A Critical review of green retrofit design

Green retrofit design (GRD) has two major aims: to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in existing buildings that are to be sustainably retrofitted. The gap between architects and engineers is evident at the pre-design stage as architects understand little about energy models while engineers use them to conserve energy. However, the goal for both architects and engineers is to develop sustainable building forms that are sensitive to the environment and conserve energy. This paper presents the current technology development for GRD and provides a decision support model to help architects get involved in reducing carbon emissions at the pre-design stage. The GRD process is demonstrated and discussed from the aspect of retrofitting a commercial building and different standards used to verify the results. The aim of this research is to provide a decision-making framework for architects to use at the pre-design stage so as to enhance GRD energy conservation, and thereby contribute to the goal of sustainability. Building information modeling (BIM) inter-operability is also discussed as part of the technology development trend.