Assessing energy poverty and potential retrofit scenarios in residential stock in Albania.

Energy poverty (EP), is considered one of the greatest challenges, requiring immediate attention in global scale. The present paper explores a comprehensive research on prevalence of energy poverty in housing stock of two cities in Albania, Tirana and Pogradec, highlighting the vulnerability of householders towards EP. Additionally, the research provides a simulation-based exploration of several passive retrofit scenarios on calibrated models of three different construction typologies in two different climatic contexts. The impact of passive retrofit measures towards indoor thermal comfort is assessed, and payback investments are estimated. Results suggest that improvements in building fabric improve thermal comfort and reduce cost.