An approach for holistic energy retrofitting based on assessment of economic viability and durability of energy saving measures

The majority of renovation projects are driven by the possibility of reducing energy consumption of buildings. This, however, might result in retrofitting projects that neglects the longevity of the building. Furthermore, many evaluation techniques only consider the profitability of the energy saving measures and forget to consider, whether it is more prudent to demolished the building and erect a new building.
An evaluation approach is presented to assess whether to retrofit an existing building or to demolish and replace it. The primary concept of the method is to develop a retrofitting proposal with a profitably combination of energy saving measures. The cost of the combination of energy saving measures is evaluated against the cost of demolishing the existing building and erecting a new building including consideration of maintenance costs and operational costs. The energy price is used as constraint to determine the amount of building retrofitting for implementation. The approach includes also durability assessments of the energy saving measures.
An example is carried out to illustrate the application of the approach. The example highlights the importance of including risk assessment and durability evaluation of the energy saving measures when performing holistic energy retrofitting of buildings.