Building Energy Retrofit Measures in Hot-Summer–Cold-Winter Climates: A Case Study in Shanghai

Yuanda Hong,Collins I Ezeh,Zhen Peng,Wu Deng,Sung-Hugh Hong

doi:10.3390/en12173393

Abstract

Building retrofit measures provide a significant means of mitigating the effect of climate change on buildings by enhancing building energy performance at a beneficial cost-effectiveness. An insight into the applicable building retrofit measures within a climate zone will guide the optimisation framework to attaining sustainability in architecture and the built environment. This article presents a brief overview of recent studies on retrofit measures and its application on a variety of buildings in hot-summer–cold-winter climates, with emphasis on Shanghai. Findings show that the major retrofit measures include improvement in the building envelope, heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) and lighting, supported by photovoltaic (PV) systems, accordingly. Furthermore, the study identifies key elements and plausible challenges for the evaluation of building retrofit measures in this region. In this regard, financial barriers and lack of standards and regulatory support are the main challenges identified. These insights provide a systematic approach to guide building researchers, practitioners and decision-makers in the design and development of existing and new retrofit measures for the future of rapidly growing cities with a broad climate variation scope.

Highlights

Buildings account for 20–40% of energy consumption in most countries [1,2], and consume a significant share of global electricity [3]
The pre-selection of suitable retrofit measures is dependent on the regional climate changes temperature, indicative of anthropogenic global warming [17,18,19,20,21], necessary retrofit measures are required for existing buildings to accommodate the high ambient temperature [22,23,24]
This article presents a brief overview of recent studies on building retrofit measures and their application on a variety of different building types in Shanghai

Summary

Introduction

Buildings account for 20–40% of energy consumption in most countries [1,2], and consume a significant share of global electricity [3]. In order to promote energy-efficient buildings, the Chinese government has established comprehensive policies within the 11th (2006–2010) and 12th (2011–2015) Five Year Plans These plans have necessitated the upgrade of parts of existing buildings or whole (“deep”) building retrofits. Study: Building Energy Consumption and the Climatic Context in Shanghai temperature, indicative of anthropogenic global warming [17,18,19,20,21], necessary retrofit measures are. The pre-selection of suitable retrofit measures is dependent on the regional climate changes temperature, indicative of anthropogenic global warming [17,18,19,20,21], necessary retrofit measures are required for existing buildings to accommodate the high ambient temperature [22,23,24].

Objectives

Results

Conclusion