A novel prescriptive approach for buildings’ insulation design considering embodied carbon

The reduction of energy consumption and environmental impact of buildings is critically important. Thermal insulation is highly effective in reducing energy needs. Therefore, national policies have regulated and encouraged insulation retrofits. Their environmental convenience depends on the carbon footprint of the materials used and the carbon density of the energy consumed. However, this is not usually reflected in prescriptions, and no studies have tried to formulate practical solutions for this integration. This work proposes a prescriptive approach based on Type-III declarations of materials and the carbon footprint of thermal energy to improve the environmental convenience and feasibility of retrofits. The life cycle environmental balance of thermal insulation retrofits is first investigated with a simplified analytical model. Then, the analytical model is applied to a parametric case study. The effect of natural hazards on maintenance-related emissions is also considered, an aspe...