Introduction of future climate in LCA/Energy models

Abstract

Climate change will lead to higher global temperatures, more frequent heatwaves, increased rainfall intensity, and higher CO2 levels. These changes will challenge both existing and new European buildings, requiring adaptations to maintain indoor comfort. The research question of this thesis is: how can we prepare European buildings to provide comfortable indoor conditions despite climate change? To answer this, various material and operational adaptation strategies were explored using hygrothermal simulations with the WaterSkater plug-in of Grasshopper in Grenoble and Zurich. Adaptations were applied to a cement-stabilized earth brick building to determine if it can achieve equal or better comfort than a typical European building made of standard materials like bricks, reinforced concrete, and EPS, even in future climates. For a fair comparison, the standard “business as usual” building was also retrofitted with hygroscopic materials to test their effectiveness on indoor comfort. Comfort assessment considered thermal parameters, such as indoor operative temperature and overheating intensity, and humidity parameters, such as discomfort from relative humidity. The potential mitigating effect of these adaptations was also evaluated through annual heating consumption and embodied emissions using a Life Cycle Assessment. It has been demonstrated that low-carbon solutions like natural insulation, clay plasters, and natural ventilation improve hygrothermal comfort in both standard and earth brick buildings, especially under extreme future climates. For standard building renovations, clay plasters and earth bricks proved effective in enhancing comfort with minimal environmental impact. Adapted earth brick buildings will continue to offer superior thermal comfort and climate benefits with half the environmental impact compared to adapted standard buildings.

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