Pacheco-Torres, R; Etxebarria-Berrizbeitia, S and Gago, E J (2024) Influence of urban density on energy retrofit of building stock: Case study of Spain. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 20(6), pp. 1832-1855. ISSN 1745-2007
Abstract
Energy retrofitting of existing buildings plays a key role in the European targets of Green House Gas reduction. The addition or substitution of construction materials is needed to improve energy performance of buildings and its environmental impact must be considered. This paper proposes a model for the assessment of the environmental impact of neighborhood retrofit in relation with urban density. The model is based on the decomposition of buildings into functional elements and the quantification of construction materials used in building energy retrofitting. As a novelty, the need of road rehabilitation was also considered. The environmental impact was assessed in terms of Embodied Energy (EE) and Embodied Carbon (EC). The operational energy after retrofit was also calculated. The results bring the evidence of the relation between the urban density and the EE and EC derived from building retrofit, which can be up to 60% higher in low density areas. The sensitivity analysis carried out demonstrates the influence of the urban compactness on the environmental assessment results. The model proposed can assist in the design of retrofit plans at urban level by highlighting those retrofit measures with most significant environmental impact depending on the urban density.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building embodied carbon; building embodied energy; building energy retrofit; life cycle analysis; urban density; urban form; urban morphology |
| Index terms: | environmental assessment, environmental impact, evidence, urban morphology, life cycle analysis, building stock, energy retrofitting, sensitivity analysis, embodied carbon, embodied energy, energy performance, construction material, urban density, urban form, Spain, case study, quantification, density |
| Subjects: | energy systems, building materials, data collection methods, measurement and scaling, design practice, analytical methods, environmental impact, evaluation and assessment methods, environmental hazards, asset management, Geography, urban form and morphology |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Design Practice, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Sustainability, Engineering Principles, Geographical Context |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here