Aspects of Life Cycle Investing for Sustainable Refurbishments in Australia

Refurbishing existing buildings to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is important in meeting Australian government aspirational targets of a minimum of 25% by 2020. Previous studies of such refurbishments tend to provide only general upgrade, cost and investment advice because they apply generic building attributes and location criteria. They also ignore life cycle aspects such as component assets being replaced at the end of their service life and sustainability investments are over-and-above these 'normal' investments. This research investigates an appropriate methodology for more realistic evaluations of refurbishments and life cycle investment to upgrade buildings to 5 to 6-stars on the NABERS Australian energy rating system. The methodology is presented and discussed as a suite of inputs, simulation tools, and outputs. Preliminary results from ongoing work illustrate the outputs and their interrelatedness. This work focuses on facade improvements because they can have a major influence on the energy consumption and upgrades based on HVACs alone are often insufficient in achieving the required energy savings. 'Sets of improvements' are introduced as a means of controlling the variables by way of facade improvements and related changes to mechanical and electrical systems required because of the interconnectedness of building envelopes and these services.