Deep Energy Retrofit—Case Studies

This book describes results of research conducted with the goal of providing a framework, selected tools, and guidelines to significantly reduce energy use (by more than 50%) in government and public buildings. The scope of the book is limited to public buildings that were constructed before the 1980s with low internal loads (e.g., office buildings, dormitories, barracks, public housing, and educational buildings) and that were undergoing major renovation. The book contains description and analysis of 26 well-documented case studies from Europe (Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Montenegro, The Netherlands, and the UK) and the USA. After these data were collected, the case studies were analyzed with respect to energy use (before and after renovation), reasons for undertaking the renovation, co-benefits achieved, resulting cost-effectiveness, and the business models followed. Finally, “lessons learned” were compiled and compared.


Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) is a major building renovation project in which site energy use intensity (including plug loads) has been reduced by at least 50% from the pre-renovation baseline with a corresponding improvement in indoor environmental quality and comfort. Lessons learned from the case studies and experiences of the team clearly indicate that DER can be achieved with the application of “bundles” of a limited number of core technologies readily available on the market. Specific characteristics of some of these core technology bundles generally depend on the technologies available on an individual nation’s market, on the minimum requirements of national standards, and on economics (as determined by a life cycle cost [LCC] analysis). 

Dr. C. Mørck has a Ph.D. in engineering and a M.Sc. degree in Physics from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has worked with planning and implementation of Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy integration in buildings in Denmark and other European countries since 1978, first as a researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, and later as co-founder and (until 2016) director at Cenergia Energy Consultants, Denmark, where he assumed the role of project leader in the planning and implementation of many energy projects on both national and international scales. This high level of project management continued in his final position at Kuben Management, where he oversaw national and international R&D projects.

Dr. Mørck was leading the project at the Danish Energy Agency that resulted in Denmark becoming the first country in Europe to introduce “energy labelling” of buildings to promote energy savings. He was the Operating Agent of Task I of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, and recently has been technical coordinator of the EU-CONCERTO project Class1 and work package leader for the European Commission Horizon2020 “CoNZEBs” and “MORE-CONNECT” projects. Dr. Mørck was also subtask leader under IEA EBC Annexes 56, 61, 63, and 75, and leader of the Danish EUDP Energy Refurbishment with PVT, Smart Grid Management and Energy Storage project.

Dr. Alexander Zhivov is a senior research engineer at the Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. He holds a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the Central Research and Experimental Design Institute for Industrial Buildings, Moscow, and the Research Institute for Labor Protection, Leningrad, and an MBA degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Throughout his career he has worked as a senior engineer at Industrial Ventilation Design Institute in Leningrad, conducted research in the area of air and contaminant distribution in industrial spaces, and studied and designed innovative industrial ventilation systems at the Central Research and Experimental Design Institute in Moscow and at the Research Institute for Labor Protection in Leningrad. He was a co-founder and (between 1989-1991) general manager of the Soviet-Swedish joint venture “SOVPLYM,” which develops, designs, manufactures, and installs industrial ventilation systems focused on welding and auto-repair/manufacturing shops.

From 1991 to 2003, Dr. Zhivov was a visiting, adjunct, and assistant professor at the Bioenvironmental Engineering Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. In 2003 he joined the US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, Illinois, where he is responsible for strategic energy planning for facilities throughout the US Army, which has resulted in the design of such applications as the implementation of new HVAC systems, distributed generation technologies, renewable energy applications, heating plant modernizations, building commissioning processes, and modeling and analysis tools that streamline installation operations. He is also involved in developing the framework and concepts of a secure, reliable, and efficient Army installation energy strategy and supporting implementation programs.

Dr. Zhivov is an Operating Agent for the International Energy Agency’s Energy in Buildings and Communities (IEA-ECB) Program, Annex 73 “Towards Net Zero Energy Public Resilient Communities.” Before that, he served as an Operating Agent for Annex 46 “Holistic Assessment Toolkit on Energy Efficient Retrofit Measures for Government Buildings “EnERGo” and Annex 61 “Business and Technical concepts for Deep Energy Retrofit of Public Buildings.”

Dr. Zhivov is a Fellow and Life Member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), a member of the American Welding Society (AWS), and a founding member of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ). He has authored more than 250 books and technical papers, and is an active contributor to National and International Ventilation Guides, e.g., American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Handbook of Applications 1993, 1995, and 1999, ASHRAE Standard 100 “Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings, and American Welding Society (AWS) /ANSI Ventilation Guide 2001. 

Mr. Rüdiger Lohse has been Managing Director of EDL HUB, an association of Germany’s major energy service companies in Berlin, Germany since 2020. He is industrial engineer focused in the area of Energy with long work and research experience specialized in the design of business and financial models for use in the buildings and industry sector. Rüdiger began his business career as a department head of a heating supply services group in a regional utility, wherefor 5 years he was responsible for one of Europe’s largest absorber-heat-pump facilities that functioned as a base load provider for a 40 MW district heating grid.

In 1994, Rüdiger co-founded a Regional Energy Agency in Baden-Württemberg, where was became responsible for the product and market scale-up for energy services in public buildings, housing, and SMEs. In 2009, he earned the European Energy Service Award for outstanding and creative approaches for user-focused energy services. For 4 years (2011-2014), he was responsibility for the Regional Energy Service Initiative and in 2015, oversaw a 50M€ investment program supported by the European Investment Bank and Energy Service Companies.

Rüdiger Lohse was co-operating Agent of IEA EBC Annex 61 “Technical and Business Models for Deep Energy Renovation” from 2014- 2018 he and co-operating agent of the IEA EBC Annex 73 “Toward Net Zero Communities” from 2018 to 2021. In that time. he was also an important contributor toIEA EBC Annexes 56, 63, and 75, and leader of the Danish EUDP Energy Refurbishment with PVT, Smart Grid Management and Energy Storage project.