scholarly journals Energy Performance of Buildings with Thermochromic Windows in Mediterranean Climates

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 6977
Author(s):  
Georgios E. Arnaoutakis ◽  
Dimitris A. Katsaprakakis

This article presents comparative results on the energy performance of buildings in the Mediterranean. Many buildings in the Mediterranean exhibit low energy performance ranking. Thermochromic windows are able to improve the energy consumption by controlling the gains from sunlight. In this article, reference buildings in 15 cities around the Mediterranean are investigated. In this work, a dynamic building information modeling approach is utilized, relying on three-dimensional geometry of office buildings. Calculations of the energy demand based on computational simulations of each location were performed, for the estimation of heating and cooling loads. The presented study highlighted the need for high-resolution data for detailed simulation of thermochromic windows in buildings of Mediterranean cities. Temperature is one of the main climate parameters that affect the energy demand of buildings. However, the climate of Mediterranean cities nearby the sea may affect the energy demand. This was more pronounced in cities with arid Mediterranean climate with increased demand in air-conditioning during the summer months. On the other hand, cities with semi-arid Mediterranean climate exhibited relatively increased heating demand. With this parametric approach, the article indicates the energy saving potential of the proposed measures for each Mediterranean city. Finally, these measures can be complemented by overall building passive and active systems for higher energy reductions and increased comfort.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Amoruso ◽  
Udo Dietrich ◽  
Thorsten Schuetze

Apartments in South Korea have high maintenance costs and an average lifetime of 25 years due to poor construction qualities. The common apartment redevelopment strategy is completely demolishing the neighborhoods and then replacing them with new buildings. However, this research discusses the framework for the refurbishment of an existing building in Seoul using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and parametric tools. The virtual model of an exemplary existing building is constructed in a BIM environment. Parametric software is used to simulate the building’s environmental performance, in order to determine its energy demand for heating and cooling and the indoor comfort. In order to reduce the energy demand for heating and cooling, improve the indoor comfort, generate photovoltaic energy and extend the building’s lifetime, a modular building envelope renovation system is developed. Building simulation results of the improved building envelope are used to quantify the differences with the existing building. The research results illustrate significant improvements in energy performance, comfort and lifetime extension that can be achieved. Furthermore, a guideline for a streamlined building optimization process is provided, that can be transferred and used for the planning and optimization of other building renovation projects.


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-83
Author(s):  
Henk Visscher ◽  
Dasa Majcen ◽  
Laure Itard

The energy saving potential of the building stock is large and considered to be the most cost efficient to contribute to the CO2 reduction ambitions. Severe governmental policies steering on reducing the energy use seem essential to stimulate and enforce the improvement of the energy performance of buildings with a focus on reducing the heating and cooling energy demand. In Europe the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is a driving force for member states to develop and strengthen energy performance regulations for new buildings and energy certificates for the building stock. The goals are to build net zero energy new buildings in 2020 and to reach a neutral energy situation in the whole stock by 2050. More and more research projects deliver insight that the expected impact of stricter regulations for newly built houses is limited and the actual effects of energy savings through housing renovations stay behind the expectations. Theoretical energy use calculated on base of the design standard for new houses and assessment standards for Energy Performance Certificates of existing dwellings differ largely from the measured actual energy use. The paper uses the findings of some Post Occupancy Evaluation research projects. Is the energy saving potential of the housing stock smaller than expected and should we therefore change the policies?


Buildings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javanroodi ◽  
M.Nik

Urbanization trends have changed the morphology of cities in the past decades. Complex urban areas with wide variations in built density, layout typology, and architectural form have resulted in more complicated microclimate conditions. Microclimate conditions affect the energy performance of buildings and bioclimatic design strategies as well as a high number of engineering applications. However, commercial energy simulation engines that utilize widely-available mesoscale weather data tend to underestimate these impacts. These weather files, which represent typical weather conditions at a location, are mostly based on long-term metrological observations and fail to consider extreme conditions in their calculation. This paper aims to evaluate the impacts of hourly microclimate data in typical and extreme climate conditions on the energy performance of an office building in two different urban areas. Results showed that the urban morphology can reduce the wind speed by 27% and amplify air temperature by more than 14%. Using microclimate data, the calculated outside surface temperature, operating temperature and total energy demand of buildings were notably different to those obtained using typical regional climate model (RCM)–climate data or available weather files (Typical Meteorological Year or TMY), i.e., by 61%, 7%, and 21%, respectively. The difference in the hourly peak demand during extreme weather conditions was around 13%. The impact of urban density and the final height of buildings on the results are discussed at the end of the paper.


2015 ◽  
Vol 789-790 ◽  
pp. 1181-1184
Author(s):  
Michal Kraus ◽  
Kateřina Kubeková ◽  
Darja Kubečková

The main objective of the paper is to confirm or exclude a statistically significant impact of airtightness on the energy performance of buildings. Energy performance of buildings is characterized by a specific energy demand for heating and specific total primary energy. Airtightness is one of the key factors of energy efficient buildings. The quality of airtight building envelope except for low energy consumption also minimizes the risk of damage to the structure associated with the spread of the heat and water vapor in the structure.


2013 ◽  
Vol 281 ◽  
pp. 649-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dae Kyo Jung ◽  
Dong Hwan Lee ◽  
Joo Ho Shin ◽  
Byung Hun Song ◽  
Seung Hee Park

Recently, the interest in increasing energy efficiency of building energy management system (BEMS) has become a high-priority and thus the related studies also increased. In particular, since the energy consumption in terms of heating and cooling system takes a large portion of the energy consumed in buildings, it is strongly required to enhance the energy efficiency through intelligent operation and/or management of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system. To tackle this issue, this study deals with the BIM (Building Information Modeling)-based energy performance analysis implemented in Energyplus. The BIM model constructed at Revit is updated at Design Builder, adding HVAC models and converted compatibly with the Energyplus environment. And then, the HVAC models are modified throughout the comparison between the energy consumption patterns and the real-time monitoring in-field data. In order to maximize the building energy performance, a genetic algorithm (GA)-based optimization technique is applied to the modified HVAC models. Throughout the proposed building energy simulation, finally, the best optimized HVAC control schedule for the target building can be obtained in the form of “supply air temperature schedule”.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Borowski ◽  
Piotr Mazur ◽  
Sławosz Kleszcz ◽  
Klaudia Zwolińska

The energy consumption of buildings is very important for both economic and environmental reasons. Newly built buildings are characterized by higher insulation and airtightness of the building envelope, and are additionally equipped with technologies that minimize energy consumption in order to meet legal requirements. In existing buildings, the modernization process should be properly planned, taking into account available technologies and implementation possibilities. Hotel buildings are characterized by a large variability of energy demand, both on a daily and a yearly basis. Monitoring systems, therefore, provide the necessary information needed for proper energy management in the building. This article presents an energy analysis of the Turówka hotel located in Wieliczka (southern Poland). The historical hotel facility is being modernized as part of the project to adapt the building to the requirements of a sustainable building. The modernization proposal includes a trigeneration system with a multifunctional reverse regenerator and control module using neural algorithms. The main purpose is to improve the energy efficiency of the building and adapt it to the requirements of low-energy buildings. The implementation of a monitoring system enables energy consumption to be reduced and improves the energy performance of the building, especially through using energy management systems and control modules. The proposed retrofit solution considers the high energy consumption, structure of the energy demand, and limits of retrofit intervention on façades.


Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Jean Rouleau ◽  
Louis Gosselin

Exhaust fans in residential buildings generate energy consumption first by the electricity that they require when operating, but also by extracting heat outside of the building. Nonetheless, these appliances are essential to ensure good indoor air quality. It is thus important to study how occupants in residential buildings use exhaust fans and to assess their impact on the energy performance of buildings. In this paper, a preliminary analysis on these two topics is made based on measured data recorded from a multi-residential building located in Quebec City, Canada. Data show that the use of exhaust fans is variable from a household to another. It was estimated that exhaust devices accounted for approximately 14% of the energy demand of the monitored building.


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