Please cite this article in press as: L. Schibuola, et al., Innovative technologies for energy retrofit of historic buildings: An experimental validation, Journal of Cultural Heritage (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2017.09.011 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model CULHER-3277; No. of Pages 8 Journal of Cultural Heritage xxx (2017) xxx–xxx Available online at ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com Original article Innovative technologies for energy retrofit of historic buildings: An experimental validation Luigi Schibuola * , Massimiliano Scarpa , Chiara Tambani University IUAV of Venice, Dorsoduro 2206, 30123 Venice, Italy a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 11 April 2017 Accepted 18 September 2017 Available online xxx Keywords: Historic building refurbishment High efficiency technologies Ground source heat pump Demand controlled ventilation Trigeneration Energy retrofit a b s t r a c t Refurbished buildings should also increase their energy efficiency, according with current regulation; however, in case of historical buildings, preservation orders are so strict to hamper usual energy efficient interventions on the building envelope side. As a consequence, in historical buildings, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning) systems and control strategies should be further improved, since they are the only true means for energy efficiency. This paper presents the set of technologies implemented in the frame of the refurbishment of an historical building in the very center of Venice, in order to lower energy consumption and increase occupants’ comfort. The refurbishment consisted mainly in the appli- cation of the following technologies: Surface Water Heat Pump (SWHP), Demand Controlled Ventilation (DCV) and trigeneration. Furthermore, the paper proves the achieved energy savings by comparing the actual energy consumption against detailed building energy simulations for baseline HVAC system config- urations. For such a purpose, the authors take advantage of the installed extensive building management system (BMS), which is able to record detailed data about flow rates (of air and water), temperature and humidity for all of the key devices of the HVAC system. The building used as a case study is very significant because of its energy intensive intended use as well as for the very strict preservation orders acting on it. In particular, global primary energy savings equal to 36% have been calculated, if compared with a traditional baseline HVAC system. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 1. Research aim This research is aimed at presenting the energy savings achieved in a relevant historical building in the very center of Venice, after a delicate refurbishment implying interventions pertaining only to energy and heating/cooling systems, with no modification of the building envelope. The set of technologies used in this refurbish- ment may be efficiently replicated in many other cases and allow the building energy managers to achieve relevant primary energy savings, which, in the present case, reached 36%. The present case study is a relevant reference also because of the extensive building management system allowing the authors to have the full descrip- tion of the actual behavior of each device involved in the chain of energy generation/distribution/use. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0412571281. E-mail address: luigi.schibuola@iuav.it (L. Schibuola). 2. Introduction Achieving a drastic reduction in building energy consumption, is nowadays a big challenge, facing actual global emergencies for natural resources conservation and environmental protection. Buildings are responsible of 48% of energy used on a global scale, and they contribute to 19% of CO 2 total emission, linked to energy (6,4% of direct emissions and 12% of indirect ones) [1,2]. In Decem- ber 2009 the European Community, by the 20-20-20 legislation targets, dictated the reduction of 20% of fossil fuels energy con- sumption by 2020, through energy efficiency actions, the increase of the renewable energy sources share by 20%, and the decrease of greenhouse-effect gas emissions (specifically CO 2 ) by 20% [3]. To achieve these results, it is important to act on existing build- ings. In particular the reuse of existing buildings may imply issues, if no objective and systematic approach is used, taking into account, for instance, the property of the building (private or public), the existence of historical, artistic, cultural, economical constraints, and the presence of various actors as public representatives, archi- tects, architecture historians, designers and owners [4–7]. For this reason it is very difficult to consider buildings subject to preserva- tion orders in the framework of sustainable growth. Interventions http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2017.09.011 1296-2074/© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.