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Towards the EU Emission Targets of 2050: Cost-Effective Emission Reduction in Finnish Detached Houses

Author

Listed:
  • Janne Hirvonen

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Aalto, Finland)

  • Juha Jokisalo

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Aalto, Finland)

  • Juhani Heljo

    (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tampere, 33014 Tampere, Finland)

  • Risto Kosonen

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Aalto, Finland)

Abstract

To mitigate the effects of climate change, the European Union calls for major carbon emission reductions in the building sector through a deep renovation of the existing building stock. This study examines the cost-effective energy retrofit measures in Finnish detached houses. The Finnish detached house building stock was divided into four age classes according to the building code in effect at the time of their construction. Multi-objective optimization with a genetic algorithm was used to minimize the life cycle cost and CO 2 emissions in each building type for five different main heating systems (district heating, wood/oil boiler, direct electric heating, and ground-source heat pump) by improving the building envelope and systems. Cost-effective emission reductions were possible with all heating systems, but especially with ground-source heat pumps. Replacing oil boilers with ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs), emissions could be reduced by 79% to 92% across all the studied detached houses and investment levels. With all the other heating systems, emission reductions of 20% to 75% were possible. The most cost-effective individual renovation measures were the installation of air-to-air heat pumps for auxiliary heating and improving the thermal insulation of external walls.

Suggested Citation

  • Janne Hirvonen & Juha Jokisalo & Juhani Heljo & Risto Kosonen, 2019. "Towards the EU Emission Targets of 2050: Cost-Effective Emission Reduction in Finnish Detached Houses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-29, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:22:p:4395-:d:288571
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Shoaib Azizi & Gireesh Nair & Thomas Olofsson, 2020. "Adoption of Energy Efficiency Measures in Renovation of Single-Family Houses: A Comparative Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Endrik Arumägi & Targo Kalamees, 2020. "Cost and Energy Reduction of a New nZEB Wooden Building," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Fabian Ochs & William Monteleone & Georgios Dermentzis & Dietmar Siegele & Christoph Speer, 2022. "Compact Decentral Façade-Integrated Air-to-Air Heat Pumps for Serial Renovation of Multi-Apartment Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-30, June.
    4. Nazim Hajiyev & Klaudia Smoląg & Ali Abbasov & Valeriy Prasolov, 2020. "Energy War Strategies: The 21st Century Experience," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, November.
    5. Olkkonen, Ville & Hirvonen, Janne & Heljo, Juhani & Syri, Sanna, 2021. "Effectiveness of building stock sustainability measures in a low-carbon energy system: A scenario analysis for Finland until 2050," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    6. Ziwei Yan & Chunying Cui, 2022. "How Natural Gas Infrastructure Affects Carbon Emission Indicators in Guangdong Province?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-26, July.
    7. Olaia Eguiarte & Antonio Garrido-Marijuán & Pablo de Agustín-Camacho & Luis del Portillo & Ander Romero-Amorrortu, 2020. "Energy, Environmental and Economic Analysis of Air-to-Air Heat Pumps as an Alternative to Heating Electrification in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, August.
    8. Janne Hirvonen & Juha Jokisalo & Risto Kosonen, 2020. "The Effect of Deep Energy Retrofit on The Hourly Power Demand of Finnish Detached Houses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-26, April.
    9. Peep Pihelo & Kalle Kuusk & Targo Kalamees, 2020. "Development and Performance Assessment of Prefabricated Insulation Elements for Deep Energy Renovation of Apartment Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, April.
    10. Fischer, Robert & Toffolo, Andrea, 2022. "Is total system cost minimization fair to all the actors of an energy system? Not according to game theory," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    11. Polat, Onur & Ertuğrul, Hasan Murat & Sakarya, Burçhan & Akgül, Ali, 2024. "TVP-VAR based time and frequency domain food & energy commodities connectedness an analysis for financial/geopolitical turmoil episodes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).

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