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- Title
Optimizing Whole House Deep Energy Retrofit Packages: A Case Study of Existing Chicago-Area Homes.
- Authors
Aguilar Leinartas, Honnie; Stephens, Brent
- Abstract
Improving the energy efficiency of the residential building stock plays a key role in mitigating global climate change. New guidelines are targeting widespread application of deep energy retrofits to existing homes that reduce their annual energy use by 50%, but questions remain as to how to identify and prioritize the most cost-effective retrofit measures. This work demonstrates the utility of whole building energy simulation and optimization software to construct a "tool-box" of prescriptive deep energy retrofits that can be applied to large portions of the existing housing stock. We consider 10 generally representative typology groups of existing single-family detached homes built prior to 1978 in the Chicago area for identifying cost-optimal deep energy retrofit packages. Simulations were conducted in BEopt and EnergyPlus operating on a cloud-computing platform to first identify cost-optimal enclosure retrofits and then identify cost-optimal upgrades to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. Results reveal that prescriptive retrofit packages achieving at least 50% site energy savings can be defined for most homes through a combination of envelope retrofits, lighting upgrades, and upgrades to existing HVAC system efficiency or conversion to mini-split heat pumps. The average upfront cost of retrofits is estimated to be ~$14,400, resulting in average annual site energy savings of --54% and an average simple payback period of ~25 years. Widespread application of these prescriptive retrofit packages across the existing Chicago-area residential building stock is predicted to reduce annual site energy use by 3.7 x 1016 J and yield approximately $280 million USD in annual energy savings.
- Subjects
RETROFITTING; COST effectiveness of energy consumption; RESIDENTIAL energy conservation; ENERGY conservation in buildings; ENERGYPLUS (Company); MATHEMATICAL optimization
- Publication
Buildings (2075-5309), 2015, Vol 5, Issue 2, p323
- ISSN
2075-5309
- Publication type
Case Study
- DOI
10.3390/buildings5020323