Retrofit strategies for the existing residential tower blocks in Northern Cyprus

This paper presents a study to investigate the actual building energy use and measures to improve the energy efficiency of residential tower blocks in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). One of the main concerns is that, the TRNC is burdened with the legacy of poorly built housing stock accumulating over the last few decades. There are no strict measures or benchmarks for building energy performance, nor an official roadmap for regulating 'retrofit strategies' to improve energy efficiency. The aim of this study is to develop and test potential retrofit strategies aimed at optimising the energy performance of the existing residential tower blocks in the TRNC. This research adapts a quantitative research design primarily using computer software simulations in a case study approach. To capture the existing energy consumption, physical characteristics of selected case studies are incorporated into the energy simulation analysis. In this case study approach, three prototype residential tower blocks are analysed related to occupants energy use patterns. To accomplish this, the study first examines three prototypes of typical residential tower blocks built in the 1970's, 1990's and 2010's. The modelling software used is REVIT 2017 with Green Building Studio' as a plug-in for energy performance analysis and simulation. This paper reports on the preliminary simulation results that demonstrate that the 73% of the total heat loss from the buildings is due to air infiltration, un-insulated external walls, and windows (resulting in high annual energy demand for cooling), particularly in the southeast facing flats.