scholarly journals Multivariate Data Analysis of the Thermal Performance of Portuguese Residential Building Stock

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Andrade Santos ◽  
Inês Flores-Colen ◽  
Nuno Vieira Simões ◽  
José Dinis Silvestre
Keyword(s):  
Principal Components ◽  
Multivariate Data ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Quality Certification ◽  
Residential Units ◽  
Residential Building Stock ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Solar Orientation

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between solar orientation, age (constructive characterization) and energy performance of Portuguese residential building stock and to assess the usefulness of exploring the Portuguese National System for Energy and Indoor Air Quality Certification of Buildings (SCE) database through multivariate analysis techniques. By using principal components technique, it was possible to condense the residential units’ features to only four principal components (PC): solar orientation; constructive characterization; geometry and energy performance, making information more workable. Grouping the entities into Clusters with favourable and unfavourable solar orientation and old buildings allowed to dilute the particularities of each entity, facilitating the interpretation of the data through generalization. A regression model was generated in order to explore/confirm which factors influence summer comfort the most. Using this approach, it was illustrated that the exploration of the SCE database through multivariate data analyses has an enormous potential to convert data into knowledge.

scholarly journals Energy, Seismic, and Architectural Renovation of RC Framed Buildings with Prefabricated Timber Panels

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Margani ◽  
Gianpiero Evola ◽  
Carola Tardo ◽  
Edoardo Michele Marino
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Seismic Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Repair Costs ◽  
Residential Building Stock ◽  
Design Deficiencies ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Energy Dissipation Devices

In seismic European countries most of the residential building stock is highly energy-intensive and earthquake-prone because it was built before the enforcement of the most recent energy and seismic codes. Furthermore, this stock often shows a low architectural quality due to poor maintenance and/or construction and design deficiencies: for all these reasons, it needs deep renovation, but the use of common energy and seismic upgrading techniques is often unsustainable in terms of costs, work duration, and occupants’ disturbance. Therefore, new integrated, affordable, fast, and low-disruptive renovation actions are strongly needed. This study proposes an innovative energy, seismic, and architectural renovation solution for reinforced concrete (RC) framed buildings, based on the addition of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels to the outer walls, in combination with wooden-framed panels. The two panels integrate insulation and cladding materials in order to improve the energy performance and the architectural image of the renovated building. Moreover, the CLT panels are connected to the existing RC frame through innovative seismic energy dissipation devices. In case of an earthquake, these devices in combination with the CLT panels reduce the drift demand of the building, preventing or reducing structural damages and consequent repair costs. In particular, this paper investigates the technical feasibility, the energy efficiency, and the architectural enhancement of the proposed retrofitting system. To this purpose, dynamic thermal simulations were conducted on a typical multi-story residential building from the 1960s, located in Catania, Italy. The results indicated that this retrofitting technique considerably improved the energy performance of the selected building, with a reduction of the global energy demand up to nearly 60%. The presented study is part of a larger research project aimed at also investigating, in a further stage, the seismic performance achievable by the above-mentioned renovation solution.

scholarly journals Estimating the Smart Readiness Indicator in the Italian Residential Building Stock in Different Scenarios

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6442
Author(s):  
Laura Canale ◽  
Marianna De Monaco ◽  
Biagio Di Pietra ◽  
Giovanni Puglisi ◽  
Giorgio Ficco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Residential Building ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Smart Building ◽  
Energy Retrofit ◽  
Energy Scenario ◽  
Base Scenario ◽  
Building Typology ◽  
Residential Building Stock ◽  
Multicriteria Assessment

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2018/844/EU introduced the smart readiness indicator (SRI) to provide a framework to evaluate and promote building smartness in Europe. In order to establish a methodological framework for the SRI calculation, two technical studies were launched, at the end of which a consolidated methodology to calculate the SRI of a building basing on a flexible and modular multicriteria assessment has been proposed. In this paper the authors applied the above-mentioned methodology to estimate the SRI of the Italian residential building stock in different scenarios. To this end, eight “smart building typologies”, representative of the Italian residential building stock, have been identified. For each smart building typology, the SRI was calculated in three scenarios: (a) base scenario (building stock as it is); (b) an “energy scenario” (simple energy retrofit) and (c) a “smart energy scenario” (energy retrofit from a smart perspective). It was therefore possible to estimate a national average SRI value of 5.0%, 15.7%, and 27.5% in the three above defined scenarios, respectively.

scholarly journals A Comparative Analysis of Different Future Weather Data for Building Energy Performance Simulation

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Mamak P.Tootkaboni ◽  
Ilaria Ballarini ◽  
Michele Zinzi ◽  
Vincenzo Corrado
Keyword(s):  
Climate Model ◽  
Dynamical Downscaling ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Building Energy Performance ◽  
The Future ◽  
Residential Building Stock

The building energy performance pattern is predicted to be shifted in the future due to climate change. To analyze this phenomenon, there is an urgent need for reliable and robust future weather datasets. Several ways for estimating future climate projection and creating weather files exist. This paper attempts to comparatively analyze three tools for generating future weather datasets based on statistical downscaling (WeatherShift, Meteonorm, and CCWorldWeatherGen) with one based on dynamical downscaling (a future-typical meteorological year, created using a high-quality reginal climate model). Four weather datasets for the city of Rome are generated and applied to the energy simulation of a mono family house and an apartment block as representative building types of Italian residential building stock. The results show that morphed weather files have a relatively similar operation in predicting the future comfort and energy performance of the buildings. In addition, discrepancy between them and the dynamical downscaled weather file is revealed. The analysis shows that this comes not only from using different approaches for creating future weather datasets but also by the building type. Therefore, for finding climate resilient solutions for buildings, care should be taken in using different methods for developing future weather datasets, and regional and localized analysis becomes vital.

scholarly journals Contribution of Roof Refurbishment to Urban Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 8111
Author(s):  
Ángel Pitarch ◽  
María José Ruá ◽  
Lucía Reig ◽  
Inés Arín
Keyword(s):  
Residential Building ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Accurate Analysis ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Residential Building Stock ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Social Uses

Achieving sustainable urban environments is a challenging goal—especially in existing cities with high percentages of old and obsolete buildings. This work analyzes the contribution of roof refurbishment to sustainability, considering that most roofs are currently underused. Many potential benefits of refurbishment can be achieved, such as the improvement of the energy performance of the buildings and the use of a wasted space for increasing green areas or for social purposes. In order to estimate the degree of the improvement, a vulnerable area in Castellón (east Spain) was selected as a case study. A thorough analysis of the residential building stock was undertaken. Using georeferenced information from the Cadastral Office we classified them according to typology, year of construction and roof type. Some refurbishment solutions were proposed and their applicability to the actual buildings was analyzed under different criteria. The theoretical benefits obtained in the neighborhood such as energy and carbon emissions savings were evaluated, together with the increase of green areas. Moreover, other social uses were suggested for neglected urban spaces in the area. Finally, a more accurate analysis was performed combining different solutions in a specific building, according to its particular characteristics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document