Industrialized renovation of the building envelope: realizing the potential to decarbonize the European building stock

A review of the energy implications of passive building design and active measures under climate change in the Middle East

“…Heat exchange between the indoor and the outdoor environment is limited by adding insulation to the opaque elements, thus preserving thermal comfort for longer periods (Konstantinou and Prieto, 2018). Therefore, it is essential to find the right amount of thermal resistance for the buildings' envelope, especially in warm climates, to balances heating and cooling energy consumption (Fernandes et al, 2019).…”

“…The poor thermal properties of windows may be improved by multiple glass panes, separated by air gaps, instead of single-glazed window panes (Konstantinou and Prieto, 2018). Windows may be further enhanced by reducing the gap's conductance by filling it with slow-moving gas such as argon and krypton (Konstantinou and Prieto, 2018). Low-emissivity coatings can also be applied to decrease the surface emissivity of glass.…”

“…Low-emissivity coatings can also be applied to decrease the surface emissivity of glass. For example, in hot climates, a coating is installed on the outside face to reflect the solar radiation to the environment (Konstantinou and Prieto, 2018). Excess solar radiation may be avoided with sensitive glazing, which changes transparency, according to outside solar intensity (photochromic), temperature (thermochromic),…”

Comparative cost analysis of traditional and industrialised deep retrofit scenarios for a residential building

“…The main envisaged advantages are related to construction site time reduction, cost compression, and low disturbance for the inhabitants (Andaloro et al, 2019), in parallel with improving the general building efficiency, exploiting an increased interconnection between the envelope and the energy systems (Sandberg et al, 2016). The current practices and future potential for such an industrialised approach were presented in (Konstantinou & Heesbeen, 2022). Moreover, the expected impacts of modularity and prefabrication in terms of sustainability were deeply investigated by (van Oorschot et al, 2021) for prefabricated timber façades.…”