Commissioning of thermal performance of prefabricated timber frame insulation elements for nZEB renovation

The current study contains a commissioning of thermal performance of highly insulated building envelope, located in cold and humid Estonian climate. The focus is on the renovation of old apartment building to nearly-zero energy building with prefabricated timber frame insulation elements with designed thermal transmittances U=0.10-0.12 W/(m2∙K). Air tightness, heat flux and temperatures were measured after renovation. Results of commissioning are showing some deviations from designed values, possibly caused by internal convection, improper tightening of joints of elements and poor quality of sealing of layers which must be kept airtight. The results have shown that analysis of designed solutions before, during and after renovation is worthwhile. Thorough inspection and strict rules of quality control on work site are essential for high-quality, sustainable outcomes of renovation with timber frame insulation elements and to guarantee designed thermal performance.

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Energy and thermal modeling of building façade integrated photovoltaics

Thermal Science ◽

10.2298/tsci170905025o ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (Suppl. 3) ◽

pp. 921-932 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Konstantinos Ordoumpozanis ◽

Theodoros Theodosiou ◽

Dimitrios Bouris ◽

Katerina Tsikaloudaki

Keyword(s):

Electricity Generation ◽

Measured Data ◽

Building Envelope ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Large Area ◽

Finite Volume Model ◽

Volume Model ◽

Urban Buildings ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Integrated Performance

Electricity generation on site is a design challenge aiming at supporting the concept of energy-autonomous building. Many projects worldwide have promoted the installation of photovoltaic panels on urban buildings, aiming at utilizing a large area to produce electricity. In most cases, photovoltaics are considered strictly as electricity generators, neglecting their effect to the efficiency and to the thermal behaviour of the building envelope. The integrated performance of photovoltaic ventilated fa?ades, where the photovoltaics are regarded as part of a complicated envelope system, provides design challenges and problems that cannot be overlooked within the framework of the Nearly Zero Energy Building concept. In this study, a finite volume model for photovoltaic ventilated fa?ades is developed, experimentally validated and found to have a significant convergence to measured data.

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Villa Castelli - Transformation of Historical Building into Nearly Zero Energy Building

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.887.148 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 887 ◽

pp. 148-155

Author(s):

Paola Penna ◽

Oscar Stuffer ◽

Alexandra Troi ◽

Valentina Carí

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Building Envelope ◽

Energy Sources ◽

Uniform Structure ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Historical Building ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Energy Needs ◽

Heritage Building

What Americas Cup and a heritage building have in common? They both aim at innovative technologies and cutting-edge solutions. The owner of the project, an ex-crew member of the most famous sailing match race in the world, pushed the planning team to develop extraordinary solutions for his house. The house, Villa Castelli, is an historical listed building located on the Como lake. During its history, it has been transformed many times, giving as results a non-uniform structure composed by different construction technologies. The aims of the owner were: an overall refurbishment particularly focused on energy efficiency, the exploitation of renewable energy sources based on-site production and a fixed budget. To reach these goals, the energy needs have been reduced improving the performance of the thermal envelope. Then, the building's technical systems have been re-developed in order to exploit as much as possible available renewable energy sources. From the very beginning, it was clear that, for finding optimal solutions, a multidisciplinary approach was necessary. The design approach should be the result of a shared approach integrating different fields, such as creative design, technology, knowledge of material properties, building physics. The great synergy among building envelope retrofitting, innovative technological solutions and the deployment of renewable energy sources allows the transformation of this historical listed building into an outstanding example of a nearly zero energy building (nZEB).

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Using natural fibre insulators on green roofs: some considerations

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202019702015 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 197 ◽

pp. 02015

Author(s):

Kristian Fabbri ◽

Fabrizio Barbieri ◽

Francesca Merli

Keyword(s):

Thermal Performance ◽

Green Roofs ◽

Natural Fibre ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Insulating Material ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Synthetic Materials ◽

Hygrothermal Behavior ◽

Coconut Fibre ◽

New Buildings

This study focuses on the application of coconut fibre insulators, an insulating material rarely utilized in the Mediterranean context. Despite its undoubted thermal performance, some queries are related with of his thermo-hygrometric behavior. More precisely, during the use of coconut for covering building for realizing green roofs, which represent a technological solution often adopted in the case of sustainable buildings or nearly zero energy building. Green roofs represent a valid constructive solution with high thermal performances, adopted in existing and new buildings. This paper investigates the thermo-hygrometric behavior of the concrete and Cross Laminated Timbre slabs, insulated with coconut fibreboards (CF) such as an alternative synthetic insulator, referred to a series of different green roofs scenarios. The results show that coconut fibre insulations are equally comparable to natural and synthetic materials. Therefore, coconut fibre could represent a good chance for realization of green roof having high thermal performance and hygrothermal behavior in the same time. This material could be an alternative solution to the normal synthetic materials actually used, in a perspective of sustainable architecture.

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Innovative solutions for net zero-energy building: BIPV-PCM system - Modeling, design and thermal performance

2013 4th International Youth Conference on Energy (IYCE) ◽

10.1109/iyce.2013.6604162 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

L. Aelenei ◽

R. Pereira

Keyword(s):

Thermal Performance ◽

System Modeling ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero ◽

Innovative Solutions

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A weighting procedure to analyse the Indoor Environmental Quality of a Zero-Energy Building

Building and Environment ◽

10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107155 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 183 ◽

pp. 107155 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ludovico Danza ◽

Benedetta Barozzi ◽

Alice Bellazzi ◽

Lorenzo Belussi ◽

Anna Devitofrancesco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Quality ◽

Indoor Environmental Quality ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Zero Energy Building

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On-site measurement of the thermal performance of a novel ventilated thermal storage heating floor in a nearly zero energy building

Building and Environment ◽

10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107993 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107993

Author(s):

Jiwei Guo ◽

Jiankai Dong ◽

Hongjue Wang ◽

Yiqiang Jiang ◽

Jin Tao

Keyword(s):

Thermal Performance ◽

Thermal Storage ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Zero Energy Building

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Building envelope renovation for net zero energy building in hot humid climate

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science ◽

10.1088/1755-1315/257/1/012031 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 257 ◽

pp. 012031

Author(s):

C Boonyaputthipong

Keyword(s):

Building Envelope ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Humid Climate ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero ◽

Hot Humid Climate

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An Innovative Trombe Wall for Winter Use: The Thermo-Diode Trombe Wall

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13092188 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 2188 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jerzy Szyszka ◽

Piero Bevilacqua ◽

Roberto Bruno

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Building Energy ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Building Envelope ◽

Cold Climates ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Viable Option ◽

Building Envelopes ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Trombe Wall

The use of passive solutions for building envelopes represents an important step toward the achievement of more efficient and zero-energy building targets. Trombe walls are an interesting and viable option for the reduction of building energy requirements for heating, especially in cold climates. This study presents the experimental analysis of an innovative Trombe wall configuration, named a thermo-diode Trombe wall, which was specifically designed to improve the energy efficiency by providing a proper level of insulation for the building envelope. Such a design is essential in cold climates to limit the thermal losses whilst increasing solar heat gains to the heated spaces. An experimental campaign was conducted from December to March that involved monitoring the external climatic conditions and the main thermal parameters to assess the thermal performance of the proposed solution. The results demonstrated that in the presence of solar radiation, the thermo-diode Trombe wall was able to generate significant natural convection inside the air cavity, with temperatures higher than 35 °C in the upper section, by providing consistent heat gains for the indoor environment, even on cold days and for hours after the end of the daylight. The efficiency, relative to the incident solar radiation, reached 15.3% during a well-insolated winter day.

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A multiple linear regression approach to correlate the Indoor Environmental Factors to the global comfort in a Zero-Energy building

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202019704002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 197 ◽

pp. 04002

Author(s):

Ludovico Danza ◽

Lorenzo Belussi ◽

Francesco Salamone

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

High Performance ◽

Indoor Environment ◽

Indoor Environmental Quality ◽

Indoor Environments ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Experimental Campaign ◽

Regression Techniques

The quality of the indoor environment, in terms of thermal, lighting, air and acoustic quality, grouped in the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) concept, plays a key role in occupants’ wellbeing and satisfaction. Only in recent years IEQ has been investigated as a whole. Today, IEQ occupies the same place of energy efficiency in the design of buildings, especially those with high performance level as the Zero-Energy Buildings (ZEB). The research deals with an experimental campaign during the cooling season carried out in a ZEB laboratory that involved 100 participants aimed at evaluating the IEQ and the indoor environments (e.g. thermal and air quality). The test consists in a survey, during which each participant is required to answer a questionnaire about how he feels the indoor environment. The experimental campaign was completed with a monitoring activity aimed at detecting the main environmental variables that can affect the participants’ answers. Collected data were treated with regression techniques to highlight possible relationships between them. The results show how in a building with high levels of energy performances the air quality plays a key role on occupants’ evaluation.

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