A Simple Method to Estimate Energy Savings for Structural Insulated Panels Applied to Single Family Homes

Author(s):  
Ishimine McCullom ◽  
Moncef Krarti

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) have the potential to provide well insulated and air tight homes and thus better energy performance than the conventional wood-frame construction. Currently a SIP home is slightly more expensive to build than a conventional wood-frame home. This paper summarizes the results of a detailed study to compare the energy consumption of both SIP and wood-frame houses in representative climate zones across the United States. A simplified method to estimate the potential energy savings associated with SIP homes relative to an equivalent wood-frame home is developed and presented. As an application of the simplified method, a life cycle cost analysis was conducted to assess the cost effectiveness of building SIP homes throughout the US.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 235
Author(s):  
Fernando Martín-Consuegra ◽  
Fernando de Frutos ◽  
Ignacio Oteiza ◽  
Carmen Alonso ◽  
Borja Frutos

This study quantified the improvement in energy efficiency following passive renovation of the thermal envelope in highly inefficient residential complexes on the outskirts of the city of Madrid. A case study was conducted of a single-family terrace housing, representative of the smallest size subsidized dwellings built in Spain for workers in the nineteen fifties and sixties. Two units of similar characteristics, one in its original state and the other renovated, were analyzed in detail against their urban setting with an experimental method proposed hereunder for simplified, minimal monitoring. The dwellings were compared on the grounds of indoor environment quality parameters recorded over a period covering both winter and summer months. That information was supplemented with an analysis of the energy consumption metered. The result was a low-cost, reasonably accurate measure of the improvements gained in the renovated unit. The monitoring output data were entered in a theoretical energy efficiency model for the entire neighborhood to obtain an estimate of the potential for energy savings if the entire urban complex were renovated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-90
Author(s):  
Selçuk Sayin ◽  
Godfried Augenbroe

ABSTRACT This paper introduces methodologies and optimal strategies to reduce the energy consumption of the building sector with the aim to reduce global energy usage of a given .region or country. Many efforts are underway to develop investment strategies for large-scale energy retrofits and stricter energy design standards for existing and future buildings. This paper presents a study that informs these strategies in a novel way. It introduces support for the cost-optimized retrofits of existing, and design improvements of new buildings in Turkey with the aim to offer recommendations to individual building owners as well as guidance to the market. Three building types, apartment, single-family house and office are analyzed with a novel optimization approach. The energy performance of each type is simulated in five different climate regions of Turkey and four different vintages. For each vintage, the building is modelled corresponding to local Turkish regulations that applied at the time of construction. Optimum results are produced for different goals in terms of energy saving targets. The optimization results reveal that a 50% energy saving target is attainable for the retrofit and a 40% energy saving target is attainable for new design improvements for each building type in all climate regions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Je-hyeon Lee ◽  
Piljae Im ◽  
Jeffrey D. Munk ◽  
Mini Malhotra ◽  
Min-seok Kim ◽  
...  

The energy performance of a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system was evaluated using an occupancy-emulated research building in the southeastern region of the United States. Full- and part-load performance of the VRF system in heating and cooling seasons was compared with a conventional rooftop unit (RTU) variable-air-volume system with electric resistance heating. During both the heating and cooling seasons, full- and part-load conditions (i.e., 100%, 75%, and 50% thermal loads) were maintained alternately for 2 to 3 days each, and the energy use, thermal conditions, and coefficient of performance (COP) for the RTU and VRF system were measured. During the cooling season, the VRF system had an average COP of 4.2, 3.9, and 3.7 compared with 3.1, 3.0, and 2.5 for the RTU system under 100%, 75%, and 50% load conditions and resulted in estimated energy savings of 30%, 37%, and 47%, respectively. During the heating season, the VRF system had an average COP ranging from 1.2 to 2.0, substantially higher than the COPs of the RTU system, and resulted in estimated energy savings of 51%, 47%, and 27% under the three load conditions, respectively.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 12155
Author(s):  
Giacomo Bagarella ◽  
Filippo Busato ◽  
Francesco Castellotti ◽  
Andrea D’Ascanio ◽  
Renato Lazzarin ◽  
...  

At the Department of Management and Engineering (DTG) of the University of Padova (Italy), the research team led by Prof. Renato Lazzarin, formed by the authors, worked during the first fifteen years of the millennium on different topics focused on sustainable technologies for energy production and utilization in buildings. Both experimental and theoretical/modeling studies were carried out, all sharing the evaluation of energy performance and sustainability: From the life cycle assessment and life cycle cost of building insulation materials in Italy, to the measurement of energy performance of a green roof, to the experimental measurement of different photovoltaic/thermal modules, to the development of a simulation software for direct and indirect evaporative cooling techniques, to the evaluation of different energy savings techniques for refrigeration and air conditioning in supermarkets, to an extensive analysis of the urban heat island effect in the city of Padova. The paper summarizes the main theoretical and experimental approaches, providing the methods adopted in each line of research. The main results of the studies conducted during the fifteen-year period are described and commented on, some of which were a well-established reference for the following literature.


Author(s):  
McKenna S. Milacek ◽  
Joshua Schultz ◽  
Mark Muszynski

<p>Affordable housing plays an important role in providing equal opportunity for individuals within most communities in the United States. In the area of eastern Washington State, in particular, there is currently a dearth of affordable housing options; especially for larger families. This lack of three- and four- bedroom residences presents a challenge for the City of Spokane, and the low-income residents seeking housing. This paper provides a preliminary look at certain alternate construction approaches for stand-alone houses with the end goal of optimizing taxpayer funding available, and to reduce living expenses for occupants. Two possible alternative approaches [structural insulated panels (SIPs) and straw bale wall construction] are compared to traditional wood frame construction; all in terms of cost and structural performance. Alternate foundation options are also currently under consideration. It appears that certain alternate construction techniques are worthy of a fresh look; particularly straw bale construction.</p>


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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giedrė Streckienė ◽  
Elena Polonis

To meet the goals established by Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the energy performance of buildings, the topics of energy efficiency in new and old buildings must be solved. Research and development of new energy solutions and technology are necessary for increasing energy performance of buildings. Three low-energy multi-dwelling buildings have been modelled and analyzed in the presented study. All multi-dwelling houses are made of similar single-family house cells. However, multi-dwelling buildings are of different geometry, flat number and height. DesignBuilder software was used for simulating and determining heating, cooling and electricity demand for buildings. Three different materials (silicate, ceramic and clay concrete blocks) as bearing constructions of external walls have been analyzed. To decrease cooling demand for buildings, the possibility of mounting internal or external louvers has been considered. Primary energy savings for multi-dwelling buildings using passive solar measures have been determined. Norint pasiekti Europos Sąjungos direktyvos 2010/31/EB tikslus dėl pastatų energinio naudingumo, reikia spręsti energijos efektyvumo klausimus naujų ir esamų pastatų srityje. Naujų energinių sprendinių ir technologijų tyrimai bei plėtra būtini norint padidinti pastatų energinį naudingumą. Šiame tyrime modeliuojami ir analizuojami trys mažaenergiai daugiabučiai pastatai. Visi jie sudaryti iš vienodo dydžio butų, tačiau pastatai tarpusavyje skiriasi geometrija, butų skaičiumi ir aukštingumu. Siekiant nustatyti ir išnagrinėti pastatų šilumos, vėsos ir elektros energijos poreikius, naudotasi DesignBuilder programa. Visų daugiabučių pastatų atvejais nagrinėjamos trys skirtingos išorės sienų laikančiųjų konstrukcijų medžiagos: silikatiniai, keraminiai ir keramzitbetonio blokeliai. Siekiant sumažinti vėsos poreikį pastatuose taip pat buvo analizuojama galimybė sumontuoti vidines arba išorines žaliuzes. Nustatyti sutaupytieji pirminės energijos kiekiai daugiabučių pastatų atvejams taikant pasyviąsias apsaugos nuo saulės priemones.


2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 04025
Author(s):  
Paula van den Brom ◽  
Arjen Meijer ◽  
Henk Visscher

Thermal renovations are considered to be an effective measure to reduce residential energy consumption. However, they often result in lower-than-expected energy savings. In this paper, we investigate some parameters that influence the probability on lower-than-expected energy savings. We do this by comparing actual pre- and post-renovation energy consumption of 90,000 houses in the Netherlands. The results of this study confirm that the effect of the parameters differ per renovation measure. For every renovation measure, the energy performance gap post renovation plays a significant role. This implies that the use of actual energy consumption data to determine the potential energy savings could therefore help to reduce the number of renovations resulting in lower-than-expected energy savings. Also, the energy efficiency state of the building pre-renovation plays an important role. One should take into account that renovations of energy inefficient buildings more frequently result in lower-than-expected energy savings than renovations of relatively energy efficient buildings. For the type of house we found that multifamily houses more often result in lower than expected savings when building installations are improved, while single-family houses renovations more frequently result in lower energy savings than expected when the building envelope insulation is improved. These insights can contribute to the decision making process whether or not to take a certain renovation measures, they can also help to manage expectations on housing stock level and individual building level.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denver Jermyn

There is a need to address the energy consumption of existing single family homes in the City of Toronto. This study outlines a process for developing and analyzing retrofit strategies for specific housing archetypes. The process was applied to Century, Century-Semi, and War Time Home archetypes. Housing data was collected and baseline energy models were prepared utilizing EnergyPlus software. Retrofit strategies were selected and analyzed for hygrothermal performance and cost. The process utilized a Brute Force method for retrofit selection considering the cost/benefit of each strategy and showed where in the process it was beneficial to upgrade each parameter. Furnace and air sealing parameters were typically upgraded early in the process as they showed an attractive cost/benefit. Basement walls and slab parameters were then upgraded, followed by exterior walls and roofs. Windows tended to be upgraded late in the process as they exhibited high capital costs compared to energy savings.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denver Jermyn

There is a need to address the energy consumption of existing single family homes in the City of Toronto. This study outlines a process for developing and analyzing retrofit strategies for specific housing archetypes. The process was applied to Century, Century-Semi, and War Time Home archetypes. Housing data was collected and baseline energy models were prepared utilizing EnergyPlus software. Retrofit strategies were selected and analyzed for hygrothermal performance and cost. The process utilized a Brute Force method for retrofit selection considering the cost/benefit of each strategy and showed where in the process it was beneficial to upgrade each parameter. Furnace and air sealing parameters were typically upgraded early in the process as they showed an attractive cost/benefit. Basement walls and slab parameters were then upgraded, followed by exterior walls and roofs. Windows tended to be upgraded late in the process as they exhibited high capital costs compared to energy savings.


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