Influences from Building Energy Efficiency Refurbishment on a Regional District Heating System

Sammanfattning: Improving energy performance of existing buildings is an important part in decreasing energy use and in turn reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity and the primary energy use.To be able to evaluate how energy refurbishment influences the greenhouse gas emissions and the primary energy use a wider system perspective is needed that puts the building in its context. This thesis deals with energy refurbishment packages performed on multi-family buildings within district heated areas and how they influence greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy use when the district heating use is altered.A simulated building is used to evaluate several energy refurbishment packages. The results are used as input data for models of district heating systems to cost optimize the district heating production. The results from the cost optimization are used to evaluate the impact on greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy use.The results show a difference between measures that saves district heating without increasing the use of electricity and measures that increases the use of electricity while district heating is saved. For example, a building refurbishment package including only building envelope improvements saves the same amount of district heating as a package including only mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Despite this, the emissions of greenhouse gases and the use of primary energy is to a greater extent reduced in the first package because the use of electricity remains unchanged.Comparing energy refurbishment packages performed on the same building, but within different district heating systems, show the importance of the design of the district heating system. Depending on the fuel types used and to which extent electricity is co-produced in the district heating system, the results of implementing the energy refurbishment packages vary. The largest reduction of greenhouse gases and primary energy use occurs when a refurbishment package is performed on a building in a district heating system with high share of biofuel and no electricity production.