Assessing housing retrofits in historic districts in Havre Montana

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of retrofitting single-family residential buildings in historic districts with energy efficiency measures that are compliant with the 2012 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This study focuses on Sears’s kit homes that were built in the early 1900s in the historic district of Havre, Montana. By conducting whole building energy simulations, this study assesses the impact of implementing each measure in terms of energy savings, reduction in carbon emissions and resultant paybacks. In addition the selected measures were grouped together into various groups and assessed. Combining all measures provided 81% energy savings and a simple payback period of 4–8 years and a time until Net Present Value (NPV) of 9.5 - > 30 years over the corresponding base-case. In addition to demonstrating strong economic justifications, the implementation of efficiency measures is highly recommended for the benefit of preserving historic districts and in turn contributing to the reduction in energy consumption as well as carbon emissions of historic residential building stock in the United States.