Assessing Sustainable Retrofit of the old Dwellings Stock in Brussels Capital Region

In the framework of the research project “B³RetroTool”, a typology of existing dwellings, built before 1945, has been made, based on a literature review of main steps of the urban and building development of Brussels area. This old part of the Brussels dwellings stock has been chosen because it represents 60% of the dwelling stock but moreover, it gives to Brussels its identity, its architectural and its historical legacy. This contribution presents the methodology to identify typology, to structure a representative database of existing dwellings stock (with spatial distribution in Brussels area) and to define criteria to assess retrofitting strategies for each dwelling type in order to enhance heritage value and to combine it with relevant energy and environmental performances. The originality of this research is to consider energy, environmental and heritage aspects in a non-compartmentalized and complementary way, in order to help designers to reach their objective of a greater sustainability.