Designing a BIM energy-consumption template to calculate and achieve a net-zero-energy house

Buildings account for 34% of world energy consumption and about half of electricity consumption. The nearly/Net Zero Energy Building (nZEB/NZEB) concepts are regarded as solutions for minimizing this problem. The countries of Southern Europe, which included the nZEB concept recently in their regulatory requirements, have both heating and cooling needs, which adds complexity to the problem. Brazil may benefit from their experience since most of the Brazilian climate zones present significant similarities to the Southern European climate. Brazil recently presented a household energy consumption increase, and a growing trend in the use of air conditioning is predicted for the coming decades. Simulations with various wall and roof solutions following the Brazilian Performance Standard were carried out in a low standard single-family house in three different climate zones in order to evaluate thermal comfort conditions and energy needs. Results show that in milder climate zones, achieving thermal comfort with a low energy consumption is possible, and there is a great potential to achieve a net zero-energy balance. In the extreme hot climate zone, a high cooling energy consumption is needed to provide thermal comfort, and the implementation of a nearly zero-energy balance may be more feasible.

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An exploration of the feasibility of converting the New Zealand commercial building stock to be Net Zero Energy

10.26686/wgtn.17082833 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Shaan Cory

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

New Zealand ◽

Commercial Buildings ◽

Commercial Building ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Building Stock ◽

Energy Models ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero

This thesis explores the feasibility of converting the current New Zealand commercial building stock to Net Zero Energy (NZE). The analysis presented is grounded in real building performance and construction information. The goal was to establish results that are as realistic as possible to actual building performance. The Net Zero Energy Building (Net ZEB) concept is one of many low energy building movements that respond to the issues of climate change and energy security. The Net ZEB concept strives to reduce demand for energy and then to offset any residual energy consumption with non-CO2 emitting renewable energy technologies. The (re-)design focus for Net ZEBs is to reduce annual energy consumption to be equal to or less than any generated renewable energy. This is an important concept since approximately 40 percent of all energy and emissions worldwide are building related. If all buildings were designed and operated to be NZE, the existing energy can be used by other sectors which will increase energy security. Conversely, reducing the fossil fuel CO2 producing component of the energy consumed by buildings has the benefit of negating building’s contribution to climate change. The Net ZEB concept assumes each building is grid-connected, and balances the energy taken from the grid against the energy put back into the grid over a year. This study exploits the available synergies of the grid connection to achieve NZE for the whole building stock. Thus each individual building does not need to be NZE at the site, but they act as a community to reach NZE collectively. Furthermore, any grid-tied renewable energy does not need to be offset, only the non-renewable portion. A NZE target was calculated to determine the percentage reduction in current energy consumption needed before the current commercial building stock could be considered NZE. It was found that a 45 percent reduction in primary energy would offset all non-renewable CO2 emitting energy supply currently consumed by the New Zealand commercial building stock. Previous studies assessing whether converting an entire stock of commercial buildings to NZE is possible used prototypical building energy models. Prototypical models represent a hypothetical average building and have many assumptions about the way a building is operated. This thesis develops a method that takes a representative sample of real commercial buildings and makes calibrated energy models that can be aggregated to represent energy consumption for all commercial buildings in New Zealand. The developed calibration method makes use of as-built building information and a standardised procedure for identifying the inaccurate model inputs which need to be corrected for a building energy model to be calibrated. To further base the process in reality, a set of Energy Conservation Measures (ECM) that had been implemented in real Net ZEBs worldwide was adopted for the proposed retrofits. These ECMs were combined into Net ZEB solution sets for retrofitting the aggregated commercial building models. Optimisation of the Net ZEB solution sets was performed on hundreds of models to maximise energy savings. It took over six months for all of the optimisations to be completed. This thesis demonstrates the estimated New Zealand commercial building stock’s energy consumption based upon the calibrated energy models was robust by comparing it to an external estimate. It shows that NZE can be achieved by applying well understood Net ZEB solution sets to the New Zealand commercial building stock. 96 percent of the NZE goal is attainable just through demand reduction without the use of onsite renewable energy generation. The additional four percent of reduction required to meet NZE is easily attainable with onsite renewable generation. Another benefit is that the retrofitted commercial buildings will provide improved thermal comfort for the occupants. Having established NZE was possible, this thesis concludes with an analysis of the broader implications of achieving the NZE goal. It identifies the next step would be to design a NZE commercial building stock that reduces the stresses on the existing energy infrastructure. The Solution Set adopted was not developed with the interaction of the building and electrical grid in mind. To have a practical implementation of NZE will require costing and community prioritisation. This would be the next phase of work assessing nationwide NZE retrofit.

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Investigating the probability of designing net-zero energy buildings with consideration of electric vehicles and renewable energy

Engineering Construction & Architectural Management ◽

10.1108/ecam-05-2021-0448 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Seyed Sajad Rezaei Nasab ◽

Abbasali Tayefi Nasrabadi ◽

Somayeh Asadi ◽

Seiyed Ali Haj Seiyed Taghia

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Building Energy ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Content Type ◽

Building Energy Performance ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero ◽

Net Zero Energy Buildings

PurposeDue to technological improvement and development of the vehicle-to-home (V2H) concept, electric vehicle (EV) can be considered as an active component of net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs). However, to achieve more dependable results, proper energy analysis is needed to take into consideration the stochastic behavior of renewable energy, energy consumption in the building and vehicle use pattern. This study aims to stochastically model a building integrating photovoltaic panels as a microgeneration technology and EVs to meet NZEB requirements.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a multiobjective nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was developed to optimize the building energy performance considering panels installed on the façade. Next, a dynamic solution is implemented in MATLAB to stochastically model electricity generation using solar panels as well as building and EV energy consumption. Besides, the Monte Carlo simulation method is used for quantifying the uncertainty of NZEB performance. To investigate the impact of weather on both energy consumption and generation, the model is tested in five different climatic zones in Iran.FindingsThe results show that the stochastic simulation provides building designers with a variety of convenient options to select the best design based on level of confidence and desired budget. Furthermore, economic evaluation signifies that investing in all studied cities is profitable.Originality/valueConsidering the uncertainty in building energy demand and PV power generation as well as EV mobility and the charging–discharging power profile for evaluating building energy performance is the main contribution of this study.

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Optimization of Energy Consumption in Net-Zero Energy Buildings with Increasing Thermal Comfort of Occupants

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2020/9682428 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mohsen Mahdavi Adeli ◽

Said Farahat ◽

Faramarz Sarhaddi

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Thermal Comfort ◽

General Definition ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero ◽

Net Zero Energy Buildings ◽

Zero Energy Buildings

Residential and commercial buildings consume approximately 60% of the world’s electricity. It is almost impossible to provide a general definition of thermal comfort, because the feeling of thermal comfort is affected by varying preferences and specific traits of the population living in different climate zones. Considering that no studies have been conducted on thermal satisfaction of net-zero energy buildings prior to this date, one of the objectives of the present study is to draw a comparison between the thermal parameters for evaluation of thermal comfort of a net-zero energy building occupants. In so doing, the given building for this study is first optimized for the target parameters of thermal comfort and energy consumption, and, hence, a net-zero energy building is formed. Subsequent to obtaining the acceptable thermal comfort range, the computational analyses required to determine the temperature for thermal comfort are carried out using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. The findings of this study demonstrate that to reach net-zero energy buildings, solar energy alone is not able to supply the energy consumption of buildings and other types of energy should also be used. Furthermore, it is observed that optimum thermal comfort is achieved in moderate seasons.

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PENGEMBANGAN DESAIN MICRO HOUSE DALAM MENUNJANG PROGRAM NET ZERO ENERGY BUILDINGS (NZE-Bs)

Jurnal Arsitektur ARCADE ◽

10.31848/arcade.v4i1.424 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 73

Author(s):

Asep Yudi Permana ◽

Karto Wijaya ◽

Hafiz Nurrahman ◽

Aathira Farah Salsabilla Permana

Keyword(s):

Energy Efficiency ◽

Global Warming ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Thermal Comfort ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero ◽

Geological Conditions ◽

Net Zero Energy Buildings ◽

Zero Energy Buildings

Abstract: Energy efficiency is a top priority in design, because design errors that result in wasteful energy will impact operational costs as long as the building operates. The opening protection in the facade should be adjusted according to their needs, for optimum use of sky light. Inhibiting the entry of solar heat into the room through the process of radiation, conduction or convection, optimum use of sky light and efforts to use building skin elements for shading are very wise efforts for energy savings. House construction planning must be careful and consider many things, including: physical potential. Physical potential is a consideration of building materials, geological conditions and local climate. Related to the issue of global warming that occurs in modern times, climate is a major consideration that needs to be resolved.The purpose of building design, especially in residential homes aims to create amenities for its inhabitants. Amenities are achieved through physical comfort, be it spatial comfort, thermal comfort, auditory comfort, or visual comfort.Energy waste is also caused by building designs that are not well integrated and even wrong and are not responsive to aspects of function, and climate. This is worsened by the tendency of the designers to prioritize aesthetic aspects (prevailing trends). The issue of green concepts and energy consumption efficiency through the Net Zero-Energy Buildings (NZE-Bs) program from the housing sector as a response to tackling global warming is already familiar in Indonesia, although its application has not yet been found significantly. Green concepts offered by housing developers are often merely marketing tricks and are not realized and grow the responsibility of the residents to look after them. Due to the lack of understanding of the green concept, housing developers tend to offer more a beautiful and green housing environment, not the actual green concept.Keyword: Socio-culture, Energy efficiency, Energy consumption, Environment. The green conceptAbstrak: Efisiensi energi merupakan prioritas utama dalam disain, karena kesalahan disain yang berakibat boros energi akan berdampak terhadap biaya opersional sepanjang bangunan tersebut beroperasi. Pelindung bukaan pada fasade sebaiknya dapat diatur sesuai kebutuhannya, untuk pemanfaatan terang langit seoptimal mungkin. Penghambatan masuknya panas matahari kedalam ruangan baik melalui proses radiasi, konduksi atau konveksi, pemanfaatan terang langit seoptimal mungkin serta upaya pemanfaatan elemen kulit bangunan untuk pembayangan merupakan upaya yang sangat bijaksana bagi penghematan energi. Perencanaan pembangunan rumah harus cermat dan mempertimbangkan banyak hal, antara lain: potensi fisik. Potensi fisik adalah pertimbangan akan bahan bangunan, kondisi geologis dan iklim setempat. Terkait dengan isu pemanasan global yang terjadi pada masa modern ini, iklim menjadi sebuah pertimbangan utama yang perlu diselesaikan.Tujuan desain bangunan khususnya pada rumah tinggal bertujuan menciptakan amenities bagi penghuninya. Amenities dicapai melalui kenyamanan fisik, baik itu spatial comfort, thermal comfort, auditory comfort, maupun visual comfort.Pemborosan energi juga disebabkan oleh desain bangunan yang tidak terintegrasi dengan baik bahkan salah dan tidak tanggap terhadap aspek fungsi, serta iklim. Hal tersebut diperparah yang kecenderungan para perancang lebih mementingkan aspek estetis (tren yang berlaku). Isu konsep hijau dan efisiensi konsumsi energi melalui program Net Zero-Energy Buildings (NZE-Bs) dari sektor perumahan sebagai respon untuk menanggulangi pemanasan global sudah tidak asing di Indonesia, walaupun penerapannya masih belum dapat ditemukan secara signifikan. Konsep hijau yang ditawarkan oleh pengembang perumahan seringkali hanya sebagai trik pemasaran belaka dan tidak diwujudkan serta ditumbuhkan tanggung jawab para penghuni untuk menjaganya. Akibat minimnya pemahaman mengenai konsep hijau tersebut, para pengembang perumahan cenderung lebih banyak menawarkan lingkungan perumahan yang asri dan hijau, bukan konsep hijau yang sebenarnya.Kata Kunci: Sosio-kultur, Efisiensi Energi, Konsumsi energi, Lingkungan, Konsep Hijau

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Solar Energy and Its Purpose in Net-Zero Energy Building

Zero-Energy Buildings - New Approaches and Technologies ◽

10.5772/intechopen.93500 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mostafa Esmaeili Shayan

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Solar Energy ◽

Energy Conservation ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Bottom Up ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero

The Net Zero Energy Building is generally described as an extremely energy-efficient building in which the residual electricity demand is provided by renewable energy. Solar power is also regarded to be the most readily available and usable form of renewable electricity produced at the building site. In contrast, energy conservation is viewed as an influential national for achieving a building’s net zero energy status. This chapter aims to show the value of the synergy between energy conservation and solar energy transfer to NZEBs at the global and regional levels. To achieve these goals, both energy demand building and the potential supply of solar energy in buildings have been forecasted in various regions, climatic conditions, and types of buildings. Building energy consumption was evaluated based on a bottom-up energy model developed by 3CSEP and data inputs from the Bottom-Up Energy Analysis System (BUENAS) model under two scenarios of differing degrees of energy efficiency intention. The study results indicate that the acquisition of sustainable energy consumption is critical for solar-powered net zero energy buildings in various building styles and environments. The chapter calls for the value of government measures that incorporate energy conservation and renewable energy.

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Zero Energy Buildings: Systematic Literature Review

10.31224/osf.io/6yncf ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Reza Bahrami

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Renewable Resources ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Conservation Of Energy ◽

Surplus Energy ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero ◽

Energy Law

Zero Energy Building or Nearly Zero Energy Building or Net Zero Energy Building-roughly means the same thing. ZEB for short is a building that has approximately zero energy consumption. The Zero Energy Consumption does not literally mean that the building does not consume any energy at all, on the contrary it is based on conservation of energy law in Physics. In a nutshell the building also generates energy from renewable resources, which is not just used to meet energy requirements of the building, but the surplus energy is also transferred to a transmission station or other building. Thus, ZEB is achieved. Use of ZEB is very crucial to save non-renewable resources like coal which are used to generate electricity

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Net Zero Energy for Industrial and Commercial Microgrids: Approaches and Challenges

Proceedings ◽

10.3390/proceedings2231472 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (23) ◽

pp. 1472

Author(s):

Filipe Bandeiras ◽

Mário Gomes ◽

Paulo Coelho ◽

José Fernandes

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Energy Losses ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Renewable Sources ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Metering ◽

Net Zero ◽

Energy Type ◽

Zero Energy Buildings

This paper addresses the concept of net zero energy and net metering in efficient buildings in order to assist in the study and development of future microgrids for buildings with annual zero energy consumption. There are several definitions for zero energy buildings available in the literature with a distinct set of project goals and interests, but this work is focused on the definition that accounts for energy losses by converting each energy type to source energy. Finally, a case study is presented to evaluate whether four distinct all-electric buildings can achieve annual zero energy by deploying on-site renewable sources within their site boundary.

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Towards Net-Zero Energy in Hot-Dry Regions: Building Envelope Design Strategies for Single-Family Homes

Journal of Sustainable Development ◽

10.5539/jsd.v11n3p45 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 45 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ahmed A. Alyahya ◽

Nawari O. Nawari

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Building Envelope ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Single Family ◽

Design Strategies ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero ◽

High Efficient ◽

Design Proposal

Global climate change is serving as warning signs it gradually begins to capture the attention of people at large. Many actions have been and continue to be taken by governments and organizations to preserve the planet, which is impactful and needed. But conservation efforts are not exclusive to governments and large institutions- individuals can contribute in multiple ways that will have ripple effects, one being the choice to build sustainable, net-zero energy homes. Building a house that is a net-zero energy requires many strategies.One of the most compelling factors in reducing the home energy consumption, to then achieve a net-zero energy home especially in hot-dry regions, is the optimization of the building envelope performance. This paper discussed several building envelope design strategies that are suitable for homes in hot-dry regions and tested them.The Methods including analyzing case study from Qater by using computer and were analyzed using Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools for energy simulation programs. All those strategies were applied to a design proposal for a house in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is a hot-dry region. Further, the same simulation analyses were projected onto an identical house to the design proposal, but with a traditional, low-efficient building envelope.The results showed that the house with the high-efficient building envelope had 48% less energy consumption than the one that has the low-efficiency envelope.This research demonstrated the efficacy of the building envelope to reduce the energy consumption of single-family homes in hot-dry regions. The study outlines vital strategies for a high-efficient building envelope design in hot-dry areas that reaching net-zero energy homes and thus help to offset the negative impact of climate changes in arid areas.

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