Strategies for Facade Renovations in Sustainable Building Practices

Renovating existing buildings is a critical aspect of ensuring energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact of our built environments. By focusing on deep renovations, we can significantly enhance the sustainability of these structures while maintaining important connections between interior and exterior elements like façades.

A key factor in renovation strategies is optimizing the processes involved. This means implementing changes at city levels to promote more ambitious goals, leading to resilient, livable, environmentally friendly buildings. Improvements in user health and productivity are also crucial outcomes of deep renovations.

One significant area of focus is on façades. Given that there are approximately 60 billion square meters of façade surfaces, a dedicated chapter on facade renovations could serve as a vital tool for addressing energy efficiency and space comfort simultaneously. Through proper characterization of a building's façade, it becomes possible to establish behavior patterns and improve maintenance processes. This requires a clear framework guiding long-term plans and support for moving cities beyond 'business-as-usual' paradigms.

To encourage deep renovations, several approaches have been suggested:

1. Strategic Interventions: Focusing on early adopter buildings that demonstrate high replicability and scalability can help increase the exponential impact of deep renovations. These examples can inspire other urban areas to initiate similar processes.

2. Cost-Effective Perspective: European Union's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) emphasizes energy efficiency renovations using either a cost-effective or disruptive approach. Envelope renovation, which includes façade work, is often considered within this context.

3. Defining Building Archetypes: Authors such as Delmastro et al. propose identifying Reference Buildings, serving as benchmarks to classify existing structures. This categorization can provide an initial assessment of potential energy savings post-façade renovations, along with broader benefits concerning health, safety, and air quality.

4. User-Centered Design: Recent trends lean towards designs that prioritize user needs and preferences. Engaging users effectively can lead to greater acceptance and impact on energy consumption reduction in buildings.

These strategies aim to facilitate deep renovations in existing buildings, ultimately contributing to enhanced energy efficiency, improved indoor conditions, and overall environmental sustainability.