Comprehensive refurbishment of buildings with energy services

DDI Jan W. Bleyl-Androschin and DI (FH) Daniel Schinnerl, Graz Energy Agency Ltd, Graz, Austria

Keywords

comprehensive refurbishment of buildings, energy services, contracting, demand side management, ESCo, energy efficiency measures, EEES Directive

Abstract

Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) Projects, if implemented properly, have successfully delivered guaranteed savings since they were first established in Europe about 19951. Consequently the new EU Directive on Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services2 supports EPC and views it as an important instrument to implement energy efficiency based on market instruments.

EPC-projects realize demand reduction measures which typically encompass building technologies like HVAC, electrical applications and control systems. In most cases, building envelope refurbishment measures are excluded. As a consequence, large saving potentials are neglected in the refurbishment process and they are lost until the next comprehensive refurbishment cycle of the building some 30 years later. Obstacles like no integrated planning approach, too long pay back periods of the energy efficiency investment measures, procurement problems or a lack of knowledge on implementation models and various others are some of the reasons behind.

In this paper, we propose and describe models how to integrate building refurbishment measures into EPC-models, in order to achieve a comprehensive refurbishment (CR) of buildings as indicated above (CR-EPC-models). We propose three different basic models for the implementation of Comprehensive Refurbishment projects: a “General Contractor” (GC), a “General Planner” (GP) and a “CR-Light” -EPC–model. The decision for an implementation model can be taken after completion of preliminary project planning.

Factors for applicability of the models (especially for the public sector) are described out of which the most important ones are 1. share in building construction measures from project total, 2. whether functional or detailed specifications for the awarding of the CR-works and services are applied and 3. who the building owner wants to put in charge of detailed planning, overall optimization and supervision of the project: a GC or a GP?

To sum up, the paper gives conclusions and recommendations for the implementation of CR-projects and a short outlook on future activities and research.