Sustainable, Nearly Zero-Emission Refurbishment for Residential- Historical Buildings

Abstract

To combat the harmful effects of climate change, many steps must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing carbon emissions in the construction sector for both new and existing buildings plays a major role in achieving a zero-emissions economy. Reaching zero emissions in existing buildings requires upgrading the building envelope, implementing efficient systems, and using renewable energy to meet the remaining energy needs. This research proposes a sustainable approach to converting an existing residential building into a nearly zero-emission house. In this study, various sustainable scenarios were considered to upgrade an existing house to a nearly zero-emission building. The case study is a house built in 1794, and to reach nearly zero emissions, the following steps were applied. First, sustainable strategies for rehabilitating the house were suggested. Secondly, Integrated Environmental Solutions and virtual environment software were used to calculate the case study energy and emissions baseline. Thirdly, sustainable materials to upgrade the envelope were considered, as well as the identification of alternatives to upgrade the house services. After this, software was used to calculate the effect of each material on energy and emissions reductions in comparison to the baseline. Fourthly, the payback period for each material was calculated by using the total construction costs divided by the revenue from energy savings. Fifthly, alternatives were selected with reasonable payback periods for the refurbishment process. Finally, renewables were added to cover some of the remaining energy needs. After applying the refurbishment steps, the house’s energy consumption and emissions are reduced significantly. The total cost of the proposed renovation is £24,976.90, with a repayment period ranging from 1.1 to 11.5 years. Energy consumption and carbon emissions are significantly reduced by adding renewables when compared to improving the envelope and services. Compared to the baseline, the refurbishment achieves a considerable reduction in energy consumption and emissions by 65.3% % and 62.4%, respectively.