Life-Cycle Cost-Benefit Analysis of Energy Efficiency Retrofits in the Existing Building Sector in Abu Dhabi

Abstract

A consensus is forming among experts that the best way to achieve emissions' reduction in the near and mid-term future is by increasing the demand-side energy efficiency. Enhanced energy efficiency can further reduce energy costs and result in a financial benefit to end-users if the life-cycle value of energy savings offset the upfront cost of implementing the measure. An ideal candidate for the implementation of demand-side energy efficiency measures is the building sector, since it contributes to a large extent to the total amount of GHGs emitted worldwide. The International Energy Agency has estimated that building energy efficiency in a generic perspective (i.e. if applied globally) could result in almost 6 GtCO2/year of emissions reduction, which is a significant amount compared to the total worldwide annual emissions. The objective of the current thesis is the analysis of the energy savings that can be obtained from the implementation of different retrofits in the building sector in the emirate of Abu Dhabi as well as the evaluation of the respective costs. Important part of the analysis is the development of the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) for the building sector of Abu Dhabi, which can illustratively describe the potential of CO2¬ abatement in the case of each retrofit applied. This project aims at offering insights that will assist the development of a framework to make such investments sustainable, given the significant barriers that exist (e.g. subsidized electricity price).

Date of Award	2014
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Afshin Afshari (Supervisor)