Energy Performance Analysis of the Renovation Process in an Italian Cultural Heritage Building

Renovating buildings with cultural heritage significance is an important step toward achieving sustainability in our cities. The benefits are not only energy-related but also encompass social aspects that make these renovations a high apriority. The present work investigates the renovation process of a cultural heritage building in the Municipality of Trento in Italy, specifically focusing on achieving energy savings and renewable energy integration by implementing various renovation actions. These renovation actions include improvements to the building envelope, such as roof insulation and window replacements. Additionally, the renovation actions for active systems involve the installation of a ground-source heat pump for heating/cooling coupled with a borehole thermal energy storage system, which is an innovative technology for the renovation of cultural heritage buildings. The electrical systems of the building are upgraded through the addition of standard rooftop photovoltaics, innovative building-integrated photovoltaics (shingles), and the installation of an LED lighting system. The baseline and the renovation scenarios are studied using the dynamic simulation tool INTEMA.building, written in the programming language Modelica. This tool simulates both the building envelope and the energy systems with a high level of detail, using advanced control systems and adjustable time steps. According to the simulation analysis, the primary energy demand is reduced by 30.49%, the final energy demand by 36.74%, and the net electricity demand by 8.72%. Results from this study can be useful to interested stakeholders (e.g., building owners, architects, construction companies, public agents, and urban planners) dealing with the renovation of cultural heritage and protected buildings. Also, the results can be exploited for estimating energy savings by applying advanced renovation strategies for cultural heritage buildings.