Optimizing Urban Texture and Building Typology for the Goal of Achieving Near-Zero Mid-Rise Residential Building (original) (raw)
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Façade modernisation for retrofitting existing buildings to achieve nearly zero energy buildings
Beyond their Limits, 2016
The current rate of refurbishment in Europe is around 1%. On the other hand, refurbishment is a major focus on achieving energy targets by the member states. Thus, the rate of retrofitting will need to double or triple to help Europe meets its energy consumption reduction targets. A major share of the building stock in Europe is older than 50 years and about 40% of the existing residential buildings were constructed before 1960s when the building regulations for energy consumption of buildings were limited (BPIE 2011). Article 9 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) suggests that Member States must develop policies and measures to stimulate the transformation of buildings that are refurbished into nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) (EU 2010). The envelope targets are mentioned in the multi-annual roadmap under HORIZON 2020 by European Commission with due concern towards a reliable multi-objective envelope optimisation methodology that converges integration of all envelope constraints for new and refurbished buildings (EC 2013). Façade retrofit is identified as an intervention in the building envelope through addition, replacement or substitution of new or modernised materials, systems or components to an existing building. Façade retrofits are a critical part of deep retrofits where deep retrofits require 68% average depth of refurbishment indicating a proportion of energy savings achieved in the refurbishment (BPIE 2011). Façade retrofits were generally done in the past to fix specific problems or upgrade their appearance. The current retrofit scenario typically involves retrofitting of façade with the focus of achieving energy efficiency more than 50% (Hart et al. 2013). The performance targets are fundamentally derived based on the average U-values across Europe. However, this approach does not include other performance parameters that guide holistic retrofits. The role of façades cannot be ignored with respect to their importance towards social, economic and technical domains from a life cycle perspective (Sanguinetti 2012). There are limited studies and consensus on the concepts of
Under the current Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, EU countries must set building energy renovation as a goal for future development of the cities. The 22@ district of Barcelona is one of the most thriving innovation districts of Europe with an increasing market for office buildings. In this framework, the present paper evaluates the effectiveness of a series of strategies considered the real case project of the energy retrofit of an existing building in 22@. In particular, the study presents the results of different scenarios of building retrofits, where simulations of dynamic envelopes are performed, with the inclusion of a conventional ventilated façade, Living Green Walls and Phase Change Material (PCM) for thermal energy storage. The different scenarios are compared in terms of energy performance, enhanced comfort and cost-benefit analysis. The benefits of latent thermal energy storage, improved thermal inertia and evapotranspiration of the vegetated elements are also assessed. Eventually this study helps understanding the feasibility of the implementation of the nZEB standard in energy retrofit of buildings in the specific context of Barcelona and Spain. 1. Introduction The massive urban development is altering the land surface by concentrating materials which effectively retain heat and create impervious surfaces, thus affecting urban local climate and urban hydrology. Moreover, tall buildings provide multiple surfaces for the absorption of solar radiation that is subsequently reradiated as heat, thus enhancing the efficiency with which urban areas are warmed up [1]. Building renovation is a main issue of recent European policies towards energy efficiency. Today's renovation projects have the challenges of improving the energy efficiency in order to reach the goals of zero emission in the building sector while improving their social and economic value, securing a sustainable use of resources [2] and minimizing the deleterious effects of buildings in the urban environment. The renovation of the building envelope, are a key factor in the energy rehabilitation of buildings and the urban environment. This paper describes three renovation strategies: living walls, ventilated facades with fibre-cement cladding and ventilated facades with PCM materials [3,4,5].
Sustainability
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 b...
RETROFITTING THE EXISTING: RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management (IJSREM), 2022
Building industry is a guide to the reduction of the low-cost world economy. This region is the world's secondlargest emitter of co2 after the steel industry, accounting for around one-third of global total emissions. Retrofitting is one of the best options to make an existing building safe against future problem like earthquake, energy loss and other environmental forces. It aims to strengthen a structure to satisfy requirements of current situation of seismic design. There re different deficiencies in building these causes due to impropriate construction, building requires different measures with respect to their climatic conditions. The study was to recognize and review the suitable solution for buildings that can be used to achieve level of sustainability.
Urban form and function as building performance parameters
Building and Environment, 2013
The climate in cities differs significantly from those found in the surrounding area. These differences results from modifications of the Earth's surface that alters the disposition of "natural energy balance" at a micro-scale and the concentration of activities that results in anthropogenic emissions that change the composition of the atmosphere. These urban effects have distinctive temporal and spatial properties with different impacts on building energy performance depending on their purpose, which are rarely accounted for.
Periodica Polytechnica Architecture
Reducing the energy needs of existing buildings has a significant place in reducing global energy demands. High energy savings can be achieved with passive renovation suggestions in existing buildings. In this study, the effect of the proposed renovations for an educational structure in Safranbolu on the heating and cooling demands of the building was determined with a simulation program. Energy improvements of up to 70 percent have been achieved through passive improvement designs in orientation and insulation material. The highest energy saving (69.31 %) was realized through a scenario of rearranging spaces from the north side to the south side where the number of users is relatively high and selecting a 20 cm aerogel thermal insulation material. While the heating and cooling load, in accordance with the definition of a zero-energy building, could not be reached in this scenario, the study showed the importance of holistic decisions taken in the design phase of the building with r...
The population and the residential sector are continuously expanding especially in highly dense cities such as Cairo, Egypt. Due to high demand for cooling energy in the residential sector in Egypt recently, a great attention was paid to retrofit existing buildings to decrease reliance on air conditioning. The existing housing stock is suffering from poorly insulated buildings envelope and lack of energy conservation measures. This is mainly to minimize the initial cost of the construction process while available sustainable guidance is still not mandatory. However, yet façade retrofit solutions include a wide range of variables for wall insulation and glazing types. This study aims to identify best configurations of the building facade retrofit solutions to minimize energy consumption due to cooling and retrofitting cost. A multi-objective optimization was performed on a representative benchmark for typical residential buildings in Cairo using genetic algorithm in order to test different combinations of retrofit options that best meet study objectives. Simulation results were assessed and calibrated against monthly electricity bills using Design Builder as a graphical user interface for EnergyPlus. Best retrofit combinations were highlighted and tested using life cycle cost assessment, and then effective variables were prioritized based on a sensitivity analysis.
Retrofit Strategies for Energy Efficiency of Historic Urban Fabric in Mediterranean Climate
Atmosphere, 2020
Energy-efficient retrofitting of historic housing stock requires methodical approach, in-depth analysis and case-specific regulatory system, yet only limited efforts have been realized. In large scale rehabilitation projects, it is essential to develop a retrofit strategy on how to decide energy-efficient solutions for buildings providing the most energy saving in a short time. This paper presents a pilot study conducted at a neighborhood scale, consisting of 22 pre-, early-republican and contemporary residential buildings in a historic urban fabric in the Mediterranean climate. This study aims to develop an integrated approach to describe case-specific solutions for larger scale historic urban fabric. It covers the building performance simulation (BPS) model and numerical analysis to determine the most related design parameters affecting annual energy consumption. All the case buildings were classified into three main groups to propose appropriate retrofit solutions in different im...
Informed Building Retrofit based on Simulation and Data Analysis
2014
With the availability of the many energy efficient technologies, significant reduction in energy consumption can be expected through retrofit of existing buildings. To achieve a cost-effective retrofit, however, a good understanding of the building system is necessary. In this study, two office buildings under retrofit in the Philadelphia area have been evaluated based on measured data and simulation outputs. The results showed that even with limited data points available, some inefficient operations and designs could be identified when combined with simulation of the integrated building systems. Thermal comfort could also be improved with appropriate redesign or controls of the buildings evaluated. By incorporating the hard constraints of the existing systems, the corresponding retrofit measures can be more cost effective. A sensitivity analysis of some key design and operation parameters provided further potential energy savings with relaxed system constraints.