Building Energy System Scenarios

BUILDING ENERGY SYSTEM SCENARIOS FOR THE REFURBISHMENT AND EXTENSION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING STOCK TYPOLOGIES

The transformation of our current energy system, which is still largely dependent on fossil fuels, to a system based on renewable energy sources is one of the biggest global challenges. Within the EU, the construction and operation of buildings is responsible for an estimated 40% of the overall energy consumption, making the reduction of energy consumption and the integration of renewable energy in buildings a key priority. Whilst new developments in Europe mostly fulfil stringent regulations towards zero- and plus-energy requirements, the existing building stock is only slowly being refurbished to higher efficiency standards. The integration of densification and energy-related measures provides an opportunity to increase land use efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of the building stock. Solutions for the decarbonisation of existing buildings thus address the reduction of the overall energy demand and the provision of renewable building energy systems. 

The overall research question is therefore how to achieve a large-scale transformation of the existing building stock from a high energy consumption to low or plus energy generation under changing climatic conditions. The project will address part of this wider subject and will focus on building energy systems in this context. Refurbishment actions largely depend on the condition, type and age of the building; thus, repetition and mass production are harder to achieve compared to new constructions. However, especially in the residential sector, buildings of certain eras follow a similar style and can allow for a clearer categorisation. The project will therefore address the development of energy system scenarios for the refurbishment and extensions of existing building stock typologies with a focus on the residential sector. The work will connect with the work carried out in Research Project RP 3-2 (Co-Design, adaptation, integration and optimisation of multi-storey timber building systems for building stock extension) and aims at expanding on the findings of RP 3-2 by integrating the issues of energy efficiency and building energy systems. 

PARICIPATING RESEARCHER

Prof. Dr. Doris Österreicher
Institute for Building Materials, Building Physics, Building Systems and Design (IBBT), University of Stuttgart.

TEAM

Tba