Life Cycle Cost of Building Energy Renovation Measures, Considering Future Energy Production Scenarios

Abstract

A common way of calculating the life cycle cost (LCC) of building renovation measures is to approach it from the building side, where the energy system is considered by calculating the savings in the form of less bought energy. In this study a wider perspective is introduced. The LCC for three different energy renovation measures, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and two different heat pump systems, are compared to a reference case, a building connected to the district heating system. The energy system supplying the building is assumed to be 100% renewable, where eight different future scenarios are considered. The LCC is calculated as the total cost for the renovation measures and the energy systems. All renovation measures result in a lower district heating demand, at the expense of an increased electricity demand. All renovation measures also result in an increased LCC, compared to the reference building. When aiming for a transformation towards a 100% renewable system in the future, this study shows the importance of having a system perspective, and also taking possible future production scenarios into consideration when evaluating building renovation measures that are carried out today, but will last for several years, in which the energy production system, hopefully, will change.

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

“…The cost of renovation is an important criteria for decision making and determining renovation solutions. Gustafsson [20] analyzed energy renovation measures in Sweden and showed that all renovation measures resulted in an increased life cycle cost (LCC), compared to the reference building. Firląg et al [8] analyzed nZEB solutions for heating dominated climate and showed that nZEB renovation is not yet cost optimal in Poland.…”

SIRen: An Applied Framework for a Sustainable Renovation Process

“…The aim of this paper is to present a transparent, openly accessible, adaptable framework for a sustainable renovation process covering technical environmental, economic, social, and cultural historical aspects that must be considered by the various actors during different stages of the renovation process. It has been noted many times that there is a need for practical methods to complement the strong focus on economy in decision processes aiming at sustainable solutions [3,5,6,8,24,30,37].…”

“…Malmqvist et al, on the other hand, used two indexes: external load index, including mostly energy aspects, and internal load index, based on a questionnaire about indoor environment [23]. Some authors use more standardized values, such as life cycle cost [24] or greenhouse gas (GHG) [25].…”

“…Reduced return temperature results in higher efficiency in the district heating system, which contributes to a higher efficiency in the system on a city scale, which could have consequences on tariffs. The LCA analysis of renovation packages proved that the global warming potential decreased after the renovation for all pilot buildings, with a payback time between 13 and 32 years, depending on which renovation package was completed [24].…”

Cost-Optimal Plus Energy Building in a Cold Climate

“…Meanwhile, new research show that the future will belong to plus energy buildings. The study of Gustafsson [8] concentrates on building energy systems in the context of renovation. This is especially important when aiming towards the 100% share of the renewable system in the future.…”