Exergy As a Measure of Sustainable Retrofitting of Buildings

Carlos Fernández Bandera, Ana Fei Muñoz Mardones, Hu Du, Juan Echevarría Trueba and Germán Ramos Ruiz
Additional contact information
Carlos Fernández Bandera: School of Architecture, University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Spain
Ana Fei Muñoz Mardones: School of Architecture, University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Spain
Hu Du: Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3NB, UK
Juan Echevarría Trueba: School of Architecture, University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Spain
Germán Ramos Ruiz: School of Architecture, University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Spain

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: This study presents a novel optimization methodology for choosing optimal building retrofitting strategies based on the concept of exergy analysis. The study demonstrates that the building exergy analysis may open new opportunities in the design of an optimal retrofit solution despite being a theoretical approach based on the high performance of a Carnot reverse cycle. This exergy-based solution is different from the one selected through traditional efficient retrofits where minimizing energy consumption is the primary selection criteria. The new solution connects the building with the reference environment, which acts as “an unlimited sink or unlimited sources of energy”, and it adapts the building to maximize the intake of energy resources from the reference environment. The building hosting the School of Architecture at the University of Navarra has been chosen as the case study building. The unique architectural appearance and bespoke architectural characteristics of the building limit the choices of retrofitting solutions; therefore, retrofitting solutions on the façade, roof, roof skylight and windows are considered in multi-objective optimization using the jEPlus package. It is remarkable that different retrofitting solutions have been obtained for energy-driven and exergy-driven optimization, respectively. Considering the local contexts and all possible reference environments for the building, three “unlimited sinks or unlimited sources of energy” are selected for the case study building to explore exergy-driven optimization: the external air, the ground in the surrounding area and the nearby river. The evidence shows that no matter which reference environment is chosen, an identical envelope retrofitting solution has been obtained.

Keywords: energy simulation; exergy; multi-objective optimization; genetic algorithm (NSGA-II); building energy models (BEMs) (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: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3139/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3139/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3139-:d:182488

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().