Building Rehabilitation through nearly Zero Energy Consumption: A Case Study

Abstract

This article aims to analyse how sustainable construction creates an impact on minimizing environmental impacts and on reducing costs of conservation and operation of the buildings. It is based on a case study of a building over 100 years old which has been rehabilitated for the use of a students’ residence. In the article, we present parameters that improve the sustainability of a building, such as the materials chosen, the use of clean and renewable energies, the choice of efficient materials and equipment with minimal maintenance actions needed. Two virtual scenarios are presented in order to compare costs of energy consumptions of sustainable rehabilitation towards standard rehabilitation and also to traditional rehabilitation. It is concluded that the process of sustainable rehabilitation strongly decreases energy consumption, thus reducing CO2 emissions and decreasing the cost of building conservation. Moreover, extra costs introduced in construction to obtain extra savings in energy have got a low period of investment return, thus being advisable for general stakeholders.