Energy efficiency in the refurbishment of high-rise residential buildings

Pedro Guertler and Winton Smith, Association for the Conservation of Energy

Keywords

high-rise residential buildings, EU25, Candidate Countries, refurbishment

Abstract

A wide range of projects have been and are being carried out in Europe which assess the costs, benefits and effectiveness of investment in residential energy efficiency refurbishment. In the context of pressing and frequently conflicting environmental, economic and social policy objectives, energy efficiency investment is repeatedly found to be a cost-effective and reconcilable component of energy policies. High rise residential buildings are a particularly salient issue in this regard as their poor energy efficiency is regarded as a "moderate" to "major" problem by 19 out of 27 housing ministries who responded to a Europe-wide survey. Yet no previous research exists on the Europe-wide picture of the potential for energy efficiency improvement in high-rise buildings.

Taking into account the present EU (25) plus Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, this paper identifies significant scope for increased energy efficiency in high-rise buildings. The cost-effectiveness of energy savings and avoided CO2 emissions is assessed, and it transpires that the most cost-effective energy savings can be made in the 'old' EU Member States, whilst the most cost-effective CO2 savings are achievable in the New Member and Accession States. The paper concludes that investment in improving the energy efficiency of the high-rise residential stock should be made, acknowledging that approaches to prioritising this investment still need to be refined.