Retrofitting the Old Residential Communities to Save Energy, Reduce Carbon Emissions, and Improve the Microclimate: A Case Study of Panmen Residential Neighbourhood in Suzhou, China

This research aims to explore an innovative approach to retrofit the old residential communities to save energy, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and improve the microclimate. The urban housing stock in China accounts for almost 1/4 of the national total energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. To promote clean and renewable energy and energy-efficient buildings, the Chinese government has promoted the retrofit of old urban residential communities towards energy efficiency. The retrofit of old residential communities has a great potential to improve the microclimate, including thermal performance, neighbourhood wind environment, and air quality. This study takes Panmen Residential Neighbourhood in Suzhou as a case study and investigates the impacts of multiple retrofit measures on the microclimate through an interactive model. This study contributes to a better understanding of microclimate based on the analysis of the building energy performance, outdoor air temperature, relative humidity and ventilation performance at a community level.