Possibilities for Deep Renovation in Multi-Apartment Buildings in Different Economic Conditions in Europe

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 8; p. 2788
• Main Authors: Končalović, Davor, Nikolic, Jelena, Vukasinovic, Vladimir, Gordić, Dušan, Živković, Dubravka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-04-2022
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Apartment buildings; Apartments; Climatic conditions; Cost analysis; Cost control; deep renovation; Discount rates; Economic conditions; Economic development; Emissions; Energy consumption; Energy efficiency; Energy management; Energy modeling; Green buildings; Heating; Indoor air quality; Linear programming; Mathematical models; mathematical optimization; multi-apartment buildings; Optimization; passive house; Payback periods; Renewable resources; Renovation & restoration; Retrofitting; SWOT analysis; Taxation; Ventilation; United States > US; Sweden; Europe
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en15082788

This paper analyzes the potential for deep renovation of an apartment building to the level of a passive house in different contexts in the continental part of Europe. The examined variables include different local climatic conditions, levels of economic development, and levels of market development (energy prices, energy footprint, labor prices, etc.) as well as different energy efficiency retrofit scenarios in four different countries. The adequate methodology was developed here in order to obtain an optimal solution for deep renovation in each context. The proposed methodology was based on the interaction of energy simulation and mathematical optimization. In this model, the energy performances of a building are determined with the EnergyPlus package and the optimal solution was obtained by using a mixed-integer non-linear programming model. The results demonstrate that the optimal solution for each analyzed location cannot provide cost-effectiveness over the lifetime of a building, so the introduction of additional subsidies or incentives, such as carbon taxes and upfront subsidies, is necessary.