Evaluation of refurbishment strategies for post-war office buildings

Multiple combinations of energy saving refurbishment measures were applied to representative models of post-war office buildings using EnergyPlus. Based on energy consumption, thermal comfort and costs, a range of heating and cooling refurbishment features were evaluated under a parameter study. The evaluation shows that although refurbished post-war offices with high insulation consume negligible amounts of heating energy, thermal comfort could only be provided by additional active cooling which results in higher costs and lower greenhouse gas reductions