Innovative design tools for refurbishing of buildings at district level

Specific challenge:The development of sustainable solutions for refurbishment of buildings and their proper integration at district level requires major innovations in the design tools, construction methods and management practices, including socio-economic aspects and innovative financing instruments.

Buildings should no longer be renovated individually, but as part of a global energy system, where their interactions with their environment can be predicted and simulated, as well as taking into account interactions with inhabitants and customers. Design tools should also support the evaluation of different retrofitting alternatives.

A challenge is to ensure the interoperability between tools from various domains and at different scales. But more importantly, knowledge collection and management in the fields of refurbishment issues should be developed and implemented in order to propose solutions adapted to collaborative multi-disciplinary refurbishing work.

Scope: Research a