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Measuring buildings for sustainability: Comparing the initial and retrofit ecological footprint of a century home – The REEP House

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  • Bin, Guoshu
  • Parker, Paul

Abstract

The residential sector is recognized as a major energy consumer and thus a significant contributor to climate change. Rather than focus only on current energy consumption and the associated emissions, there is a need to broaden sustainability research to include full life cycle contributions and impacts. This paper looks at houses from the perspective of the ecological footprint (EF), a well-known sustainability indicator. Exemplifying single-detached houses of the early 20th century, the century-old REEP House (downtown Kitchener, Canada), together with its high performance energy retrofits, is examined in detail.

Suggested Citation

  • Bin, Guoshu & Parker, Paul, 2012. "Measuring buildings for sustainability: Comparing the initial and retrofit ecological footprint of a century home – The REEP House," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 24-32.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:93:y:2012:i:c:p:24-32
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.05.055
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    13. Jagarajan, Rehmaashini & Abdullah Mohd Asmoni, Mat Naim & Mohammed, Abdul Hakim & Jaafar, Mohd Nadzri & Lee Yim Mei, Janice & Baba, Maizan, 2017. "Green retrofitting – A review of current status, implementations and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1360-1368.
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