scholarly journals Innovation in Sustainable Solar-Powered Net-Zero Energy Solar Decathlon Houses: A Review and Showcase

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Yeganeh Baghi ◽  
Zhenjun Ma ◽  
Duane Robinson ◽  
Tillmann Boehme
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Solar Powered ◽  
Design And Construction

Solar Decathlon is a showcase of cutting-edge residential buildings containing innovative solutions and technologies. This study reviewed, identified, and categorized technological innovations from past Solar Decathlon competitions. The review was based on publicly available data of the top five houses from each U.S. and international Solar Decathlon competition. The most prolific innovations identified were from building services systems and architectural design and construction. It was observed that most innovations within building services systems were in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning, and home automation, while architectural design and construction innovations focused on building adaptability, façade, structure, and building materials. It was found that although there is no fixed relationship between the numbers of innovations in the houses and their overall competition points, there is a high probability for an innovative house to be placed within the top five houses. This study also provides information about technological innovations within Solar Decathlon houses and offers an innovation classification scheme to guide Solar Decathletes to understand what innovations could be implemented in their future entries.

scholarly journals ZeRow: Design, Energy Performance and Cost Analysis of a Solar Powered Row House

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Roque T Sanchez ◽  
Allison A Elliott ◽  
Rebecca Sibley ◽  
Nonya S Grenader ◽  
Brent C Houchens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Electrical Grid ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Solar Powered ◽  
Simultaneous Elimination

An affordable, solar powered row house is designed and constructed for implementation in a historically low-income area of Houston, Texas. This ZeRow House is tied to the electrical grid for purchase of electricity at night, but completely compensates by generating more power than needed during the day when electric grid demands peak, particularly in the hot, humid summer months. The result is a home with net-zero energy purchased from the grid and the simultaneous elimination of battery storage. This home was one of twenty entries in the 2009 D.o.E. Solar Decathlon. Throughout the project decisions were always mindful of the final purpose: the demonstration of an affordable, easily reproducible solar powered home that honors the row house tradition of Houston’s Third Ward, while taking advantage of modern durable materials and energy conversion technology, and bringing a focus on sustainability and education to the greater community.

Improvements in the Airtightness of Housing in Richmond, British Columbia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sepehr Foroushani
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Air Leakage ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero Energy Building ◽  
Net Zero

Controlling air leakage through the building envelope remains a challenge, especially in light of the imperative to transition to a net-zero energy building sector and the increasing importance of indoor air quality during extreme weather events such as wildfires. The British Columbia Energy Step Code is a performance-based compliance option in the British Columbia Building Code which is intended to provide a transition pathway to net-zero energy ready construction by 2032. For small residential buildings, performance targets entail thresholds for the measured air leakage rate through the building envelope. This paper reports on the airtightness of the first 145 single- and two-family dwellings built under the Energy Step Code in Richmond, BC. Although the first phase of the implementation of the Energy Step Code in Richmond entailed no airtightness targets (only testing), results indicate improvement compared to the historical levels of airtightness in the region.

The applicability of nearly/net zero energy residential buildings in Brazil – A study of a low standard dwelling in three different Brazilian climate zones

2020 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2096115
Author(s):  
Jaime Resende ◽  
Marta Monzón-Chavarrías ◽  
Helena Corvacho
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Balance ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Performance Standard ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Climate Zones ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero

Buildings account for 34% of world energy consumption and about half of electricity consumption. The nearly/Net Zero Energy Building (nZEB/NZEB) concepts are regarded as solutions for minimizing this problem. The countries of Southern Europe, which included the nZEB concept recently in their regulatory requirements, have both heating and cooling needs, which adds complexity to the problem. Brazil may benefit from their experience since most of the Brazilian climate zones present significant similarities to the Southern European climate. Brazil recently presented a household energy consumption increase, and a growing trend in the use of air conditioning is predicted for the coming decades. Simulations with various wall and roof solutions following the Brazilian Performance Standard were carried out in a low standard single-family house in three different climate zones in order to evaluate thermal comfort conditions and energy needs. Results show that in milder climate zones, achieving thermal comfort with a low energy consumption is possible, and there is a great potential to achieve a net zero-energy balance. In the extreme hot climate zone, a high cooling energy consumption is needed to provide thermal comfort, and the implementation of a nearly zero-energy balance may be more feasible.

Design, Simulation and Preliminary Results of an All Electric Net-Zero Energy Solar Home

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P. Barnes ◽  
Luis A. Martinez ◽  
Trishan Esram ◽  
Ty A. Newell ◽  
Patrick L. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical System ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Electrical System ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
University Of Illinois ◽  
Solar Decathlon ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
The University

This paper describes the mechanical systems, the DC-coupled electrical system, the simulation approach and the preliminary results of the University of Illinois entry in the 2007 Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition. The competition showcased twenty net-zero energy solar powered houses. The University of Illinois entry was the only one that featured an all-electric design. No solar thermal collectors were used; space and water heating was accomplished primarily through heat pumps. Each of three house modules is sensibly conditioned with autonomous, custom mini-split heat pumps using all radiant and natural convection heat exchange for the interior side. Simulation methods are described and assumptions of wall and window properties, mechanical system performance and electrical system performance are disclosed. Details are provided on the theoretical analysis of internal heat transfer and the basic design of the custom mechanical system. The electrical system topology and equipment choices are presented and initial performance results are shown. Additionally, preliminary analysis is carried out on the data taken during the Solar Decathlon competition and on the observations of post-competition winter performance. The success in being awarded comfort conditioning points during the competition is discussed along with drawbacks not represented in the competition results.

scholarly journals flEECe, an energy use and occupant behavior dataset for net-zero energy affordable senior residential buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Paige ◽  
Philip Agee ◽  
Farrokh Jazizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Occupant Behavior ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Building Energy Use

AbstractThe behaviors of building occupants have continued to perplex scholars for years in our attempts to develop models for energy efficient housing. Building simulations, project delivery approaches, policies, and more have fell short of their optimistic goals due to the complexity of human behavior. As a part of a multiphase longitudinal affordable housing study, this dataset represents energy and occupant behavior attributes for 6 affordable housing units over nine months in Virginia, USA which are not performing to the net-zero energy standard they were designed for. This dataset provides researchers the ability to analyze the following variables: energy performance, occupant behaviors, energy literacy, and ecological perceptions. Energy data is provided at a 1 Hz sampling rate for four circuits: main, hot water heater, dryer, and HVAC. Building specifications, occupancy, weather data, and neighboring building energy use data are provided to add depth to the dataset. This dataset can be used to update building energy use models, predictive maintenance, policy frameworks, construction risk models, economic models, and more.

scholarly journals Research on Membrane Structure Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 01014
Author(s):  
Xuyu Tian ◽  
Shuntao Wu ◽  
Peiling He ◽  
Xiong Zhou ◽  
Zhaonian Bian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Structure ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Membrane Material ◽  
Membrane Materials ◽  
Roof Structure ◽  
New Form ◽  
Opening And Closing ◽  
The City ◽  
Design And Construction

Membrane materials and open-close roof buildings are new building materials and structural forms, which have developed rapidly in recent years. This new form of close combination of architecture and nature has enriched the connotation of architecture, exhibited the city, but also to the architectural design and construction has brought great challenges. Through the research and analysis of the performance of the membrane material, this study provides a reference for the design and construction of the domestic membrane material for the opening and closing roof structure.

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