Towards Nearly-Zero Energy in Heritage Residential Buildings Retrofitting in Hot, Dry Climates

passive strategies; active strategies; building integrated photovoltaic; BIPV; building integrated solar thermal (BIST); MENA region; Egypt; Khedivial Cairo

Abstract :

[en] Retrofitting “nearly-zero energy” heritage buildings has always been controversial, due to the usual association of the “nearly-zero energy” target with high energy performance and the utilization of renewable energy sources in highly regarded cultural values of heritage buildings. This paper aims to evaluate the potential of turning heritage building stock into a “nearly-zero energy” in hot, dry climates, which has been addressed in only a few studies. Therefore, a four-phase integrated energy retrofitting methodology was proposed and applied to a sample of heritage residential building stock in Egypt along with microscale analysis on buildings. Three reference buildings were selected, representing the most dominant building typologies. The study combines field measurements and observations with energy simulations. In addition, simulation models were created and calibrated based on monitored data in the reference buildings. The results show that the application of hybrid passive and active non-energy generating scenarios significantly impacts energy use in the reference buildings, e.g., where 66.4% of annual electricity use can be saved. Moreover, the application of solar energy sources approximately covers the energy demand in the reference buildings, e.g., where an annual self-consumption of electricity up to 78% and surplus electricity up to 20.4% can be achieved by using photo-voltaic modules. Furthermore, annual natural gas of up to 66.8% can be saved by using two unglazed solar collectors. Lastly, achieving “nearly zero energy” was possible for the presented case study area. The originality of this work lies in developing and applying an informed retrofitting (nearly-zero energy) guide to being used as a benchmark energy model for buildings that belong to an important historical era. The findings contribute to filling a gap in existing studies of integrating renewable energy sources to achieve “nearly-zero energy” in heritage buildings in hot climates.

Disciplines :

Architecture

Author, co-author :

Ibrahim, Hanan

Khan, Ahmed

Serag, Yehya

Attia, Shady ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département ArGEnCo > Techniques de construction des bâtiments

Language :

English

Title :

Towards Nearly-Zero Energy in Heritage Residential Buildings Retrofitting in Hot, Dry Climates

Publication date :

16 December 2021

Journal title :

Sustainability

eISSN :

2071-1050

Publisher :

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), Basel, Switzerland

Volume :

Issue :

13934

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13934

Available on ORBi :

since 16 December 2021

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