Modern Concepts of Energy-Efficient Civil and Residential Buildings. Case Study: Analysis of a Residential Building According to Nzeb Criteria

Abstract The oil crisis, the measures taken because of global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, the ecological actions carried out globally and the technical progress in the fields of electronics, energy, IT and telecommunications have led to the emergence Passive House concepts in the construction sector, of Passive Solar Building (passive construction based on solar energy), of Net Zero-Energy Building NZEB, of Plus Energy Building, of nearly Zero Energy Building nZEB, of Low-Energy Building, of Green House, of Zero Carbon House, of Smart House, of Healthy buildings and other equivalents or derivatives. In this paper, these concepts will be cross-debated and the measures adopted at EU level and the influences exerted on the Romanian legislation on the field of civil and residential constructions will be presented. Based on a case study, a residential construction will be characterized, representative of the current housing stock, in order to assess the degree of compliance with the minimum requirements of a house with low energy consumption, imposed by Romanian legislation in the field.

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Energy-Efficient Envelope Design for Apartment Blocks—Case Study of A Residential Building in Spain

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11010433 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 433

Author(s):

Francisco José Sánchez de la Flor ◽

Enrique Ángel Rodríguez Jara ◽

Álvaro Ruiz Pardo ◽

José Manuel Salmerón Lissén ◽

Maria Kolokotroni

Keyword(s):

Optimization Problem ◽

Residential Building ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Practical Case ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Building Stock ◽

Existing Building ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Optimum Solution

Buildings are known to be responsible for about a third of energy consumption in developed countries. This situation, together with the fact that the existing building stock is being renovated at a very slow pace, makes it crucial to focus on the energy retrofitting of buildings as the only way to reduce their contribution to these energy consumptions and the consequences derived from them in terms of pollution and climate change. The same level of insulation and the same type of windows is usually proposed for all dwellings in a building block. This article shows that since the improvements required by each dwelling in the same block are different, the proposed solution must also be different. The methodology is proposed for a practical case consisting of an apartment block in Cádiz, a demonstration building of the European RECO2ST project. To achieve the optimum solution for each case, a multi-objective optimization problem is solved: to minimize the annual heating demand of the building and the standard deviation of the annual demand of the different dwellings. Thanks to the use of the proposed methodology, it is possible to bring the building to a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) level, while avoiding excessive insulation that causes overheating in summer.

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EVALUATION OF NEAR-NET-ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING STRATEGIES: A CASE STUDY ON RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN JORDAN

International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy ◽

10.32479/ijeep.10107 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 325-336

Author(s):

Hikmat H. Ali ◽

Fahmi A. Abu Al-Rub ◽

Bashar Shboul ◽

Hind Al Moumani

Keyword(s):

Residential Buildings ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero Energy ◽

Net Zero Energy Building ◽

Net Zero

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Evaluation of the energy performance of Zero Energy residential Buildings: complexity of dynamic simulations and results variability

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202131206002 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 312 ◽

pp. 06002

Author(s):

Silvia Di Turi ◽

Ilaria Falcone ◽

Iole Nardi ◽

Laura Ronchetti ◽

Nicolandrea Calabrese

Keyword(s):

Natural Ventilation ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Residential Building ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Climatic Data ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Dynamic Simulations ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Energy Needs ◽

Definition Of

Due to its energy and environmental impact, the building sector has become a challenging field in order to fulfil the need for energy renovation and obtain low-consumption buildings. The main issue, for those who approach the feasible design of a Zero Energy Building (ZEB), is to assess, in the most realistic way possible, the thermal and energy needs and the energy production of the building, properly considering all the possible variables. Through the analysis of a newly built residential building case study, this work aims at showing the complexity of the ZEB design, analysing the energy performance as the design choices vary. After characterizing envelope and systems components, potential variations in the model are highlighted by applying a set of updated climatic data, varying occupancy, shading systems and natural ventilation functioning, often neglected. It leads to a wide and differentiated range of results, consequently influenced by the design phase. The work aims at providing, in the definition of the energy performance of the building, an evaluation of the variations obtained from the variables analysed that in the modelling phase are normally considered as a boundary but which instead play a key role for achieving the ZEB objective.

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Climate Change Effects on Belgian Households: A Case Study of a Nearly Zero Energy Building

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13205357 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (20) ◽

pp. 5357

Author(s):

Shady Attia ◽

Camille Gobin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Thermal Comfort ◽

Thermal Adaptation ◽

Residential Building ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Reference Case ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

The Impact

Overheating in residential building is a challenging problem that causes thermal discomfort, productivity reduction, and health problems. This paper aims to assess the climate change impact on thermal comfort in a Belgian reference case. The case study represents a nearly zero energy building that operates without active cooling during summer. The study quantifies the impact of climate change on overheating risks using three representative concentration pathway (RCP) trajectories for greenhouse gas concentration adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Building performance analysis is carried out using a multizone dynamic simulation program EnergyPlus. The results show that bioclimatic and thermal adaptation strategies, including adaptive thermal comfort models, cannot suppress the effect of global warming. By 2050, zero energy buildings will be vulnerable to overheating.

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