Publication Date Authors Abstract Weblink
Decision support for energy improvements July 2016 Aitziber Egusquiza, Carsten Hermann, Dennis Rodwell An EU research project has investigated measures and tools to make significant improvements to the energy efficiency of European historic urban districts.The research into innovative measures to improve energy performance forms an important part of the overall EFFESUS project, of which a further vital component
has been the design, production and testing of a decision support system (DSS), to facilitate informed decisions that balance the protection of heritage significance with the aim for improved energy performance at the scale of historic urban districts. PDF
Heritage significance assessments to evaluate retrofit impacts: from heritage Values to character-defining elements in praxis 2015 Carsten Hermann, Dennis Rodwell Improving the energy performance of historic districts and their buildings is a balancing act between retaining their heritage significance and allowing the installation of retrofit measures. This paper describes a heritage impact assessment methodology to enable such a balancing process in a well-structured and systematic way. The methodology is one of six impact assessment modules for a decision support system, a software tool under development for the research project Energy Efficiency for EU Historic Districts' Sustainability (EFFESUS). In this paper, the three parts of the methodology – the heritage significance evaluation, the heritage impact definitions and the heritage balancing process – are discussed and their use illustrated by two example case studies. PDF
Strategic assessment of historic cities for energy efficiency retrofits to enable their long-term use and conservation – Development of the EFFESUS methodology and software tool
in: Heritage for Future. Heritage in Transformation. Cultural Heritage Protection in XXI Century – Problems, Challenges, Predictions, pp. 60-81. Nov. 2015 Aitziber Egusquiza, Tor Brostrom, Serena Pagliula, Carsten Hermann, Dennis Rodwell Global agendas in the 21st century pose both a major opportunity and a major challenge to cultural heritage protection in historic cities. The sustainability agenda prioritises the efficacious use of material and energy resources, including those manifested in the material heritage of our cities, thereby reinforcing their long-term use and conservation. The climate change agenda, on the other hand, imposes demands for reduced greenhouse gas emissions that anticipate greatly increased energy efficiency of occupied buildings, coupled with new technologies of renewable energy supply, that, unless carefully managed, threaten the core concepts of authenticity and integrity that underpin cultural heritage protection. The greenhouse gas emission targets set by the European Union (EU) cannot be achieved without the energy efficiency retrofitting of a significant portion of the existing urban building stock. This paper describes a methodology and associated software tools to support the strategic decision-making process involved in the large-scale retrofit of historic cities. The methodology and the tools are being developed as part of the EU funded research project EFFESUS (Energy Efficiency for EU Historic Districts' Sustainability; 2012–2016), researching energy efficiency in historic urban districts. PDF
Retrofit measures for historic buildings and cities Nov. 2015 Carsten Hermann, Dennis Rodwell An EU project is researching the energy efficiency and sustainability of European historic urban districts, and investigating measures and tools to make significant improvements. PDF
EFFESUS Methodology for Assessing the Impacts of Energy-Related Retrofit Measures on Heritage Significance July 2014 Petra Eriksson, Carsten Hermann, Sara Hrabovszky-Horvath, Dennis Rodwell Improving the energy performance of historic districts and their buildings is a balancing act between retaining their heritage significance and allowing the installation of retrofit measures. This paper describes a heritage impact assessment methodology to enable such a balancing process in a well- structured and systematic way. The methodology, developed for the Energy Efficiency for EU Historic Districts' Sustainability (EFFESUS) research project, is one of six impact assessment modules for a decision-support system, a software tool under development as part of EFFESUS. In this paper, the three arts of the methodology — the heritage significance evaluation, heritage impact definitions and heritage balancing process — are discussed and their use illustrated in a case study. Available Here
Data sources for energy performance assessments of historic buildings in the United Kingdom April 2014 Stuart Hay, Tessa Clark, Sophie Simpson & Vicky Ingram This Historic Scotland Technical Paper identifies data sources which can be helpful for assessing the energy performance of historic buildings in the United Kingdom (UK). The list of data sources in this paper was originally prepared as one of Historic Scotland's contributions to EFFESUS, a European project researching the energy efficiency of European historic urban districts. PDF
A method for categorization of European historic districts and a multiscale data model for the assessment of energy interventions September 2013 Tor Brostrom, Adriana Bernardi, Aitziber Egusquiza, Jürgen Frick, Michael Kahn The European project Energy Efficiency for EU Historic Districts Sustainability (EFFESUS) aims to develop and demonstrate a methodology for assessing and selecting energy efficiency interventions in historic urban districts. This paper will give an overview of the whole project with a focus on the methodology and results from the first part of the project including the following steps: Identification and collection of existing data on historic urban districts, establishment of impact indicators for energy retrofit measures, identification and evaluation of European and national policies and legislation, development of a categorization method, and development of a multi scale data model PDF