Net-Zero Carbon Emissions Residential Buildings In The Island of Crete, Greece. Are They Feasible?
Keywords:
buildings, carbon emissions, Crete-Greece, electric cars, embodied energy, energy efficiency, operational energy, renewable energiesAbstract
The necessity to mitigate climate change requires the sharp reduction of carbon emissions in all sectors of human activities. Buildings have a share at around 40% in total energy consumption and emit more than the one third of the global carbon emissions. The feasibility of realizing net-zero emissions residential buildings in Crete, Greece has been investigated focusing on the energy renovation of a grid-connected old residential building with low energy efficiency. The possibility of replacing the conventional energy sources and fuels with locally available renewable energies for heat, cooling and electricity generation has been examined. Various scenarios regarding the energy renovation and the increase of the energy efficiency have been studied. The possibilities of offsetting its embodied energy and generating on-site the required solar electricity for re-charging the batteries of the electric cars of the residents have been also examined. Our results indicate that the use of solar energy, solid biomass and low enthalpy environmental heat, instead of fossil fuels, can eliminate all the life-cycle carbon emissions of the residential building generating additionally the electricity required in the electric cars of the building’s occupants. After the energy renovation the grid-connected old residential building will become a net-zero emissions, positive energy and probably zero energy cost building. The installation cost of the required renewable energy systems in the energy renovation is not prohibitive. Our results indicate that old residential buildings in Crete can be de-carbonized using the abundant local renewable energy sources while their energy renovation is economically affordable.
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