Impact of IPPC Scenarios on indoor environment quality of historic buildings

Abstract

Ensuring proper indoor environment quality in buildings with historic value or buildings located in historic centres of cities is not an easy task. These buildings are frequently listed in historic preservation lists; thus, the amount of possible refurbishment methods is significantly limited due to increased protection. This article deals with comprehensive analysis of internal microclimate of a multi-purpose building located in the historic centre of Prague during summer period. Possible refurbishment methods permitted by the National Heritage Institute are analysed and compared using building energy performance simulation tool BSim in order to achieve proper working conditions in offices in the building. Structural and technical modifications are proposed in order to optimize the amount of solar heat gains leading to reduction of overheating and increase of energy efficiency. Furthermore, two global warming projections from the Fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are applied to the current weather data to examine the impact of the global climate change on the building. As expected, the cooling demand increases with the climate change scenarios presenting more difficult challenges to maintain the indoor environment quality within the limitations given by the legislation.