Abstract
Energy efficiency investments have become strategically important for the European Union. In particular, energy efficient renovation and investment in the existing building stock have become major challenges. Renovation of a building should involve a holistic and integrated design process, which considers all aspects of sustainability. The aim of this work is to suggest a mathematical model that weighs economic, social and ecological aspects into a measure that supports housing owners/decision makers to find the optimal renovation alternative from their perspective, taking factors such as budget, energy consumption, etc. into consideration. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) concerns structuring and solving multiple-criteria decision problems. MCDM has become popular in energy planning as it enables the decision maker to pay attention to all the criteria available and make the appropriate decision as per the priority of the criteria. In this study, the concept is introduced based on economic, social and ecological aspects assessed during a renovation project. A pedagogical example illustrates the suggested numerical system for comparing different renovation alternatives. The suggested method will facilitate decision-making processes in renovation projects and will allow decision makers to choose the best renovation alternatives that are in line with their business ideas and principles.
Highlights
“Sustainable development is the bridge, between environmental, economic and social goals, between north and south, between Governments, civil society and business, between science and policy, and between policy and actions” [1]
The suggested method in this study facilitates the decision-making process in renovation projects and allows the decision makers to choose the most suitable renovation alternatives according to their own preferences—that is, guided by company management principles and values—and for the fulfillment of minimum requirements set by society and other institutions
No recommendations are provided for choosing the weight factors; decision makers choose them depending on their companies’ business ideas, missions, and policies
Summary
“Sustainable development is the bridge, between environmental, economic and social goals, between north and south, between Governments, civil society and business, between science and policy, and between policy and actions” [1]. The world faces challenges in all three main dimensions of sustainable development, i.e., regarding environmental, economic, and social concerns. It is necessary to reduce the energy use of the existing stock through energy efficient renovations, and the implication of this investment has become a challenge for the EU. Renovation of existing buildings can significantly increase energy efficiency and play an essential role in clean energy transition, as it could reduce the EU’s total energy consumption by 5–6% and lower CO2-emissions by around 5% [7]. According to the European Commission’s 2019 recommendations on building renovation, all environmental, economic, and social aspects need to be included in the renovation process to achieve sustainable development [10]. Kohler and Hassler [18] highlight the importance of the interrelationships between these aspects in terms of the sustainable management of the building stock
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