Life Cycle Energy and Environmental Assessment of the Thermal Insulation Improvement in Residential Buildings

Maria Anna Cusenza, Teresa Maria Gulotta, Marina Mistretta and Maurizio Cellura
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Maria Anna Cusenza: Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Teresa Maria Gulotta: Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Marina Mistretta: Dipartimento di Patrimonio, Architettura, Urbanistica, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio, Calabria, Salita Melissari, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Maurizio Cellura: Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: The refurbishment of the building stock is a key strategy towards the achievement of the climate and energy goals of the European Union. This study aims at evaluating the energy and environmental impacts associated with retrofitting a residential apartment to improve its vertical envelope thermal insulation. Two insulation materials, stone wool and cellulose fibers, are compared. The life cycle assessment methodology is applied assuming 1 m 2 of retrofitted vertical envelope as functional unit. Moreover, to estimate the net energy and environmental benefits achievable in the retrofitted scenario compared with the non-retrofitted one, a second analysis is performed in which the system boundaries are expanded to include the building operational phase, and 1 m 2 of walkable floor per year is assumed as reference. The results show that the use of cellulose fibers involve lower impacts in most of the assessed categories compared to stone wool, except for abiotic resource depletion. In detail, the use of cellulose fibers allows to reduce the impact on climate change up to 20% and the consumption of primary energy up to 10%. The evaluation of the net energy and environmental benefits shows the effectiveness of the retrofit energy policies.

Keywords: building retrofit; thermal insulation; bio-based materials; energy; life cycle assessment; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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