Old buildings, new cities: Analysis of Brussels' Leopold quarter building typologies as a driver to identify optimal retrofitting strategies

Abstract

In
Europe,
several
studies
show
that
prolonging
the
life
of
a
building
has
lower
environmental
impact
than
demolishing
and
building
a
new
one.
Retrofitting
of
residential
buildings
provides
thus
a
considerable
potential
in
energy
conservation
and
sustainability
benefits.
But
retrofitting
an
old
house
is
a
delicate
process.
This
paper
stresses
the
role
of
en
ergy
efficiency
retrofitting
of
old
dwellings
in
Brussels
as
the
key
element
to
achieve
the
European
Union
(EU)
energy
efficiency
targets.
The
approach
of
this
study
is
to
conceive
the
buildings
as
a
stock
rather
than
individual
entities,
by
developing
a
preliminary
classification
by
construction
system
and
building
comp
onents.
This
approach
seeks
to
contextualize
the
heritage
value,
by
the
identification
of
the
elements
that
define
it,
and
to
achieve
holistic
improvements
of
the
energy
performance
of
the
whole
stock
in
order
to
highlight
the
importance
and
relevance
of
retrofitting
the
old
residential
building
sector.
The
result
is
a
series
of
scenarios
that
supposes
a
first
step
of
the
aimed
methodology
to
identify
in
an
early
stage
the
best
solutions
for
this
specific
part
of
the
building
st
ock
to
achieve
the
energy
efficiency
targets
defined
by
the
Energy
Performance
of
Buildings
Directive
(EU,
2010)