CO2 emissions reduction potential of sustainable residential renovations in England

Renovating the residential stock plays an important role in achieving carbon neutrality in Europe. The study evaluates several novel renovation technologies’ effects on CO2 emissions and indoor climate by building level simulations. An English semi-detached house was selected as the demo house. The analysed renovation technologies include bio-aerogel thermal insulation, photovoltaic vacuum window, phase change material, insulating breath membrane, room specific air handling unit with heat recovery, photovoltaic/thermal system and solar assisted heat pump. They were classified into the passive, ventilation and generation packages, and simulated by packages and final combinations. Thermal insulating technologies, bio-aerogel thermal insulation and insulating breath membrane, have the largest CO2 emissions reduction potential, resulting in over 40% reduction by single technology. The demo house’s CO2 emissions can be reduced by over 60% after renovating with either final combination of
the novel renovation technologies.