Perspectives on integrated retrofitting of existing reinforced concrete buildings

Abstract

Buildings account for 40% of energy consumption and 38% of CO2 emissions in the European Union (EU). This substantial impact is primarily due to the delayed implementation of initial energy codes. Additionally, about 40% of the EU's buildings are situated in seismic-prone areas, many of which were constructed without meeting current safety standards. An estimated 65% of these structures require both energy and seismic upgrades. Given these challenges, there is an urgent socio-economic and environmental need to renovate the existing building stock. It is crucial to adopt an integrated retrofitting strategy, enhancing both efficiency and resilience against extreme events. This study provides a detailed examination of the integrated retrofitting of existing Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings. Additionally, a review of current international policies (or incentive programs) related to independent (i.e., structural or energy) and integrated retrofitting (i.e., seismic plus structural) is presented and discussed. From the ten incentive programs evaluated, 77% focused on energy retrofitting interventions, while only 33% addressed structural improvement interventions. As anticipated, there is an increasing emphasis on programs that also consider the sustainable impact of these buildings’ interventions but the combination of energy plus structural interventions still has a minor relevance.