Life-Cycle Analysis for Upgrading Residential Buildings to Optimize Energy Consumption

Abstract

Over 60% of the primary energy consumption in residential buildings is used for space heating where fossil fuels such as oil and gas are the main energy source to meet the demand. To maintain our natural resources and to minimize the building’s impact on the environment, energy efficiency of buildings should be maximized. The objective of the paper is to develop a life-cycle analysis for residential buildings to estimate the total costs for heating as a surrogate for total energy consumption. The building is modeled by its outer envelope that consists of various structural and non-structural elements such as walls, roof, doors, and windows. The total costs include manufacturing the elements, upgrading the building, and heating of the building over its service life. The heating costs are estimated based on a thermodynamic analysis on the material-specific properties of the building’s envelope causing energy loss. The dynamic analysis accounts for hourly temperature changes, and the long-term effect of climate change on the heating requirements is considered by using forecasts for future temperature profiles. By implementing the proposed life-cycle analysis into a spreadsheet tool, homeowners obtain recommendations specific to their home on whether upgrading to higher efficiency structural and non-structural elements is economically feasible. A numerical example is provided in the paper for a residential building in the Calgary area where local temperatures and costs are used. In summary, the proposed research helps our communities in Canada to move towards our goal of a sustainable future.