Attitudes and approaches of Irish retrofit industry professionals towards achieving nearly zero-energy buildings

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheikh Zuhaib ◽  
Richard Manton ◽  
Magdalena Hajdukiewicz ◽  
Marcus M. Keane ◽  
Jamie Goggins
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Social Barriers ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Basic Services ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

Purpose There is profound demand for higher skills and expertise in retrofitting the existing building stock of Europe. The delivery of low- or nearly zero-energy retrofits is highly dependent on technical expertise, adoption of new materials, methods of construction and innovative technologies. Future Irish national building regulations will adopt the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive vision of retrofitting existing buildings to higher energy efficiency standards. Construction industry stakeholders are key for the achievement of energy performance targets. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to assess the attitudes, approaches and experiences of Irish construction professionals regarding energy efficient buildings, particularly nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a series of quantitative and qualitative methods, including a survey, a workshop and detailed interviews with professionals in the retrofit industry. The structure of this approach was informed by preliminary data and information available on the Irish construction sector. Findings There is a substantial amount of ambiguity and reluctance among the professionals in reaching the Irish nZEB targets. The growing retrofit industry demonstrates low-quality auditing and pre/post-retrofit analysis. Basic services and depth of retrofits are compromised by project budgets and marginal profits. Unaligned value supply chain, poor interaction among nZEB professionals and fragmented services are deterrents to industry standardisation. Practical implications This study will enable construction industry stakeholders to make provisions for overcoming the barriers, gaps and challenges identified in the practices of the retrofit projects. It will also inform the formulation of policies that drive retrofit uptake. Social implications This study has implications for understanding the social barriers existing in retrofit projects. Support from clients/owners has a diverse impact on energy performance and retrofit decisions. Community-based initiatives are key to unlock the promotion of nZEBs. Originality/value This paper provides an overview of current activities of retrofit professionals and analyses the barriers, gaps and challenges in the industry.

scholarly journals Accelerating Energy Renovation Solution for Zero Energy Buildings and Neighbourhoods—The Experience of the RenoZEB Project

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Vavallo ◽  
Marco Arnesano ◽  
Gian Marco Revel ◽  
Asier Mediavilla ◽  
Ane Ferreiro Sistiaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
European Level ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
A Value ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
New Buildings

Buildings are the key factor to transform cities and to contribute to recent European energy efficiency objectives for 2030 and long-term 2050. New buildings account to only 1–2% annually. Yet, ninety percent of the existing building stock in Europe was built before 1990, it is therefore necessary to promote their energy renovation to achieve the set objectives. Renovation solutions are available on the market, yet a wrong implementation and integration due to a lack of knowledge neither maximizes the energy performance of the post-retrofitting nor the financial optimisation and viability of the projects. This paper presents research on a plug & play, modular, easy installable façade and ICT decision making technologies to provide affordable solutions in order to overcome those deep renovation barriers. The paper sets out by defining a value framework that can be applied by real estate investors for making better retrofitting decisions for residential buildings, through mapping targeted building typologies and investigating new building revalorisation strategies, new renovation concepts and KPIs for evaluation. Thereafter the paper presents the modular and easy-to-install façade system that is replicable and scalable at European level.

scholarly journals Technical, Financial, Social Barriers and Challenges in Deep Building Renovation: Integration of Lessons Learned from the H2020 Cluster Projects

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona D'Oca ◽  
Anna Gralka ◽  
Annarita Ferrante ◽  
Clara Ferrer ◽  
Roberta Pernetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Social Barriers ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Joint Workshop ◽  
Barriers And Challenges

With a low rate of new building construction and insufficient rate of existing building renovation, there is the need for stepping up the pace of building renovation with ambitious performance targets to achieve EU climate change policies. However, effective technologies alone cannot solve the low renovation rate of existing buildings in Europe that is hindering the reaching of EU-wide targets. A workshop was held at the Sustainable Place Conference 2018 to present successful experiences with an integrative approach from H2020 innovation actions (4RinEU, P2ENDURE, Pro-GET-OnE, MORE-CONNECT) aiming at improving building energy performance through deep renovation. This article presents the outcomes of the joint workshop and interactive discussion, by focusing on the different technical, financial and social added values, barriers and challenges in building renovation as well as on the identification of open questions to address future innovation opportunities.

Defining and demonstrating a smart technology configuration to improve energy performance and occupant comfort in existing buildings: a conceptual framework

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Newton ◽  
Arezoo Shirazi ◽  
Pernille Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Building Energy Performance ◽  
Smart Building ◽  
Building Technology ◽  
Occupant Comfort

PurposeTo achieve the building and property by 2050, decarbonisation goals will now require a significant increase in the rate of improvement in the energy performance of buildings. Occupant behaviour is crucial. This study seeks to guide the application of smart building technology in existing building stock to support improved building energy performance and occupant comfort.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows a logical partitioning approach to the development of a schema for building energy performance and occupant comfort. A review of the literature is presented to identify the characteristics that label and structure the problem elements. A smart building technology framework is overlaid on the schema. The framework is then applied to configure and demonstrate an actual technology implementation for existing building stock.FindingsThe developed schema represents the key components and relationships of building energy performance when combined with occupant comfort. This schema provides a basis for the definition of a smart building technologies framework for existing building stock. The study demonstrates a viable configuration of available smart building technologies that couple building energy performance with occupant comfort in the existing building stock. Technical limitations (such as relatively simple building management control regimes) and pragmatic limitations (such as change management issues) are noted for consideration.Originality/valueThis is the first development of a schema to represent how building energy performance can be coupled with occupant comfort in existing building stock using smart building technologies. The demonstration study applies one of many possible technology configurations currently available, and promotes the use of open source applications with push-pull functionality. The schema provides a common basis and guide for future studies.

Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings & Buildings Built with Industrialized Technology: The Case of Hungary

2016 ◽  
Vol 824 ◽  
pp. 469-476
Author(s):  
Attila Talamon ◽  
Viktória Sugár ◽  
Ferenc Pusztai
Keyword(s):  
Economic Structure ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Ghg Emission ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Central European ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

There is an urgent need nowadays to reduce current levels of GHGs emissions. On the other hand the EU countries are largely dependent on energy imports and are vulnerable to disruption in energy supply which may in turn threaten the functioning of their current economic structure. The EU imported 54% of its energy sources in 2006 and this value was projected to increase even further by 2030. Reducing its import dependency is one of the EU’s main goals of the 20-20 by 2020 target – this legislative package is believed to reduce the expected imports of energy by 26% compared to the development before the 20-20 initiative.One of the most important environmental problems is the energy consumption of the buildings. Current paper shows that buildings built with industrialized technology can deliver large energy and GHG emission reductions at low costs.Only 1-2% part of the building stock is exchanged every year, so it is very important to increase the energy efficiency of the existing buildings, too.Present paper focuses on the buildings built with industrialized technology only, and their potential in nearly zero-energy buildings sector. Up till now the Central European support schemes concentrated most financial resources on buildings built with prefabricated technology. Present paper explains the past and present of the “panel” problem in Hungary with a short outlook to some other countries.

scholarly journals RINNO: Towards an Open Renovation Platform for Integrated Design and Delivery of Deep Renovation Projects

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6018
Author(s):  
Theo Lynn ◽  
Pierangelo Rosati ◽  
Antonia Egli ◽  
Stelios Krinidis ◽  
Komninos Angelakoglou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Regulatory Standards ◽  
Automation Systems ◽  
Wide Range

The building stock accounts for a significant portion of worldwide energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. While the majority of the existing building stock has poor energy performance, deep renovation efforts are stymied by a wide range of human, technological, organisational and external environment factors across the value chain. A key challenge is integrating appropriate human resources, materials, fabrication, information and automation systems and knowledge management in a proper manner to achieve the required outcomes and meet the relevant regulatory standards, while satisfying a wide range of stakeholders with differing, often conflicting, motivations. RINNO is a Horizon 2020 project that aims to deliver a set of processes that, when working together, provide a system, repository, marketplace and enabling workflow process for managing deep renovation projects from inception to implementation. This paper presents a roadmap for an open renovation platform for managing and delivering deep renovation projects for residential buildings based on seven design principles. We illustrate a preliminary stepwise framework for applying the platform across the full-lifecycle of a deep renovation project. Based on this work, RINNO will develop a new open renovation software platform that will be implemented and evaluated at four pilot sites with varying construction, regulatory, market and climate contexts.

Deep renovation up to zero energy through Add-ons: the ABRACADABRA Project

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annarita Ferrante ◽  
Fabrizio Ungaro ◽  
Giovanni Semprini ◽  
Lorna Dragonetti ◽  
Elettra Agliardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
The Real Estate ◽  
International Projects ◽  
Eu Project ◽  
The Eu

<p>and international projects</p><p>various EU H2020 projects</p><p>Though housing is one of the most energy consumer sectors, it is currently extremely underestimated, because of a clear investment gap due to economic, social and legislative barriers. The EU project ABRACADABRA (Assistant Building to Retrofit, Adopt, Cure And Develop the Actual Buildings up to zeRo energy, Activating a market for deep renovation) is based on the idea that the real estate value increase given by the appropriate densification strategy in urban environments could be an opportunity to activate a market for deep energy renovation. To prove the effectiveness of the strategy more than 70 case studies throughout the EU cities have been assessed by means of a cost-effective analysis. Basing on the parametric variation of the different values involved (cost of construction, energy, etc.) the benefit of this strategy has been proved in the majority of the different building types and contexts.</p><p>More interestingly, the ABRA strategy has been simulated and tested outside Europe in order to verify its scalability and the possibility of considering other non-energy related benefits in the renovation of the existing building stock. A specific study on the NYC urban context has been conducted to effectively adapt the strategy and combine the global drivers of energy consumption reduction and CO<span>2</span> emission reduction with the local need of combating flood emergency and related flood-proofing measures.</p><p>The results reached by this work demonstrate how the energy retrofit trough add-ons reduces significantly the payback times of the investments, preserve soil consumption, while providing a extraordinary opportunity to enhance urban resiliency by challenging the local emergencies.</p>

scholarly journals Zero Energy Buildings: A Reached Target or a Starting Point?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 512
Author(s):  
Enrico Fabrizio
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

The debate about zero energy buildings (ZEBs) has been one of the main new drivers of innovation in the construction industry around the world in the past decade [...]

Energy and architectural consequences of Swedish building code

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-142
Author(s):  
Marja Sofie Lundgren
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Building Code ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
System Boundaries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Energy Aspects ◽  
Zero Energy Buildings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose building code changes that would benefit both architectural design and the potential of achieving nearly zero energy goals by analyzing the architectural implications of the energy system boundaries within the Swedish code. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is driven by three questions that relate the national implementation of EU directive on nearly zero energy 2020 to the premises set out in the guidelines for revising the Swedish building code aiming at a performance-based regulation. A crucial part of the research is a comparative analysis of the design implications of the code to research findings in scientific articles on near-zero energy or low-energy design. Findings – The energy system boundaries in the Swedish code are steering the architectural design and energy consequences of offices towards using less heat but more electricity. The energy section is also limiting the architectural design choices by ignoring the positive energy aspects of daylight. A proposal of a new comprehensive energy section taking all architectural design related energy aspects into account is presented, in order to support design of nearly zero energy buildings. Practical implications – A building code that relates the energy system boundaries to form will help integrated design choices that are more likely to support the strive towards nearly zero energy buildings. Originality/value – The paper reveals the design implication of the Swedish energy section to be counterproductive regarding energy efficiency as well as limiting architectural design choices.

scholarly journals Building Design Influence On The Energy Performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Ligia Moga ◽  
I. Moga
Keyword(s):  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Efficient Design ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Energy Consumptions

Abstract Energy efficient design is a high priority in the national energy strategy of European countries considering the latest requirements of the European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings. The residential sector is responsible for a significant quantity of energy consumptions from the total amount of consumptions on a worldwide level. In residential building most of the energy consumptions are given mainly by heating, domestic hot water and lighting. Retrofitting the existing building stock offers great opportunities for reducing global energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions. The first part of the paper will address the need of thermal and energy retrofit of existing buildings. The second part will provide an overview on how various variables can influence the energy performance of a building that is placed in all four climatic zones from Romania. The paper is useful for specialist and designers from the construction field in understanding that buildings behave differently from the energy point of view in different climatic regions, even if the building characteristic remain the same.

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