Combined Environmental and Economic Assessment of Energy Efficiency Measures in a Multi-Dwelling Building

Ricardo Ramírez-Villegas, Ola Eriksson and Thomas Olofsson
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Ricardo Ramírez-Villegas: School of Technology and Business Studies, Dalarna University, 791 88 Falun, Sweden
Ola Eriksson: Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Thomas Olofsson: Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: The aim of this study is to assess how different renovation scenarios affect the environmental and economic impacts of a multi-dwelling building in a Nordic climate, how these aspects are correlated and how different energy carriers affect different environmental impact categories. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union has set an agenda in order to reduce energy use in buildings. New buildings on the European market have a low replacement rate, which makes building renovation an important factor for achieving the European Union goals. In this study, eight renovation strategies were analyzed following the European Committee for Standardization standards for life cycle assessment and life cycle costs of buildings. This study covers all life cycle steps from cradle to grave. The renovation scenarios include combinations of photovoltaics, geothermal heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation and improved building envelopes. Results show that, depending on the energy carrier, reductions in global warming potential can be achieved at the expense of an increased nuclear waste disposal. It also shows that for the investigated renovation strategies in Sweden there is no correlation between the economic and the environmental performance of the building. Changing energy carriers in Sweden in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be a good alternative, but it makes the system more dependent on nuclear power.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; life cycle costs; electricity production; greenhouse gasses; building renovation; nuclear waste (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: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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