Energy efficiency in retrofitted and new museum buildings in Europe

This article deals with the energy performance of eight new and existing museum buildings located around Europe. Various energy efficiency and microclimate improvement measures have been adopted to reduce the energy consumption of the buildings and improve the comfort conditions. The investigation was implemented in two principal phases. During the first phase, energy simulation studies were performed in all buildings to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed measures and the various design possibilities. The energy consumption for heating, cooling, lighting and other electrical devices was calculated with and without the application of the proposed techniques and the corresponding energy conservation was estimated. Therefore, the proper measures from the energy point of view were adopted. During the second phase, measurements of the energy consumption were performed in the buildings after the finalization of the construction and the implementation of the proposed measures. The energy conservation was again calculated to evaluate the energy efficiency of the final construction. In addition to the energy aspect, the environmental impact of the final construction of the museums was investigated by calculating the reduction of the CO2 emissions due to the applied energy conservation techniques. Finally, the economic efficiency was examined by assessing the payback period of the adopted measures. The results of the present work show that the adaptation of energy conservation techniques in museums buildings can reduce significantly the energy consumption by respecting at the same time the requirements of the exhibition spaces and the comfort conditions of the visitors.