While deep energy renovations of buildings have been implemented for over a decade, the pace and volume of building upgrades are still insufficient to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Therefore, it ...is urgent to adopt technological and management innovations to significantly improve renovation performance. A significant portion of Europe's building stock was constructed after World War II using industrial methods, often in concentrated districts. It is reasonable to consider mass-renovating these dwellings that require urgent structural and energy performance upgrades. This paper aims to assess the extent to which EU member states are planning to implement mass-renovations and identify the main barriers to initiating and mainstreaming mass-renovation approaches. We conducted a content analysis of EU member states' long-term renovation strategies (n = 29) and used in-depth interviews (n = 16) with representatives of the renovation supply side in Estonia. Our findings reveal that the recent iteration of national long-term renovation strategies demonstrates a weak approach to mass-renovations. Only the regions of Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium have provided specific action plans. While one third of states have mentioned the theoretical benefits of mass-renovations, most countries have not addressed this approach at all. The interviews revealed that maintaining consistent demand, involving large new builders, and adopting offsite prefabrication of renovation components are key factors for initiating or mainstreaming mass-renovations. First, we propose that EU member states include mass-renovation goals and action plans in the next version of strategic documents that determine the financing of energy efficiency. Second, central governments should empower local governments with the necessary skills and resources to lead district-based renovation adoption. Third, we suggest that countries make significant investments in industrializing current resource-consuming onsite renovation practices to transition towards off-site prefab serial renovation.
•Most EU states have not addressed mass-renovations at all in long-term renovation strategies.•Large contractors who focus on new builds lack of understating how to deliver renovations.•For speeding up industrialised renovation and lower the costs, consistent demand is needed.•Residents of multifamily buildings do not see the direct benefits for district-based renovations.•District-based renovation requires strong leadership form local authority to coordinate renovation.
Two renovation strategies were considered and compared in this paper for the energy renovation of social housing in condo buildings built in 1945–1969, situated in residential estates that have been ...declared urban areas of interest. One of the strategies, named here the image conservation approach, consists of renovating the building with very efficient solutions, except for the brick-facing walls, which will only have insulation in the existing cavities. The other strategy, the image coordination approach, consists of renovating the whole building with efficient solutions, including external insulation for existing brick-facing walls, and drawing up coordination plans for each of the residential estates in order to guarantee a coordinated new image of the residential estates. By means of three case studies in the city of Zaragoza and four scenarios of improvement, the two strategies are compared regarding the regulation compliance, the energy use, the emissions reduction, the thermal comfort, and the cost-effectiveness of the measures. The results show that the image coordination approach is the best strategy in regard to the studied aspects, achieving a 69%–79% reduction of CO2 emissions and a 75%–97% reduction of heating use, as well as being the only one capable of transforming these buildings into nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs).
The thermally renovation for built houses could contribute to global warming prevention. In this paper the analyzed results of operational and embodied carbon, LCCO2 evaluation in two detached houses ...before and after thermally renovation were presented. These houses had different scale of thermal insulation renovation. As a result, CO2 emissions at the renovated stage were 40% for partial renovation and 70% for whole renovation compared to the newly built stage. It was presented that 10 years for partial renovations and 20 years for whole renovations were taken before the effects of reducing LCCO2 emissions would appear.
Implementing more stringent energy requirements for public buildings has the potential to expedite the renovation rate of building stocks. While many studies have explored optimal renovation ...solutions to reduce energy consumption and cost, few have established a comprehensive building portfolio strategy from the perspective of portfolio managers. This study addresses this gap by developing a framework that empowers building portfolio managers to make informed decisions regarding building renovations. Through an in-depth case study, the current workflow for determining renovation needs, which involves analyzing maintenance requirements, building usability, and adaptability, is enhanced by incorporating a cost-optimal renovation framework. The study utilizes building simulations and life cycle cost analysis to assess the energy reduction potential of six school buildings requiring renovation. The results demonstrate a potential for energy use reduction, ranging from 11% to 44% when incorporating energy-saving measures into the renovations. Cost-optimal solutions are achieved for two buildings, resulting in energy reduction ranging from 31% to 36% and cost reduction ranging from 7% to 8%. The primary contribution of this research is developing a framework that reduces ambiguities of which buildings a portfolio manager should prioritize for renovation. By identifying current performance and improvement potential, the framework enables benchmarking against energy performance classes, aiding in strategic decision-making. However, the study also underscores the complexities of assessing a diverse building stock from a bottom-up perspective. Barriers such as obtaining high-quality data, scaling assessments, time constraints, and knowledge transfer are problems to overcome. Additionally, evaluating various building typologies with diverse characteristics, including those with legal restrictions due to heritage status, presents unique challenges. Future research directions should focus on expanding the framework to incorporate a life cycle assessment perspective. This approach will ensure a comprehensive building portfolio strategy that mitigates the risk of sub-optimal solutions.
•This paper investigates how a municipality can meet stricter energy performance requirements.•A building portfolio framework identifies current and potential energy improvements.•A detailed bottom-up study of a school with six heterogeneous buildings.•Complexities and challenges in municipal renovation decisions are illuminated.•The method prioritizes which building to renovate and improves benchmarking.
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•A dynamic dwelling stock model is applied to 11 European countries.•The model performs well for all countries.•Similar patterns emerge for future construction, demolition and ...renovation rates.•Future renovation rate below that required to meet decarbonisation targets.•The model forms a solid basis for detailed analyses of EU energy saving potential.
A dynamic building stock model is applied to simulate the development of dwelling stocks in 11 European countries, over half of all European dwellings, between 1900 and 2050. The model uses time series of population and number of persons per dwelling, as well as demolition and renovation probability functions that have been derived for each country. The model performs well at simulating the long-term changes in dwelling stock composition and expected annual renovation activities. Despite differences in data collection and reporting, the modelled future trends for construction, demolition and renovation activities lead to similar patterns emerging in all countries. The model estimates future renovation activity due to the stock’s need for maintenance as a result of ageing. The simulations show only minor future increases in the renovation rates across all 11 countries to between 0.6–1.6%, falling short of the 2.5–3.0% renovation rates that are assumed in many decarbonisation scenarios. Despite this, 78% of all dwellings could benefit from energy efficiency measures by 2050, either as they are constructed (31%) or undergo deep renovation (47%). However, as no more than one deep renovation cycle is likely on this timeframe, it is crucial to install the most energy efficient measures available at these opportunities.
This article discusses the issues of the introduction and maintenance of electric transport in small towns with modern solutions for the replacement of electricity by an alternative method. This will ...improve the ecology of the country and will give a powerful impetus to the development of small towns, which will subsequently lead to a revival of tourist interest. Specific ways to achieve this goal are given based on the experience of European countries.
Cultural heritage monuments are, to a large extent, public goods of collective consumption, and their preservation is in the public interest of the society as a whole. The benefits arising from the ...owner's investment and resulting from the existence and the use of a cultural heritage monument are usually not ``consumed'' solely by the owner, but, to a greater or lesser extent, by the whole society or a particular group. In the case of the renovation and remediation of cultural heritage buildings, the life-cycle costs are determined in the operational phase, before the intended renovation or remediation. They should be used to select an economically sustainable solution, with the maximum potential to preserve the cultural and historical value. The paper presents the application designed for the elaboration of plans for the renovation and remediation of cultural heritage monuments, developed in the form of a web interface. The application processes data at the level of individual structural elements. For faster and more comfortable users' work, a database of type objects is used, which combines primary data from the level of structural elements.
Renovation works to buildings are often not carried out or there are shifts in time, which causes degradation of the building. The article presents an analysis of the consequences of abandoning ...renovation works. The aim of this article is to present a method of preliminarily planning renovations of a MRUB (Managing Renovation in Un-renovated Buildings). This method of decision-making support is based on the consequences in the case of the omission of renovations. The omission of renovations may lead to a threat to the stability of the building’s structure, threaten the lives of its users, and further damage the building by damaging further elements, or even cause a building disaster. Often, as a result of the abandonment of renovation, usually caused by the lack of the owner, improper manager, or irresponsible owners, these objects are degraded. The consequences of the failure of renovating buildings lead to irreversible processes of destruction. As a result of the research, it was found that it was not only a bad technical condition that was a prerequisite for carrying out the renovation. The consequences of the absence of renovation works, in addition to the technical condition, should be a motivating factor. The problem of the abandonment of renovations is presented using the example of the palace in Drwalewice.
Hospital construction and renovation activities are an ever-constant phenomenon in healthcare facilities, causing dust contamination and possible dispersal of fungal spores. We reviewed fungal ...outbreaks that occurred during construction and renovation over the last 4 decades as well as current infection prevention strategies and control measures. Fungal outbreaks still occur in healthcare settings, especially among patients with hematological malignancies and those who are immunocompromised. The causative pathogens of these outbreaks were usually Aspergillus species, but Zygomycetes and other fungi were occasionally reported. Aspergillus most commonly caused pulmonary infection. The overall mortality of construction/renovation-associated fungal infection was approximately 50%. The minimal concentration of fungal spores by air sampling for acquisition of fungal infections remains to be determined. Performing infection control risk assessments and implementing the recommended control measures is essential to prevent healthcare-associated fungal outbreaks during construction and renovation.
•Different renovation intervention levels are evaluated.•The technoeconomic feasibility by itself does not explain the actual renovation rates.•Existing social, material and legal barriers are key ...for a comprehensive analysis.•Measures should be taken to boost district/building level interventions.
Building is one of the main sectors in which significant energy savings can be achieved with a consequent reduction in emissions. This paper assesses the large-scale renovation of buildings, exploring the quantitative and qualitative factors that determine their replicability potential from three different perspectives, namely dwelling, building and district intervention level. Different passive and active measures are assessed, covering energy saving measures, the improvement of energy supply systems and the integration of renewable energy sources. Different scenarios are defined for each intervention level, which are evaluated using the methodology developed in the IEA-EBC Annex 75 project. The methodology is applied to a residential district located in Bilbao (Northern Spain). The analysis is based on the results obtained from the simulation of 41 combinations of different renovation options, obtained by simulation in the Design Builder software. The assessment is carried out from the evaluation of different key performance factors, including annualised cost and annual primary energy consumption, as well as the CAPEX and OPEX requirements. The results show that energy renovation of buildings offers a great opportunity for energy reduction at affordable investment costs, obtaining the cost optimal values when the intervention focus on the energy system and reaching net NRPE values close to zero when the intervention is carried out in a comprehensive way, considering energy systems and thermal improvement of the envelope. Additionally, the different energy reduction scenarios show that, while interventions at district level offer the greatest potential for minimising annual costs and primary energy consumption levels, intervening at building level offers only slightly worse results. However, there are other issues which can better explain the current low rate of renovation works in the urban environment. Thus, if the additional existing social, material and legal barriers and constraints are included in the analysis, it becomes clear why renovation from a district perspective is not actually leading the race. Given this situation, some measures and policies are proposed to realise the true potential of large-scale building renovation.
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