Energy retrofitting strategies for office buildings in hot arid climate[Retrofitting building envelope using phase change materials and aerogel render for adaptation to extreme heatwave: a multi-objective analysis considering heat stress, energy, environment, and cost]

The building sector consumes ~30% of the primary energy consumption. Energy retrofitting of buildings contributes greatly to reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. This research aims at revealing the potential energy savings resulting from applying energy retrofitting strategies to office buildings in hot arid climate. The study is applied on Cairo, Egypt, representing the hot arid climate. The case study building was selected to be an existing office building with an area of 12 000 m2. The energy simulation software used is the DesignBuilder software. The suggested retrofitting strategies are upgrading the lighting systems to use LED lights, upgrading the air conditioning performance, using external shading devices, improving AC efficiency, improving the building’s air tightness and improving the R-value of the building envelope by using insulation for exterior walls and roof and substituting the existing window glazing. Those strategies were applied to the building for evaluating their potential for achieving energy savings. The conclusion of the applied study was that by combining the most effective strategies has resulted in annual energy consumption reduction by 86%.