 47 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Sagbansua and Balo [23] studied the potential use of eco-efficient materials in buildings instead of conventional materials using the optimum insulation thickness method, considering both the ecological impact and the financial feasibility. In addition, in the Mediterranean environment, Annibaldi et al [24] studied the environmental and economic benefits of the optimum insulation thickness using a life cycle cost analysis of historic buildings in Italy, and Derradji et al [25] determined the energy savings due to glazing effects on the optimum insulation thickness in a classic home in Algeria. Outside the Mediterranean environment, Yuan et al [26] calculated the optimum insulation thickness for different insulation materials and fuels for six different climate zones in Japan, and Nematchoua et al [27] studied the most economical and optimum thermal insulation thickness for buildings in wet and hot tropical climates in Cameroon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings in Cold Mediterranean Zones Using Optimized Thermal Envelope Insulation Thicknesses: The Case of Spain

et al. 2020

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The residential sector of the European Union consumes 27% of the final energy of the European Union, and approximately two-thirds of the existing dwellings in the European Union were built before 1980. For this reason, the European Union aims to transform the existing residential building stock into nearly zero-energy buildings by 2050 through energy renovation. The most effective method to achieve this goal is to increase the thermal insulation of opaque elements of the thermal envelope. This study aims to assess the energy, environmental and economic impacts of the energy renovation of the thermal envelopes that are typical of the existing multi-family buildings of the 26 provincial capitals in the cold climate zones of Spain. To achieve this goal, the insulation thickness to be added to the walls, roof and first floor framework is optimized by a life cycle cost analysis, and the existing building openings are replaced, thus minimizing both the total heating costs and the total heating and cooling costs. The study uses four thermal insulation materials for four different heating and cooling systems in 10 different models. The results obtained will be used to propose energy renovation solutions to achieve nearly zero-energy buildings both in Spain and in similar Mediterranean climate zones.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings in Cold Mediterranean Zones Using Optimized Thermal Envelope Insulation Thicknesses: The Case of Spain

et al. 2020

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“…Variants (1) and (2) relate only to boiler replacement, and variants (3) and (4) relate to the very implementation of the thermal insulation. Further variants from (5) to (8) are associated with boiler replacement and thermal insulation. Let us note that in all variants the ecological costs of thermo-modernization came out negative, therefore a reduction of the environmental load is achieved.…”

Section: The Results Of Ecological Analysis For the Studied Variantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, the set economic costs of thermo-modernization E ekon are summarized (Table 12) for the same eight thermo-modernization variants and for both buildings as in the case of ecological analysis. Similarly, variants (1) and (2) relate only to boiler replacement, variants (3) and (4) are associated with the very implementation of thermal insulation, and variants (5) to (8) are associated with boiler replacement and thermal insulation. Unfortunately, the economic costs of thermo-modernization came out positive in all variants.…”

Section: Mathematical Model For Determining Economic Costs Associatedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological and Economic Benefits of the “Medium” Level of the Building Thermo-Modernization: A Case Study in Poland

Adamczyk

Dylewski

2020

Energies

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Energy saving is at the heart of sustainable development in the context of climate change. Saving energy is not only the amount of energy that we save, but also reducing emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere, as well as reducing the consumption of energy resources that are used to produce energy. Reducing pollutant emissions and the use of energy resources can be achieved by increasing the use of renewable energy sources, but at present, this method of obtaining energy in the world is not representative. It should be noted that renewable energy devices throughout the life cycle generate environmental impact. Similar to this situation, the building’s thermo-modernization, which is focused on reducing the pressure on the environment of the building’s user, also has an impact on the environment throughout the building’s life cycle. Determining this environmental impact and ecological or economic benefits or costs is the purpose of the following article. Thermo-modernization of the building, for the purposes of the article, is understood as thermal insulation of walls and replacement of the heat source for heating the building and preparation of hot utility water. The need to replace the heat source with a much more ecological one results in Poland from provincial legal regulations announced by virtue of a resolution. In the study, data from the Ecoinvent data library included in the SimaPro computer program was used for the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) analysis. As a result of thermo-modernization of the representative buildings, large ecological benefits were obtained, while economic costs remain at a high level.

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“…It would be very beneficial if the retrofit embodied energy could be minimised whilst still achieving the operational energy savings from the EnerPHit retrofitting measures. This raises the need to identify the suitable insulation properties of each envelope element and the combination of the envelope elements to balance the retrofitting inputs and the energy-saving effort after retrofit [25]. Sensitivity analysis is a standard method for assessing suitable combinations for various aims.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Insulation, Glazing and Airtightness Options for Passivhaus EnerPHit Retrofitting of a Dwelling in China’s Hot Summer–Cold Winter Climate Region

2021

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Passivhaus EnerPHit is a rigorous retrofit energy standard for buildings, based on high thermal insulation and airtightness levels, which aims to significantly reduce building energy consumption during operation. However, extra retrofit materials are required to achieve this standard, which raises a contradiction between how to balance the environmental impacts of the retrofitting material inputs and extremely low energy consumption after retrofit. This motivated the analysis in this paper, which aimed to evaluate the possibilities of reducing the required retrofitting material inputs when trying to achieve the EnerPHit energy standard using a typical suburban dwelling in China’s hot summer–cold winter climate region as a case study. Firstly, how the insulation performance of each envelope component affected the building’s energy consumption was analysed. Based on this, sensitivity simulations of combinations of different insulation levels with different fabric components were investigated under four scenarios of insulation levels, airtightness and glazing choice. The final proposed retrofitting plans achieved the EnerPHit standard with insulation materials’ savings between 18% to 58% compared to a baseline retrofit plan, and this led, in turn, to 3.9 to 12.6 tonnes of carbon reductions. Moreover, an energy-saving of 87% in heating and 70% in cooling was achieved compared with the pre-retrofit dwelling.

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Environmental and economic benefits of optimal insulation thickness: A life-cycle cost analysis

Cited by 47 publications

References 40 publications

Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings in Cold Mediterranean Zones Using Optimized Thermal Envelope Insulation Thicknesses: The Case of Spain

Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings in Cold Mediterranean Zones Using Optimized Thermal Envelope Insulation Thicknesses: The Case of Spain

Ecological and Economic Benefits of the “Medium” Level of the Building Thermo-Modernization: A Case Study in Poland

Evaluating Insulation, Glazing and Airtightness Options for Passivhaus EnerPHit Retrofitting of a Dwelling in China’s Hot Summer–Cold Winter Climate Region

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