Reward–Penalty Mechanism Based on Daily Energy Consumption for Net-Zero Energy Buildings

Net-zero energy buildings (ZEB/NZEB) have been greatly encouraged and are considered to be a promising approach for energy conservation as well as environmental protection. However, a lack of incentive mechanisms can hinder the fast development and application of ZEB. This study thus focuses on the design of a daily reward–penalty mechanism (RPM) by considering the performance of the building, aiming to enable a lower penalty cost for the building where there is a better match between energy consumption and energy generation. The impact of the degree of freedom of the building load (k) is investigated on building performance based on a single-family house located in Shanghai city, China. It is observed that a higher value of k is preferred since the building users can adjust its energy consumption profile to better match with its energy generation. A higher k value enables lower annual energy consumption, lower penalty cost, better stability, and an average daily zero energy level of around 1.0. In addition, four quadratic fit curves are derived to describe the relationship between building performance (i.e., annual energy consumption, the average daily zero energy level, stability, and annual penalty cost) and the degree of freedom. Meanwhile, the uncertainty of ZEB performance is quantified, which provides flexibility for building users in selecting the appropriate degree of freedom.

Energy and Emission Implications of Electric Vehicles Integration with Nearly and Net Zero Energy Buildings

Buildings and the mobility sectors are the two sectors that currently utilize large amount of fossil-based energy. The aim of the paper is to, critically analyse the integration of electric vehicles (EV) energy load with the building’s energy load. The qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyse the nearly/net zero energy buildings and the mobility plans of the Europe along with the challenges of the plans. It is proposed to either include or exclude the EV load within the building’s energy load and follow the emissions calculation path, rather than energy calculation path for buildings to identify the benefits. Two real case studies in a central European climate are used to analysis the energy performance of the building with and without EV load integration and the emissions produced due to their interaction. It is shown that by replacing fossil-fuel cars with EVs within the building boundary, overall emissions can be reduced by 11–35% depending on the case study. However, the energy demand increased by 27–95% when the EV load was added with the building load. Hence, the goal to reach the nearly/net zero energy building target becomes more challenging. Therefore, the emission path can present the benefits of EV and building load integration.

Energy Usage Optimization in Zero Energy Building to Reduce Dependency on Conventional Sources

As Net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) have been proposed as a viable method for reducing building energy utilization and pollutant emissions. To achieve the desired performing goal, the layouts and capabilities of the integrated renewable energy systems in NZEBs should be carefully chosen. The persistent rise in global energy demand as a result of industrial advancement and population expansion is presently a massive source of concern. The goal of this project is to develop an ideal design technique for a zero-energy building that takes into account the building's energy output and usage. Solar power production was determined to be the most significant element.