Experimental analysis of low-cost energy retrofit strategies for residential buildings to overcome energy poverty

Abstract

Various policies for carbon reduction are being promoted due to the increase in energy consumption and changes in the global environment. However, the low-income household of South Korea are still living in old houses with poor energy performance; thus, they require a lot of money for heating. In response, the government is subsidizing the cost of remodeling houses as an energy welfare project. From the 2020 low-income household energy welfare project, out of approximately 30,000 households, 24 households were selected based on factors such as the construction method, region, year of construction, and floor area. These houses were visited before and after modification to measure and analyze heat loss and airtight performance. Instead of diagnosing with simple drawings or dimensions, the accuracy of the results was improved by placing the numerical values obtained before and after energy retrofit of the actual house into the simulation. Retrofit cases consist of three types of modifications: insulation wall construction, window replacement, and both. With a budget of about $2,500, we analyzed the heating energy savings of 24 households and the cost before and after the retrofit through three retrofit cases. The average annual heating energy demand of 24 households was reduced by 22.61%, and the average budget was supported by $2314.14. In addition, the retrofit cost required to reduce the heating energy demand of 24 households by 1 kWh/m2·a was $ 37.09 on average.