Abbey, D., Arbabi, H. orcid.org/0000-0001-8518-9022, Gillott, C. orcid.org/0000-0001-5706-7909 et al. (2 more authors) (2022) Demolish or reuse? – The balance between operational and embodied emissions in the retrofit of commercial buildings. In: Lützkendorf, T., Roswag-Klinge, E., Gundlach, K., Schlez, S., Passer, A. and Habert, G., (eds.) IOP Conference Series : Earth and Environmental Science. sbe Berlin 2022, 20-23 Sep 2022, Berlin, Germany. IOP Publishing
Abstract
There are two clear options for reducing the emissions of poorly-performing buildings: refurbishment of the space to a higher standard or demolition and replacement with a better performing building. Non-residential buildings are subject to the latter of these options more than dwellings due to higher rates of ownership changes. This study assesses the carbon emissions of each of the above options for a poorly-performing retail building in Sheffield, UK. The embodied carbon and operational performance of each scenario are calculated to identify the most sustainable option over a 50 year lifespan. The scenario with the lowest emissions is found to be a retrofit case study relying upon electricity as its sole fuel source. The new build scenarios emitted significantly more carbon over the building's lifespan despite performing better operationally than the refurbishment scenario. It was also found that, due to the decarbonisation of the national grid, relying on gas boilers instead of electric fuel sources would make carbon emissions approximately 2.5x bigger in the refurbishment model, despite being legal under UK building regulations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Editors: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
Keywords: | Embodied Carbon; Operational Energy; Whole life Carbon; Retrofit; Demolition |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Sep 2022 08:04 |
Last Modified: | 27 Sep 2022 08:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | IOP Publishing |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/1755-1315/1078/1/012016 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:191086 |
Download
Filename: Abbey_2022_IOP_Conf._Ser.__Earth_Environ._Sci._1078_012016.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 3.0