DEVELOPING A RETROFITS’ APPLICATION VARAIBLES MODEL (RAVM) AS A DECISION- MAKING TOOL FOR ENVELOPE RETROFITS APPLIED TO EXISTING OFFICE BUILDINGS IN CAIRO/EGYPT

Abstract

The building envelope has tangible impacts on energy consumption; thus, it is the most effective building layer to apply green retrofits. The decision-making process of selecting retrofit measures to apply is complex, it involves many objectives that are quantifiable and others that can’t be quantified. Retrofit analysis simulation tools can be used to identify some of these objectives like energy savings, but they are not enough to rely on; because there are other variables like the availability of the retrofits in the Egyptian market, and the installation process difficulty/duration which are not identified. Thus, the research aims to improve the energy efficiency in office buildings constructed in Egypt by applying retrofit measures to the existing building’s envelope; By developing an optimized decision-making model for retrofits application in the Egyptian market based on a mathematical framework to support decision makers’ selection according to their objectives. Then applying this model to two case studies representing the majority of office buildings in Cairo, to investigate its applicability and compare its results with the simulation tools’.