Holistic approach to assess the sustainability and utility of refurbishment measures

Abstract

The current set of building sustainability rating tools developed for application to new building designs focus mainly on technical aspects. Sustainable building developments are usually assessed by use of building performance indicators, i.e. energy consumption, use of materials and other key features of the buildings reflecting comfort and satisfaction. Such sustainability rating tools recently applied mainly for new building designs, however there is a need to assess the sustainability of measures applied in refurbishment projects. In this case the question of economic feasibility of applied measures appears. Measures differ by sustainability rating and by demand of investment cost for their integration in building design. The paper presents the new approach that let to assess the sustainability and economic utility of refurbishment measures. The proposed approach for eco-efficiency analysis based on application of sustainability rating tools (BRE EAM and LEED), cost analysis and MCDA methods. The application of proposed approach illustrated on case study that presents the eco-efficiency analysis of refurbishment measures applied in multi-family apartment blocks.