Dissertation Defence: Transforming Existing Residential Buildings for Climate Adaptation: An Integrated Approach for Retrofitting

Don Rukmal Dhanushka Liyanage, supervised by Dr. Kasun Hewage, will defend their dissertation titled “Transforming Existing Residential Buildings for Climate Adaptation: An Integrated Approach for Retrofitting” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering.

An abstract for Don Rukmal Dhanushka Liyanage’s dissertation is included below.

Examinations are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. Please email kasun.hewage@ubc.ca to receive the Zoom link for this exam.

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Abstract

Reducing energy consumption in old and underperforming buildings is essential, as the proportion of these buildings in countries like Canada is notably high and significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Energy retrofitting for existing buildings has gained great attention in recent years due to the significant benefits of reducing environmental impacts and operational costs. However, the rapid transition of climate and extreme climate forces the integration of climate adaptation into retrofit practices. When integrating climate change adaptation aspects, it is necessary to consider the average change of climate parameters and the building’s ability to endure extreme events. The main goal of this research is to develop a novel decision support framework for building energy retrofit planning that accounts for the rapid change of climate parameters and the Resilience of buildings against extreme climatic events. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify key performance criteria, potential retrofits, their effectiveness, and methodologies for incorporating changing climate conditions into building energy retrofit selection. A building energy simulation testbed was developed to evaluate life cycle costs and environmental impacts of building energy retrofits, which account for the change of climate parameters in the future due to climate change. A multi-objective optimization strategy was developed to enhance retrofit strategies by minimizing GHG emissions and costs while considering changes in climate parameters. Additionally, the optimal retrofit strategies were evaluated for their market potential to assess their impact on reducing GHG emissions in the building stock and to understand the influence of policy interventions on retrofit adoption. A thermal resilience assessment approach was developed to assess the building’s Resilience against extreme temperature events. Finally, the key findings from the thesis were used to develop a detailed set of recommendations to enhance current retrofit policies and programs. The overall study offers valuable findings on changes in building energy patterns, life cycle environmental and economic impacts of retrofits, and building resilience against future climate events based on simulation-based case studies. Furthermore, the specific tools and methodologies developed in this study, along with the recommendations, will provide policymakers and developers with significant support in planning and implementing climate actions.