Analysis of the effects of climate change on the energy and environmental performance of a building with and without onsite generation from renewable energy

Abstract

Climate Change is a priority, due to the large variety of implications and importance that it may cause in the next decades. In this context, the building sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, buildings should be designed in such a way that they are responsible for fewer GHG emissions. In this context, the paper analyses the potential impact of climate change on the energy performances of buildings, with and without onsite generation from renewable energy, using a prototype building located in Messina (Italy) as case study. The analysis is based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change RCP scenarios and the results confirm the already known overall increase in total energy consumption of a building due to climate change, with a relative decrease in heating demand and increase in cooling demand. The analysis highlights that an active building (including onsite renewable energy generation) responds better to climate change than a passive building in terms of Global Warming Potential. The use of local energy storage will greatly improve the flexibility of the building to load-match and at the same time it could reduce CO2eq emissions.