Assessing the Economic and Environmental Dimensions of Large-Scale Energy-Efficient Renovation Decisions in District-Heated Multifamily Buildings from Both the Building and Urban Energy System Perspectives

Alaa Khadra (), Jan Akander, Xingxing Zhang and Jonn Are Myhren
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Alaa Khadra: Sustainable Energy Research Centre, Dalarna University, 791 31 Falun, Sweden
Jan Akander: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Xingxing Zhang: Sustainable Energy Research Centre, Dalarna University, 791 31 Falun, Sweden
Jonn Are Myhren: Sustainable Energy Research Centre, Dalarna University, 791 31 Falun, Sweden

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: The European Union (EU) has introduced a range of policies to promote energy efficiency, including setting specific targets for energy-efficient renovations across the EU building stock. This study provides a comprehensive environmental and economic assessment of energy-efficient renovation scenarios in a large-scale multifamily building project that is district-heated, considering both the building and the broader urban energy system. A systematic framework was developed for this assessment and applied to a real case in Sweden, where emission factors from energy production are significantly lower than the EU average: 114 g CO 2 e/kWh for district heating and 37 g CO 2 e/kWh for electricity. The project involved the renovation of four similar district-heated multifamily buildings with comparable energy efficiency measures. The primary distinction between the measures lies in the type of HVAC system installed: (1) exhaust ventilation with air pressure control, (2) mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, (3) exhaust ventilation with an exhaust air heat pump, and (4) exhaust ventilation with an exhaust air heat pump combined with photovoltaic (PV) panels. The study’s findings show that the building with an exhaust air heat pump which operates intermittently with PV panels achieves the best environmental performance from both perspectives. A key challenge identified for future research is balancing the reduced electricity production from Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants within the energy system.

Keywords: energy-efficient renovation; HVAC systems; urban energy system; life cycle analysis; life cycle cost analysis; district-heated multifamily buildings (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: 2025
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