Constantinides, A.; Katafygiotou, M.; Dimopoulos, T.; Kapellakis, I. Retrofitting of an Existing Cultural Hall into a Net-Zero Energy Building. Energies2024, 17, 1602.
Constantinides, A.; Katafygiotou, M.; Dimopoulos, T.; Kapellakis, I. Retrofitting of an Existing Cultural Hall into a Net-Zero Energy Building. Energies 2024, 17, 1602.
Constantinides, A.; Katafygiotou, M.; Dimopoulos, T.; Kapellakis, I. Retrofitting of an Existing Cultural Hall into a Net-Zero Energy Building. Energies2024, 17, 1602.
Constantinides, A.; Katafygiotou, M.; Dimopoulos, T.; Kapellakis, I. Retrofitting of an Existing Cultural Hall into a Net-Zero Energy Building. Energies 2024, 17, 1602.
Abstract
The energy efficiency of existing buildings is a crucial factor in addressing Europe’s energy con-sumption challenges, accounting for nearly 40% of the total energy usage. The ongoing energy crisis, driven by the reliance on fossil fuels and increasing prices, has underscored the urgency of adopting sustainable and energy efficient practices especially to the existing building stock. Cyprus is par-ticularly vulnerable due to its heavy dependence on imported fuels for electricity generation and faces significant challenges in transforming its existing building stock into energy-efficient and sustainable structures. Extensive focus has been made by the government on the energy-efficient retrofit of non-residential public buildings. This study examines an existing cultural hall. The case study of the Cultural Hall represents the building stock before 2010 which is lacking thermal in-sulation, double glazing and any energy efficient element. It then offers an ideal case study to ex-plore sustainable solutions which can be easily adopted from the construction industry and from the building owners. The primary objective of this research is twofold: first, to develop a comprehensive retrofit plan to transform the cultural hall into a net-zero energy building; and second, to explore how this transformation can give value back to the local community. After running two simulation scenarios and providing two energy performance certificates, one with at the existing state and one with the intended retrofit measures, it is clear that the building can be a net zero energy consump-tion building. Some interesting results derived, present also how this building can provide value back to the community i.e. through solar carports for EV charging.
Keywords
energy efficiency; retrofit; sustainable practices; net-zero energy building (nZEB); energy performance certificate
Subject
Engineering, Architecture, Building and Construction
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
