scholarly journals Climate Change and Buildings Energy Efficiency – the Key Role of Residents

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martins Miezis ◽  
Kristaps Zvaigznitis ◽  
Nicholas Stancioff ◽  
Lars Soeftestad
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Increase Energy Efficiency ◽  
Apartment Buildings ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Europe Today

Abstract Eastern Europe today is confronted with an unavoidable problem - the multifamily apartment building stock is deteriorating but apartment owners do not have sufficient access to resources be they organizational, financial, technical or legal. In addition, destructive myths have grown about the Soviet era buildings despite their continued resilience or the ex- GDR experience in the 90s with the same buildings. Further, without resources, decision making in residential apartments is seen as a major obstacle and used as an explanation why renovation has not taken place in Latvia. This is important not only in the context of a potential housing crisis but also because the renovation of the apartment buildings is an effective solution to significantly reduce the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It has a proven potential to effectively finance the long term renovation of these buildings. This paper summarizes the first findings of a comprehensive and in-depth study of apartment buildings, their owners and the processes relating to renovation, combining social and environmental engineering research methods. It seeks to understand how owners of multi-family buildings in Eastern Europe understand their buildings and then to answer two questions - how to motivate owners to renovate their homes and increase energy efficiency and what business models should be used to implement economically viable and high quality projects.

Retrofitting for Improving Energy Efficiency: The Embodied Energy Relevance for Buildings’ Thermal Insulation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Abd Alla ◽  
Vincenzo Bianco ◽  
Federico Scarpa ◽  
Luca A. Tagliafico
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Increase Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Impact

Abstract Thermal insulation is a well-known strategy to increase energy efficiency of buildings. This paper considers two archetypes of an apartment block typology largely diffused in the Italian building stock and evaluates the energy savings resulting from the application of three insulation materials: polyurethane foam, rock wool and resin bonded fibre-board. The energy requirements for winter heating and summer cooling are assessed with EnergyPlus and then compared to the embodied energy of the insulation materials. Hence, the energy and carbon paybacks are calculated, and a cost analysis is proposed to provide an insight on the market impact for the retrofit materials’ choice. The apartment block model is analyzed in three main cities (Rome, Milan, Palermo) allowing to assess the climatic conditions impact in terms of minimization of primary energy consumption and environmental emissions. Simulations showed that the thermal insulation has a higher impact on winter heating and slightly affects the summer cooling requirement. In Milan, the refurbishment gains relevance as the energy and carbon payback periods are shorter than those of the city of Palermo characterized by a warmer weather. Considering the embodied energy impact, this method allows to estimate the maximum potential for energy savings in existing buildings and provides an estimation of achievable results in short-medium period.

scholarly journals Flagships of the Dutch Welfare State in Transformation: A Transformation Framework for Balancing Sustainability and Cultural Values in Energy-Efficient Renovation of Postwar Walk-Up Apartment Buildings

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Oorschot ◽  
Lidwine Spoormans ◽  
Sabira El Messlaki ◽  
Thaleia Konstantinou ◽  
Tim de Jonge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Housing Associations ◽  
General Transformation ◽  
Increase Energy Efficiency ◽  
Apartment Buildings ◽  
Design Solutions

Increasing energy efficiency of the housing stock is one of the largest challenges in the built environment today. In line with the international Paris-Climate-Change-Conference 2015, Dutch municipalities and housing associations have embraced the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality for their social housing stock by 2050. However, most deep renovation designs for increasing the energy efficiency of dwellings focus on the relatively easy portion of the housing stock: postwar row housing. Furthermore, such design solutions are mostly produced without much care for architectural quality and cultural heritage, nor for testing for consumer preferences. Yet, such aspects are of major importance in tenement housing, particularly regarding the architectural quality of the huge numbers of walk-up apartment buildings from the inter- and postwar periods owned by housing associations in the larger cities. Renovation of buildings of this typology is more complex because of, among others, technical, social, and heritage factors. To support decisions in this complex context, a General Transformation Framework and a Roadmap has been developed for generating design solutions for deep renovation of representative parts of postwar walk-up apartment buildings with the aim to increase energy efficiency; retain its architectural legibility and cultural heritage value; and allow for the presentation of (end) users, with various options for adaptation to assess their preferences.

Perspectives and Regulation of the Russian Market for Project-based Transactions under the Kyoto Protocol

2008 ◽  
pp. 108-125
Author(s):  
K. Zavodov
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Market Mechanism ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Foreign Investments ◽  
Russian Market ◽  
Increase Energy Efficiency ◽  
New Form ◽  
Contract Structure ◽  
Carbon Fund

Project-based transactions (PBTs) are a market mechanism of attracting foreign investments in order to abate greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency of the country’s enterprises. The article provides a classification and analyzes advantages and drawbacks of PBTs from the point of view of a host country. The main trends and factors determining the dynamics of the PBT market are described. Given that Russia currently lags behind the leaders of the PBT market, an incorporation of a state carbon fund is put forward with an aim of channelling PBTs through it. This paper proposes a form of PBT market regulation by incorporating an option mechanism into the contract structure of a transaction. A comparison of the new form of regulation with the tools that are currently in use in Russia and other countries demonstrates its greater economic efficiency under uncertainty.

IMPROVEMENT OF ENERGY SAVING AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS AND RESIDENTIAL HOUSES IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Turatbek Kasymov
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Kyrgyz Republic ◽  
Technical Standards ◽  
Insulating Materials ◽  
Increase Energy Efficiency ◽  
State Construction ◽  
The Government

This article reviews energy consumption in the Kyrgyz Republic economy, environmental indicators and strategies to further develop the national fuel and energy system to ensure energy efficiency and energy saving. An existing situation in energy efficiency of buildings in the country is described. Secondary legislation and by-laws approved by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic as well as several technical standards, norms, methods and guidelines approved by the order of the State Construction Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic are presented. Applying modern insulating materials are suggested as possible solutions to increase energy efficiency and energy saving. The advantages of EPS-beton in comparison with other thermal insulation materials are discussed and foreign experience of use of EPS-beton products in increasing energy efficiency of buildings is presented.

scholarly journals Experimental Data and Simulations of Performance and Thermal Comfort in a Typical Mediterranean House

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3311
Author(s):  
Víctor Pérez-Andreu ◽  
Carolina Aparicio-Fernández ◽  
José-Luis Vivancos ◽  
Javier Cárcel-Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Thermal Characterization ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Dwelling House ◽  
Account Standard

The number of buildings renovated following the introduction of European energy-efficiency policy represents a small number of buildings in Spain. So, the main Spanish building stock needs an urgent energy renovation. Using passive strategies is essential, and thermal characterization and predictive tests of the energy-efficiency improvements achieving acceptable levels of comfort for their users are urgently necessary. This study analyzes the energy performance and thermal comfort of the users in a typical Mediterranean dwelling house. A transient simulation has been used to acquire the scope of Spanish standards for its energy rehabilitation, taking into account standard comfort conditions. The work is based on thermal monitoring of the building and a numerical validated model developed in TRNSYS. Energy demands for different models have been calculated considering different passive constructive measures combined with real wind site conditions and the behavior of users related to natural ventilation. This methodology has given us the necessary information to decide the best solution in relation to energy demand and facility of implementation. The thermal comfort for different models is not directly related to energy demand and has allowed checking when and where the measures need to be done.

scholarly journals A review of challenges and benefits of integration of CHP plant into the grid: a case study in Serbia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rade M. Ciric ◽  
Sasa N. Mandic
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Increase Energy Efficiency ◽  
High Voltage Supply ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Technical Solutions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe Republic of Serbia must make significant efforts to promote and exploit renewable energy sources and increase energy efficiency in all energy sectors to ensure energy security and economic competitiveness, reduce the negative impact on the environment from energy production and use, and contribute to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Within the paper several issues of integration of recently realized CHP plant are introduced and discussed. Firstly, the legal and energy policy issues in the Republic of Serbia regarding connecting CHP to the grid are presented. The challenges and technical solutions for CHP connection to the grid, as well as power quality issues and the role of the CHP plant during the restoration of power supply during the maintenance of the substation and unplanned loss of high voltage supply, are presented and discussed. Finally, the impact of prospective massive integration of CHP on the energy balance and CO2 emission reduction in the province of Vojvodina in Serbia is investigated and discussed. Since it is the first CHP plant realized in Serbia, it is crucial that experience be shared to all potential stakeholders in the future energy efficiency projects.

Energy models for cost-optimal analysis: Development and calibration of residential reference building models for Northern Cyprus

2021 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2110130
Author(s):  
Manta Marcelinus Dakyen ◽  
Mustafa Dagbasi ◽  
Murat Özdenefe
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Mean Squared Error ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Mean Bias Error ◽  
Bias Error ◽  
Sampled Data ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Northern Cyprus

Ambitious energy efficiency goals constitute an important roadmap towards attaining a low-carbon society. Thus, various building-related stakeholders have introduced regulations targeting the energy efficiency of buildings. However, some countries still lack such policies. This paper is an effort to help bridge this gap for Northern Cyprus, a country devoid of building energy regulations that still experiences electrical energy production and distribution challenges, principally by establishing reference residential buildings which can be the cornerstone for prospective building regulations. Statistical analysis of available building stock data was performed to determine existing residential reference buildings. Five residential reference buildings with distinct configurations that constituted over 75% floor area share of the sampled data emerged, with floor areas varying from 191 to 1006 m2. EnergyPlus models were developed and calibrated for five residential reference buildings against yearly measured electricity consumption. Values of Mean Bias Error (MBE) and Cumulative Variation of Root Mean Squared Error CV(RMSE) between the models’ energy consumption and real energy consumption on monthly based analysis varied within the following ranges: (MBE)monthly from –0.12% to 2.01% and CV(RMSE)monthly from 1.35% to 2.96%. Thermal energy required to maintain the models' setpoint temperatures for cooling and heating varied from 6,134 to 11,451 kWh/year.

scholarly journals Application of Urban Scale Energy Modelling and Multi-Objective Optimization Techniques for Building Energy Renovation at District Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11554
Author(s):  
Fahad Haneef ◽  
Giovanni Pernigotto ◽  
Andrea Gasparella ◽  
Jérôme Henri Kämpf
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Efficiency Measures ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Efficiency Measures

Nearly-zero energy buildings are now a standard for new constructions. However, the real challenge for a decarbonized society relies in the renovation of the existing building stock, selecting energy efficiency measures considering not only the energy performance but also the economic and sustainability ones. Even if the literature is full of examples coupling building energy simulation with multi-objective optimization for the identification of the best measures, the adoption of such approaches is still limited for district and urban scale simulation, often because of lack of complete data inputs and high computational requirements. In this research, a new methodology is proposed, combining the detailed geometric characterization of urban simulation tools with the simplification provided by “building archetype” modeling, in order to ensure the development of robust models for the multi-objective optimization of retrofit interventions at district scale. Using CitySim as an urban scale energy modeling tool, a residential district built in the 1990s in Bolzano, Italy, was studied. Different sets of renovation measures for the building envelope and three objectives —i.e., energy, economic and sustainability performances, were compared. Despite energy savings from 29 to 46%, energy efficiency measures applied just to the building envelope were found insufficient to meet the carbon neutrality goals without interventions to the system, in particular considering mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Furthermore, public subsidization has been revealed to be necessary, since none of the proposed measures is able to pay back the initial investment for this case study.

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