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THE ENERGY FUTURE OF EXISTING BUILDINGS IN BRUSSELS: BETWEEN PRESERVATION AND PERFORMANCE
mission is to present a method that enables more extensive work to be started on changes to the energy performance of Brussels’ built heritage. A six-month long project does not permit a large quantity of work to be carried out. Nevertheless, in order to have a representative panel, we have chosen ordinary architecture, i.e. buildings that have been replicated citywide over fairly large territories. These structures are not always the work of architects. They involve property development, housing estates, average houses, etc. from which we have attempted to identify the problems associated with renovations.
The raw material for our work was made up of 21 “typical” blocks pre-selected in agreement with the Monuments and Sites Department; 11 buildings audited using the Energy Audit Procedure method by Centre Urbain; “infrared” thermal analysis carried out on the selected sites; and research in the archives of the municipalities concerned (fig. 1).
METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS AT A REGIONAL SCALE
The energy issue must be thought of as a series of “tiles”, or systems, involving multiple parameters. The occupant of a building doesn't only use energy for heating. He or she also moves around: this is a question of transport. He or she has a high or low income: these are socio-economic questions. When energy costs rise, certain items are squeezed and others not. There are therefore territorial inequalities in terms of energy. Considering energy dependence as a factor of vulnerability means territorialising energy consumption and, therefore, revealing the region's already existing or future inequalities. However, this is not incorporated within the regulations as, in short, they assume that all buildings are to be viewed in the same way and that the same method and objective should therefore be applied to them without distinction. However, it appears that it's not so simple. The people in charge of planning, and particularly energy planning, must carry out the relatively complex
Fig. 1
Location of the sites studied (Produced with Brussels Urbis © CIRB).
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