Innovative approaches to improve sustainability and energy efficiency in buildings

Many of Europe's buildings were built before the era of concern for energy efficiency, making them a key target for emission reductions. The EU-funded EASEE (Envelope approach to improve sustainability and energy efficiency in existing multi-storey multi-owner residential buildings) project is making a major contribution not only to the EU's energy agenda but also to global climate change with cost-effective and easy to implement retrofit solutions.

The project is developing a toolkit for energy efficient envelope retrofitting of existing multi-storey and multi-owner buildings. The focus is on the outer façade, the cavity walls and the interior envelope. The aim is to reduce their energy demand, minimise the impact on occupants while preserving the façade original appearance.

The design of the prefabricated insulating panels for the outer envelope retrofitting based on fibre-reinforced concrete and textile-reinforced mortar has been optimised and the manufacturing process further enhanced. First real-scale panels have been installed at the test facade in Milan and performance monitored.

A new process to decrease the water affinity of expanded perlite for cavity retrofitting was successfully implemented. Perlite can expand up to 20 times its original volume when heated. A new recipe for enhanced synthetic perlite properly hydrophobized has been developed as well; the enhanced perlite was injected into a dedicated cavity wall in Milan and performance monitored.

Prototypes for the pre-fab advanced perlite boards, the laminated panels with aerogel-impregnated textile layer and for the permeable, insulating aerogel wallpaper for the internal envelope retrofitting were developed. The prototype was placed in a test wall and its performance evaluated through sensors.

A dedicated set of tools developed within the project will help to design and implement the retrofitting interventions. The Retrofitting Planner will evaluate the building’s performance and rank retrofitting options in terms of energy performances and cost, expected service life, maintenance, installation and return on investment.

Successful commercial implementation of EASEE building retrofit solutions will have an important and wide ranging impact. EU home owners will pay much less for heating and cooling. Small and medium-sized enterprises active in the construction sector will have access to a profitable new market. Furthermore, the EU and the rest of the world will benefit from significant reductions in emissions.