Comparative Life-Cycle Analysis of Building Materials for the Thermal Upgrade of an Existing Building

The existing building stock is estimated to need major renovations in the near future. At the same time, the EU energy-efficiency strategy entails upgrading the energy performance of renovated buildings to meet the nearly-zero energy standard. To upgrade existing buildings, two main groups of measures can be adopted: thermally-improved building envelope and energy-efficient technical devices. The first measure usually involves additional building materials for thermal insulation and new building cladding, as well as new windows and doors. A number of commercially-available materials can be used to renovate thermal building envelopes. This study compares the life-cycle primary energy use and CO2 emission when renovating an existing building using different materials, commonly used in renovated buildings. A Swedish building constructed in 1972 is used as a case-study building. The building's envelope is assumed to be renovated to meet the Swedish passive house standard. The entire life cycle of the building envelope renovation is taken into account. The results show that the selection of building materials can significantly reduce the production primary energy and associated CO2 emissions by up to 62% and 77%, respectively. The results suggest that a careful material choice can significantly contribute to reduce primary energy use and CO2 emissions associated with energy renovation of buildings, especially when renewable-based materials are used.

Dodoo, Ambrose,1979-Linnéuniversitetet,Institutionen för byggd miljö och energiteknik (BET)(Swepub:lnu)amdoaa (author)
Gustavsson, Leif,1954-Linnéuniversitetet,Institutionen för byggd miljö och energiteknik (BET)(Swepub:lnu)leguaa (author)
Tettey, Uniben Yao Ayikoe,1979-Linnéuniversitetet,Institutionen för byggd miljö och energiteknik (BET)(Swepub:lnu)unteaa (author)
University of Genoa, ItalyInstitutionen för byggd miljö och energiteknik (BET) (creator_code:org_t)

In:SBE19 Brussels - BAMB-CIRCPATH "Buildings as Material Banks - A Pathway For A Circular Future"5–7 February 2019, Brussels, Belgium: IOP Publishing

By the author/editor: Piccardo, Chiara; Dodoo, Ambrose, ...; Gustavsson, Leif ...; Tettey, Uniben Y ...

About the subject

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY: ENGINEERING AND ...; and Civil Engineerin ...; and Construction Man ...

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