Analysis of energy economic renovation for historic wooden apartment buildings in cold climates

Endrik Arumägi and Targo Kalamees

Applied Energy, 2014, vol. 115, issue C, 540-548

Abstract: Buildings represent the largest sector of primary energy consumption and play a major role in saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Our analysis of energy consumption and potential energy savings is based on field measurements, computer simulations and economic calculations. The average primary energy consumption (PE) of wooden apartment buildings was 331kWh/(m2a) 83% higher than the limit 180kWh/(m2a) set in national regulations for apartment buildings subject to major renovation. The studied buildings represent a high potential for energy savings. The renovation packages were compiled using different insulation measures, HVAC solutions and energy sources to achieve a 20–65% reduction of primary energy. For historic buildings, the renovation solutions that concentrate on the building envelope can be problematic due to the need to preserve cultural and architectural values. Our calculation results indicate that the cost optimal PE level is around 250kWh/(m2a) and the point at which renovation packages recover expenses is around a PE level of 170kWh/(m2a). In terms of the architectural appearance the point at which renovation packages recover expenses is around a PE level of 210kWh/(m2a). We propose to set a different PE limit for historic wooden apartment buildings with an architectural appearance worth preserving.

Keywords: Energy savings; Energy renovation; Apartment building; Historic building; Cost-optimal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261913008714
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:115:y:2014:i:c:p:540-548

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.10.041

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().