This paper seeks to develop a framework for the successful implementation of energy retrofit projects in all settings, including those with the non-traditional structure and unique needs of some non-profit organizations. This will be accomplished using researched strategies for overcoming commonly associated challenges along with experiences gained through a real-life case study involving a multi-facility retrofit project in Atlanta's largest public park, Chastain Park. The framework includes the application of research based solutions for common challenges as well as specific strategies for the translation of collected data into an actual scope of work, methods for the collection of bids and selection of contractor(s), the importance of and methods for communicating amongst stakeholders, and the need for a dedicated project manager on site at all times.

Thermal improvement of traditional and historic buildings is going to play a crucial role in the achievement of established carbon emission targets. The suitable retrofit options for traditional buildings are, however, very limited and their long term performance is still uncertain. Evaluation of risks, prior to any alteration of building physics, is critical to avoid future damage to the fabric or occupants’ health. Moisture dynamics in building envelopes are affected by the enclosure’s geometry, materials properties and external and internal boundary conditions. Since the internal boundary is heavily influenced by users, understanding their behaviour is essential to predict the outcome of energy retrofit measures more accurately. The effect of user behaviour on energy demand has been extensively investigated; however, its impact on the hygrothermal performance of the envelopes has barely been explored. This research approached the connection between users and buildings from a new angle looking at the effect that user behaviour has on moisture dynamics of buildings’ envelopes after the retrofit. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to develop a holistic evaluation of the question. Firstly, factors influencing the adoption of energy efficiency measures in traditional buildings were explored by means of semi-structured interviews with private owners and project managers. Subsequently, a multi-case study including interviews with occupants and monitoring of environmental conditions was conducted. Data collected at this stage was used to explore users’ daily practices of comfort and to characterise the internal climate of traditional dwellings. Lastly, users’ impact was quantified using Heat, Air and Moisture (HAM) numerical simulation. This allowed for the evaluation of the hygrothermal performance of walls under different internal climate scenarios. Combined results of interviews, environmental monitoring and simulation showed that internal climate can compromise envelope performance after the retrofit and highlighted the need to consider users in the decision making process. Ultimately, the results of this research will help to increase awareness about the potential impact of user behaviour and provide recommendations to decision makers involved in the energy retrofit of traditional structures.

xiv, 92 p. : ill. (some col.) / Passive House is a voluntary, performance-based energy standard for buildings. Passive Houses use on average 90% less energy for space conditioning than code-designed houses; Passive House therefore offers an ambitious performance target for home energy retrofits. Retrofits built to the Passive House standard in Europe have demonstrated a high level of energy performance. In the U.S., few Passive House retrofits exist to date; for this reason, design and cost information for such retrofits is lacking. This study establishes an exemplar through designing the Passive House retrofit of an older home in Eugene, Oregon. The retrofit's cost-effectiveness was examined by comparing projected "business as usual" (BAU) life cycle costs to those associated with retrofit. While the BAU scenario resulted in the lowest cost over a 30-year life cycle, the difference is relatively small; minor adjustments to key variables make the retrofit financially viable. / Committee in charge: Dr. Alison G. Kwok, Chairperson; Peter Keyes, Member; Jan Fillinger, Member

The application of retrofit options to existing heritage buildings has become one of the most interesting topics in construction. In Victoria, BC, Canada, only 4% of commercial or institutional heritage buildings have been upgraded to current building codes in the last 10 years. Remaining 96% buildings exist with poor energy performance characteristics and a risk to occupant safety in the event of a damaging earthquake. This study investigates the importance and benefits of simultaneous energy and seismic retrofitting of existing heritage buildings. It presents a case study for a building with identifiable heritage value, located in Victoria, BC, Canada, and analyzes five feasible options in terms of energy retrofitting and presents a solution for both seismic and energy upgrading. To this aim, the energy retrofit options are compared based on the amount of saved energy, annual heating demand and estimated costs. The seismic solution is designed based on the weakness and needs of the building, and cost-effectiveness. Finally, the best solution is selected for a building that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. This study shows that the integration of energy and seismic retrofitting of heritage buildings provides economic benefits to owners while improving energy savings and building safety. / Graduate / 2021-08-31

The industrial sector accounts for almost 40 % of the Swedish energy use and in order to meet the EU’s 2020 targets, an efficient production of high quality and great finish goods are more and more in demand. Moreover, it is important to develop the activities with the lowest environmental impact possible.  The energy audit process is an effective tool to achieve it. Thus, in this document the energy audit of an industrial company, Automat Industrier in Gävle, Sweden, was carried out. The energy balance of the building and the potential energy efficiency measures were analyzed with the IDA ICE simulation. The proposed energy retrofitting was apropos of the building envelope, the lighting system, the ventilation system and the installation of a PV system on the roof of the building. The survey indicated that the potential energy savings of the company accounted for 62.5 % of the current electricity use and 48.8 % of the current DH use if all the proposed ameliorations were performed. The main promoter of the electricity savings is the installation of the PV system, with 85 % of influence. Almost 90 % of the DH savings are due to the measures in the ventilation system. Financially, these savings can reach the amounts of 531 597 SEK/year for electricity and 174 201 SEK/year for DH. Nevertheless, the ameliorations regarding the building envelope have very long payback periods. Thus, it was recommended to not pursue them. Fortunately, the energy efficiency measures providing the greatest savings’ payback periods are between 3.47 years and 10.22 years long. As they are independent from each other, the owner has the freedom to decide whether to apply them or not and when if so.

This diploma thesis is dedicated to the analysis of operating data from the Brewery, a former industrial building, which has been reconstructed to a student centre of the Faculty of Information Technologies. The main goal of the work was to analyze the performance of the building and to evaluate energy savings originating from the energy saving measures that were applied during the retrofit.. The first part of the thesis focuses on the particular energy saving measures and the predictions of energy savings. The second part presents the results of the monitoring of the building and the HVAC systems during the first year of the operation of the Brewery.

Sous nos latitudes, l’usage des bâtiments existants et les consommations énergétiques associées (chauffage, climatisation, ventilation, eau chaude sanitaire, éclairage et autres usages) sont responsables d’impacts considérables sur l’Environnement. De plus, le renouvellement du parc existant étant inférieur à 1% par an, dans la plupart des pays développés, la réhabilitation des bâtiments constitue un levier majeur de réduction des consommations d’énergie et des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Cependant, l’identification de stratégies optimales de réhabilitation énergétique, incluant la planification des actions dans le temps, demeure une problématique complexe pour les acteurs de la Construction. Ces travaux de thèse visent à produire des connaissances afin de contribuer à l’aide à la décision pour l’identification de programmes efficaces de réhabilitation énergétique, à partir de méthodes d’optimisation multicritères. Les solutions (programmes séquentiels de réhabilitation énergétique) sont optimisées en termes de composition et de phasage. La composition est définie par la combinaison de mesures de réhabilitation mise en oeuvre. Celles-ci concernent l’enveloppe des bâtiments (isolation thermique, remplacement des fenêtres, surfaces de fenêtres) et le remplacement des équipements de chauffage, ventilation et production d’ECS. Pour chacune des mesures, plusieurs alternatives sont envisagées. Le phasage correspond à la permutation de ces mesures, définissant la séquence de mise en oeuvre. Les solutions sont évaluées sur une base multicritère et sur le cycle de vie. Les fonctions objectifs ciblent les impacts environnementaux de l’ACV (Analyse de Cycle de Vie), des indicateurs économiques, le bien-être des occupants par le confort thermique adaptatif en été. Des modèles d’ACV et d’analyse du coût du cycle de vie, utilisant la simulation thermique dynamique pour le calcul des besoins de chauffage et des températures intérieures, ont été développés pour l’évaluation des performances des solutions. Etant donnée la nature mathématique du problème (multicritère, combinatoire, à variables discrètes et à fonctions objectifs implicites non-linéaires), deux méthodes d’optimisation multicritères sont étudiées : les algorithmes génétiques (NSGA II) et la programmation dynamique. Dans l’approche génétique, la modélisation des solutions, sous la forme d’un couple de chromosomes, permet d’identifier des programmes séquentiels efficaces de réhabilitation énergétique et d’analyser les surfaces de compromis, en termes de définition et performances des solutions, de compromis entre les critères de décision. A partir de la représentation du problème par un graphe séquentiel, la programmation dynamique permet alors de comparer les solutions approchées issues de l’algorithme génétique, ou d’approches court-termistes, au front de Pareto exact. L’optimisation exacte a également été exploitée pour analyser la sensibilité des solutions à différents paramètres de modélisation dont le comportement des occupants, l’évolution des prix de l’énergie, la durée de vie des composants de réhabilitation. Les contraintes budgétaires s’appliquant au projet de réhabilitation ont été ensuite intégrées dans un algorithme génétique multicritère sous contraintes, adapté à l’étude des stratégies de réhabilitation sous la contrainte d’un plan de financement. Enfin, l’approche génétique a été étendue depuis l’échelle du bâtiment à celle du par cet l’optimisation exacte a été utilisée pour caractériser les typologies de bâtiment en réhabilitation. L’intérêt des différentes méthodes est illustré sur une étude de cas (…) / Under our latitudes, existing buildings energy consumptions, related to heating, cooling, ventilation, domestic hot water (DHW), lighting and other uses, are responsible for significant environmental burdens. Moreover, existing buildings annual replacement rate being lower than 1%, in most developed countries, existing stock retrofit represents a major lever to reach commitments on climate change and non-renewable energy consumption mitigation. However, the identification of optimal sustainable retrofit programs, including actions planning over a time period, is still a difficult task for professionals.This thesis aims at producing knowledge in order to contribute to decision support for efficient energy retrofit programs identification, through the application of different multi-criteria optimization techniques. The solutions (sequential building energy retrofit programs) are optimized both on their content and planning. The content refers to the combination of retrofit measures considered. These address holistically building envelopes (thermal insulation, windows replacement, window to wall ratios), and the replacement of equipment for ventilation, heating and DHW production. For each of these measures, various options are considered. The planning corresponds to the permutation of these measures, defining a time sequence for implementation. The solutions are evaluated on a multi-criteria and life cycle basis. The objective functions considered target environmental impacts evaluated using LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), some financial indicators and occupants' well-being through thermal comfort in summer. Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost models, using building dynamic thermal simulation for heating load and thermal comfort evaluation, are implemented to assess solutions performances.Considering the problem mathematical nature (multi-criteria, combinatorial, discrete variables, implicit non-linear objective functions), two suitable multi-criteria optimization techniques have been studied: multi-criteria genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) and dynamic programming. In the genetic approach, the modelling of each solution by a pair of chromosomes allowed to identify efficient sequential energy retrofit programs and analyse Pareto compromise surfaces, in terms of solutions features, performances and relationships in between criteria. Then, the representation of the problem on a sequential graph enabled us to apply dynamic programming, to compare both the genetic approximate solutions, and the results of some short- term approaches to the exact Pareto frontier. The search for exact solutions also been exploited to perform sensitivity analysis on different modelling parameters such as heating temperature setting, energy prices evolution or materials lifespan. Real life budget constraints have been incorporated to build a constrained multi-criteria genetic optimisation method, suitable to study retrofit strategies under financing plans. At the end, the genetic approach has been extended from building scale to stock scale and exact optimization has been used to characterize building types in terms of energy retrofit.The benefits of these methods have been illustrated on case studies. Knowledge has been produced in terms of multi criteria optimization methodology, applied to sequential energy retrofit, and understanding of building stocks evolution. These developments contribute to decision aiding; providing decision makers with efficient energy retrofit strategies and a description of the comprise surface, at the building or building stock scale, on a multi- criteria basis, over life cycle

En France, les rénovations énergétiques en résidentiel, et ceci tout particulièrement pour les maisons individuelles, font peu l'objet après réalisation d'une évaluation ex-post permettant de quantifier la performance atteinte.Cette thèse se propose donc d'effectuer une évaluation ex-post de l'efficacité de solutions de rénovation énergétique en résidentiel, à partir de données (environ 100 cas par échantillon étudié) provenant d'enquêtes menées auprès de ménages, propriétaires occupants de maison individuelle, ayant participé à des opérations de maîtrise de la demande en énergie conduites à l'échelle régionale dans le nord-est et le sud-est de la France. Une approche statistique tant descriptive que de modélisation est principalement employée pour aborder ce travail.Le premier volet de l'évaluation ex-post consiste en une quantification des économies unitaires obtenues associée à un calcul d'incertitude. Pour chacune des opérations, la modélisation statistique de la consommation énergétique après travaux permet l'étude de l'influence des actions elles-mêmes mais aussi de certains facteurs tels que le changement de la gestion du chauffage ou l'utilisation après travaux de la climatisation.Le second volet de cette évaluation ex-post a pour but d'identifier les causes des écarts entre les consommations observées et celles simulées par un modèle de calcul ex-ante (dit d'ingénieur). Ainsi, nous étudions l'évolution des écarts des états avant à après travaux. Tout d'abord, une quantification et une modélisation statistique des écarts en situation avant travaux est réalisée. Puis, les écarts en situation après travaux sont à leur tour quantifiés et modélisés statistiquement en intégrant notamment l'erreur commise initialement (avant travaux). Les différences entre économies d'énergie observées et simulées sont également étudiées.Enfin, dans la dernière partie de la thèse, sur la base des sources d'écart identifiées, nous proposons des pistes de perfectionnement du modèle de calcul d'ingénieur utilisé. Plus largement, à partir d'un retour critique quant aux limites des modèles statistiques établis pour étudier les causes des écarts, des pistes sont avancées pour permettre de les améliorer. / In France, ex-post evaluations of energy retrofits in residential buildings, allowing to quantify the performance achieved, are rarely realized, particularly for the dwelling houses.This thesis is an ex-post evaluation of energy efficiency measures for retrofit in residential buildings from surveys data (around 100 cases by studied sample) of households, house owners, that participated in regional energy efficiency operations (northeast and southeast of France). This work is mainly tackled by descriptive statistics and statistical models.The first part of the ex-post evaluation is a quantification of unitary energy savings associated to an uncertainty assessment. For the two operations, a statistical model of energy consumption after retrofitting studies the effect of energy efficiency measures and also the effects of factors as space heating management modification or air conditioning use after refurbishment.The second part of the ex-post evaluation has for aim to identify the sources of gaps between observed consumptions and ones simulated by an ex-ante engineering model. Thus, we study gaps evolution from before retrofitting to after retrofitting situations. In the first time, we realise a quantification and a statistical modelling of gaps before retrofitting. Then, we repeat the method for gaps after retrofitting, in taking into account gap before retrofitting in the statistical model. Deviations between observed energy savings and calculated ones are also studied.In the last part of the thesis, we propose some improvements of the engineering model on the base of the gaps sources identified. From a critical analysis of statistical models realised to study gaps, some propositions are did to improve them.

The energy retrofit of existing buildings has always been a challenging task to accomplish. The example of the Swecohuset building, proves how an integrated approach design between architectural and energetic aspects as well as the use of well-known and efficient technologies are key aspects to achieve the energy-saving goal. This work, in the first part describes the Swecohuset retrofit process, along with the reasons behind the choices which have led to the current result of a reduction by 2/3 of the energy need for space conditioning purposes. Then, in the second part, after a brief focus on the passive aspects which characterize the current energy performance of the building, it is carried out a feasibility analysis of an EWIS (external wall insulation system) by studying its interaction with a complex system as an optimization problem, with the main purpose of understanding the basis of the BPO and explore further building potentialities. / SIRen