Residencial building retrofitting oriented to energy efficiency. Methodology for their different scales of analysis

RODRIGUEZ LUCAS; MARTINI IRENE; DISCOLI CARLOS

International Journal of Energy, Environment, and Economics

NOVA

Lugar: New York; Año: 2014

1054-853X

The paper aims to develop a methodology for energy optimization of the residential sector which proposes a systematization of technological-constructive alternatives applied to massive retrofitting. This research began as a mitigation measure against the low thermal qualities of existing buildings in Argentina, the energy crisis and its environmental consequences. To classify the case study, representative strategies of morphological and technological-constructive criteria according to representative typologies were adopted. In order to evaluate energy consumption, a method was implemented which considers the relationship between energy savings and initial investment cost through an "energy-economic efficiency index". An application example on an existing building is exposed in order to visualize the analysis developed and to show the main results related to thermal improvements and economic savings. Its implementation on relevant typologies allows us to expand the results and analyze mitigation levels in the representative urban areas. In conclusion, this chapter shows the relevance of systematic and massive application of our proposal in order to minimize energy demand, providing the basis for future implementation of renewable sources; and to improve habitability conditions (and life quality), which is below the minimum stated by law.