Methodology to Improve Energy Efficiency of Heritage Buildings Using HBIM-Sabil Qaitbay: A Case Study from Egypt

Abstract

Over the last few decades, reducing energy consumption in existing buildings became vital. Although architectural heritage values do not allow typical retrofit interventions, research and practice have demonstrated that heritage buildings can be energy efficient without compromising the building’s heritage values. This article shows the results of energy analysis performed on heritage buildings with HBIM-based simulations such as Revit, Insight, and Green Building Studio. These tools were used to study the energy performance and thermal comfort of Sabil Qaitbay in Cairo, a heritage building built in the fifteenth century, and it is currently used as a library and school for cinema and television. The building history and the conservation values of the current project were studied. Then, the methodology to improve the energy efficiency of heritage buildings using HBIM was discussed. Moreover, two proposals were applied to the current base case, and the potential energy saving for each proposed intervention was investigated. The simulation confirmed a possible reduction of 18.7% in energy consumption with the lowest-cost interventions and 33% with the highest-cost interventions.