Refurbishing blocks of flats to very low or nearly zero energy level – technical and financial results plus co-benefits

In 2011, the Danish government published an energy strategy for Denmark where one of the main targets are that Denmark should be a fossil-free society by 2050. Calculations show, that in order to reach this goal it is necessary to reduce the energy consumption of the existing building stock by 50 % on average. Since a 50 % reduction is obviously not possible for all buildings, those that can should aim for a so-called "deep energy renovation", i.e. reducing the energy consumption to a level corresponding to that of new buildings or even more. This paper describes two case studies where multi-story apartment buildings have undergone deep energy renovation. “Traneparken” where the expected energy use after renovation aimed at a level corresponding to that of a new building according to the Danish Building Regulations from 2015. “Sems Have” where the aim was to go even further and meet the requirements expected for new buildings in 2020, i.e. corresponding to the Danish “nearly zero energy”-definition according to the EPBD. The paper reports on calculations and measurements of energy savings, the economy of the projects and looks at the added benefits or co-benefits that residents, housing association and society in general have achieved in addition to significant energy savings.