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Energies
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Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits
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Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G: Energy and Buildings".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 April 2022) | Viewed by 14466

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cynthia Hou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Services Engineering, Faculty of Construction and Environment, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Interests: building energy retrofits; facilities management; built environment management; smart technologies’ application in the built environment
Prof. Dr. Joseph Lai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China
Interests: building services design and construction; operation and maintenance for buildings; facilities economics and contract management; performance benchmarking and assessment; legislative controls on built facilities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to a Special issue of Energies on the subject area of “Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits”.

The circular economy promotes the activities of preserving the building value in the form of energy, material, and labor with the aim to close the gap between production and natural ecosystems’ cycles. Building energy retrofit plays an important part in fostering the circular economy through integrating circular energy strategies and new technologies to lower buildings’ energy consumption and operating costs. The process of building energy retrofitting involves numerous decision-making processes and has a significant impact on environmental, social, cultural, and technological aspects of urban development in human society.

A scientific and valid assessment scheme, mechanism, algorithm, or methodology dedicated to building energy retrofit evaluation helps organizations to identify problematic as well as good practices that affect energy efficiency. An effective and useful decision-making tool is also conducive to rationalizing human decisions in building energy retrofit projects. Due to the variation of climate condition, urban setting, social policies, built environment design, etc. in different countries or regions, various types of evaluation approaches are adopted for building energy retrofit. In this Special Issue, we welcome studies related to building energy retrofit evaluation methods or approaches, including but not limited to lifecycle costing and assessment, econometric models, multicriteria analysis, and decision-making tools.

Dr. Cynthia Hou
Dr. Joseph H.K. Lai
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • circular economy
  • circular energy-retrofitting strategies
  • energy retrofit evaluation
  • energy efficiency analysis
  • carbon reduction efficiency
  • life cycle environmental assessment of energy retrofit
  • economic analysis of energy retrofit
  • energy refurbishment decision-making
  • cost-optimal approach

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 5820 KiB  
Article
Renovation of Modernist Housing Developments in the Pursuit of Modernity for Well-Being and Clean Energy
by Adam Turecki, Marcin Tur, Bartosz Czarnecki, Krystyna Januszkiewicz and Piotr Fiuk
Energies 2022, 15(10), 3737; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15103737 - 19 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1550
Abstract
The research concerns renovation variants for modernist housing estates built in Szczecin, Poland during 1918–1925 and in Bialystok, Poland during 1950–1990. These buildings are now substandard in many ways; functionally, aesthetically, technically, and ecologically they do not fulfil the current energy efficiency standards. [...] Read more.
The research concerns renovation variants for modernist housing estates built in Szczecin, Poland during 1918–1925 and in Bialystok, Poland during 1950–1990. These buildings are now substandard in many ways; functionally, aesthetically, technically, and ecologically they do not fulfil the current energy efficiency standards. Some of them have architectural heritage, so not all energy-saving technologies can be applied. Renovations must include energy-saving improvements and the use of renewable energy sources. Equally important is the well-being of residents, meaning the quality of the apartments should be increased. The aim of this research was to analyze the renovation options in terms of energy efficiency and well-being criteria, as well as in relation to the cultural value of the buildings. The simplified energy calculation method was used to check the present buildings’ energy demands to compare them with retrofitting results. Three retrofitting possibilities were considered: low-cost, current standards, and near-zero energy. The results show that without EU financial aid, which will soon be introduced under the “Renovation Wave” program, such modernization projects will be difficult, making the target of 55% CO2 emission reductions compared to 1990 levels by 2030 impossible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits)
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25 pages, 8268 KiB  
Article
Heat Pumps, Wood Biomass and Fossil Fuel Solutions in the Renovation of Buildings: A Techno-Economic Analysis Applied to Piedmont Region (NW Italy)
by Edoardo Ruffino, Bruno Piga, Alessandro Casasso and Rajandrea Sethi
Energies 2022, 15(7), 2375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15072375 - 24 Mar 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2273
Abstract
The levelized cost of heat (LCOH) and the technical feasibility in the specific context of building construction or renovation are the major drivers of users’ choices for space heating and cooling solutions. In this work, the LCOH was assessed for the most diffused [...] Read more.
The levelized cost of heat (LCOH) and the technical feasibility in the specific context of building construction or renovation are the major drivers of users’ choices for space heating and cooling solutions. In this work, the LCOH was assessed for the most diffused heating technologies in Piedmont (NW Italy): that is, fossil fuels (methane, heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas—LPG), wood biomass (wood logs and pellet) and heat pumps (air-source and ground-source), both in heating-only and in a heating and cooling configuration. A sensitivity analysis of the main LCOH drivers was performed to assess whether and how each technology is vulnerable to energy price and upfront cost changes. The results show that heat pumps are competitive against gas boilers, but they are heavily dependent on refurbishment incentives and penalized by the high electricity prices in Italy; on the other hand, wood biomasses are competitive even in the absence of incentives. The analysis confirmed that LPG and heating oil are no more competitive with renewable heating. Acting on the taxation of natural gas and electricity is key to making heat pumps the most economically convenient solution to cover the heating and cooling needs of buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits)
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18 pages, 1694 KiB  
Article
Accelerating Building Energy Retrofitting with BIM-Enabled BREEAM-NL Assessment
by Vyshali Simhachalam, Tong Wang, Yan Liu, Hans Wamelink, Lorena Montenegro and Geert van Gorp
Energies 2021, 14(24), 8225; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14248225 - 07 Dec 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2425
Abstract
The Paris Agreement requires building retrofitting practices to be more efficient and effective. However, the current practice for building energy retrofitting is lacking behind, and one reason for that is the time-consuming process of energy credit evaluation. Energy performance assessment such as BREEAM-NL [...] Read more.
The Paris Agreement requires building retrofitting practices to be more efficient and effective. However, the current practice for building energy retrofitting is lacking behind, and one reason for that is the time-consuming process of energy credit evaluation. Energy performance assessment such as BREEAM-NL in the Netherlands could apply a more automatic approach with the help of building information modelling (BIM) for an efficient building energy retrofitting evaluation process. However, to what extent BIM can help in accelerating energy performance evaluation in the BREEAM-NL certification process is under-examined. This paper first combines literature findings with practical interviews from a case study organization to present a holistic overview of the potential for automating energy-related credits evaluation in BREEAM-NL using BIM. To understand the possible impacts of such transition, a responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed (RACI) matrix is developed to map the impacts on different actors involved. Furthermore, to help practitioners in an organizational context to adopt a BIM-enabled energy credits assessment workflow, the case study organization is studied to (1) understand their current BIM use status; (2) propose a suitable starting point to take toward a BIM-enabled energy performance assessment for building energy retrofitting. Finally, the proposed starting point is demonstrated using a customized application, and the project team’s feedback is used to verify its efficiency and future directions are identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits)
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17 pages, 10877 KiB  
Article
Case Study and Feasibility Analysis of Multi-Objective Life Cycle Energy System Optimization in a Nordic Campus Building
by Vilppu Eloranta, Aki Grönman and Aleksandra Woszczek
Energies 2021, 14(22), 7742; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14227742 - 18 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1679
Abstract
Due to the high energy consumption of buildings, there is a demand for both economically and environmentally effective designs for building energy system retrofits. While multi-objective optimization can be used to solve complicated problems, its use is not yet widespread in the industry. [...] Read more.
Due to the high energy consumption of buildings, there is a demand for both economically and environmentally effective designs for building energy system retrofits. While multi-objective optimization can be used to solve complicated problems, its use is not yet widespread in the industry. This study first aims to develop an efficient and applicable multi-objective building energy system optimization method, used to dimension energy production and storage retrofit components in a case campus building in Lahti, Finland. Energy consumption data of the building are obtained with a dynamic energy model. The optimization model includes economic and environmental objectives, and the approach is found to function satisfactorily. Second, this study aims to assess the feasibility and issues of multi-objective single-building energy system optimization via the analysis of the case optimization results. The results suggest that economically beneficial local energy production and storage retrofits could not always lead to life cycle CO2-eq emission reductions. The recognized causes are high life cycle emissions from the retrofit components and low Nordic grid energy emissions. The performed sensitivity and feasibility analyses show that correctness and methodological comparability of the used emission factors and future assumptions are crucial for reliable optimization results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits)
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30 pages, 4485 KiB  
Article
Key Performance Indicators for Evaluation of Commercial Building Retrofits: Shortlisting via an Industry Survey
by Man Ying (Annie) Ho, Joseph H. K. Lai, Huiying (Cynthia) Hou and Dadi Zhang
Energies 2021, 14(21), 7327; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14217327 - 04 Nov 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2638
Abstract
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quintessentially useful for performance evaluation, but a set of pragmatic KPIs for holistic evaluation of retrofits for commercial buildings is hitherto unavailable. This study was conducted to address this issue. Built upon the findings of a systematic literature [...] Read more.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quintessentially useful for performance evaluation, but a set of pragmatic KPIs for holistic evaluation of retrofits for commercial buildings is hitherto unavailable. This study was conducted to address this issue. Built upon the findings of a systematic literature review and a focus group meeting in the earlier stages of the study, a questionnaire survey covering 19 KPIs for environmental (embracing energy), economic, health and safety, and users’ perspective evaluations of building retrofits was developed. Data of the survey, collected from facility management (FM) practitioners in Hong Kong, underwent a series of statistical analyses, including Kruskal–Wallis H test, Mann–Whitney U test, and Spearman Rank Correlation. The analysis results revealed the levels of importance of KPIs perceived by different groups of FM practitioners and the rankings of KPIs. Based upon these results, eight KPIs were shortlisted, which are energy savings, payback period, investment cost, actual-to-target ratio of the number of statutory orders removed, actual-to-target ratio of the number of accidents reduced, target indoor air temperature, target indoor air quality (IAQ) class, and target workplane illuminance. These KPIs serve as keystones for further development of an analytic evaluation scheme for commercial building retrofit performance assessment. The methodology of this study can also serve as a reference for similar KPI studies in other research domains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits)
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20 pages, 7124 KiB  
Article
Transaction Cost and Agency Perspectives on Eco-Certification of Existing Buildings: A Study of Hong Kong
by Yung Yau, Huiying (Cynthia) Hou, Ka Chi Yip and Queena Kun Qian
Energies 2021, 14(19), 6375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14196375 - 05 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2603
Abstract
Eco-certification schemes are usually launched with various incentives provided by local governments to facilitate green building development and building energy retrofits. A number of barriers to building energy retrofitting have been identified in previous literature, while the barriers to the eco-certification of existing [...] Read more.
Eco-certification schemes are usually launched with various incentives provided by local governments to facilitate green building development and building energy retrofits. A number of barriers to building energy retrofitting have been identified in previous literature, while the barriers to the eco-certification of existing buildings are under-researched. Drawing on a set of building data retrievable from the BEAM Society and other sources, we carried out an analysis and found the building energy retrofitting, as well as the certification process, were unwelcomed in multi-owned residential buildings. The identified shortfall is put forward from the perspectives of transaction cost theory and agency theory. The findings reveal that high transaction costs incurred during negotiations and coordination among a large number of co-owners within a typical apartment building can outweigh the benefits of retrofitting and eco-certification. Besides, the remuneration structure of third-party property management agents discourages agents from facilitating co-owners to initiate retrofitting. This study provides significant implications for policymakers to understand the concerns of building owners and managers over the decisions and the processes of both the building energy retrofits and eco-certification. The problems and barriers unveiled in this study will facilitate the refining of current energy efficiency policies and related incentives designs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits)
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