Evaluating the energy retrofitting strategies of the Swedish building stock for the uncertain future climate

Research Project, 2014 – 2016

Impact analysis of climate change on the hygrothermal performance of the Swedish building stock, including residential and non-residential buildings is performed. The work develops the existing models and methods further to evaluate different retrofitting measures. Future conditions and risks for buildings are assessed with the help of numerical simulations using several climate scenarios. Effectiveness of the retrofitting measures are evaluated by assessing their moisture performance, potential for energy saving, potential for CO2 mitigation and economic feasibility. The suitable retrofitting measures should be robust enough against climate change and its extreme conditions. This project will result in a methodology for impact assessment of climate change while different climate uncertainties and retrofitting measures are considered for a building stock. The work will identify the key measures and technologies that can most effectively cope with future climate. This work addresses one of the most important issues in the building sector, namely how to reduce energy consumption and how to retrofit buildings while facing the uncertain future climate. Using Sweden as an example, the developed methodology and the obtained results are expected to encourage other countries for the investments in the building sector in order to overcome the climate change related challenges, and to transform the building sector in a more sustainable direction.