New integrated methodology and Tools for Retrofit design towards a next generation of ENergy efficient and sustainable buildings and Districts

Project Information

NewTREND

Grant agreement ID: 680474

DOI

10.3030/680474

Project closed

EC signature date 20 July 2015

Start date 1 September 2015

End date 31 August 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced manufacturing and processing

Total cost

€ 5 732 387,50

EU contribution

€ 4 715 615,00

Coordinated by

INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NewTREND (New integrated methodology and Tools for Retrofit design towards a next generation of ENergy efficient and sustainable buildings and Districts)

Reporting period: 2017-03-01 to 2018-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The built environment is responsible for 40% of total EU energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gases emissions. Renovation projects are rarely tackled at a neighbourhood/district level, and do not fully exploit the potential for synergies that groups of buildings might offer. To increase the rate of retrofit for energy efficiency, the industry must include aspects such as the cost of installation, disruption to the end user, time taken to delivery, business models to integrate at neighbourhood level and the needs of the various stakeholders and building inhabitants. The design and construction process is complex, inefficient and effective communication does not always occur between each stakeholder in the process. BIM and innovative design software are rarely applied to retrofit projects due to the difficulties in retrieving the necessary information, the traditional character of the sector and their inability to communicate interoperablely. Furthermore, BIM is mainly used for architectural purposes and energy aspects are included only in the end of the process as a final validation of choices already made. Often the final energy performance of the building after renovation does not correspond to the estimations done in the design phase due to sub-optimal practices by inhabitants and users, who are rarely engaged in the selection of the retrofit technological options. NewTREND will develop an integrated design methodology for energy retrofit for use for individual buildings and at the district level, and will address all phases of the refurbishment process. To enable the application of the methodology, a toolkit will be developed to support each phase from concept design to operation, fostering collaboration among stakeholders, involving building inhabitants and users, establishing energy performance as a key component and increasing the uptake of renovation across the EU to exploit the potential for refurbishment at the neighbourhood level.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project identified and analysed current design processes in retrofit projects and it was recommended that participatory design mechanisms be used in the design process in order to achieve improved outcomes. The development of the Integrated Retrofit Design Methodology (IDM) was formed from stakeholder feedback as well as research into data collection, building-neighbourhood synergies, post-retrofit monitoring and the defining of sustainability KPIs. It guides all involved stakeholders in finding the most effective energy retrofitting solutions. The project was able to design the different software tools, to form the NewTREND Platform. Central to this was the District Information Model (DIM) server, which is the exchange database for all data concerned with the sustainability of buildings within the neighbourhood. It was developed in an iterative fashion as each module of the platform became available. The Data Manager supports the building user/ design team to collect all of the necessary documents and data required for the creation of a DIM model of the existing area without unnecessary duplication. The Technology and Business Model library was created from deep research at technical and financial levels into retrofit technologies. The Library contains quantitative information and data on the technologies to be used an as an informative tool, to demonstrate case studies and to be directly used in the Simulation and Design Hub (SDH). The activities to develop the SDH involved using the technologies in the Library and mapping these to templates contained in IES VE/VPP tools so that simulations could occur at both building and neighbourhood levels. It enabled the evaluation of the building and the surrounding neighbourhood to guide decision makers in the selection of the best energy retrofitting strategy. Included in the SDH are user behavioural models and algorithms to take into account occupant perspectives. In order for users to be able to ensure the correct implementation and management of the methodology, the Collaborative Design Platform (CDP) was developed. It is customisable to different stakeholders and gives visualisation of results. A set of comprehensive financial planning templates and prospective business models were also developed. These offer a synergy with savings, renewable energy initiatives, smart networks and consumers, that can be to be included in the decision making process and facilitate the realistic evaluation of risks and savings. The methodology and NewTREND platform were validated using three demo sites in Finland, Hungary and Spain. Each demo site had to create cityGML and IFC files, which was done through a variety of different techniques, before uploading these to the DIM server. In terms of dissemination, the relevant groups of stakeholders were targeted through a variety of means i.e. website, social media, brochures, conferences. The production of a comprehensive Exploitation Strategy will enable the key project outcomes to fulfil its potential as marketable, commercialised products following the end of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Traditional methodologies lack focus on energy efficiency and do not include enough consideration to stakeholder involvement. As well as a focus on energy efficiency, the IDM has at its core an inclusive deep participatory design focus tailored to retrofit for individual buildings and districts. The CDP follows the NewTREND methodology and requires all stakeholders and users to participate and collaborate in the design process as early as possible. The communication mechanisms, visualisation and analysis functionality enables the retrofit design team to take informed decisions on suitable retrofit interventions early in the design phase. Collecting information about the building’s current internal state is currently a time consuming and manual paper - based process that is laden with the potential for inaccuracies. The Data Manager was developed to allow the end user to gather data from the building in real time electronically and.to support the increased the adoption of BIM based approaches in existing buildings and districts. As many technology repositories are already available, however the NewTREND library has moved things forward with its scale, richness and accuracy of information provided. It is not only descriptive but also quantitative, and operates at both the building and district level.

NewTREND will have a positive impact on the environment through reduced energy consumption and increased use of renewables from the EU building stock, and in turn reduced C02 emissions. Environmentally, the calculations show that the total amount of CO2e saved by NewTREND over a 5 year period is 319,313tCO2e

The economy will grow through job creation related to new skills and products, as well as reduced in energy bills and increase in market share of renewable technologies. Economically, the headline figure is that there is a potential to save €96.3 million that is attributable to NewTREND through reduced electricity and gas consumption. If the NewTREND economic savings are reinvested in the economy, then there is potential to create 1,830 jobs across the seven countries.

Society will benefit through improvement of comfort and living conditions for EU citizens and new skills obtained in BIM and retrofitting processes.

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