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oa The economics of sustainable retrofitting
- Publisher: Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)
- Source: QScience Proceedings, Qatar Green Building Conference 2016 ߝ The Action, Nov 2016, Volume 2016, 36
Abstract
United Nations' parties reaffirmed in the 21st Session of Climate Change Conference held in Paris the need to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2 degree Celsius (2015). Recent work by the UNEP shows that significant potential energy efficiency aimed at reducing CO2e emissions is in the built environment.
Therefore, retrofitting the existing stock is very important because there is a significant part of Qatar's national energy consumption found in its residential buildings. A detailed analysis of energy consumptions in Qatari villas is yet to be carried out. However, initial studies carried out by Darwish indicate that up to 70% of residential energy consumption goes in air conditioning. The Colliers Company has made a study in the residential market and found that villas in Qatar account for 24% of the existing house stock.
This study is important for the State of Qatar, as it would likely highlight the potential opportunity to increase the efficiency of current villas. This will assist Qatar's villas in becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This paper looks at retrofitting of villas and how we can encourage energy conservation and possible strategies that can be applied.
When refurbishing a Qatari villa, there are a number of initiatives that need assessment to determine which can give the biggest reduction of CO2/m2 level per cost of capital investment (CO2/m2/$).
● Energy conservation:
○ Controls;
○ Update HVAC;
○ Import heat gain (building envelope and ventilation).
● De-carbonizing the energy:
○ Applying renewable energy source (PV, thermal, and ground source heat pump);
○ On/off site storage or feeding back the power of renewable energy to the grid.
We will use IES software to develop an energy model for a Qatari villa and run the simulations to assess the coast of each CO2e/m2 cap investment. Anticipated comparisons of the findings with the present UK initiatives, and providing the necessary steps to retrofit would be useful.
