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Towards Nearly-Zero Energy in Heritage Residential Buildings Retrofitting in Hot, Dry Climates

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  • Hanan S. S. Ibrahim

    (Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism Lab, Department of BATir, School of Engineering (EPB), Free University of Brussels/Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium
    Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt (FUE), Cairo 11835, Egypt)

  • Ahmed Z. Khan

    (Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism Lab, Department of BATir, School of Engineering (EPB), Free University of Brussels/Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Yehya Serag

    (Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt (FUE), Cairo 11835, Egypt)

  • Shady Attia

    (Sustainable Building Design (SBD) Lab, Department of UEE, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium)

Abstract

Retrofitting “nearly-zero energy” heritage buildings has always been controversial, due to the usual association of the “nearly-zero energy” target with high energy performance and the utilization of renewable energy sources in highly regarded cultural values of heritage buildings. This paper aims to evaluate the potential of turning heritage building stock into a “nearly-zero energy” in hot, dry climates, which has been addressed in only a few studies. Therefore, a four-phase integrated energy retrofitting methodology was proposed and applied to a sample of heritage residential building stock in Egypt along with microscale analysis on buildings. Three reference buildings were selected, representing the most dominant building typologies. The study combines field measurements and observations with energy simulations. In addition, simulation models were created and calibrated based on monitored data in the reference buildings. The results show that the application of hybrid passive and active non-energy generating scenarios significantly impacts energy use in the reference buildings, e.g., where 66.4% of annual electricity use can be saved. Moreover, the application of solar energy sources approximately covers the energy demand in the reference buildings, e.g., where an annual self-consumption of electricity up to 78% and surplus electricity up to 20.4% can be achieved by using photo-voltaic modules. Furthermore, annual natural gas of up to 66.8% can be saved by using two unglazed solar collectors. Lastly, achieving “nearly-zero energy” was possible for the presented case study area. The originality of this work lies in developing and applying an informed retrofitting (nearly-zero energy) guide to be used as a benchmark energy model for buildings that belong to an important historical era. The findings contribute to fill a gap in existing studies of integrating renewable energy sources to achieve “nearly-zero energy” in heritage buildings in hot climates.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanan S. S. Ibrahim & Ahmed Z. Khan & Yehya Serag & Shady Attia, 2021. "Towards Nearly-Zero Energy in Heritage Residential Buildings Retrofitting in Hot, Dry Climates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-36, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13934-:d:704280
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ali, Usman & Shamsi, Mohammad Haris & Bohacek, Mark & Hoare, Cathal & Purcell, Karl & Mangina, Eleni & O’Donnell, James, 2020. "A data-driven approach to optimize urban scale energy retrofit decisions for residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    2. Cho, Hyun Mi & Yun, Beom Yeol & Yang, Sungwoong & Wi, Seunghwan & Chang, Seong Jin & Kim, Sumin, 2020. "Optimal energy retrofit plan for conservation and sustainable use of historic campus building: Case of cultural property building," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
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