scholarly journals Vertical greening systems: contribution to thermal behaviour on the building envelope and environmental sustainability

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Perini ◽  
M. Ottelé
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Behaviour ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Vertical Greening

scholarly journals Environmental Sustainability of Building Retrofit through Vertical Greening Systems: A Life-Cycle Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4886
Author(s):  
Katia Perini ◽  
Fabio Magrassi ◽  
Andrea Giachetta ◽  
Luca Moreschi ◽  
Michela Gallo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Life Cycle Approach ◽  
Complete Life Cycle ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Use Phase ◽  
Vertical Greening

Urban greening provides a wide range of ecosystem services to address the main challenges of urban areas, e.g., carbon sequestration, evapotranspiration and shade, thermal insulation, and pollution control. This study evaluates the environmental sustainability of a vertical greening system (VGS) built in 2014 in Italy, for which extensive monitoring activities were implemented. The life-cycle assessment methodology was applied to quantify the water–energy–climate nexus of the VGS for 1 m2 of the building’s wall surface. Six different scenarios were modelled according to three different end-of-life scenarios and two different useful lifetime scenarios (10 and 25 years). The environmental impact of global-warming potential and generated energy consumption during the use phase in the VGS scenarios were reduced by 56% in relation to the baseline scenario (wall without VGS), and showed improved environmental performance throughout the complete life cycle. However, the water-scarcity index (WSI) of the VGS scenarios increased by 42%. This study confirms that the installation of VGSs offers a relevant environmental benefit in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions and energy consumption; however, increased water consumption in the use phase may limit the large-scale application of VGSs.

Green Façade (Vertical Greening): Benefits and Threats

2015 ◽  
Vol 747 ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Rakhshandehroo ◽  
Mohd Johari Mohd Yusof ◽  
Meysam Deghati Najd
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Environmental Preservation ◽  
Rooftop Garden ◽  
Green Façade ◽  
Vertical Greening ◽  
Indoor Comfort ◽  
Green Facade

In the challenge of development in dense urban areas and environmental preservation, sustainability is a significant requirement where green facade (vertical greening) is one of those approaches that flourished during the last decade although it is not a new concept. Hanging or vertical garden, vertical vegetable farms, balcony garden, container or planter box greening, green or eco building, green roof or rooftop garden, wall planter, and green envelop are all different aspects of this idea that demonstrate how wide this landscape can be. Greening the building envelope with vegetation can be used as a mean to restore the environmental conditions in dense urban areas. Designers can look for enhanced solutions where the façades are more than tinted glass barrier. Several researches have proven the environmental benefits of green facade on both new and existing buildings. They can be applied for mitigating the effect of urban heat island, increasing biodiversity and ecological value, insulating against environmental impact, outdoor and indoor comfort, social and psychological wellbeing and enhancement of air quality for city dwellers. This article discusses different systems of the green facade as a method of sustainable development.

scholarly journals Glass Curtain Wall Technology and Sustainability in Commercial Buildings in Auckland, New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-65
Author(s):  
Yi Wu ◽  
Claire Flemmer
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Commercial Buildings ◽  
Continuous Heating ◽  
Curtain Wall ◽  
Glass Curtain Wall

Glass curtain wall provides an attractive building envelope, but it is generally regarded as unsustainable because of the high energy needed to maintain thermal comfort. This research explores the advances in the technology of glass cladding and the complex issues associated with judging its sustainability. It assesses the technology and sustainability of glass curtain wall on a sample of thirty commercial buildings in Auckland, New Zealand. Field observations of the glass-clad buildings, coupled with surveys of the building occupants and of glass cladding professionals are used to investigate the cladding characteristics, operational performance, sustainability aspects and future trends. The majority of the sample buildings are low-rise office buildings. The occupants like the aesthetics and indoor environment quality of their glass-clad buildings. However, continuous heating, ventilation and air conditioning are needed in order to maintain thermal comfort within the buildings and this has high energy consumption. The increasing use of unitized systems with double glazing instead of stick-built systems with single glazing improves the sustainability of the cladding through less material wastage and better energy efficiency. Inclusion of photovoltaic modules in the curtain wall also improves energy efficiency but it is currently too expensive for use in New Zealand. Environmental sustainability is also improved when factors such as climate, the orientation of glazed façades, solar control, ventilation and the interior building layout are considered. Any assessment of glass curtain wall sustainability needs to consider the economic and social aspects as well as the environmental aspects such as energy use

Addition Strategy and Multi-Layered Envelopes in Building Adaptation: A Methodological Framework

2018 ◽  
Vol 1149 ◽  
pp. 98-108
Author(s):  
Camilla Guerritore ◽  
Salvatore Viscuso
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Behaviour ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Advanced Materials ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Building Adaptation ◽  
Innovative Materials

This article proposes an approach to rehabilitation processes based on adaptation, focusing on the re-use of existing, obsolete and redundant building stocks in alternative to strategies that rely on demolition followed by construction, which have high energetic and environmental impacts.The proposed approach also defines an intervention strategy that relies mainly on the transformation of the building envelope. In particular, the implications of “addition strategies” - that consist in the introduction along the whole façade or part of it of a new multidimensional envelope (from very low depths till around 250 cm) – will be evaluated from several viewpoints: qualitative, spatial/functional, structural, constructive, energetic, environmental.Within this approach, the adoption of lightweight innovative materials - ensuring hi-performance in terms of structural efforts and thermal behaviour - can play a significant role, maximizing the benefits of the refurbishment project, while at the same time it minimizes, when possible, the modifications to be carried out inside.The final objective of the article is to highlight how the crescent application of advanced materials in refurbishment projects can be a crucial resource for the sector of the transformation and building re-use.

scholarly journals Design of a Ventilation System Coupled with a Horizontal Air-Ground Heat Exchanger (HAGHE) for a Residential Building in a Warm Climate

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Baglivo ◽  
Delia D’Agostino ◽  
Paolo Maria Congedo
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Behaviour ◽  
Heat Exchangers ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Ventilation System ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Geothermal Systems ◽  
Warm Climate

Energy consumption in new buildings can be reduced at the design stage. This study optimizes the ventilation system design of a new residential building located in a warm climate (Southern Italy). Different system options of horizontal air-ground heat exchangers (HAGHEs), also called earth-to-air heat exchangers (EAHX), have been considered to search for the optimal configuration. The thermal behaviour of the obtained configurations has been modelled by the dynamic simulation software TRNSYS 17. The pipe numbers, the air flow rate, and the soil thermal conductivity are among the simulated building components. For each of them, different design options have been analysed to study how each parameter impacts the building thermal behaviour in winter and summer. The operative air temperature (TOP) has been evaluated inside the building prototype to investigate the indoor comfort. The paper demonstrates that HAGHEs permit to assure a suitable indoor climatization if the building envelope is optimized for a warm area. These conditions require high values of heat storage capacity to keep under control the internal temperature fluctuations, especially in summer. The paper confirms the importance of geothermal systems and design optimization to increase energy savings.

Vertical greening systems and the effect on air flow and temperature on the building envelope

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 2287-2294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katia Perini ◽  
Marc Ottelé ◽  
A.L.A. Fraaij ◽  
E.M. Haas ◽  
Rossana Raiteri
Keyword(s):  
Air Flow ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Vertical Greening

scholarly journals Design, feasibility, performance assessment and optimization of the technical and financial viability of potential renewable energy and energy efficiency projects

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Dan Nchelatebe Nkwetta
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Financial Viability ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Primary Power ◽  
Increasing Demand

Until recently, renewable energy technologies (RETs) have been confronted with a huge up-front cost due to technologies in development. However, massive and global deployment of renewable energy systems has led to significant cost reductions and performance improvements and the hope is to see increasing uptake of RETs by African countries. Cameroon a central African country is heavily reliant on hydropower, which contributes an estimated 60% to the country’s total installed 1,400MW capacity in 2015. In addition, there is constants power failure due to the non-reliability of the electric grid and load shedding to meet increasing demand and or to relieve stress on the primary energy source when demand for electricity is greater than the primary power source can supply. However, climate change poses additional huge risk (large reservoirs and dams drying up) and to meet the increasing demand, Cameroon is being forced to seek alternative power sources. In January 2014, Cameroon welcomed its first 72MW solar photovoltaic plant as well as the construction of a 500MW solar photovoltaic park in Q3 of 2015 in the northern region of Cameroon. It is common practice that energy efficiency and energy conservation lead to environmental sustainability. “Energy security starts with energy efficiency and the most sustainable energy option or system is energy conservation”. While it is common practice that energy efficiency and energy conservation lead to environmental sustainability, the building envelope also plays a key role in energy usage, energy conservation and thermal comfort for the building occupants. The rate of infiltration/leakage rate detect the rate of energy usage and cost of using energy. Having a tide and well-constructed building envelope is a key factor and helps reduce/reconcile buildings gas and electricity consumption. RETScreen Expert is the most current version of the RETScreen software and was released to the public on September 19, 2016. The software allows for the comprehensive identification, assessment and optimization of technical and financial viability of potential renewable energy and energy efficiency projects; as well as the measurement and verification of the actual performance of facilities and the identification of energy savings/production opportunities [1-3]. This paper will demonstrate how the software can be use in the design, feasibility, performance assessment and optimization of technical and financial viability of potential renewable energy and energy efficiency projects related to photovoltaic, solar thermal, building envelope and the replacement of non/less-efficient electrical equipment with more efficient and cost effective lamps like LEDs and the installation of smart power bars with automatic shut off function for TV screens, to take care of phantom power in large scale hotels. This approach will further reduce electricity usage and help diversified the sources of energy for a country like Cameroon, which is often subjected to constant power failure and load shedding to either relieve the stress on a primary energy source when demand for electricity is greater than the primary power source can supply or to meet power supply during the critical seasons.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document