Analysis of New Generation Material Solutions of Lower Structure for Energy Efficient Buildings

2014 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. 26-29
Author(s):  
Anna Sedláková ◽  
Silvia Vilčeková ◽  
Eva Kridlova-Burdova ◽  
Ladislav Ťažký
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Associated Production ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings ◽  
Lower Structure ◽  
Building Operation ◽  
Operation Phase ◽  
New Generation

The goal of this paper is to calculate of thermal physical and environmental parameters of lower structure to support decision at the design phase of the project. The solutions are towards reduced embodied environmental impacts and improved energy performance. This study uses life cycle analysis in system boundary from Cradle to Gate and focuses on environmental indicators such as embodied energy and emissions of CO2eq. and SO2eq. The selection and combination of materials influence amount of energy consumption and associated production of emissions during building operation phase.

scholarly journals Attitudes and Approaches of Finnish Retrofit Industry Stakeholders toward Achieving Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7359
Author(s):  
Sadaf Alam ◽  
Miimu Airaksinen ◽  
Risto Lahdelma
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Running Time ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Construction Design ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Property Owners

Key stakeholders in industry are highly responsible for achieving energy performance targets. Particularly, this paper assesses the attitudes, approaches, and experiences of Finnish construction professionals regarding energy-efficient buildings, or nZEBs. A three-tier investigation was conducted including surveys and expert interviews with several stakeholders. The structure of this approach was informed by preliminary data and information available on the Finnish construction sector. The questionnaire showed that the stakeholders ranked energy efficiency and embodied energy/carbon as very important. The survey highlighted that the importance of the embodied carbon CO2 in the materials is less important than the energy efficiency from many of the stakeholders’ points of view. “Energy efficiency” is very important for ESCOs, contractors, and facility managers followed by architects, HVAC engineers, and construction design engineers. Nevertheless, the opinions of architects ranked “embodied energy CO2” as the most important regarding nZEB. When it comes to the importance of “running time emissions” toward nZEB, contractors and ESCO companies ranked it as 1 for importance followed by property owners (78%) and tenants (75%). It is very fascinating to see from the survey that “running time carbon emissions” has been ranked 1 (very important) by all stakeholders. This study will enable construction industry stakeholders to make provisions for overcoming the barriers, gaps, and challenges identified in the practices of the nZEB projects. It will also inform the formulation of policies that drive retrofit uptake.

scholarly journals Calibration of a building energy model using operation conditions derived from monitoring

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03073
Author(s):  
Cristina Tanasa ◽  
Cristina Becchio ◽  
Stefano Paoloc Corgnati ◽  
Valeriu Stoian ◽  
Daniel Dan
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Energy Model ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
Operation Conditions ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings ◽  
Monthly Total

Building energy modelling and simulations play an important role in the design of energy efficient buildings but also in post-construction phases for commissioning, operation and optimization. With the use of data from monitoring systems related to the operation conditions of a building, calibrated simulations can be performed that accurately follow the real energy performance of a building. This paper present a procedure to achieve a calibrated building energy model simulation using monitoring data. The aim of the study is to verify/validate the results of the building energy model simulation against measured data. The study is based on an existing highly energy efficient building, which is continuously monitored in terms of energy consumptions and environmental parameters for several years now. The performance of the building energy model was assessed using statistical indices. The monthly total energy consumption comparison between simulated and measured shows that the building energy model managed to predict very closely the measured values. The accuracy of the building energy model in predicting air temperature was assessed as well.

scholarly journals Predicting the Presence of Leptospires in Rodents from Environmental Indicators Opens Up Opportunities for Environmental Monitoring of Human Leptospirosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Leon Biscornet ◽  
Christophe Révillion ◽  
Sylvaine Jégo ◽  
Erwan Lagadec ◽  
Yann Gomard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Infection Prevalence

Leptospirosis, an environmental infectious disease of bacterial origin, is the infectious disease with the highest associated mortality in Seychelles. In small island territories, the occurrence of the disease is spatially heterogeneous and a better understanding of the environmental factors that contribute to the presence of the bacteria would help implement targeted control. The present study aimed at identifying the main environmental parameters correlated with animal reservoirs distribution and Leptospira infection in order to delineate habitats with highest prevalence. We used a previously published dataset produced from a large collection of rodents trapped during the dry and wet seasons in most habitats of Mahé, the main island of Seychelles. A land use/land cover analysis was realized in order to describe the various environments using SPOT-5 images by remote sensing (object-based image analysis). At each sampling site, landscape indices were calculated and combined with other geographical parameters together with rainfall records to be used in a multivariate statistical analysis. Several environmental factors were found to be associated with the carriage of leptospires in Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus, namely low elevations, fragmented landscapes, the proximity of urbanized areas, an increased distance from forests and, above all, increased precipitation in the three months preceding trapping. The analysis indicated that Leptospira renal carriage could be predicted using the species identification and a description of landscape fragmentation and rainfall, with infection prevalence being positively correlated with these two environmental variables. This model may help decision makers in implementing policies affecting urban landscapes and/or in balancing conservation efforts when designing pest control strategies that should also aim at reducing human contact with Leptospira-laden rats while limiting their impact on the autochthonous fauna.

scholarly journals Design Optimisation Strategies for Solid Rammed Earth Walls in Mediterranean Climates

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Giada Giuffrida ◽  
Maurizio Detommaso ◽  
Francesco Nocera ◽  
Rosa Caponetto
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Construction Material ◽  
Base Material ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Rammed Earth ◽  
Earth Construction ◽  
Material Choice ◽  
Earth Walls ◽  
Raw Earth

The renewed attention paid to raw earth construction in recent decades is linked to its undoubted sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and low embodied energy. In Italy, the use of raw earth as a construction material is limited by the lack of a technical reference standard and is penalised by the current energy legislation for its massive behaviour. Research experiences, especially transoceanic, on highly performative contemporary buildings made with natural materials show that raw earth can be used, together with different types of reinforcements, to create safe, earthquake-resistant, and thermally efficient buildings. On the basis of experimental data of an innovative fibre-reinforced rammed earth material, energy analyses are developed on a rammed earth building designed for a Mediterranean climate. The paper focuses on the influences that different design solutions, inspired by traditional bioclimatic strategies, and various optimised wall constructions have in the improvement of the energy performance of the abovementioned building. These considerations are furthermore compared with different design criteria aiming at minimising embodied carbon in base material choice, costs, and discomfort hours. Results have shown the effectiveness of using the combination of massive rammed earth walls, night cross ventilation, and overhangs for the reduction of energy demand for space cooling and the improvement of wellbeing. Finally, the parametric analysis of thermal insulation has highlighted the economic, environmental, and thermophysical optimal solutions for the rammed earth envelope.

scholarly journals The determination of the thermal reliability criterion for building envelope structures

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-133
Author(s):  
Gennadiy Farenyuk
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Time Analysis ◽  
Thermal Reliability ◽  
Thermal Failure ◽  
Reliability Criterion ◽  
Building Operation

The paper presents the basic methodical principles for the time analysis of the variations of envelope structures’ thermal insulation properties and for the substantiation of the thermal reliability criterion, which should allow the analysis of the actual parameters of heat losses during the operation of buildings. In the paper, the state of the envelope structures thermal failure, the concept of building thermal envelope thermal reliability and the principles of its rating are defined. The physical meaning and basic criterion of the envelope structure thermal reliability are formulated. The application of the thermal reliability criterion allows determining the probable variations in the thermal insulation properties during the building operation and, accordingly, the changes of the building energy performance over time.

scholarly journals A State of the Art of the Overall Energy Efficiency of Wood Buildings—An Overview and Future Possibilities

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1848
Author(s):  
Matheus Roberto Cabral ◽  
Pierre Blanchet
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Hybrid Buildings ◽  
Wood Frame ◽  
Mass Timber

The main goal of this study was to review current studies on the state of the art of wood constructions with a particular focus on energy efficiency, which could serve as a valuable source of information for both industry and scholars. This review begins with an overview of the role of materials in wood buildings to improve energy performance, covering structural and insulation materials that have already been successfully used in the market for general applications over the years. Subsequently, studies of different wood building systems (i.e., wood-frame, post-and-beam, mass timber and hybrid constructions) and energy efficiency are discussed. This is followed by a brief introduction to strategies to increase the energy efficiency of constructions. Finally, remarks and future research opportunities for wood buildings are highlighted. Some general recommendations for developing more energy-efficient wood buildings are identified in the literature and discussed. There is a lack of emerging construction concepts for wood-frame and post-and-beam buildings and a lack of design codes and specifications for mass timber and hybrid buildings. From the perspective of the potential environmental benefits of these systems as a whole, and their effects on energy efficiency and embodied energy in constructions, there are barriers that need to be considered in the future.

Recommended angle of a modular dynamic façade in hot-arid climate: daylighting and energy simulation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyedeh Samaneh Golzan ◽  
Mina Pouyanmehr ◽  
Hassan Sadeghi Naeini
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Arid Climate ◽  
Visual Comfort ◽  
Building Envelopes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Optimum Angle ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings ◽  
Hot Arid Climate

PurposeThe modular dynamic façade (MDF) concept could be an approach in a comfort-centric design through proper integration with energy-efficient buildings. This study focuses on obtaining and/or calculating an efficient angle of the MDF, which would lead to the optimum performance in daylight availability and energy consumption in a single south-faced official space located in the hot-arid climate of Yazd, Iran.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology consists of three fundamental parts: (1) based on previous related studies, a diamond-based dynamic skin façade was applied to a south-faced office building in a hot-arid climate; (2) the daylighting and energy performance of the model were simulated annually; and (3) the data obtained from the simulation were compared to reach the optimum angle of the MDF.FindingsThe results showed that when the angle of the MDF openings was set at 30°, it could decrease energy consumption by 41.32% annually, while daylight simulation pointed that the space experienced the minimum possible glare at this angle. Therefore, the angle of 30° was established as the optimum angle, which could be the basis for future investment in responsive building envelopes.Originality/valueThis angular study simultaneously assesses the daylight availability, visual comfort and energy consumption on a MDF in a hot-arid climate.

scholarly journals Strategies to Improve the Energy Performance of Buildings: A Review of Their Life Cycle Impact

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia MIRABELLA ◽  
Martin RÖCK ◽  
Marcella Ruschi Mendes SAADE ◽  
Carolin SPIRINCKX ◽  
Marc BOSMANS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Operational Energy

Globally, the building sector is responsible for more than 40% of energy use and it contributes approximately 30% of the global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This high contribution stimulates research and policies to reduce the operational energy use and related GHG emissions of buildings. However, the environmental impacts of buildings can extend wide beyond the operational phase, and the portion of impacts related to the embodied energy of the building becomes relatively more important in low energy buildings. Therefore, the goal of the research is gaining insights into the environmental impacts of various building strategies for energy efficiency requirements compared to the life cycle environmental impacts of the whole building. The goal is to detect and investigate existing trade-offs in current approaches and solutions proposed by the research community. A literature review is driven by six fundamental and specific research questions (RQs), and performed based on two main tasks: (i) selection of literature studies, and (ii) critical analysis of the selected studies in line with the RQs. A final sample of 59 papers and 178 case studies has been collected, and key criteria are systematically analysed in a matrix. The study reveals that the high heterogeneity of the case studies makes it difficult to compare these in a straightforward way, but it allows to provide an overview of current methodological challenges and research gaps. Furthermore, the most complete studies provide valuable insights in the environmental benefits of the identified energy performance strategies over the building life cycle, but also shows the risk of burden shifting if only operational energy use is focused on, or when a limited number of environmental impact categories are assessed.

scholarly journals BIM and BEM Methodologies Integration in Energy-Efficient Buildings Using Experimental Design

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 491
Author(s):  
Jorge González ◽  
Carlos Alberto Pereira Soares ◽  
Mohammad Najjar ◽  
Assed N. Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Thermal Characteristics ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings ◽  
Energy Modelling ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Energetic Performance

Linking Building Information Modelling and Building Energy Modelling methodologies appear as a tool for the energy performance analysis of a dwelling, being able to build the physical model via Autodesk Revit and simulating the energy modeling with its complement Autodesk Insight. A residential two-story house was evaluated in five different locations within distinct climatic zones to reduce its electricity demand. Experimental Design is used as a methodological tool to define the possible arrangement of results emitted via Autodesk Insight that exhibits the minor electric demand, considering three variables: Lighting efficiency, Plug-Load Efficiency, and HVAC systems. The analysis concluded that while the higher the efficiency of lighting and applications, the lower the electric demand. In addition, the type of climate and thermal characteristics of the materials that conform to the building envelope have significant effects on the energetic performance. The adjustment of different energetic measures and its comparison with other climatic zones enable decision-makers to choose the best combination of variables for developing strategies to lower the electric demand towards energy-efficient buildings.

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