Co-benefits of Plus Energy Buildings: more than just energy efficiency to advocate for tomorrow's building technology

Abstract

According to the International Energy Agency, buildings and building sector are responsible for over one-third of global final energy consumption and nearly 40% of total direct and indirect CO2 emissions. Guided by greater awareness and new policies, the European construction sector has entered a period of transition that will lead it towards greater energy efficiency with a consequent reduction in consumption and emissions. This is also one of the goals of Cultural-E, an EU-funded project, which aims to define modular and replicable solutions for Plus Energy Buildings (PEBs). These buildings are the next step after the n-NZEBs (near and Net Zero Energy Buildings). Starting from for climate and cultural differences analysis, the project aims to develop technologies and solution sets that are tailorable to specific contexts and energy demands. PEBs are equipped with cutting edge technologies, which cost is not only justifiable by the energy saving. Other benefits, and related monetary values, can be find in their implementation. After a careful research of the available literature, it will be addressed the definition of "co-benefit”, identifying and describing them in the context of Plus Energy Buildings. This is the first step to set a reproducible methodology suitable for co-benefits quantification, in order to give a more accurate estimation of the true potential of this type of buildings and related technologies. The importance that the quality of the indoor environment (thermal, visual, acoustic and air quality) has for users will also be addressed, particularly during this period of global pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions in the building sector is an important target for actions meant to mitigate the climate changes. Nevertheless, this cannot be done at the expenses of healthy and comfortable indoor conditions.