Life cycle cost reduction and market acceleration for new nearly zero-energy buildings

Abstract

Cost optimal and nearly zero-energy performance levels are principles initiated by the European Union’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which was recast in 2010. These will be significant drivers in the construction sector in the next few years because all new buildings in the EU from 2021 onwards have to be nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs); public buildings need to achieve the standard already by 2019 [1].While nZEBs realised so far have clearly shown that the nearly zero-energy target can be achieved using existing technologies and practices, most experts agree that a broad-scale shift towards nearly zero-energy buildings requires significant adjustments to current building market structures. Cost-effective integration of efficient solution sets and renewable energy systems are the major challenges [2]. The EU Horizon project CRAVEzero focuses on proven and new approaches to reduce the costs of nZEBs at all stages of the life cycle. The primary goal is to identify and eliminate the extra costs for nZEBs related to processes, technologies, building operation and to promote innovative business models considering the cost-effectiveness for all stakeholders in the building’s lifecycle. As a result, an international database for benchmarking actual nZEB life cycle costs (LCC) including urban and building planning, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, management, end-of-life, has been developed. Furthermore, an operative methodology to achieve the best conditions towards optimal cost nZEBs has been set-up.