From net energy to zero energy buildings: Defining life cycle zero energy buildings (LC-ZEB)

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 815-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patxi Hernandez ◽  
Paul Kenny
2014 ◽  
Vol 587-589 ◽  
pp. 224-227
Author(s):  
Zhi Jun Zhang

A zero-energy building, also known as a zero net energy (ZNE) building, net-zero energy building (NZEB), or net zero building, is a building with zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions annually. Buildings that produce a surplus of energy over the year may be called “energy-plus buildings” and buildings that consume slightly more energy than they produce are called “near-zero energy buildings” or “ultra-low energy houses”. Traditional buildings consume 40% of the total fossil fuel energy in the US and European Union and are significant contributors of greenhouse gases. The zero net energy consumption principle is viewed as a means to reduce carbon emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels and although zero energy buildings remain uncommon even in developed countries, they are gaining importance and popularity.


Author(s):  
Patxi Hernandez ◽  
Paul Kenny

Building energy performance regulations and standards around the world are evolving aiming to reduce the energy use in buildings. As we move towards zero energy buildings, the embodied energy of construction materials and energy systems becomes more important, as it represents a high percentage of the overall life cycle energy use of a building. However, this issue is still ignored by many regulations and certification methods, as happens with the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which focuses on the energy used in operation. This paper analyses a typical house designed to comply with Irish building regulations, calculating its energy use for heating and how water with the Irish national calculation tool, which uses a methodology in line with the EPBD. A range of measures to reduce the energy performance in use of this typical house are proposed, calculating the reduced energy demand and moving towards a zero energy demand building. A life-cycle approach is added to the analysis, taking into account the differential embodied energy of the implemented measures in relation to the typical house base-case, annualizing the differential embodied energy and re-calculating the overall energy use. The paper discusses how a simplified approach for accounting embodied energy of materials could be useful in a goal to achieve the lowest life-cycle energy use in buildings, and concludes with a note on how accounting for embodied energy is a key element when moving towards zero energy buildings.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 772-781
Author(s):  
Ahmad Altarabsheh ◽  
Ibrahim Altarabsheh ◽  
Sara Altarabsheh ◽  
Nisreen Rababaa ◽  
Ayat Smadi ◽  
...  

Green buildings have been gaining in popularity over the past few years in Jordan. This is attributed to environmental and financial reasons directly related to energy consumption and cost. Energy sector in Jordan faces two main challenges which are the fast growing of energy demand and the scarcity of resources to fulfill this demand. Green buildings can save energy by designing them as near Zero Energy Buildings, where they produce amount of energy almost equal the amount of energy they consume. In special cases green buildings can be designed as Net zero energy buildings, where they produce as much energy as they consume. Jordan government encourage people to adopt net zero green buildings by issuing the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Law No. 13 of 2012, that allows selling excessive electricity to electricity companies. Despite these benefits of green buildings, they are not yet the norm in the building sector in Jordan. This can be attributed to the high construction cost of green building compared to traditional one. However, this may not be true if the whole life cycle cost of the building is considered, in which the cost not only include design and construction but also operation and maintenance as well. This paper aims to provide real life cycle cost analysis for a typical residential building in Jordan, and to search different effective building strategies and design scenarios that will lead to a successful near Zero Energy Building. The search will apply main green building strategies recommended for Jordan climatic zone. The outcome of this study is a list of best economically feasible design solutions and system selections that result in near Zero Energy Building in Jordan for residential buildings.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
A. Kerekes ◽  
A. Zöld

According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, a significant share of the energy consumption of nearly zero energy buildings is covered from renewable energy. Biomass is considered as one of the most important renewable sources. It is promising since most of the Member states apply very low primary energy conversion factors for it. Nevertheless, the primary energy need is not as favourable as the conversion factors suggest, due to the efficiency of the biomass boilers for all over the year which depends on the changing load. Heating systems supplied with biomass boilers need buffer storage tanks which further decrease the efficiency of the system. The nearly zero energy buildings, especially those of residential use exhibit more stable load due to the lower heat loss and the overwhelming share of the net energy need of domestic hot water supply.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-169
Author(s):  
Zs. Szalay ◽  
T. Csoknyai

Abstract The recast of the Energy Performance Building Directive contains a new article about the need to increase the number of buildings which go beyond current national requirements, and to draw up national plans for increasing the number of nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) with the final target that by 2020 all new buildings shall be nearly-zero energy. Nearly zero-energy buildings are buildings with a very high energy performance, where the remaining low energy demand can be supplied to a significant extent by renewable energy. In this paper, a detached house complying with the proposed Hungarian nZEB requirements is analysed. The life cycle cost and life cycle environmental impacts of the building are assessed for various building service systems to optimise the building design.


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