Energy or carbon? Exploring the relative size of universal zero carbon and zero energy design spaces

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Parkin ◽  
Manuel Herrera ◽  
David A Coley
Keyword(s):  
Design Space ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Software Environment ◽  
Space Forms ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Regulatory Standards ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
The Impact

One aim of zero carbon, or zero energy, buildings is to help slow climate change. However, regulatory definitions frequently miss substantial emissions, for example ones associated with the materials the building is constructed from, thereby compromising this goal. Unfortunately, including such emissions might restrict the design space, reduce architectural freedom or greatly increase costs. This work presents a new framework for examining the problem. The zero carbon/energy design and regulatory space forms a sub-space of the hyper-volume enclosing all possible designs and regulatory frameworks. A new mathematical/software environment was developed which allows the size and shape of this sub-space to be investigated for the first time. Twenty-four million building design/regulatory standard combinations were modelled and assessed using a tree classification approach. It was found that a worldwide zero standard that includes embodied emissions is possible and is easier to achieve if a carbon rather than an energy metric is adopted, with the design space twice the size for a carbon metric. This result is important for the development of more encompassing regulations, and the novel methods developed applicable to other aspects of construction controlled by regulation where there is the desire to examine the impact of new regulations prior to legislation. Practical application: As energy standards become more strict, and given the growth in non-regulatory standards (such as Passivhaus), there is the need to study the potential impact of any element of a standard on the range of designs that can be built or the materials that can be used. This work sets out a general framework and method for doing this. The approach and results will be of interest to policy makers, but also to engineers and architects wondering what the key constraints to design the adoption of various philosophies to low energy/carbon standards might have within their work. For example, the implications of the building standard (or client) requiring embodied emissions to be included or the energy balance period for renewable generation to be monthly, not annual.

scholarly journals Modeling Nearly Zero Energy Buildings for Sustainable Development in Rural Areas

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Khakian ◽  
Mehrdad Karimimoshaver ◽  
Farshid Aram ◽  
Soghra Zoroufchi Benis ◽  
Amir Mosavi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Saving ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Payback Period ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Multiple Parameters ◽  
Shading Devices ◽  
The Impact

The energy performance of buildings and energy-saving measures have been widely investigated in recent years. However, little attention has been paid to buildings located in rural areas. The aim of this study is to assess the energy performance of two-story residential buildings located in the mountainous village of Palangan in Iran and to evaluate the impact of multiple parameters, namely building orientation, window-to-wall ratio (WWR), glazing type, shading devices, and insulation, on its energy performance. To attain a nearly zero energy building design in rural areas, the building is equipped with photovoltaic modules. The proposed building design is then economically evaluated to ensure its viability. The findings indicate that an energy saving of 29% can be achieved compared to conventional buildings, and over 22 MWh of electricity can be produced on an annual basis. The payback period is assessed at 21.7 years. However, energy subsidies are projected to be eliminated in the near future, which in turn may reduce the payback period.

scholarly journals Thermal and Vibration Comfort Analysis of a Nearly Zero-Energy Building in Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Fedorczak-Cisak ◽  
Marcin Furtak ◽  
Jolanta Gintowt ◽  
Alicja Kowalska-Koczwara ◽  
Filip Pachla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Low Energy Buildings ◽  
Passive Houses ◽  
Construction Law ◽  
The Impact

Placing emphasis exclusively on minimizing energy consumption in low-energy buildings can adversely impact thermal comfort and vibrational comfort. Vibrational comfort is extremely important in building design, especially within mining or seismically active territories, and due to car transportation in city centers. In this article, a new approach to designing passive buildings and nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEBs) in Poland is proposed, which has a strong emphasis on the necessity of providing comfort of use in passive houses and NZEBs. Additionally, vibration comfort provisions in the design process are examined. The research gap that will be addressed by the research presented in this article is to extend the comfort conditions of passive buildings and NZEBs into the area of vibratory comfort. The second goal of the project is to determine the impact of solar control systems on the conditions of thermal comfort. The conclusions from the research will allow for the optimization of design assumptions for passive houses and NZEBs. The conclusions from the tests can serve as the basis for introducing appropriate construction law requirements in Poland. The results of the research, which are presented in the article, indicate that the technical requirements that are applicable in Poland ought to include requirements regarding the use of sun blinds in NZEBs and passive buildings (not only as recommendations). In particular, the use of apertures on the south side ought to be mandated. The article can also be the basis for introducing the requirements of vibration comfort to the PN–EN 15251:2012 “Indoor environmental input parameters for design and assessment of energy performance of buildings addressing indoor air quality, thermal environment, lighting and acoustics” standard, which is the basis for designing the parameters of the internal environment for buildings.

The Simulation of a Zero-Energy Residential Building for the Solar Decathlon Competition

Solar Energy ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Wassmer ◽  
Michael J. Brandemuehl ◽  
Adam Jackaway
Keyword(s):  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

In 2002, the Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored the world’s first university competition to design and build a completely solar powered house. One requirement of the competition was to perform simulations of the house’s photovoltaic, solar thermal, and space conditioning systems. By instituting this requirement, DOE is encouraging the building industry to apply the “whole-building design” approach to residences as a method of reducing financial and environmental operation costs of the building over its lifetime. This paper describes the simulation approach taken by the University of Colorado Solar Decathlon Team. In addition to describing the process of simulating a zero-energy residential building, the specific results of the simulations and related parametric studies are also presented. The design and analysis process provides a case study in the application of six different simulation tools for zero-energy building design. Energy-10 provided an environment for parametric analysis of building design options during the critical early design phase. However, it lacks the flexibility to model solar electric, solar thermal, and specialized HVAC systems. FChart gave valuable guidance early in the project on the impact of solar system sizing and performance. TRNSYS is extremely flexible in that it can simulate various solar systems and the interactions of virtually any thermal system commonly found in buildings. This flexibility is accompanied by the burden of complexity and a generic user interface that limits its use as a routine building design tool. Radiance, AGI32, and ECOTECT provided specialized simulation tools for the integration of the daylight delivery system, external shading devices, and the electric lighting system. Additional development is required to better integrate these design needs into general building energy analysis tools.

The Impact of Light Polarisation on Light Field of Scenes with Multiple Reflections

2020 ◽  
pp. 108-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir P. Budak ◽  
Anton V. Grimaylo
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Light Field ◽  
Global Illumination ◽  
Multiple Reflections ◽  
Software Environment ◽  
The Monte Carlo Method ◽  
Mueller Matrices ◽  
Volume Integration ◽  
The Impact

The article describes the role of polarisation in calculation of multiple reflections. A mathematical model of multiple reflections based on the Stokes vector for beam description and Mueller matrices for description of surface properties is presented. On the basis of this model, the global illumination equation is generalised for the polarisation case and is resolved into volume integration. This allows us to obtain an expression for the Monte Carlo method local estimates and to use them for evaluation of light distribution in the scene with consideration of polarisation. The obtained mathematical model was implemented in the software environment using the example of a scene with its surfaces having both diffuse and regular components of reflection. The results presented in the article show that the calculation difference may reach 30 % when polarisation is taken into consideration as compared to standard modelling.

The impact of design space constraints on the noise and emissions from derivative engines for civil supersonic aircraft

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurens Voet ◽  
Prakash Prashanth ◽  
Raymond Speth ◽  
Jayant Sabnis ◽  
Choon Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Space ◽  
Supersonic Aircraft ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Effects of Climatic Conditions, Season and Environmental Factors on CO2 Concentrations in Naturally Ventilated Primary Schools in Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4139
Author(s):  
Muriel Diaz ◽  
Mario Cools ◽  
Maureen Trebilcock ◽  
Beatriz Piderit-Moreno ◽  
Shady Attia
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Co2 Concentrations ◽  
The Impact

Between the ages of 6 and 18, children spend between 30 and 42 h a week at school, mostly indoors, where indoor environmental quality is usually deficient and does not favor learning. The difficulty of delivering indoor air quality (IAQ) in learning facilities is related to high occupancy rates and low interaction levels with windows. In non-industrialized countries, as in the cases presented, most classrooms have no mechanical ventilation, due to energy poverty and lack of normative requirements. This fact heavily impacts the indoor air quality and students’ learning outcomes. The aim of the paper is to identify the factors that determine acceptable CO2 concentrations. Therefore, it studies air quality in free-running and naturally ventilated primary schools in Chile, aiming to identify the impact of contextual, occupant, and building design factors, using CO2 concentration as a proxy for IAQ. The monitoring of CO2, temperature, and humidity revealed that indoor air CO2 concentration is above 1400 ppm most of the time, with peaks of 5000 ppm during the day, especially in winter. The statistical analysis indicates that CO2 is dependent on climate, seasonality, and indoor temperature, while it is independent of outside temperature in heated classrooms. The odds of having acceptable concentrations of CO2 are bigger when indoor temperatures are high, and there is a need to ventilate for cooling.

R&D Heterogeneity and the Impact of R&D Subsidies*

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigurd M⊘lster Galaasen ◽  
Alfonso Irarrazabal
Keyword(s):  
Economic Impact ◽  
Growth Model ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Schumpeterian Growth ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Investment Growth ◽  
The Impact ◽  
D Investment ◽  
Model Fits

Abstract This paper studies the determinants of R&D heterogeneity and the economic impact of R&D subsidies. We estimate a Schumpeterian growth model featuring firms with heterogeneous innovation efficiencies. The model fits well the R&D investment distribution, and the frequency and relative size of R&D performers. Using the model we study the impact of a Norwegian R&D reform targeting firms with R&D spending below a certain threshold. The size-dependent subsidy increases aggregate R&D investment by 11.7%, but reduces growth and welfare. In contrast, a uniform subsidy stimulates investment, growth and welfare.

scholarly journals Modeling Energy Efficiency Performance and Cost-Benefit Analysis Achieving Net-Zero Energy Building Design: Case Studies of Three Representative Offices in Thailand

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5201
Author(s):  
Kittisak Lohwanitchai ◽  
Daranee Jareemit
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Energy Gap ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Zero Energy Building ◽  
Investment Cost ◽  
High Investment

The concept of a zero energy building is a significant sustainable strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The challenges of zero energy building (ZEB) achievement in Thailand are that the design approach to reach ZEB in office buildings is unclear and inconsistent. In addition, its implementation requires a relatively high investment cost. This study proposes a guideline for cost-optimal design to achieve the ZEB for three representative six-story office buildings in hot and humid Thailand. The energy simulations of envelope designs incorporating high-efficiency systems are carried out using eQuest and daylighting simulation using DIALux evo. The final energy consumptions meet the national ZEB target but are higher than the rooftop PV generation. To reduce such an energy gap, the ratios of building height to width are proposed. The cost-benefit of investment in ZEB projects provides IRRs ranging from 10.73 to 13.85%, with payback periods of 7.2 to 8.5 years. The energy savings from the proposed designs account for 79.2 to 81.6% of the on-site energy use. The investment of high-performance glazed-windows in the small office buildings is unprofitable (NPVs = −14.77–−46.01). These research results could help architects and engineers identify the influential parameters and significant considerations for the ZEB design. Strategies and technical support to improve energy performance in large and mid-rise buildings towards ZEB goals associated with the high investment cost need future investigations.

scholarly journals Design space exploration for flexibility assessment and decision making support in integrated industrial building design

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Reisinger ◽  
Maximilian Knoll ◽  
Iva Kovacic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Design Space Exploration ◽  
Design Space ◽  
Parametric Design ◽  
Space Exploration ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Industrial Building ◽  
Industrial Buildings

AbstractIndustrial buildings play a major role in sustainable development, producing and expending a significant amount of resources, energy and waste. Due to product individualization and accelerating technological advances in manufacturing, industrial buildings strive for highly flexible building structures to accommodate constantly evolving production processes. However, common sustainability assessment tools do not respect flexibility metrics and manufacturing and building design processes run sequentially, neglecting discipline-specific interaction, leading to inflexible solutions. In integrated industrial building design (IIBD), incorporating manufacturing and building disciplines simultaneously, design teams are faced with the choice of multiple conflicting criteria and complex design decisions, opening up a huge design space. To address these issues, this paper presents a parametric design process for efficient design space exploration in IIBD. A state-of-the-art survey and multiple case study are conducted to define four novel flexibility metrics and to develop a unified design space, respecting both building and manufacturing requirements. Based on these results, a parametric design process for automated structural optimization and quantitative flexibility assessment is developed, guiding the decision-making process towards increased sustainability. The proposed framework is tested on a pilot-project of a food and hygiene production, evaluating the design space representation and validating the flexibility metrics. Results confirmed the efficiency of the process that an evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithm can be implemented in future research to enable multidisciplinary design optimization for flexible industrial building solutions.

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