Adaptive Reuse of Ventilation System- A Swedish Case Study of Energy Efficient Ventilation System in Adaptive Reuse with a Focus on Circular Economy
(2025) AEBM01 20251Division of Energy and Building Design
- Abstract
- Adaptive reuse of existing buildings as a part of the circular economy principle has become a more common approach to promote sustainable development, due to increasing urban densification and environmental concerns. Ventilation systems, as a major contributor to energy use in buildings, often face complete replacement during building reconstruction, despite their potential for extended service life. This thesis studies the adaptability and feasibility of reusing existing ventilation systems in two case studies in Sweden, originally constructed as offices and later converted to residential use, to assess their adaptability and potential for reuse in a reversion to office function. Data collections were conducted using documentation... (More)
- Adaptive reuse of existing buildings as a part of the circular economy principle has become a more common approach to promote sustainable development, due to increasing urban densification and environmental concerns. Ventilation systems, as a major contributor to energy use in buildings, often face complete replacement during building reconstruction, despite their potential for extended service life. This thesis studies the adaptability and feasibility of reusing existing ventilation systems in two case studies in Sweden, originally constructed as offices and later converted to residential use, to assess their adaptability and potential for reuse in a reversion to office function. Data collections were conducted using documentation obtained from the municipality’s archive, validated through energy declarations, supplementary information contributed by building owners, and observations from a site visit. The studied ventilation systems, including a supply and exhaust system with heat recovery in Örebro and an exhaust system with heat pump heat recovery in Gothenburg, were modeled in Autodesk Revit and simulated using IDA ICE for both residential and office scenarios. The analysis evaluates energy performance, adaptability, thermal comfort, life cycle cost (LCC), and environmental impact (LCA).
Results show that with minimal interventions and appropriate fan operation scheduling, both systems can meet Swedish regulatory energy requirements (70 kW/m2 per year for residential, 75 kW/m2 per year for office) while thermal comfort challenges, primarily due to a lack of cooling, were observed without window operation. LCA results indicate a 23 % reduction in GWP in case study one, and 21% in case study two over 100 years when reusing existing systems compared to full replacement. Reduction in ADP was 20 % and 34 %, respectively, while PED was reduced by 19 % in both case studies. LCC analyses further confirm the economic viability of reusing components. These results indicate the potential benefits of a flexible design of HVAC systems to improve sustainability in adaptive reuse projects through cost savings, minimizing waste, reducing environmental impact, and lowering operational energy use in existing buildings. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9205334
- author
- Brahme, Gustaf LU and Saadat, Kiyana LU
- supervisor
-
- Pieter de Wilde LU
- Ilia Iarkov LU
- organization
- course
- AEBM01 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Adaptive reuse, ventilation systems, circular economy, energy efficiency, LCA, LCC, thermal comfort, HVAC
- language
- English
- id
- 9205334
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-25 13:57:50
- date last changed
- 2025-06-25 13:57:50
@misc{9205334,
abstract = {{Adaptive reuse of existing buildings as a part of the circular economy principle has become a more common approach to promote sustainable development, due to increasing urban densification and environmental concerns. Ventilation systems, as a major contributor to energy use in buildings, often face complete replacement during building reconstruction, despite their potential for extended service life. This thesis studies the adaptability and feasibility of reusing existing ventilation systems in two case studies in Sweden, originally constructed as offices and later converted to residential use, to assess their adaptability and potential for reuse in a reversion to office function. Data collections were conducted using documentation obtained from the municipality’s archive, validated through energy declarations, supplementary information contributed by building owners, and observations from a site visit. The studied ventilation systems, including a supply and exhaust system with heat recovery in Örebro and an exhaust system with heat pump heat recovery in Gothenburg, were modeled in Autodesk Revit and simulated using IDA ICE for both residential and office scenarios. The analysis evaluates energy performance, adaptability, thermal comfort, life cycle cost (LCC), and environmental impact (LCA).
Results show that with minimal interventions and appropriate fan operation scheduling, both systems can meet Swedish regulatory energy requirements (70 kW/m2 per year for residential, 75 kW/m2 per year for office) while thermal comfort challenges, primarily due to a lack of cooling, were observed without window operation. LCA results indicate a 23 % reduction in GWP in case study one, and 21% in case study two over 100 years when reusing existing systems compared to full replacement. Reduction in ADP was 20 % and 34 %, respectively, while PED was reduced by 19 % in both case studies. LCC analyses further confirm the economic viability of reusing components. These results indicate the potential benefits of a flexible design of HVAC systems to improve sustainability in adaptive reuse projects through cost savings, minimizing waste, reducing environmental impact, and lowering operational energy use in existing buildings.}},
author = {{Brahme, Gustaf and Saadat, Kiyana}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Adaptive Reuse of Ventilation System- A Swedish Case Study of Energy Efficient Ventilation System in Adaptive Reuse with a Focus on Circular Economy}},
year = {{2025}},
}