scholarly journals Energy-Saving Potential of Applying Prefabricated Straw Bale Construction (PSBC) in Domestic Buildings in Northern China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xunzhi Yin ◽  
Qi Dong ◽  
Siyuan Zhou ◽  
Jiaqi Yu ◽  
Lu Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern China ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Cold Regions ◽  
Energy Saving Potential ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Low Energy Buildings ◽  
Efficient Construction ◽  
Straw Bale ◽  
Reducing Energy

The Prefabricated Straw Bale Construction (PSBC) has been proven as one of the most efficient construction methods to achieve low-energy buildings with low environmental impacts. This research presents analysis of the rationale for using straw bale constructions in northern China and a discussion of feasible constructions of PSBC to meet the local building codes following evaluations of potential energy performance of domestic buildings with PSBC in severe cold regions and cold regions in China. The results show that the buildings with PSBC reduce both heating and cooling energy uses, as well as heating intensities across the severe cold and cold regions, compared to the domestic buildings with conventional constructions. The findings of this research will contribute to reducing energy consumption in building industries in China.

A Comparative Study of the Building Energy Performance of Thermotropic Windows

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Jian Yao ◽  
Rong-Yue Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Energy Saving Potential ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Solar Shading ◽  
Lighting Energy ◽  
Shading Devices

This paper conducted a study on the energy-saving potential of a developed thermotropic window. Office buildings in different climate regions of China were compared in terms of heating, cooling and lighting energy demands. Results show that annual heating and cooling energy demands for office buildings differ largely, while lighting energy demand at different climates keeps a significant percentage of the total energy demand, ranging from 36.1% to 66.3%. Meanwhile, thermotropic windows achieve a great advantage in improving daylighting performance and in reducing the overall energy demand, by reducing the overall energy demand by 2.27%-8.7% and 10.1%-21.72%, respectively, compared to movable shading devices and Low-E windows. This means that this kind of thermotropic windows have a great potential in applications in different climatic regions and can be considered as a good substitute of solar shading devices and Low-E windows.

scholarly journals Economic and Energy Analysis of Building Retrofitting Using Internal Insulations

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2446
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Basińska ◽  
Dobrosława Kaczorek ◽  
Halina Koczyk
Keyword(s):  
Residential Building ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Steam Pressure ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Payback Time ◽  
Global Cost ◽  
Insulation Systems ◽  
Low Energy Buildings ◽  
High Investment

The energy-saving requirements for most buildings focus on improving the insulation and airtightness of a building’s envelope. In this paper, the authors have investigated the effect of additional internal insulation on energy consumption for heating and cooling in a residential building. Energy performance analyses were conducted for buildings with four internal thermal insulation systems in three locations using the WUFI Plus software. The Global Cost Method and Simply Pay Back Time have been used to assess and compare the economic viability of the retrofit systems. The results show that, in relation to energy, retrofitting with internal wall insulation can be an alternative to traditional external insulation. The assessment of internal insulation for low-energy buildings, however, cannot be conducted based on economic criteria. The usual approach of Simply Pay Back Time has exceptionally long payback time, which is unacceptable. In turn, the Global Cost Method, can only be used to compare the applied materials. With high investment costs, thermo-modernization improvements do not contribute to significant savings. The conditions of thermal comfort and the analysis of temperature and steam pressure play a decisive role in assessing this type of solution.

scholarly journals Impact of Window to Wall Ratio on Energy Loads in Hot Regions: A Study of Building Energy Performance

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1080
Author(s):  
Mamdooh Alwetaishi ◽  
Omrane Benjeddou
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Heating And Cooling

The concern regarding local responsive building design has gained more attention globally as of late. This is due to the issue of the rapid increase in energy consumption in buildings for the purpose of heating and cooling. This has become a crucial issue in educational buildings and especially in schools. The major issue in school buildings in Saudi Arabia is that they are a form of prototype school building design (PSBD). As a result, if there is any concern in the design stage and in relation to the selection of building materials, this will spread throughout the region. In addition to that, the design is repeated regardless of the climate variation within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This research will focus on the influence of the window to wall ratio on the energy load in various orientations and different climatic regions. The research will use the energy computer tool TAS Environmental Design Solution Limited (EDSL) to calculate the energy load as well as solar gain. During the visit to the sample schools, a globe thermometer will be used to monitor the globe temperature in the classrooms. This research introduces a framework to assist architects and engineers in selecting the proper window to wall ratio (WWR) in each direction within the same building based on adequate natural light with a minimum reliance on energy load. For ultimate WWR for energy performance and daylight, the WWR should range from 20% to 30%, depending on orientation, in order to provide the optimal daylight factor combined with building energy efficiency. This ratio can be slightly greater in higher altitude locations.

scholarly journals A Study of Optimal Specifications for Light Shelves with Photovoltaic Modules to Improve Indoor Comfort and Save Building Energy

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2574
Author(s):  
Heangwoo Lee ◽  
Xiaolong Zhao ◽  
Janghoo Seo
Keyword(s):  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
Efficiency Change ◽  
Photovoltaic Modules ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Pv Module ◽  
Pv Modules ◽  
Indoor Comfort

Recent studies on light shelves found that building energy efficiency could be maximized by applying photovoltaic (PV) modules to light shelf reflectors. Although PV modules generate a substantial amount of heat and change the consumption of indoor heating and cooling energy, performance evaluations carried out thus far have not considered these factors. This study validated the effectiveness of PV module light shelves and determined optimal specifications while considering heating and cooling energy savings. A full-scale testbed was built to evaluate performance according to light shelf variables. The uniformity ratio was found to improve according to the light shelf angle value and decreased as the PV module installation area increased. It was determined that PV modules should be considered in the design of light shelves as their daylighting and concentration efficiency change according to their angles. PV modules installed on light shelves were also found to change the indoor cooling and heating environment; the degree of such change increased as the area of the PV module increased. Lastly, light shelf specifications for reducing building energy, including heating and cooling energy, were not found to apply to PV modules since PV modules on light shelf reflectors increase building energy consumption.

Bridge bearing solutions that facilitate quick and efficient bearing installation and bridge construction

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Hoffmann ◽  
Amit Kutumbale ◽  
Danilo Della Ca'
Keyword(s):  
Load Distribution ◽  
Construction Method ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Vital Function ◽  
Bridge Construction ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Efficient Construction ◽  
Critical Components ◽  
Bridge Bearing ◽  
Segmental Bridge

<p>A bridge’s bearings, arguably its most critical components, perform a vital function throughout the bridge’s service life, but the bearings used can also have a significant impact on the bridge construction process. Suitably designed adjustable bearings are an integral part of the incremental launch method of bridge construction, for instance, which can be a very efficient construction method. Adjustable bearings may also support other bridge construction methods, such as segmental bridge construction, where fixities/freedoms that applied during the construction phase require to be changed before the bridge enters service. Lifting bearings, the height of which can be increased, may enable a lack of precision in the structure to be tolerated, and measuring bearings may enable load distribution during bridge construction to be verified, where this is required by the construction method. Design features of otherwise standard bearings that support quick and high-quality installation can also contribute towards the efficiency of the overall bridge construction process, as can the use of bearing designs which minimize bearing size. Bearing solutions and features that facilitate bearing installation and bridge construction in ways such as these are described.</p>

scholarly journals Outer wall with thermal barrier. Impact of the barrier on heat losses and CO2 emissions

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-233
Author(s):  
Ewa Figiel ◽  
Dorota Leciej-Pirczewska
Keyword(s):  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Thermal Barrier ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Supply Systems

New demands for lowering energy consumption of buildings lead to many new solutions including, amongst others, the introduction of an outer wall thermal barrier for both heating and cooling effect. The analysed thermo-active-wall-barrier is a water-based system, where the pipes are embedded in the wall construction. It enables the use of a low-temperature barrier medium for space heating, thereby increasing the efficiency of all potential energy supply systems using renewable energy sources. The pipes form an active thermal barrier for heat transfer between the outer and the heated space. There are many possibilities to place the pipes in the wall for example in the case of energetic thermo-modernisation. Our research and calculations have shown that thermo-active-wall-barrier is sensitive to the location of pipes. The following paper also provides a study of the impact of thermal barrier on a building’s energy performance. The analysis was conducted for a single-family house in a temperate climate based on parameters taken from one of the Polish meteorological data-bases. Calculations using current procedure of evaluating building energy performance show, that the thermal barrier can contribute to signifi cant reduction of transmission energy loss thus lowering the environmental impact.

scholarly journals Development of High Added Value Products from Industrial Minerals for Hybrid Energy Storage

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Antonis Peppas ◽  
Chrysa Politi
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Industrial Minerals ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Research Activities

Industrial minerals are at the forefront of innovation and play an essential role in many innovative applications. Their functionalities and properties make them very versatile materials which are essential to many industries. A combination of properties such as heat capacity, density, price, availability, and eco-friendliness are exceptional and crucially advantageous of industrial minerals utilisation as thermal energy storage (TES) systems. This technology stocks thermal energy by heating or cooling a storage medium so that the stored energy can be used at a later time for heating and cooling applications and power generation. In this context, the utilisation of industrial minerals as carriers for impregnating phase change materials (PCM) can deliver new innovative products acting as short-term energy storage systems for construction applications to the market. TES is a technology that can solve the existing mismatch of energy supply and demand and improve buildings’ system performance by smoothing temperature fluctuations, as well as improving the reliability of the heating and/or cooling source. However, the most recent publications in this area are focused on PCM-enhanced building components thermal and kinetics analysis rather than focusing on the building component scale. This study is focused on the industrial minerals-PCM application as part of the building’s envelope, aiming to determine the benefits for buildings in terms of thermal energy performance and renewable energy penetration based on real data, harvested by an intelligent monitored building in Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park operated solely for research activities.

scholarly journals Sensitivity Analysis of the Thermal Energy Need of a Residential Building Assessed by means of the EN ISO 52016 Simplified Dynamic Method

2020 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 02012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Bianco Mauthe Degerfeld ◽  
Ilaria Ballarini ◽  
Giovanna De Luca ◽  
Mamak P. Tootkaboni ◽  
Vincenzo Corrado
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Dynamic Method ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Internal Heat ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Set Point ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Correct Definition

The EN ISO 52016-1:2018 technical standard has introduced a new simplified dynamic method for the calculation of the building energy need for heating and cooling. This new procedure combines a low amount of input data required, as for the previous quasi-steady and dynamic simplified methods of the withdrawn EN ISO 13790 standard, with an increased accuracy, which would reduce the gap with detailed dynamic methods. This work is part of a broader research activity aimed at investigating the new simplified dynamic model and highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, in terms of accuracy and robustness. Specifically, the work addresses the parameters that have a great influence on the final results and the effects of uncertainties in input data. To this purpose both standard and tailored energy performance assessments have been applied, in particular in the first one a continuous operation period of the space heating system was supposed, and in the second one an intermittent operation system was chosen. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to quantify the variation of the heating and cooling loads with the set-point temperature, the windows physical properties, the heat capacity and the thermal transmission properties of opaque components, as well as the occupancy related input parameters, such as the internal heat gains and the ventilation flow rate. The analysis was applied to a multi-unit residential building located in Rome and built in the first half of the 20th century. The results outline absolute relevance of the set point temperatures. The significance of occupant behaviour and the importance of the correct definition of the component thermal properties is also pointed out through the comparison between the standard and tailored assessments.

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