Konvertering av direkteluppvärmda flerbostadsområden-Beslutsunderlag och drivkrafter

Licentiatavhandling, 2004

The Swedish society is interested in reducing the use of electricity and especially electricity for heating purposes. For this purpose governmental subsidies have been introduced to support a change from electric heating to other types of heat supply systems. Owners of single and multifamily buildings can apply for the investment subsidy. However, so far only about 5 % of the approximately 30 TWh of electricity annually used for heating has been replaced by other types of heat supply. Hence there is an interest in more detailed studies of the prerequisites. The aim of the work is to develop and describe a methodology to present the alternatives to the decision makers. The aim is also to study incentives and working methods in retrofit projects, which already have been carried out. The work is focused on multifamily buildings where a change to a different type of heat supply system can be combined with other measures. In general, the outcome of a building project is decided by the work in the early design phase. It is therefore essential to define well-established project aims and requirements as early as possible in the project planning. Furthermore, the study assumes that decisions are more or less rational which enables a systematic comparison of alternatives promoting a long-term perspective regarding economic as well as environmental issues. The developed methodology applied in a sample study emphasizes an overall approach combining different measures, and proposes a comparison based on lifecycle costs and LCA including sensitivity analyses. A case study comprising four projects shows that investment subsidy is only one out of several incentives, which are required to carry out a retrofit project. In general, the need for extensive technical, as well as social improvements have a major influence on decision making.