A Methodology to Support Decision-Making Towards an Energy-Efficiency Conscious Design of Residential Building Envelope Retrofitting

Journal article (2015)

Authors

Department
Architectural Engineering +Technology (Architecture and the Built Environment) (TU Delft)
Copyright: This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Design process Refurbishment OA-Fund TU Delft Residential energy upgrade
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Published Date

17-11-2015

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Source:

Buildings, 5 (4), 2015

ISSN:

2075-5309

Faculty

Architecture and The Built Environment

Department

Architectural Engineering +Technology

Abstract

Over the next decade investment in building energy savings needs to increase, together with the rate and depth of renovations, to achieve the required reduction in buildingrelated CO2 emissions. Although the need to improve residential buildings has been identified, guidelines come as general suggestions that fail to address the diversity of each project and give specific answers on how these requirements can be implemented in the design. During early design phases, architects are in search of a design direction to make informed decisions, particularly with regard to the building envelope, which mostly regulates energy demand. To result in an energy-efficient residential stock, this paper proposes a methodology to support refurbishment strategies design. The methodology, called “façade refurbishment toolbox (FRT) approach”, is based on compiling and quantifying retrofitting measures that can be also seen as “tools” used to upgrade the building’s energy performance. The result of the proposed methodology enables designers to make informed decisions that lead to energy and sustainability conscious designs, without dictating an optimal solution, from the energy point of view alone. Its applicability is validated through interviews with refurbishment stakeholders.