A zero-energy refurbishment solution for residential apartment buildings by applying an integrated, prefabricated façade module

The ambition to renovate the post-war building stock to an energy-neutral quality is getting a lot of attention in social housing association and other institutional owners, financial institutions and users. The Energy Agreement for Sustainable Growth indicates that 300.000 dwellings have to be renovated in the Netherlands annually. An effective renovation plan has to be long-term, target the deep transformation of the existing building stock, and to significantly improve its actual energy performance towards nearly zero energy levels. This level of energy saving typically requires a holistic approach, viewing the renovation as a package of measures working together.
Even though the need for refurbishment is urgent, the rate of renovation and the resulting energy savings are relatively low. Main barriers identified are related to the available investment funds, awareness, advice and skills and the separation of expenditure and benefit.
To address these issues, the paper presents a prefabricated and integrated façade module that gives the possibility to improve the current energy performance up to zero energy, while ensuring minimum disturbance for the occupants, during and after the renovation. Given that the design and installation take this constrain into consideration, it is possible to reach zero energy by adding more efficient installations and energy generation, as well as taking possible behavioural changes into account.
Moreover, the paper evaluates such a zero-energy refurbishment in terms of financial feasibility.
The proposed approach results in a feasible solution, which achieves high energy savings and addresses the complex issue of integrated refurbishment.