Operating Agent for IEA SHC Task 37
KanEnergi AS, Hoffsveien 13, 0275 Oslo, Norway

Abstract

This paper gives an overview presentation of the IEA SHC task 37 “Advanced Housing Renovation by Solar & Conservation”. The task is organized under the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC) and includes more than 40 experts from 12 countries. The task started in 2006 and will end in December 2009.

The objective of this Task is to develop a solid knowledge base how to renovate housing to a very high energy standard while providing superior comfort and sustainability. The task will also develop strategies which support market penetration of such renovations explicitly directed towards market segments with high renovation and multipliable potentials. The technical R&D and the market implementation activities are equal priority areas.

Keywords: Housing renovation, IEA SHC, EuroSun2008

1. Introduction

Buildings are responsible for up to 35 percent of the total energy consumption in many IEA countries. And, housing is the largest energy consumer in the building sector. When houses are renovated to meet contemporary expectations and lifestyles or to repair existing construction, there is the opportunity to reduce the building’s energy use often at marginal extra costs.

Many exemplary renovation projects have been completed, but the experience gained has not been systematically analyzed and many projects are at best only locally known. Because most property owners are not even aware how far energy demand can be economically reduced, they too often set mediocre goals. This is a missed opportunity to prepare buildings for the future energy era.

To address this void, the IEA SHC Programme’s Task 37: “Advanced Housing Renovation with Solar & Conservation” is working to develop a solid knowledge base on how to renovate houses to a very high energy standard and to develop strategies that support the market penetration of these renovations. SHC Task 37 is analyzing and will publicize the results of many successful renovation projects. Based on this analysis, innovative concepts will be identified and further developed for the most important housing market segments. The global environmental impact of such solutions will also be examined.

The Task started in July 2006 and will be finished by the end of 2009.

1

The task has more than 40 experts from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland.

The objective of the Task is to

• develop a solid knowledge base how to renovate housing to a very high energy standard while providing superior comfort and sustainability

• develop strategies which support market penetration of such renovations explicitly directed towards market segments with high renovation and multipliable potentials

The technical R&D and the market implementation activities are equal priority areas.

2. Status and results

The work is organized in four subtasks, and a short description and status is presented below

A. Marketing and Communication Strategies

This Subtask is analyzing the building stock in order to identify building segments with the greatest multiplication and energy saving potential. Examples of building segments are year of construction, type of buildings, type of envelope and components. Within these segments important topics for discussions are: — ownership and decision structures, inhabitants and their characteristics and actual groups of retrofit market players.

Building stock analysis has been completed in several countries and these will be the basis for a cross country summary report. In parallel the experts are working on the content of the coming report “Business Opportunities in Advanced Renovation”.

Figure 1 Example from the building stock analyses in Norway

B. Advanced Projects Analysis

The analysis of successful renovation projects is underway and experts have agreed upon a set of criteria for selecting demonstration projects.

10th October, Lisbon — Portugal *

Occupancy types:	All forms of housing including mix uses
Concept:	Something innovative enough for international publication.
Energy:	Max primary energy for space heating and associated technical installations (fans, pumps, etc.): 60 kWh/m2. Opaque envelope insulation < 0,25 W/m2K (if possible, should not exclude special buildings, for example, historical buildings).
Economics:	Marketable solutions
Design:	Substantial improved living quality.

Table 1: Criteria for selecting demonstration projects

Several exemplary renovation projects have be selected from most of the participating countries. A standard reporting format and units are used to allow cross comparisons. The objective is to characterize the renovation process, motivations, benefits and opportunities for improvement.

Figure 2 Example brochures of exemplary buildings

A number of brochures are available from the task 37 web-site www. iea-shc. org/task37

These brochures show a dramatic reduction in the demand for heat, up to 95%. Twelve task 37 demo-projects show energy reductions from 62 to 95%, with the average 75%.

C. Analysis and Concepts

Drawing on the market analyses for subtask A and the exemplary projects from subtask B, in this subtask concept packages will be identified and analysed to maximize their life cycle benefit/cost ration. The work will draw on simulations, monitoring of in-place applications and feedback from the industry. Details of solutions, design advice and examples of phased, compatible renovation measures will be reported.

The experts are working on different aspects, and among these are

• whole building concepts

• thermal bridge recommendations

• monitoring of built housing renovations

D. Environmental Impact Assessment

In subtask D the environmental impacts of a sample of renovation projects will be assessed.

Factors such as: CO2, water, waste, materials flow, use of urban space and health as well as social consequences will be considered. Life cycle analyses will be carried out in the full range of scales from components to urban neighborhoods.

Subtask D will produce a booklet on Sustainable Renovation Basics. The draft report is expected to be ready by this autumn.