Support of Energy Retrofit Decisions at Multiple Scales

Abstract

This overview paper chronicles two recent projects conducted by the research group of the author dealing with retrofit decision-making at different levels of aggregation. Inspection of the projects reveals the contrast in resolution and scope of decision making that is typical of different retrofit contexts. At the aggregate level the benchmarking across a portfolio of buildings is supported including the selection of candidates for improvement. At the individual building level a drill-down analysis is supported by two modes of audit models, a calibrated simple normative model and a high fidelity dynamic simulation model. Both models contain explicit representations of uncertainty in the parameters and model assumptions and can thus be used to quantify the spread in energy performance of the proposed retrofit. This result is vital to support risk-conscious decision-making for retrofit stakeholders. This paper summarizes the findings of the two projects.