Retrofit of a Multifamily Mass Masonry Building in New England

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1090969· OSTI ID:1090969

Ueno, K. ^[1]; Kerrigan, Jr., P. ^[1]; Wytrykowska, H. ^[1]; Van Straaten, R. ^[1]

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1. Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity (MVHfH) has partnered with Building Science Corporation to provide high performance affordable housing for 10 families in the retrofit of an existing brick building (a former convent) into condominiums. The research performed for this project provides information regarding advanced retrofit packages for multi-family masonry buildings in Cold climates. In particular, this project demonstrates safe, durable, and cost-effective solutions that will potentially benefit millions of multi-family brick buildings throughout the East Coast and Midwest (Cold climates). The retrofit packages provide insight on the opportunities for and constraints on retrofitting multifamily buildings with ambitious energy performance goals but a limited budget. The condominium conversion project will contribute to several areas of research on enclosures, space conditioning, and water heating. Enclosure items include insulation of mass masonry building on the interior, airtightness of these types of retrofits, multi-unit building compartmentalization, window selection, and roof insulation strategies. Mechanical system items include combined hydronic and space heating systems with hydronic distribution in small (low load) units, and ventilation system retrofits for multifamily buildings.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1090969
• Report Number(s): DOE/GO--102013-3919; KNDJ-0-40337-00
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
Air Barrier
Air Sealing
Airtighness
Budget Constrain
Buildings
Central HRV System
Combined Hydronic and Space Heating System
Compartmentalization
Enclosure
Freeze-Thaw
Hydronic Distribution
Incentives
Individual HRV Unit
Mass Masonry Building
Multi-Family
Rebates
Retrofit
Roof Insulation
Space Conditioning
Ventilation System
Wall Retrofit
Water Heating
Window Selection