Passive Design Strategies for Energy Efficient Buildings in the Arabian Desert

This study aims to assess passive design features through the extensive modifications of building envelopes to affect the energy efficiency of residential buildings in hot arid climates. In support of the aim of this research, the annual electric energy bill of a typical residential building in Sharurah was collected and analyzed. Then, the DesignBuilder simulation program was used to investigate how different modifications of building envelopes could affect the energy consumption of the residential buildings under common scenarios. Varied thermal insulation, different types of glass, shading devices, and green roof were investigated with this perspective. The simulation results show that thermal insulation can significantly reduce annual energy consumption by as high as 23.6%, followed by green roofs. In contrast, shading devices and glazing system types were fewer superiors. The results also indicate that the effective combination of certain strategies can reduce total energy consumption by 35.4% relative to the base case (BC) of this research.

Industrial Buildings with Zero Energy Consumption: Cathedral Warehouse for Sherry Wines

The industrial sector needs solutions and strategies that allow buildings to reduce their energy consumption and develop their daily business activities. This paper discusses the long-term monitoring measures of indoor thermal conditions in a warehouse with zero energy consumption. The objective is to promote the use of passive design strategies within the industrial sector by analyzing an example of the feasibility of achieving controlled environmental conditions with zero energy consumption. In total, more than a million data points were processed and analyzed in different periods of the year. Experimental measurements showed strong gradients in the vertical distribution of temperature, this being a key aspect of the general behavior of the indoor environment of the warehouse. A standard comparison variable was developed to quantify the monthly and daily evolution of vertical stratification of the air to explain in detail the thermal behavior of the warehouse throughout the year. The results showed the efficacy of the design of these constructions to mitigate the high temperatures typical in a Mediterranean-Oceanic climate. This example of ingenuity in passive design demonstrates how, by combining the right strategies, the desired conditions can be obtained without any energy consumption.

Policies for Smart and Sustainable Renovation of Urban Blocks

The objective of this chapter is to recognize the fundamental issues for the low levels of efficiency of the strategies for the energy renovation of the building stock in Greece. The regulatory framework for the energy efficiency and energy renovation is analysed, and the main policies that have been adopted for upgrading the building stock are summarized. Strategies for the energy renovation of buildings have often led to the further deterioration of the built environment as the Greek city is still characterized by the low quality of life and the low energy efficiency of buildings. A tool for assessing the overall benefits of renovation strategies at the urban block scale is presented as a means for the optimization of the efforts and profits. A smart strategy of renovation including thermal insulation, passive design, and green roofs should be context based considering urban form, urban geometry, and climate.

The 10 Day Bach: A Net Zero Home

<p>Held every two years in Washington DC and run by the US Department of Energy the Solar Decathlon is a competition that challenges architecture and engineering students from all over the world to come up with new and innovative ways to design and construct low energy homes. For the first time in the competition’s history a team from New Zealand was selected to compete in the 2011 competition. This thesis documents the design process of the First Light house from concept to construction focusing on the relationship between energy and architecture in a New Zealand home designed for the Solar Decathlon. The challenge for the young architects and engineers competing in the competition is to develop ways of reducing energy consumption and to raise awareness of the energy saving benefits of highly efficient home design to the public. Despite this being the underlying philosophy, this thesis suggests that the competition is structured in a way that rewards technology over passive design innovation in architecture. A typical Solar Decathlon house is epitomized by a large solar array generating the power needing to run an oversized mechanical system. The New Zealand entry challenges this trend with the design of a home that is focused on ways to improve passive strategies for reducing energy use first before relying on technology. The question is whether a home designed with this philosophy in mind can still meet the strict requirements set out in the ten contests embedded in the Solar Decathlon? Designing a home to meet these requirements was also, in many ways, contradictory to the house’s philosophy. The conceptual driver of the First Light house was the iconic ‘kiwi bach.’ Commonly defined as “something you built yourself, on land you don’t own, out of materials you borrowed or stole,” the bach gives a unique model of comfort and how people might live in a space. Its values are associated with a relationship with the outdoors, a focus on the social aspects of the home and a simple use of technology. As the project developed it was also apparent ‘the bach’, if it were used all year round, could become a symbol for the current state of many New Zealand homes; cold, damp, unhealthy and wasteful of energy. Finding ways to improve this while maintaining the essence of the bach became one of the major motivations throughout the design process. The challenge with this was that the goals associated with designing a ‘kiwi bach’ for a New Zealand climate were, in many ways, conflicting with the requirements of the Solar Decathlon competition. Using comprehensive thermal modelling the First Light house was designed as a net zero energy home that could meet the requirements of two quite unique briefs for two distinctly different climates. Throughout this thesis the often contradictory relationship between the First Light house as a Solar Decathlon entry and the First Light house as an energy efficient ‘kiwi bach’ is explained. Broken into three parts the thesis looks at the passive design of the home and the optimization of the building envelope through thermal modelling, the active side of the design and the generation of solar energy and finally documents the actual performance of the house both in Wellington and in Washington DC during the competition.</p>

The 10 Day Bach: A Net Zero Home

<p>Held every two years in Washington DC and run by the US Department of Energy the Solar Decathlon is a competition that challenges architecture and engineering students from all over the world to come up with new and innovative ways to design and construct low energy homes. For the first time in the competition’s history a team from New Zealand was selected to compete in the 2011 competition. This thesis documents the design process of the First Light house from concept to construction focusing on the relationship between energy and architecture in a New Zealand home designed for the Solar Decathlon. The challenge for the young architects and engineers competing in the competition is to develop ways of reducing energy consumption and to raise awareness of the energy saving benefits of highly efficient home design to the public. Despite this being the underlying philosophy, this thesis suggests that the competition is structured in a way that rewards technology over passive design innovation in architecture. A typical Solar Decathlon house is epitomized by a large solar array generating the power needing to run an oversized mechanical system. The New Zealand entry challenges this trend with the design of a home that is focused on ways to improve passive strategies for reducing energy use first before relying on technology. The question is whether a home designed with this philosophy in mind can still meet the strict requirements set out in the ten contests embedded in the Solar Decathlon? Designing a home to meet these requirements was also, in many ways, contradictory to the house’s philosophy. The conceptual driver of the First Light house was the iconic ‘kiwi bach.’ Commonly defined as “something you built yourself, on land you don’t own, out of materials you borrowed or stole,” the bach gives a unique model of comfort and how people might live in a space. Its values are associated with a relationship with the outdoors, a focus on the social aspects of the home and a simple use of technology. As the project developed it was also apparent ‘the bach’, if it were used all year round, could become a symbol for the current state of many New Zealand homes; cold, damp, unhealthy and wasteful of energy. Finding ways to improve this while maintaining the essence of the bach became one of the major motivations throughout the design process. The challenge with this was that the goals associated with designing a ‘kiwi bach’ for a New Zealand climate were, in many ways, conflicting with the requirements of the Solar Decathlon competition. Using comprehensive thermal modelling the First Light house was designed as a net zero energy home that could meet the requirements of two quite unique briefs for two distinctly different climates. Throughout this thesis the often contradictory relationship between the First Light house as a Solar Decathlon entry and the First Light house as an energy efficient ‘kiwi bach’ is explained. Broken into three parts the thesis looks at the passive design of the home and the optimization of the building envelope through thermal modelling, the active side of the design and the generation of solar energy and finally documents the actual performance of the house both in Wellington and in Washington DC during the competition.</p>

Studying Energy Performance and Thermal Comfort Conditions in Heritage Buildings: A Case Study of Murabba Palace

Heritage buildings are significant historical and architecture added value, which requires deep and precise preliminary brainstorming when considering upgrading or retrofitting these valuable buildings. In this study, we opted to highlight some passive design architecture interventions to improve the thermal comfort and the required cooling energy for buildings. The Murabba Palace in Riyadh was selected as a case study. DesignBuilder software was used to evaluate the energy performance of ten passive architectural design alternatives throughout different seasons in an attempt to improve the energy performance and thermal comfort of heritage buildings. The ten passive design scenarios encompassed double low-E glass, double reflected glass, double low-E glass and double wall with an air gap, double low-E glass and double wall with thermal insulation, double low-E glass and double wall with lightweight thermal insulation, double low-E glass and double wall with sprayed foam insulation, double reflected glass and double wall with an air gap, double reflected glass and double wall with thermal insulation, double reflected glass and double wall with lightweight thermal insulation, and double reflected glass and double wall with sprayed foam insulation. The results show that using double low-E glass and applying a double wall with polystyrene thermal insulation can enhance the thermal comfort inside the building and reduce the energy performance and CO2 emissions to 17% and 9%, respectively.

The retrofit of ‘70s office buildings curtain walls in London

The built environment accounts for 44% of UK emissions, of which 18% are from non-domestic buildings. Considering that a façade's performance accounts for more than 50% of the energy consumption of a building, the retrofit of a ‘70s curtain wall system is analysed along with common issues such as poor insulation, fire risk, air infiltration and absence of natural ventilation, all of which are known to affect both occupants’ comfort and energy demand negatively. The methodology includes thermal and energy analysis of the Euston tower, results from which are used to inform an analytical model representing a more extensive building stock. Orientation, occupation, window to wall ratio and floor heights are examined as the main factors influencing heat gains, and different passive design solutions are tested to reduce them. Combining these passive design strategies shows a reduction of cooling demand by up to 91% and overheating hours down to 0% from base case to best case, demonstrating how the retrofit of curtain walls in office buildings is essential to cut emissions, reducing energy demand and improving comfort and productivity.

Analysis and comparison of passive and climate-unadapted design in terms of resources, energy demands and thermal comfort by means of building simulation and life cycle assessment

The aim of passive design is to respond to the external climate using primarily structural means to achieve a comfortable indoor climate. The use of building technology is an additional measure. This paper compares the demand for resources, primary energy, and thermal and air-hygienic comfort of passive and climate-unadapted designs to determine the most energy-efficient and sustainable design. It also analyses whether user comfort suffers from reduced use of technical building equipment. For this purpose, a representative passive building model is compared with a climate-unadapted one. Comfort, primary and embodied energy are determined and compared by way of a simulation and life cycle assessment. The passive design presents a lower primary energy demand than the climate-unadapted one, even when embodied energy is taken into account. While the requirements of air-hygienic comfort are fulfilled equally in both types of buildings, the passive design displays better thermal comfort. This indicates that energy can be saved by employing a passive design.

Designing louvers toward optimum daylight performance in Indonesia: a parametric study

Architecture has a strong relationship with the daylight universe. It implicates further occupants’ behaviour toward visual comforts, healthiness, and energy consumption. The daylight simulation in the early phase of design benefits the architect in predicting the possibilities of daylight-related target goals during the design process. A shading system is one of the strategies in approaching passive design to prevent an excessive amount of undesirable daylight intensity. This paper investigates different sun louvers shading patterns and their relation to the Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI) in the context of Indonesia, presented by incorporating the EPW file of Jakarta. Parametric and multi-objective optimization has been used to optimize, explore, and map the design possibilities based on the louver shading component as dynamic parameters. Rhinoceros and Grasshopper, as parametric-based modelling software, were used as the primary modelling platform, while the Honeybee and Ladybug plugin were used to undergo the daylight-related environmental analysis. The design exploration iterates 2.160 design solutions with a value of dynamic parameters and the targeted UDI value embedded in each. The results show that the solution founded from iteration process has more areas of illuminance within 300 lx to 500 lx by about 15%.