Developing a decision-making model for selecting smart retrofits

Abstract

The world is now experiencing a large environmental crisis, particularly buildings contributing significantly to the problem. Hence, building energy demand has been continuously growing in parallel with the rise in occupant energy demand. Smart retrofitting has been highlighted as one of the most effective ways to reduce energy consumption. However, the selection of suitable smart retrofits (SRs) has become a challenging task, from a range of SRs. A qualitative research approach was used in this research to identify relating to smart retrofits (SRs) for office buildings and establish governing factors for their selection. Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted to collect data related to SRs techniques, and content analysis was carried out to establish governing factors for selection of each SR. Out of 18 identified SRs from literature, fan cycling, ventilation control, and LED luminaires are the most implemented retrofit technique during the operational stage of the office buildings in Sri Lanka. Further, fan cycling, and ventilation controls were identified as commonly used types. Those findings were used to develop the decision-making model. Although SRs implementation is a comprehensive process, the recognized governing factors can be used to select suitable forms and features of SRs based on proposed decision-making model. This research further establishes metrics to benchmark the performance of SRs. The proposed model and the metrics could be valuable tools for building owners and facility managers to optimize facility operations.