Beyond the building–understanding building renovations in relation to urban energy systems

• About 35% of Europe’s building stock is over 50 years old and consumes about 175 kWh/m2 for heating, between 3-5 times the amount required by the newly constructed buildings. Annually, between1 and 1.5% new buildings are built and only between 0.2 and 0.5% are removed, therefore the focus needs to be put on the renovation of the existing building stock. The implementation of energy conservation measures (ECMs) in the residential sector becomes a very important strategy to meet the EU´s 20% energy consumption reduction of the 20-20-20 goals. The main challenge, however, is to determine which of the ECMs strategies are the best to provide not just with the best energy consumption reduction, but also with the best environmental impact and economic benefits. This paper addresses this issue and analyses the impact of different ECMs by focusing not only on the buildings themselves, but on the energy supply network and the overall energy system as a whole. To achieve this, we review five case studies in Sweden that use different ECMs as well as other alternatives, such as: distributed generation (DG) and energy storage. Results suggest that although there is no standard protocol that would fit all renovation projects, the existing methodologies fall short to provide the best overall impact on the energy system and that a broader analysis of the local conditions should be carried out before performing large building renovation projects.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Energiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Energy Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Case studies

ECMs

Energy system

From building to city

Review

Sweden

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)