3FOOD

Third Industrial Revolution Consulting Group
buildings in the residential and non-residential building stock). 228 Retrofit construction cycles
for deep retrofit efforts can be estimated to take up to two years. A phased plan could
therefore be to deploy retrofit rounds in two-year increments that each cover 20% of the highconsumption
building stock for a total ten-year strategy.
Energy use conditions in high-consumption building stock can be lowered from the current 190,
160, and 180 kWh/m 2 a for single family homes, multi-family homes, and non-residential
buildings, respectively to 120 kWh/m 2 a. Indeed, 120 kWh/m 2 a can be considered a
conservative value for retrofitted buildings that have benefitted from short- and long-term
energy conservation measures. 229
Energy use conditions in high-consumption building stock can be lowered from the current 190,
160, and 180 kWh/m 2 a for single family homes, multi-family homes, and non-residential
buildings, respectively to 90 kWh/m 2 a. Indeed, 90 kWh/m 2 a can be considered a conservative
value for retrofitted buildings that have benefitted from short- and long-term energy
conservation measures. Such an approach lowers energy consumption of the high-consumption
stock by approximately 50% which would decrease total built environment energy consumption
by 1.67 billion kWh/a or about 27.5%. This is consistent with case study analysis of deep retrofit
performance. 230 The investment potential of such a ten-year deployment corresponds to about
€3.2 billion. In terms of a first phase, where 20% of the high-consumption building stock is
retrofitted to the same level of 90 kWh/m 2 a, built environment energy consumption would be
lowered by 5.5% or about 335 million kWh/a. Such a deployment represents a self-funding
investment of about €665 million.
The contribution to electricity end-use reduction is illustrated in Figure 5 for both a Phase 1 and
a Full Project deployment.
228 Buildings with ‘normal’ consumption patterns and even ‘low’ consumption profiles will likely also be available
for retrofitting at lower cost per square meter
229 For instance, Hoos et al. maintain that buildings can be retrofitted to at least 90-100 kWh/m 2 a and Merzkirch et
al. (Merzkirch, A., Maas, S., Scholzen, F., Waldmann, D. (2014). Wie genau sind unsere energiepasse? Vergleich
zwischen berechneter und gemessener endenergie in 230 wohngebauden in Luxemburg. Bauphysik, 36: 40-43.
Doi: 10.1002/bapi.201410007) similarly show that newer buildings have considerably lower energy use.
230 Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) (2015). Deep energy retrofits using energy savings performance contracts:
success stories. Rocky Mountain Institute, Boulder, CO.
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