EASEE - Innovating retrofitting approach

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Cosmina Marian

Communications

2784 Last modified by the author on 18/02/2015 - 12:24
EASEE - Innovating retrofitting approach

The EU funded project EASEE is at a stage where results are more and more palpable. The project activities address the issue of existing buildings built between 1925 and 1975 with no regards for energy efficiency considerations.

At that time low energy consumption and cutting CO2 emissions through energy efficiency measures were not a top priority. As such EASEE aims to improve the energy performance of the existing residential building stock. For this purpose, the project will develop a new holistic approach to envelope retrofitting based on a combination of pre-fabricated components to be installed without wet finishing on site, novel insulation approaches for the cavity wall and innovative insulating solutions for the interiors.

Partners are developing a set of affordable solutions that SMEs can apply to reduce energy demand while minimising the impact on occupants during retrofitting.

  • A toolkit will be developed for envelope retrofitting of existing multi-storey and multi-owner buildings. This toolkit combines novel design and assessment strategies, with scaffolding-free installation approaches, to reduce energy demand and minimize the impact on occupants while preserving the façade's original appearance.
  • The retrofitting focuses on three main components of the envelope: the outer façade, the cavity walls and the interiors, by developing innovation and easy to implement solutions. These solutions will be showcased through three demo buildings in Milan (Italy), in Gdansk (Poland) and Madrid (Spain) and will be monitored in order to evaluate their performances.

EASEE will reduce overall retrofitting duration and will optimise the worksite in general with direct benefits for the workers and the building occupants, while creating new business opportunities in energy efficient retrofitting of existing buildings, mobilising new cooperation schemes between large enterprises and local SMEs through licensing mechanisms.

There have been considerable advancements made in the development of the main products, namely:

  • Pre-fabricated enhanced panels for the building’s external envelope retrofitting that has a manufacturing process based on adjustable moulding formwork, able to customise the process and increase the automation level.
  • Enhanced perlite for the cavity wall retrofitting, to be potentially hidrophobized through an innovative technology.

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    Insulating solutions for the interiors, based on innovative material combination.
  • A consulting service tool (Retrofitting Planner and Design Tool) for building retrofitting.

More information on these innovative insulation technologies are available on the project website and in the recently published brochures. There is also a shot documentary video made by EuroNews covering the implementation of the EASEE approach at demo buildings.

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