New tool to help formulate housing regeneration policies to meet the EU’s decarbonization requirements

In accordance with European Union laws, long-term rehabilitation methods must be applied to attain the vitality transition of constructing inventory.

UPV/EHU researcher Markel Arbulu-Dudagoitia is worried that “the renovation work is carried out randomly; that neither in the BAC (Basque Autonomous Community) nor in Spain is there any general plan, strategy or methodology relating to the energy regeneration that needs to be carried out in housing in order to meet Europe’s obligations in terms of reducing carbon emissions in an orderly manner.”

The CAVIAR group researcher has now developed a device that may assist to formulate constructing rehabilitation insurance policies and plans that meet European Union necessities. This simulation tool allows the methods for the vitality regeneration of housing to be assessed from an environmental and financial perspective, taking varied parameters into consideration: life cyclethe effectivity of the renovation work, consumer conduct, and a continually altering financial situation.

The paper is published within the journal Power and Buildings.

Parametrically, many potential situations are thought of on the identical time: “It can be used to analyze all possible scenarios that may exist in an area or city,” defined Arbulu. In reality, the rehabilitation work will be vastly assorted, such because the implementation of thermal insulation, the alternative of home windows or heating systemsthe putting in of photo voltaic panels, and so forth.

The device additionally takes into consideration several types of buildings (single household, multi-family, and so forth.), many consumer behavioral profiles (e.g., some customers dwell at 22°C in winter, whereas others at 16°C, and so forth.) and varied financial conditions (relying on the speed of inflation).

As well as, from a life cycle perspective, the researchers have taken into consideration, for instance, what’s going to occur to the supplies used for renovation works on account of the passing years.

Power rehabilitation plan for properties within the BAC

“So far there has been no effective methodological tool that says what needs to be done in this respect to reduce carbon emissions in an area or in a city. The results obtained with this tool that we have created indicate which channel can be followed to drive forward the decarbonization process, taking into account all possible situations in a specific location,” defined the UPV/EHU researcher.

So the aim of this device is to not conduct the examination of a single dwelling. “It can be applied anywhere in the European Union, as we have designed it in line with European Union criteria,” Arbulu defined.

The device has been used to attract up a plan for the decarbonization technique of the housing inventory of the Basque Autonomous Group.

“We are proposing that the decarbonization process in the BAC be carried out in three stages. We have assessed which strategy would need to be followed for each building type, when it is appropriate to implement it, the economic profitability of the renovation works, how far that impact would be reduced etc. And based on all that, we have calculated what level of decarbonization will be achieved,” stated Arbulu.

The UPV/EHU researcher identified that “the tool has great potential. For the time being, energy models have to be produced manually, but in the next step we want to use public geo-referencing data for this purpose (i.e., data that provide specific locations on the earth’s surface). And so this assessment will of course be a tool allowing one to do the whole assessment in practically one click. Once these latest works have been completed, we will be in a position to expand the public code.”