scholarly journals Low-Emissivity Window Films as an Energy Retrofit Option for a Historical Stone Building in Cold Climate

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7584
Author(s):  
Saman Abolghasemi Moghaddam ◽  
Magnus Mattsson ◽  
Arman Ameen ◽  
Jan Akander ◽  
Manuel Gameiro Da Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
High Price ◽  
Historical Buildings ◽  
Energy Retrofit ◽  
Energy Performance Of Buildings ◽  
Reduce Heat Loss

Low-emissivity (low-E) window films are designed to improve the thermal comfort and energy performance of buildings. These films can be applied to different glazing systems without having to change the whole window. This makes it possible to apply films to windows in old and historical buildings for which preservation regulations often require that windows should remain unchanged. This research aims to investigate the impacts of low-E window films on the energy performance and thermal comfort of a three-story historical stone building in the cold climate of Sweden using the simulation software “IDA ICE”. On-site measurements were taken to acquire thermal and optical properties of the windows. This research shows that the application of the low-emissivity window film on the outward-facing surface of the inner pane of the double-glazed windows helped to reduce heat loss through the windows in winter and unwanted heat gains in summer by almost 36% and 35%, respectively. This resulted in a 6% reduction in the building’s annual energy consumption for heating purposes and a reduction in the percentage of total occupant hours with thermal dissatisfaction from 14% (without the film) to 11% (with the film). However, the relatively high price of the films and low price of district heating results in a rather long payback period of around 30 years. Thus, the films seem scarcely attractive from a purely economic viewpoint, but may be warranted for energy/environmental and thermal comfort reasons.

scholarly journals An Integrated HBIM Simulation Approach for Energy Retrofit of Historical Buildings Implemented in a Case Study of a Medieval Fortress in Italy

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Piselli ◽  
Jessica Romanelli ◽  
Matteo Di Grazia ◽  
Augusto Gavagni ◽  
Elisa Moretti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Integrated Modelling ◽  
Water Tank ◽  
Hvac System ◽  
Historical Buildings ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Retrofit

The Italian building stock consists of buildings mainly constructed until the mid-20th century using pre-industrial construction techniques. These buildings require energy refurbishment that takes into account the preservation of their architectural heritage. In this view, this work studies an innovative integrated modelling and simulation framework consisting of the implementation of Historical Building Information Modeling (HBIM) for the energy retrofit of historical buildings with renewable geothermal HVAC system. To this aim, the field case study is part of a medieval complex in Central Italy (Perugia), as representative ancient rural offshore architecture in the European countryside. The system involves of a ground source heat pump, a water tank for thermal-energy storage connected to a low-temperature radiant system, and an air-handling unit. The building heating energy performance, typically influenced by thermal inertia in historical buildings, when coupled to the novel HVAC system, is comparatively assessed against a traditional scenario implementing a natural-gas boiler, and made inter-operative within the HBIM ad hoc platform. Results show that the innovative renewable energy system provides relevant benefits while preserving minor visual and architectural impact within the historical complex, and also in terms of both energy saving, CO2 emissions offset, and operation costs compared to the traditional existing system. The integrated HBIM approach may effectively drive the path toward regeneration and re-functioning of heritage in Europe.

scholarly journals Investigating the impacts of a changing climate on the risk of overheating and energy performance for a UK retirement village adapted to the nZEB standards

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radwa Salem ◽  
Ali Bahadori-Jahromi ◽  
Anastasia Mylona
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Retirement Village

The death toll of the 2003 heat wave in Europe exceeded 35,000 heat-related deaths. The elderly population were the most affected. The current paradigm within the construction industry in cold-dominant countries is to design/retrofit buildings with high levels of insulation. Whilst thermal comfort may be reached during colder months with this approach, the risk of overheating can be increased during hotter months. This paper aims to examine the impacts of a changing climate on the risk of overheating and energy performance for a UK retirement village. For this study, the buildings within the retirement village will be designed to reach the nearly zero energy building standard. Consequently, the risk of overheating of the buildings within the retirement village as they currently stand and as zero energy buildings will be investigated under current and future climatic conditions. The analysis is carried out using thermal analysis simulation software (TAS, Edsl). Combined heat and power and combined cooling, heat and power will be investigated as mitigating strategies with regard to overheating. The results of this study do not undermine the importance of continuing to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings but rather highlight that the approach undertaken should be reconsidered. Practical application: Currently, there is emphasis placed on retrofitting and designing buildings, with high energy efficiency standards. Whilst this is in line with our vision as a society towards reaching a decarbonised, sustainable future, this work highlights that doing so, carries risks with regard to overheating. Nonetheless, the results demonstrate that with the incorporation of suitable mitigation strategies and adequate ventilation strategies, it is possible to achieve an energy efficient building that meets the heating and cooling demand (and thereby thermal comfort of occupants) during the heating and non-heating season.

Effect of retrofit scenarios on energy performance and indoor thermal comfort of a typical single family house in different climates of Morocco

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-57
Author(s):  
Sobhy Issam ◽  
Brakez Abderrahim ◽  
Brahim Benhamou
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
The One ◽  
Group B ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Family House

Abstract This paper aims at identifying the impact of three retrofit scenarios of a typical single family house on its energy performance and its indoor thermal comfort in several climates. Two of these scenarios are based on the Moroccan Thermal Regulation in Constructions (RTCM) while the third is the one proposed in this study. The climates, which range from group B to group C of the Köppen climate classification. The results show that the proposed renovation scenario allows reducing the heating load by 19-42% and the cooling load by 29-60% depending on the climate. Furthermore, the RTCM retrofit scenario leads to summer overheating in all climates. One of the main reason of this overheating is the insulation of the slab-on-grade floor as this insulation increases the annual heating/cooling energy needs of the house by 6%-10%. Moreover, the cavity wall technique was found to be the best option for external walls, instead of using high thermal insulting material, in the hot climates. The analysis of the energy performance, the thermal comfort indices and the payback periods for each retrofit scenario shows that the proposed scenario presents the best thermal performance, except for the Cold climate where the RTCM scenario is the most favorable.

scholarly journals Dynamic Approach to Evaluate the Effect of Reducing District Heating Temperature on Indoor Thermal Comfort

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Benedetta Grassi ◽  
Edoardo Alessio Piana ◽  
Gian Paolo Beretta ◽  
Mariagrazia Pilotelli
Keyword(s):  
Heat Exchanger ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Heating Temperature ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Temperature Operation

To reduce energy consumption for space heating, a coordinated action on energy supply, building fabric and occupant behavior is required to realize sustainable improvements. A reduction in district heating supply temperature is an interesting option to allow the incorporation of renewable energy sources and reduce distribution losses, but its impact on the final users must be considered. This aspect is especially critical as most European countries feature an old building stock, with poor insulation and heating systems designed for high-temperature operation. In this study, a complete methodology is devised to evaluate the effect of district heating temperature reduction on the end users by modeling all the stages of the system, from the primary heat exchanger to the indoor environment. A dynamic energy performance engine, based on EN ISO 52016-1:2017 standard and completed with a heat exchanger model, is implemented, and its outputs are used to calculate thermal comfort indicators throughout the heating season. As a practical application, the method is used to evaluate different scenarios resulting from the reduction of primary supply temperature of a second-generation district heating network in Northern Italy. Several building typologies dating back to different periods are considered, in the conservative assumption of radiator heating. The results of the simulations show that the most severe discomfort situations are experienced in buildings built before 1990, but in recent buildings the amount of discomfort occurrences can be high because of the poor output of radiators when working at very low temperatures. Among the possible measures that could help the transition, actions on the primary side, on the installed power and on the building fabric are considered. The investigation method requires a limited amount of input data and is applicable to different scales, from the individual building to entire urban areas lined up for renovation.

scholarly journals Upgrading the Smartness of Retrofitting Packages towards Energy-Efficient Residential Buildings in Cold Climate Countries: Two Case Studies

Buildings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurina C. Felius ◽  
Mohamed Hamdy ◽  
Fredrik Dessen ◽  
Bozena Dorota Hrynyszyn
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Heat Losses ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
The Impact

Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings by implementing building automation control strategies (BACS) besides building envelope and energy system retrofitting has been recommended by the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 2018. This paper investigated this recommendation by conducting a simulation-based optimization to explore cost-effective retrofitting combinations of building envelope, energy systems and BACS measures in-line with automation standard EN 15232. Two cases (i.e., a typical single-family house and apartment block) were modeled and simulated using IDA Indoor Climate and Energy (IDA-ICE). The built-in optimization tool, GenOpt, was used to minimize energy consumption as the single objective function. The associated difference in life cycle cost, compared to the reference design, was calculated for each optimization iteration. Thermal comfort of the optimized solutions was assessed to verify the thermal comfort acceptability. Installing an air source heat pump had a greater energy-saving potential than reducing heat losses through the building envelope. Implementing BACS achieved cost-effective energy savings up to 24%. Energy savings up to 57% were estimated when BACS was combined with the other retrofitting measures. Particularly for compact buildings, where the potential of reducing heat losses through the envelope is limited, the impact of BACS increased. BACS also improved the thermal comfort.

The Impact of Hybrid Ventilation on Thermal and Energy Performance in Hot and Humid Weather

2011 ◽  
Vol 199-200 ◽  
pp. 1505-1508
Author(s):  
Jia Fang Song
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Air Velocity ◽  
Output Performance ◽  
Hybrid Ventilation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Full Height

In this paper, the simulation software was applied to evaluate a hybrid ventilated combined mechanical and naturally ventilated (atrium area to be naturally ventilated) building. In order to understand the impact of the usage of natural ventilation on thermal comfort in atrium, we utilized TAS to simulate the air temperature and air velocity distribution for the atrium. A modeled three-storey commercial office building was used as the main subject of this analysis. To determine the thermal comfort level of the central atrium, Parameters will be set in such a way that the full height windows will be 100% open. Results were tabularized to determine and analysis the output of the simulation. Recommendations will be then given based on the output performance of the building.

scholarly journals Cost optimal energy performance renovation measures in a municipal service building in a cold climate

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Jokisalo ◽  
Paula Sankelo ◽  
Juha Vinha ◽  
Kai Sirén ◽  
Risto Kosonen
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Optimal Solutions ◽  
Target Energy ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Service Building

The energy saving potential of existing buildings is significant compared to new buildings in the EU region. To reduce significantly the CO2 emissions of buildings, energy efficiency of old buildings need to be improved. Aim of this study is to determine cost-optimal solutions for energy renovation and renewable energy production systems for an old existing service building. The example building of this study is a residence for elderly people, which was built in 1955 and located in Finland. This study was carried out by a dynamic building simulation tool IDA-ICE and multi objective optimization tool MOBO. The cost-optimal renovation concepts were determined from over 2.6 billion renovation measure combinations to minimize both target energy consumption and life-cycle costs over 20 years. The results show that air-to-water heat pump is more cost effective heating system for the studied building than district heating from the building owner point of view. Improving thermal insulation level of the external walls from the original level is not the most cost-effective option to improve the energy efficiency of the building. Instead of that, for example, installation of PV and solar thermal systems are recommended in all the cost-optimal solutions regardless of the target energy consumption level.

scholarly journals Facility Energy Management Application of HBIM for Historical Low-Carbon Communities: Design, Modelling and Operation Control of Geothermal Energy Retrofit in a Real Italian Case Study

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 6338
Author(s):  
Cristina Piselli ◽  
Alessio Guastaveglia ◽  
Jessica Romanelli ◽  
Franco Cotana ◽  
Anna Laura Pisello
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Geothermal System ◽  
Historical Buildings ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Retrofit ◽  
Adsorption Heat Pump ◽  
Heritage Buildings

The highest challenge of energy efficiency of building stock is achieving improved performance in existing buildings and, especially, in heritage buildings which per se are characterized by massive limitations against the implementation of the most sophisticated solutions for energy saving. In Italy, historical buildings represent more than 30% of the building stock and the vast majority require energy retrofit, while ensuring the preservation of the heritage value and acceptable comfort conditions. In this context, historical buildings must be retrofitted and re-functioned by introducing innovative technologies aimed at reducing energy consumption and improving human comfort, health, and safety. To this aim, this study implements the Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) approach for the integrated modeling, monitoring, management, and maintenance of a novel geothermal system involving horizontal ground source heat exchangers (GHEXs) coupled to an adsorption heat pump for the energy refurbishment of historical buildings. In detail, a rural building part of a medieval complex in Perugia, Central Italy, is considered as a pilot case study. The analysis stresses the potential of the Facility Management (FM) applications of HBIM to provide a tool for the human-centric operational management control of the building energy performance and indoor comfort when combined with the building monitoring and supervision system. Therefore, this integrated HBIM approach may drive the path towards the user-centric re-functioning of heritage buildings.

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