Assessment of energy-saving potential, associated costs and co-benefits of public buildings in Albania

• Published in: Energy efficiency Vol. 13; no. 7; pp. 1387 - 1407
• Main Authors: Novikova, Aleksandra, Szalay, Zsuzsa, Horváth, Miklós, Becker, Johannes, Simaku, Gjergji, Csoknyai, Tamás
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2020
• Subjects: Economics and Management; Energy; Energy Efficiency; Energy Policy; Environment; Environmental Economics; Original Article; Renewable and Green Energy; Sustainable Development; Building typology; Energy efficiency; Co-benefits; Bottom-up modelling; Supply curve of energy efficiency; Public buildings
• ISSN: 1570-646X; 1570-6478
• DOI: 10.1007/s12053-020-09883-3

The paper presents the public building typology, energy demand estimations and retrofit scenarios, as well as associated costs and benefits for energy-saving measures in the public building stock of Albania. First, representative building types were identified to estimate their energy performance, and define retrofit packages. Second, this information was used to analyse the costs and benefits of the different thermal efficiency retrofits. Apart from specific benefits due to cost savings in the use phase, co-benefits were estimated to understand their dimension and influence on decision-making. Finally, energy efficiency supply curves were developed to show the priority sequence of retrofits and building types. It was found that due to the growing wealth in Albania, user behaviour will change a lot in the future. Energy usage in the public building sector will increase and mitigate savings resulting from energy-saving measures making saved energy costs invisible. However, if other benefits beyond energy savings are considered, the cost efficiency of the measures remain obvious. The recommended approach can be used to assist decision-making and allocate funds.