Regenerative design and adaptive reuse of existing commercial buildings for net-zero energy use

Abstract This article discusses feasibility of achieving net-zero energy goals in retrofitting commercial buildings, where a specific case study is presented to illustrate research process, design methods and results. An existing commercial building located in Holyoke, Massachusetts was chosen as the research target to study how to integrate passive design strategies and energy-efficient building systems to improve the building performance and reduce energy consumption. Also, the objective was to investigate how to maximize energy savings and reach net zero energy goals by utilizing renewable energy sources for building’s energy needs. Based on extensive energy modeling and simulations, multiple design considerations were investigated, such as material selection, improvements to building envelope, retrofitting of HVAC and lighting systems, occupancy loads, and application of renewable energy sources. Analysis of simulation results was used to determine how specific techniques lead to energy savings, and how to minimize energy consumption. The research results show that this commercial building is able to meet net-zero energy use after appropriate design manipulations and use of multiple renewable energy sources. The strategies and methodologies can be applied to other adaptive reuse and retrofit projects, and improve energy performance of existing buildings. The contribution of this research is that the methodology can be replicated and applied to other retrofit projects in order to improve energy efficiency associated with existing building stock.