scholarly journals Inverse Modelling of Climate Adaptive Building Shells. System Dynamics Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-177
Author(s):  
Toms Mols ◽  
Andra Blumberga

AbstractThe paper describes the development of a computer-based inverse model for climate adaptive building shell which is in the cold climatic conditions of Latvia to determine changes in energy consumption. Types, principles of operation and classification of climate adaptive building shells (CABS) were reviewed and CABS most fitting to Latvia’s climate conditions were chosen for application in the model. Research implies that building modelling tools play an important role in the design phase. The results indicate that hourly facade adjustment can have a significant impact on GHG emissions and energy consumption reduction without compromising the comfort level. Optimization is proven to be an essential part of the inverse modelling phase, which provides the best possible option defined by the user for the characteristics that distinguish climate adaptive building shells. Inverse modelling approach allowed to determine necessary building enclosure parameters that need to be met to provide best performance.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Kummu ◽  
Matias Heino ◽  
Maija Taka ◽  
Olli Varis ◽  
Daniel Viviroli

<p>The majority of global food production, as we know it, is based on agricultural practices developed within stable Holocene climate conditions. Climate change is altering the key conditions for human societies, such as precipitation, temperature and aridity. Their combined impact on altering the conditions in areas where people live and grow food has not yet, however, been systematically quantified on a global scale. Here, we estimate the impacts of two climate change scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 8.5) on major population centres and food crop production areas at 5 arc-min scale (~10 km at equator) using Holdridge Life Zones (HLZs), a concept that incorporates all the aforementioned climatic characteristics. We found that if rapid growth of GHG emissions is not halted (RCP 8.5), in year 2070, one fifth of the major food production areas and one fourth of the global population centres would experience climate conditions beyond the ones where food is currently produced, and people are living. Our results thus reinforce the importance of following the RCP 2.6 path, as then only a small fraction of food production (5%) and population centres (6%) would face such unprecedented conditions. Several areas experiencing these unprecedented conditions also have low resilience, such as those within Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, and Guinea-Bissau. In these countries over 75% of food production and population would experience unprecedented climatic conditions under RCP 8.5. These and many other hotspot areas require the most urgent attention to secure sustainable development and equity.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (Suppl. 3) ◽  
pp. 933-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Papakostas ◽  
Ioannis Tiganitis ◽  
Agis Papadopoulos

In many heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) applications, heat recovery devices are installed, aiming at reducing energy consumption. Especially in buildings requiring a high percentage of outside air for ventilation, there is a high potential for heat recovery from exhaust air. Climatic conditions are an important parameter which affects the recovered heat and the payback period of the heat recovery device. In this paper, a 250 person auditorium is used as a model to estimate the applicability of an air-to-air fixed-plate heat exchanger installed in the air handling unit of the HVAC system. The application is considered for four cities, representative of climatic zones A, B, C, D of Greece, which also represent typical Mediterranean climate conditions. Zone A, Crete and Southern Greece, is similar to Nicosia (Cyprus) and Palermo (Sicily), Zone B, with Athens, corresponds to Rome (Italy) and coastal Spain, Zone C with Thessaloniki is similar to the Toulon (France) and Split (Croatia) and Zone D, with its continental climate is more like Milan (Italy) and Lyon (France). An energy analysis with the modified bin method energy calculation was performed to calculate (a) the heating and cooling energy that can be recovered, (b) the reduction in HVAC equipment, and (c) the expected payback period. For the specific climatic conditions examined, it was proven that: heating energy consumption decreased by 31 to 40%, depending on occupancy, while electric energy consumption didn?t change notably; the payback period does not exceed 24 months, depending on climate zone and occupancy.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Fořt ◽  
Jiří Šál ◽  
Jan Kočí ◽  
Robert Černý

Facing the consequences of climate change and fuel price rises, the achievement of the requirements for low-energy consumption of buildings has become a challenging issue. On top of that, increased demands on indoor hygrothermal conditions usually require the utilization of additional heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to maintain a comfortable environment. On this account, several advanced and modern materials are widely investigated as a promising way for reduction of the buildings’ energy consumption including utilization of passive heating/cooling energy. However, the efficiency and suitability of passive strategies depending on several aspects including the influence of location, exterior climatic conditions, load-bearing materials used, and insulation materials applied. The main objective of this study consists of the investigation of the energy performance benefits gained by the utilization of advanced materials in plasters by computational modeling. Results obtained from a computational simulation reveal the capability of the studied passive cooling/heating methods on the moderation of indoor air quality together with the reduction of the diurnal temperature fluctuation. Achieved results disclose differences in terms of energy savings for even small variation in outdoor climate conditions. Additionally, the effectivity of passive cooling/heating alters considerably during the summer and winter periods. Based on the analysis of simulated heat fluxes, the potential energy savings related to improved thermal properties of the applied plaster layer reached up to 12.08% and thus represent an interesting passive solution towards energy sustainability to meet the criteria on modern buildings.


Author(s):  
Byung Chang Kwag ◽  
Moncef Krarti

A basic principle of well designed greenhouse design emphasizes the utilization of solar energy as much as possible to grow the plants indoors during extreme outdoor climate conditions. Greenhouses can use significant amount of energy due to several factors including poor envelope design, inappropriate maintenance practices, and heavy reliance on fuel-based heating systems. In order to reduce energy consumption in the agricultural industry of Colorado, it is important to design energy efficient greenhouses under Colorado climatic conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junjie Li ◽  
Shuai Lu ◽  
Qingguo Wang ◽  
Shuo Tian ◽  
Yichun Jin

The stereo integration of subway transportation with urban functions has promoted the transformation of urban space via extensive two-dimensional plans to intensive three-dimensional development. As sustainable development aspect, it has posed new challenges for the design of architectural space to be better environmental quality and low energy consumption. Therefore, subway station building complexes with high-performance designs should be a primary focus. Tubular space is a very common spatial form in subway station building complexes; it is an important space carrier for transmitting airflow and natural light. As such, it embodies the advantages of effectively utilizing natural resources, improving the indoor thermal and light environments, refining the air quality, and reducing energy consumption. This research took tubular space, which has a passive regulation function in subway station building complexes as its research object. It firstly established a scientific and logical method for verifying the value of tubular space by searching causal relationships among the parameterized building space information factors, occupancy satisfaction elements, physical environment comfort aspects, and climate conditions. Secondly, based on the actual field investigation, a database of physical environment performance data and users’ subjective satisfaction information was collected. Through the fieldwork results and analysis, the research thirdly concluded that the potential passive utilization of tubular space in subway station building complexes can be divided into two aspects: improvement in comfort level itself and utilization of climate between natural or artificial. Finally, three typical integrated design method for tubular spaces exhibiting high levels of performance and low amounts of energy consumption in subway station building complexes was put forward. This interdisciplinary research provides a design basis for subway station building complexes seeking to achieve high levels of performance and low amounts of energy consumption.


Author(s):  
Mauro Cepeda Ortiz ◽  
Santiago Morales Flores ◽  
Enrique Villacis

Meche's House is an alternative post-disaster construction, and this is the study of its bioclimatic approach showing that social and post-disaster buildings also need this kind of research. Tropical climate conditions lead to buildings having a high energy consumption for cooling loads. In Ecuador, the energy consumption of the residential area is 28.78% of final demand. Also, there is very little relevant information on the analysis of bioclimatic design in buildings, as well as specific analysis of interior comfort. The carried-out analysis process considered methods of bioclimatic evaluation, which mainly focuses on building the user's comfort. For this reason, in the first place, the site climatic conditions and possible passive intervention strategies were determined. Followed by the evaluation of natural ventilation with which it was possible to evaluate the effectiveness of natural ventilation through simulations in Computational Fluid Dynamics program. Furthermore, thermal comfort analysis using an Energy Plus program is used for comparing the internal temperature ranges versus indoor natural ventilation. Finally, the data is discussed under an adaptive comfort and user perception of satisfaction. This research confirms the need to carry out bioclimatic evaluations of projects conceived under a good line of architectural design, since only in this way will it be possible to demonstrate that the proposed considerations and strategies have positive or negative outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 01117
Author(s):  
Dr. R. Vijay Kumar ◽  
Sandeep Kumar N ◽  
Narsimha K ◽  
Shiva Ram Reddy K ◽  
Vamsee Krishna E

Building envelope of the structures plays a crucial role in the energy consumption. To decrease the amount of Energy Consumption in Building, Energy saving materials and Optimal sizing of Openings to be selected. In this aspect a model is simulated by using the Design Builder Software to Analyse the Spatial Daylight Autonomy, Thermal Comfort and Annual Energy Consumption. Windows impact the heat exchanges between indoor environment and outdoor environment. This possibly permit a proper utilization of solar energy. The research aims to investigate the influence of window-to-wall ratio in different of different climate conditions in India which has been introduced as hot dry, hot humid and moderate climates. The research has studied the most possible window-to-wall ration in the region based on previous work 5%, 10%,15% and 20% out of the faced surface area of the building. This paper sketch out the modus operandi and the alike results of an analysis which targets to find out the ideal size of the glazed surface, which permits the minimum amount of overall energy consumption and determining the efficient building materials .The analyses and simulation procedures were performed using Design Builder software and the window dimensions are calculated in terms of the ratio between the glazed surface to the gross facade area, defined as window to wall ratio (WWR).


Author(s):  
Leticia MENEGHEL FONSECA ◽  
Nawelle CHAOUKI ◽  
Anthony BENOIST ◽  
Guillaume BUSSET ◽  
Roland PIROT ◽  
...  

Jatropha curcas is an inedible oil crop which can grow under semiarid climatic conditions. Its oil can be used straight as fuel to provide energy in remote areas to improve living conditions. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of the electricity generation from Jatropha oil under West African conditions, by means of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). These potential impacts are calculated for four crop managements and compared to the ones of a reference electricity generation from conventional diesel. Data used in this work are from Jatropha plantations set up in Mali since 2006.LCA results show that the potential benefits of the Jatropha systems are highly dependent on the crop management, especially for the fertilization strategy and the promotion of the oilcake. However, in all cases, the Jatropha systems have lower impacts than the reference diesel system by 75% to 96% for abiotic depletion, and by 80% to 97% for ozone layer depletion, and higher impacts by 260% to 1000% for eutrophication, and by 26% to 160% for acidification. In the best case, the Jatropha system can also have lower impacts than the reference system by 76% for climate change, and by 88% for photochemical oxidation.A methodological originality of this work is the inclusion of animal and human labour into the LCA framework. A first model is proposed for the accounting of energy consumption and GreenHouse Gases (GHG) emissions due to labour. Concerning energy consumption, labour is not negligible with a share from 14% to 50% of the total impact of the Jatropha systems; however the highest share of 50% corresponds to the scenarios with the lowest energy demand. CH4 emissions from livestock are also not negligible but second-order in this study since they account for 2% to 13% of total GHG emissions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Matteo Corazza ◽  
Valentina Conti ◽  
Antonino Genovese ◽  
Fernando Ortenzi ◽  
Maria Pia Valentini

Public Transport (PT) planning requires a detailed evaluation of the fleet energy consumption, usually depending on the specific characteristics of the bus service network. These include topography, climate and operational features. In this work, we focus on the additional air conditioning (AC) energy consumption, proposing a method to evaluate the extra energy consumption based not only on climate variables, but also on the PT planned service. Results are presented for a large part of the provincial capitals and regions of Italy, and clearly show that overconsumption for air conditioning are significantly affected by the daily mileage distribution, with large variance even when climatic conditions are similar. The mileage data are extracted from GTFS databases, widely available for PT applications. The developed tool allows us to apply this methodology to any urban and extra-urban area. Reference AC consumption related to climate conditions are derived from a measurement campaign hold in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) during September 2018, within the National Research Program on the Electric System. A discussion on how to optimize the use of climatic data is also presented, resulting in the choice to use Heat Index as unique independent variable for air conditioning energy consumption calculation. A methodology to compute the Heat Index from climatic variables for large domains as, for instance, the Italian regions, was also developed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 50-64
Author(s):  
Kuladeep Kumar Sadevi ◽  
Avlokita Agrawal

With the rise in awareness of energy efficient buildings and adoption of mandatory energy conservation codes across the globe, significant change is being observed in the way the buildings are designed. With the launch of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in India, climate responsive designs and passive cooling techniques are being explored increasingly in building designs. Of all the building envelope components, roof surface has been identified as the most significant with respect to the heat gain due to the incident solar radiation on buildings, especially in tropical climatic conditions. Since ECBC specifies stringent U-Values for roof assembly, use of insulating materials is becoming popular. Along with insulation, the shading of the roof is also observed to be an important strategy for improving thermal performance of the building, especially in Warm and humid climatic conditions. This study intends to assess the impact of roof shading on building’s energy performance in comparison to that of exposed roof with insulation. A typical office building with specific geometry and schedules has been identified as base case model for this study. This building is simulated using energy modelling software ‘Design Builder’ with base case parameters as prescribed in ECBC. Further, the same building has been simulated parametrically adjusting the amount of roof insulation and roof shading simultaneously. The overall energy consumption and the envelope performance of the top floor are extracted for analysis. The results indicate that the roof shading is an effective passive cooling strategy for both naturally ventilated and air conditioned buildings in Warm and humid climates of India. It is also observed that a fully shaded roof outperforms the insulated roof as per ECBC prescription. Provision of shading over roof reduces the annual energy consumption of building in case of both insulated and uninsulated roofs. However, the impact is higher for uninsulated roofs (U-Value of 3.933 W/m2K), being 4.18% as compared to 0.59% for insulated roofs (U-Value of 0.33 W/m2K).While the general assumption is that roof insulation helps in reducing the energy consumption in tropical buildings, it is observed to be the other way when insulation is provided with roof shading. It is due to restricted heat loss during night.


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