The Implications of Climate Zones on the Cost-Optimal Level and Cost-Effectiveness of Building Envelope Energy Renovation and Space Heat Demand Reduction

Journal article, 2017

The cost-optimal level of energy performance for buildings shall be identified according to the European directive of 2010. The Swedish building stock needs comprehensive knowledge and an overall strategy for the cost-optimal level of renovation. This paper studies the contribution of Swedish climate zones to the cost-optimal level of renovation on a multi-story residential building in Sweden from the building owner perspective. The building space heat demand is simulated for four Swedish climate zones. The net present profit (NPP) method is defined and used in this study in order to analyze the cost-optimal level and the cost-effective renovation of building envelope components (e.g., attic floor, basement walls, exterior walls and windows). The implication of different discount rates is studied, as well. The results show that the optimum renovation of the building envelope offers 51% more energy savings for space heating when the building is in a northern climate zone compared to a southern zone. The study suggests that different renovation strategies for the building stock renovation need to be identified, separately, for each climate zone. The NPP analysis identifies the minimum required investment and maximum achievable energy savings that are needed to have a cost-effective renovation. The broad range of studied climate zones provides the opportunity to apply the obtained results to other climate zones by either interpolation or extrapolation of NPPs for the buildings with similar characteristics.