摘要：Climate change policies imply significant reductions of energy use in buildings. For this, prevailing energy performance standards fall short, notwithstanding the emergence of stricter national building regulations. Regulations cover new built and renovation projects. New built houses that miss the best energy performance are soon candidate for energy upgrading. We investigate the architectural and economic aspects of upgrading recently built detached massive brick houses in Flanders (Belgium). For representing actual building practices, consecutive upgrading steps from lower to higher energy performance levels are considered. Questions addressed are: What is technically feasible in upgrading such houses? Which construction works are easy, which difficult? What are the architectural and financial consequences of a thorough upgrading?.
关键词：Massive brick houses ; Upgrading energy performance ; Thorough retrofits
