This thesis examines renovation strategies for the HIL building at ETH Zurich with regard to the university’s net-zero targets. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to quantify and compare the operational emissions of various scenarios. These include demolition and new construction, a typical renovation, and targeted low-carbon measures. The results show that demolition and new construction of the HIL building would result in the highest emissions, but the additional benefits would be limited. Even a typical renovation without major system or material changes would result in high life-cycle emissions and fail to meet ETH’s climate targets for 2050.
In contrast, a more strategic renovation, replacing only four components – the interior walls, interior floors, heating system and photovoltaic modules – can reduce operational emissions by over 80 per cent and grey emissions by around 13 per cent. In addition, biogenic carbon storage can be significantly increased by selecting bio-based materials with high carbon content.
The study highlights the importance of early and targeted measures, in particular the replacement of the gas boiler and the installation of photovoltaic modules. It also emphasizes the ecological value of reusing existing materials and avoiding unnecessary demolition work. Overall, the results show that significant emission reductions can be achieved through simple measures.
