Among the super insulating materials, aerogel has interesting properties: very low thermal conductivity and density, resistance to high temperatures and transparency. It is a rather expensive material, but incentives in the field can improve its economic attractiveness. Starting from this, the thermal behavior of a test building entirely insulated with aerogel panels was investigated through an extended experimental campaign. A dynamic simulation model of a case study building was generated to better comprehend the energy savings obtained through aerogel in terms of energy demand over a whole year. The investigation was completed by computing the carbon and energy payback times of various retrofit strategies through a life cycle assessment approach, as well as by a cost-benefit analysis through a probabilistic financial framework. Compared to conventional insulation materials, aerogel is characterized by a higher energy and carbon payback time, but it guarantees better environmental performance in the whole life cycle. From an economic-financial perspective, the aerogel retrofit is the best in the current tax incentive scenario. However, due to its higher lump-sum investment, aerogel’s net present value is very sensitive to tax deductions, and it is riskier than the best comparable materials in less favorable tax scenarios.

Marrone, P., Asdrubali, F., Venanzi, D., Orsini, F., Evangelisti, L., Guattari, M.C., et al. (2021). On the Retrofit of Existing Buildings with Aerogel Panels: Energy, Environmental and Economic issues. ENERGIES, 14(1276) [10.3390/en14051276].

On the Retrofit of Existing Buildings with Aerogel Panels: Energy, Environmental and Economic issues

Paola Marrone
Project Administration
;
Francesco Asdrubali
Supervision
;
Daniela Venanzi
Supervision
;
Federico Orsini
Investigation
;
Luca Evangelisti
Data Curation
;
Claudia Guattari
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
Roberto De Lieto Vollaro
Supervision
;
Lucia Fontana
Supervision
;
Gianluca Grazieschi
Software
;
Paolo Matteucci
Data Curation
;
Marta Roncone
Data Curation
2021-01-01

Abstract

Among the super insulating materials, aerogel has interesting properties: very low thermal conductivity and density, resistance to high temperatures and transparency. It is a rather expensive material, but incentives in the field can improve its economic attractiveness. Starting from this, the thermal behavior of a test building entirely insulated with aerogel panels was investigated through an extended experimental campaign. A dynamic simulation model of a case study building was generated to better comprehend the energy savings obtained through aerogel in terms of energy demand over a whole year. The investigation was completed by computing the carbon and energy payback times of various retrofit strategies through a life cycle assessment approach, as well as by a cost-benefit analysis through a probabilistic financial framework. Compared to conventional insulation materials, aerogel is characterized by a higher energy and carbon payback time, but it guarantees better environmental performance in the whole life cycle. From an economic-financial perspective, the aerogel retrofit is the best in the current tax incentive scenario. However, due to its higher lump-sum investment, aerogel’s net present value is very sensitive to tax deductions, and it is riskier than the best comparable materials in less favorable tax scenarios.
2021
Marrone, P., Asdrubali, F., Venanzi, D., Orsini, F., Evangelisti, L., Guattari, M.C., et al. (2021). On the Retrofit of Existing Buildings with Aerogel Panels: Energy, Environmental and Economic issues. ENERGIES, 14(1276) [10.3390/en14051276].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/380653
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