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Sustainability
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Building Renovation—Towards a Decarbonized Building Stock 2050
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Building Renovation—Towards a Decarbonized Building Stock 2050

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 9481

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Manuela Almeida

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: sustainable construction; building physics; environmental quality of buildings; low-carbon and energy-efficient buildings and neighbourhoods; buildings renovation; zero energy buildings; zero carbon buildings; zero emissions neighborhoods; building simulation; cost optimization; life cycle analysis; circular economy in the construction sector
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jørgen Rose

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark
Interests: energy efficiency in buildings; renewable energy sources; building renovation; disctrict scale renovation; thermal bridges; building simulation and building physics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The building sector accounts for approx. 40% of primary energy use and associated CO2 emissions, and it is expected that 85–95% of the existing building stock will still be here in 2050. Therefore, energy-efficient renovation and utilization of renewable energy sources will play a key role in the transition towards a low emission society. Most countries have already set ambitious goals for reducing energy use in existing buildings and, e.g., the EU has set a goal to have a completely decarbonized building stock by 2050. Renovation rates, however, are much too low at the moment (e.g., 1% per year in Europe), and there is a need for strategies and initiatives that can speed up the process considerably if ambitious goals are to be reached.

This Special Issue intends to present a selection of papers addressing a wide range of approaches and tools, with the objective of promoting an effective transition to a low carbon economy focusing on the key elements of the renovation strategy.

In achieving this objective, there are some key questions that need to be answered:

  • How to ensure a sustainable transition, both from a societal and individual point of view?
  • What are the implications and possibilities related to a broader perspective on building renovation, taking into account a district approach and optimization of the integration of renewables?
  • What is the optimal balance between energy efficiency and utilization of renewable energy sources at both building and district level?
  • Which energy policies, incentives, actions, and tools will most efficiently support the transition toward the 2050 goals?

Dr. Manuela Almeida
Dr. Jørgen Rose
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • sustainable building renovation
  • zero or positive energy/carbon districts
  • life cycle analysis
  • balancing energy efficiency and renewables
  • sustainable policies and tools

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 7866 KiB  
Article
Streamlining Building Energy Modelling Using Open Access Databases—A Methodology towards Decarbonisation of Residential Buildings in Sweden
by Rafael Campamà Pizarro, Ricardo Bernardo and Maria Wall
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 3887; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15053887 - 21 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1952
Abstract
The building sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, consuming significant energy and available resources. Energy renovation of buildings is an effective strategy for decarbonisation, as it lowers operational energy and avoids the embodied impact of new constructions. To be successful, the [...] Read more.
The building sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, consuming significant energy and available resources. Energy renovation of buildings is an effective strategy for decarbonisation, as it lowers operational energy and avoids the embodied impact of new constructions. To be successful, the energy renovation process requires meaningful building models. However, the time and costs associated with obtaining accurate data on existing buildings make large-scale evaluations unrealistic. This study proposes a methodology to streamline building energy models from open-access datasets for urban scalability. The methodology was tested on six case study buildings representing different typologies of the Swedish post-war construction period. The most promising results were obtained by coupling OpenStreetMap-sourced footprints with energy performance declarations and segmented archetypes for building characterisation. These significantly reduced simulation time while retaining similar accuracy. The suggested methodology streamlines building energy modelling with a promising degree of automation and without the need for input from the user. The study concludes that municipalities and building owners could use a such methodology to develop roadmaps for cities to achieve carbon neutrality and evaluate energy renovation solutions. Future work includes achieving higher accuracy of the generated energy models through calibration, performing renovation analysis, and upscaling from individual buildings to neighbourhoods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Renovation—Towards a Decarbonized Building Stock 2050)
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16 pages, 2910 KiB  
Article
The Balance between Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for District Renovations in Denmark
by Jørgen Rose, Kirsten Engelund Thomsen and Ole Balslev-Olesen
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13605; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142013605 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1320
Abstract
Emissions can be reduced by increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and supply systems or increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy system. Denmark has a long tradition for district heating and today it supplies more than 65% of dwellings, which [...] Read more.
Emissions can be reduced by increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and supply systems or increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy system. Denmark has a long tradition for district heating and today it supplies more than 65% of dwellings, which indicates that a major part of the transition from fossil fuels to renewables can be achieved at the supply system level rather than on the individual building level. This paper presents calculations performed on a generic Danish district undergoing major renovation. The generic district is based on an existing district in Aalborg and consists of 1019 dwellings spread over three different building typologies. The purpose of the investigation was to determine which combination of energy saving measures would achieve the optimal level of energy efficiency. Calculations were made with average data for district heating in Denmark, district heating based on natural gas, and district heating from renewable energy sources, such as solar heating, biofuels, and heat pumps, respectively. The calculations include costs for investment, maintenance, and operating as a function of the primary energy needs. Global warming potential (GWP) was calculated and included CO2 emissions from space heating, domestic hot water, and electricity for operation and household. The calculations show that for the generic Danish district, which is already connected to a district heating network, the optimal solution is to add 200 mm insulation to roofs (in total 300 mm) and 150 mm insulation to walls (in total 200 mm) and replacing the existing windows with new three-layer low energy windows. Furthermore, the calculations show that in a future scenario with a significantly higher level of renewable energy in the energy system, a shift to individual heat pumps can reduce total emissions by up to 1.5 kg CO2 eq/m2 per year (20% reduction) at an additional cost of EUR 8.0/m2 per year (40% increase). The calculations described in this paper are part of a larger investigation carried out in IEA EBC Annex 75. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Renovation—Towards a Decarbonized Building Stock 2050)
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20 pages, 4112 KiB  
Article
Renovating Building Groups in the Mediterranean Climate: Cost-Effectiveness of Renewable-Based Heating Alternatives in the Italian Context
by Teresa Blázquez, Tiziano Dalla Mora, Simone Ferrari, Piercarlo Romagnoni, Lorenzo Teso and Federica Zagarella
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12303; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141912303 - 27 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1572
Abstract
District level approaches for the renovation of the building stock boost the implementation of energy efficiency measures (EEMs), taking advantage of the economies of scale. International Energy Agency Annex 75 aims to assess the cost-effectiveness of renovation strategies at the district level, combining [...] Read more.
District level approaches for the renovation of the building stock boost the implementation of energy efficiency measures (EEMs), taking advantage of the economies of scale. International Energy Agency Annex 75 aims to assess the cost-effectiveness of renovation strategies at the district level, combining EEMs and renewable energy sources. For this goal, a building energy model is simulated with the Energy Plus dynamic calculation engine for assessing the generic district of the Italian case study, representing the residential stock from 1960 to 1980, placed in two prevailing space-heating dominated climates; then, a cost-effectiveness evaluation of each scenario is conducted to support stakeholders’ decision making. In particular, envelope insulation is cost-effective only in northern zones, while new decentralized thermal systems are not convenient in any case with current envelopes. Once the envelopes are insulated, decentralized low-temperature air-to-water heat pumps with PV can cover all of the buildings’ energy needs, even implying a small increase in annual costs. The switch to district net scenarios is cost-effective only if coupled with PV. A rise in energy prices brings PV-based strategies under a 10-year PBT, except for solar thermal DH in northern areas, as well as non-PV-based options such as low-temperature HPs or biomass-fuelled DH in warmer and colder zones, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Renovation—Towards a Decarbonized Building Stock 2050)
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24 pages, 2491 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive PED-Database for Mapping and Comparing Positive Energy Districts Experiences at European Level
by Giulia Turci, Beril Alpagut, Paolo Civiero, Michal Kuzmic, Serena Pagliula, Gilda Massa, Vicky Albert-Seifried, Oscar Seco and Silvia Soutullo
Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 427; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14010427 - 31 Dec 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3299
Abstract
Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are considered as one of the pioneer strategies to guide cities in their energy planning process towards climate neutrality in an attractive, innovative and human-centered way. The concept of PED is the result of a long co-creation process and [...] Read more.
Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are considered as one of the pioneer strategies to guide cities in their energy planning process towards climate neutrality in an attractive, innovative and human-centered way. The concept of PED is the result of a long co-creation process and integrates several multidimensional features, aiming to promote the sustainable development of urban areas and the transition of cities towards a climate neutral energy system. The paper provides an overview of the first outcomes of WG1 “PED Mapping, Characterization and Learning”, in the research COST Action CA19126 “Positive Energy Districts European Network” (PED-EU-NET). This study describes activities that focus on creating a comprehensive PED-Database by mapping existing concepts, strategies, projects, technological and non-technological solutions related to PEDs in Europe. The main objective of the Database is to support municipalities through the decision-making process by providing strategies for building and running a successful PED that can provide alternatives to consider, and is powered by an interactive web-based map. The design of the Database framework is supported by a step-by-step methodology adopted in the framework of the CA19126 in order to develop the PED-Database as an interactive, updatable and user-friendly tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Renovation—Towards a Decarbonized Building Stock 2050)
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