Energy Use and Perceived Indoor Environment in a Swedish Multifamily Building before and after Major Renovation
1
Division of Energy Systems, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
2
Division of Building, Energy and Environment Technology, Department of Technology and Environment, University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle, Sweden
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2018, 10(3), 766; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030766
Received: 14 February 2018 / Revised: 5 March 2018 / Accepted: 7 March 2018 / Published: 11 March 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Buildings and Indoor Air Quality)
Improved energy efficiency in the building sector is a central goal in the European Union and renovation of buildings can significantly improve both energy efficiency and indoor environment. This paper studies the perception of indoor environment, modelled indoor climate and heat demand in a building before and after major renovation. The building was constructed in 1961 and renovated in 2014. Insulation of the façade and attic and new windows reduced average U-value from 0.54 to 0.29 W/m2·K. A supply and exhaust ventilation system with heat recovery replaced the old exhaust ventilation. Heat demand was reduced by 44% and maximum supplied heating power was reduced by 38.5%. An on-site questionnaire indicates that perceived thermal comfort improved after the renovation, and the predicted percentage dissatisfied is reduced from 23% to 14% during the heating season. Overall experience with indoor environment is improved. A sensitivity analysis indicates that there is a compromise between thermal comfort and energy use in relation to window solar heat gain, internal heat generation and indoor temperature set point. Higher heat gains, although reducing energy use, can cause problems with high indoor temperatures, and higher indoor temperature might increase thermal comfort during heating season but significantly increases energy use.
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Keywords:
renovation; indoor environment; thermal comfort; building energy simulation; energy use; multifamily buildings
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MDPI and ACS Style
La Fleur, L.; Rohdin, P.; Moshfegh, B. Energy Use and Perceived Indoor Environment in a Swedish Multifamily Building before and after Major Renovation. Sustainability 2018, 10, 766. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030766
AMA Style
La Fleur L, Rohdin P, Moshfegh B. Energy Use and Perceived Indoor Environment in a Swedish Multifamily Building before and after Major Renovation. Sustainability. 2018; 10(3):766. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030766
Chicago/Turabian StyleLa Fleur, Lina, Patrik Rohdin, and Bahram Moshfegh. 2018. "Energy Use and Perceived Indoor Environment in a Swedish Multifamily Building before and after Major Renovation" Sustainability 10, no. 3: 766. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030766
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