Methodology for investigating cost-effective building renovation at district level combining energy efficiency & renewables

Abstract

This report describes the methodology for identifying and assessing cost-effective strategies for renovating urban districts towards far-reaching objectives regarding reducing carbon emissions and energy use. The report proposes different scenarios considering boundary conditions and different interventions on building envelopes and thermal systems. The proposed methodology builds on the methodology previously developed for individual buildings in IEA EBC Annex 56 (developed by the same main authors of this report), extending it to the level of districts/groups of buildings. Furthermore, it also makes use of results from other related Annexes. The idea is that the methodology supports decision-makers in evaluating the efficiency, impacts, cost-effectiveness and acceptance of various strategies for renovating urban districts, and in identifying suitable renovation strategies.
The methodology defines the boundary conditions set for the assessments carried out, the research questions/hypotheses mainly investigated with the assessments, and the type of outputs generated from the assessments.
It is intended that, based on the methodology developed, existing tools can be identified, or existing tools can be adapted to support the application of the methodology in case-specific assessments. In addition, an online Calculation Tool (Annex 75 CT) was developed to support the application of this methodology, which is available at: https://annex75.bim.energy and at https://annex75.iea-ebc.org/publications.