Energy-Efficient Refurbishment of Existing Buildings: A Multiple Case Study of Terraced Family Housing

Abstract

The building sector in Europe consumes an estimated 40 % of the total energy. It is well established that the reduction of building energy consumption necessitates energy-efficient renovation of the existing buildings. To achieve this objective, primarily, it is necessary to document the existing building stock.

This chapter focuses on multiple case studies of terraced family houses. Representative terraced family houses from different chronological periods, which are typical and representative of the national residential building stock typologies, act as model buildings and are used for demonstrating the energy performance and the potential energy savings resulting from energy conservation measures (ECMs) and interventions made on both the building envelope and the heat supply systems.

Successful strategies and techniques toward reducing the energy consumption and CO₂ emissions are simulated using the Tabula.xls tool, which is an excel spreadsheet algorithm-based tool. A database with the appropriate information concerning the energy-related characteristics of the terraced family housing has been developed. The research aims to fill in the gap of the current knowledge and the building typologies and it could be a useful instrument to facilitate the energy performance assessment of the building stock and to highlight the potential of renewable energy use in terraced family housing.