6533b861fe1ef96bd12c4ddc
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Life Cycle Energy and Environmental Assessment of the Thermal Insulation Improvement in Residential Buildings
Marina MistrettaMaurizio CelluraTeresa Maria GulottaMaria Anna Cusenzasubject
bio-based materialsTechnologyControl and OptimizationPrimary energy020209 energyEnergy Engineering and Power Technology02 engineering and technology010501 environmental sciences01 natural sciencesCivil engineeringEnergy policylife cycle assessmentThermal insulationbuilding retrofitbuilding0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineeringmedia_common.cataloged_instanceRetrofittingEnvironmental impact assessmentGebäudeElectrical and Electronic EngineeringEuropean unionEngineering (miscellaneous)Life-cycle assessment0105 earth and related environmental sciencesmedia_commonWohnungKlimawandelSettore ING-IND/11 - Fisica Tecnica AmbientaleNachhaltigkeitRenewable Energy Sustainability and the Environmentbusiness.industryTEnergiepolitiksustainabilityclimate changeSustainabilityEU-SILC 2010; building retrofit; thermal insulation; bio-based materials; energy; life cycle assessment; sustainabilityapartmentthermal insulationEnvironmental sciencebusinessBio‐based materials Building retrofit Energy Life cycle assessment Sustainability Thermal insulationEnergieenergy policyEnergy (miscellaneous)energydescription
The refurbishment of the building stock is a key strategy towards the achievement of the climate and energy goals of the European Union. This study aims at evaluating the energy and environmental impacts associated with retrofitting a residential apartment to improve its vertical envelope thermal insulation. Two insulation materials, stone wool and cellulose fibers, are compared. The life cycle assessment methodology is applied assuming 1 m2 of retrofitted vertical envelope as functional unit. Moreover, to estimate the net energy and environmental benefits achievable in the retrofitted scenario compared with the non-retrofitted one, a second analysis is performed in which the system boundaries are expanded to include the building operational phase, and 1 m2 of walkable floor per year is assumed as reference. The results show that the use of cellulose fibers involve lower impacts in most of the assessed categories compared to stone wool, except for abiotic resource depletion. In detail, the use of cellulose fibers allows to reduce the impact on climate change up to 20% and the consumption of primary energy up to 10%. The evaluation of the net energy and environmental benefits shows the effectiveness of the retrofit energy policies.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-06-10 |