Evaluation of Energy Consumption and Efficiency in a Historical Residential Home Before and After Building Renovations.

Historical buildings incur diverse challenges associated with energy consumption, specifically those surrounding opportunities for potential improvements. In the U.S., space conditioning (heating, cooling and ventilation) can account for up to half of all the energy usage within a home. As a result, identification of cost-effective methods towards enhancing energy efficiency represents critical information for homeowners and businesses alike, and a measurable estimator of potential monetary investment and return. In this paper, a two-story residential home under the protection of its city's historical preservation committee is evaluated in a longitudinal study during several building renovations. This is a continuation of previous research conducted in the same location, which focused on differences in energy consumption using a fixed-speed and variable-speed heat pump system. Within this study, energy usage over a two-year period is considered, with specific building and equipment modifications divided into individual case studies. Energy consumption data is analyzed against electrical and thermal measurements, meteorological conditions, and utility recordings to establish a baseline reference for comparison across the entire study time period. These findings illustrate both the individual and composite impacts of each renovation, and performance under a variety of dynamic environmental circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]