Renovation Needs and Potential for Improved Energy Performance Depending on Ownership – A Location Based Study of Multi-Family Building Stocks in an Urban Context

Paper in proceeding, 2017

The transformation of urban building-stocks is fundamental to achieve climate change mitigation targets. As the rate of renewal of the building-stock is low, energy efficiency measures need to be applied when renovation is being done. To evaluate the renovation potential of the existing building stock on an urban level, a local approach is needed to understand challenges and possibilities associated with its transformation. The aim of this study is to investigate the renovation needs and potentials for implementation of energy efficiency measures in relation to owner and type of ownership for the buildings. For this purpose, available databases containing building-specific information have been gathered and processed for the multi-family building stock of the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. These data sources are used to describe the energy performance of the stock and future renovation needs based on type of property ownership while considering the location and context of the buildings using geographic information systems. Building attributes such as year of construction, value year, property owner, geometric data and energy performance certificates are spatially linked and visualized to describe the energy performance of buildings and its relation to renovation need, providing detailed and valuable information to property owners. Buildings from the period 1960 - 1975 are of particular importance as they constitute 42% of the multifamily building stock, have the highest average energy use (146 kWh/m2/year) and have to a large extent not been renovated. The municipality’s housing company own 36 % of the total stock and even more so considering buildings from this period. While there will be a significant challenge in renovating their stock, this also presents an opportunity for large reductions in energy use. By incorporating building-specific information and considering the building in its local setting, a more holistic and realistic view on energy saving potentials can be achieved. The results aim to support owners of larger property portfolios in prioritizing buildings suitable for renovation.