Effect of retrofit scenarios on energy performance and indoor thermal comfort of a typical single family house in different climates of Morocco

Author(s):  
Sobhy Issam ◽  
Brakez Abderrahim ◽  
Brahim Benhamou

Abstract This paper aims at identifying the impact of three retrofit scenarios of a typical single family house on its energy performance and its indoor thermal comfort in several climates. Two of these scenarios are based on the Moroccan Thermal Regulation in Constructions (RTCM) while the third is the one proposed in this study. The climates, which range from group B to group C of the Köppen climate classification. The results show that the proposed renovation scenario allows reducing the heating load by 19-42% and the cooling load by 29-60% depending on the climate. Furthermore, the RTCM retrofit scenario leads to summer overheating in all climates. One of the main reason of this overheating is the insulation of the slab-on-grade floor as this insulation increases the annual heating/cooling energy needs of the house by 6%-10%. Moreover, the cavity wall technique was found to be the best option for external walls, instead of using high thermal insulting material, in the hot climates. The analysis of the energy performance, the thermal comfort indices and the payback periods for each retrofit scenario shows that the proposed scenario presents the best thermal performance, except for the Cold climate where the RTCM scenario is the most favorable.

Buildings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurina C. Felius ◽  
Mohamed Hamdy ◽  
Fredrik Dessen ◽  
Bozena Dorota Hrynyszyn

Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings by implementing building automation control strategies (BACS) besides building envelope and energy system retrofitting has been recommended by the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 2018. This paper investigated this recommendation by conducting a simulation-based optimization to explore cost-effective retrofitting combinations of building envelope, energy systems and BACS measures in-line with automation standard EN 15232. Two cases (i.e., a typical single-family house and apartment block) were modeled and simulated using IDA Indoor Climate and Energy (IDA-ICE). The built-in optimization tool, GenOpt, was used to minimize energy consumption as the single objective function. The associated difference in life cycle cost, compared to the reference design, was calculated for each optimization iteration. Thermal comfort of the optimized solutions was assessed to verify the thermal comfort acceptability. Installing an air source heat pump had a greater energy-saving potential than reducing heat losses through the building envelope. Implementing BACS achieved cost-effective energy savings up to 24%. Energy savings up to 57% were estimated when BACS was combined with the other retrofitting measures. Particularly for compact buildings, where the potential of reducing heat losses through the envelope is limited, the impact of BACS increased. BACS also improved the thermal comfort.


Author(s):  
Kelen Almeida Dornelles

The use of cool materials on the building envelope is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase indoor thermal comfort conditions in hot climates and decrease the cooling energy needs. Despite the benefit of reducing cooling loads, researches have demonstrated that aging of roof coatings changes the initial SR, which influences the long term building thermal and energy performance. Thus, this work presents preliminary natural weathering tests performed on samples of nine white coatings exposed to natural weathering for one year in the city of Sao Carlos, Brazil. Solar reflectances were measured with a spectrophotometer before and after exposure, every 3 months, for identifying the effect of aging along the time. The findings showed a decrease on the SR from 13% to 23% after one year of natural weathering, with higher decrease for rougher surfaces. The cleaning process restored from 90% to 100% of the original SR, which means maintenance can be an effective solution to restore the initial SR. Simulations indicated that roofs with higher SR increase indoor thermal comfort conditions and decrease the cooling energy need for buildings in hot climates, but the aging of white coatings increased the cooling energy needs along the time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Sugiono Sugiono ◽  
Suluh E. Swara ◽  
Wisnu Wijanarko ◽  
Dwi H. Sulistyarini

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-233
Author(s):  
Ewa Figiel ◽  
Dorota Leciej-Pirczewska

New demands for lowering energy consumption of buildings lead to many new solutions including, amongst others, the introduction of an outer wall thermal barrier for both heating and cooling effect. The analysed thermo-active-wall-barrier is a water-based system, where the pipes are embedded in the wall construction. It enables the use of a low-temperature barrier medium for space heating, thereby increasing the efficiency of all potential energy supply systems using renewable energy sources. The pipes form an active thermal barrier for heat transfer between the outer and the heated space. There are many possibilities to place the pipes in the wall for example in the case of energetic thermo-modernisation. Our research and calculations have shown that thermo-active-wall-barrier is sensitive to the location of pipes. The following paper also provides a study of the impact of thermal barrier on a building’s energy performance. The analysis was conducted for a single-family house in a temperate climate based on parameters taken from one of the Polish meteorological data-bases. Calculations using current procedure of evaluating building energy performance show, that the thermal barrier can contribute to signifi cant reduction of transmission energy loss thus lowering the environmental impact.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 8013
Author(s):  
Tony-Andreas Arntsen ◽  
Bozena Dorota Hrynyszyn

Window design affects the overall performance of a building. It is important to include window design during the initial stages of a project since it influences the performance of daylight and thermal comfort as well as the energy demand for heating and cooling. The Norwegian building code facilitates two alternative methods for achieving a sufficient daylight, and only guidelines for adequate indoor thermal comfort. In this study, a typical Norwegian residential building was modeled to investigate whether the criteria and methods facilitate consistent and good performance through different scenario changes and furthermore, how the national regulations compare to European standards. A better insulated and more air-tight building has usually a lower annual heating demand, with only a marginal decrease in the daylight performance when the window design is unchanged. A more air-tight construction increases the risk of overheating, even in cold climates. This study confirms that a revision of the window design improves the overall performance of a building, which highlights the importance of proper window design. The pursuit of lower energy demand should not be at the expense of indoor thermal comfort considering the anticipated future weather conditions. This study indicates that criteria for thermal comfort and daylight, if clearly defined, can affect the energy demand for heating and cooling, as well as the indoor climate positively, and should be taken into account at the national level. A comparison between the national regulations and the European standards was made, and this study found that the results are not consistent.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7928
Author(s):  
Mirosław Bełej ◽  
Radosław Cellmer ◽  
Michał Głuszak

Airports in Poland are obliged to observe the sustainable development principle and therefore to reduce their environmental impact by creating so-called limited use areas (LUA) related to aircraft-generated noise. The research authors analyzed airports’ impact on the prices of single-family homes located in the vicinity of airports. The LUA is therefore defined as the area designated to study the airport’s specific impact on the single-family housing market. This is a formal limit which determines the examination of price changes and the decision-making conditions of market participants. This methodical approach is justified because no excessive noise is expected outside the LUA. Therefore, two markets in the vicinity of airports were examined. One is in an LUA which is closer to the airport, and the other market is outside the LUA where external noise effects are not present. Thus, we consider that real estate located outside the LUA is not subject to a significant negative impact from the airport. The study covered the Gdańsk Lech Walesa Airport and the Warsaw Chopin Airport in Poland in adjacent areas with the research time horizon of 2013–2017. The study examined single-family house prices. We used a time series analysis, a classic multiple regression model, a spatial autoregressive model, and geographically weighted regression models in our research. Additionally, Geographical Information System (GIS) tools were used to visualize the results of our study. The research result was to demonstrate different impact levels of airports on the prices of single-family houses located in limited-use areas in Gdańsk and Warsaw. This research carries significant implications for the general public and airports’ economic decisions in resolving conflicts between the airport and residential property owners in airports’ vicinities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soheil Fathi ◽  
Ravi S. Srinivasan ◽  
Charles J. Kibert ◽  
Ruth L. Steiner ◽  
Emre Demirezen

In developed countries, buildings are involved in almost 50% of total energy use and 30% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions. The operational energy needs of buildings are highly dependent on various building physical, operational, and functional characteristics, as well as meteorological and temporal properties. Besides physics-based energy modeling of buildings, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the capability to provide faster and higher accuracy estimates, given buildings’ historic energy consumption data. Looking beyond individual building levels, forecasting building energy performance can help city and community managers have a better understanding of their future energy needs, and to plan for satisfying them more efficiently. Focusing at an urban scale, this research develops a campus energy use prediction tool for predicting the effects of long-term climate change on the energy performance of buildings using AI techniques. The tool comprises four steps: Data Collection, AI Development, Model Validation, and Model Implementation, and can predict the energy use of campus buildings with 90% accuracy. We have relied on energy use data of buildings situated in the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (FL). To study the impact of climate change, we have used climate properties of three future weather files of Gainesville, FL, developed by the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP), represented based on their impact: median (year 2063), hottest (2057), and coldest (2041).


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