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• A whole process optimization method of school building retrofit is presented. • Energy-saving and life-cycle decarbonization optimization. • The simulation model is verified by the measured energy consumption data. • Many existing constraints have been considered in the retrofitting process. • The coupling method of ANN and SEGA is used in the optimization process. Given the continuous urbanization, many old buildings urgently need retrofitting. Considering the impact on student health, carbon peaking and carbon neutrality policies, the retrofitting of school buildings has become a focus for researchers. This paper presents a complete optimization method for energy-saving and life-cycle decarbonization retrofitting of existing school buildings. Through this method, a target building is first evaluated from three aspects: envelope, energy system and occupation information, and the weak links of the retrofit project are analyzed through combining measurement and simulation. The study describes the evaluation indicators of two optimization objectives (energy-saving and life-cycle decarbonization) and analyzes the constraints and optimization variables in the retrofit from the aspects of site layout, geometry, structure, envelope and energy system. Consequently, an efficient optimization method is introduced. The proposed method is applied to a school retrofit case in Nanjing, China. The results show that through the optimization of energy-saving, the retrofitted school can produce 102,786 kWh (14.36 kwh/m2) of excess renewable power per year. Upon applying the life-cycle decarbonization optimization, the retrofitted school can achieve zero carbon emissions throughout its life cycle and save 1,920,853.3 kg of carbon emissions in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary housing is crucial to disaster recovery, due to the demand for large numbers within a short period. The short life cycle and unique functional requirements associated with temporary housing could lead to significant environmental impacts. However these have not been adequately investigated. This paper focuses on the life cycle performance of light-framed temporary housing in China with local technologies, taking Chinese electricity mix of each process and domestic transportation distances into consideration. The research selects four popular temporary housing in China, calculates the material requirements and compares the life cycle impact of different wall assemblies based on Future House built in Nanjing. While energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are used as surrogate indicators of environmental impact, total life-time impact is established by including construction energy, operating energy, maintenance energy and end-of-life energy and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. It was found that the life cycle energy of post-disaster temporary housing is much higher in comparison to low energy buildings with construction energy contributing 65% to life cycle energy due to unique requirements. The results also show that life cycle energy of post-disaster shelters could be reduced by using recycled materials, lighter structural materials and light wall cladding materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]