Impact of Climbing Plants on Buildings and Their Environment

In this chapter, the impact of climbing plants on facades of buildings and their surroundings is presented. Benefits and risks of plant growth on the walls are discussed with respect to their durability. Economic benefits from the presence of vines are shown including energy savings for home heating and cooling. Additionally, the phytoremediation (cleaning up the environment by plants) properties of vines are describe. It should be stated that climbing plants can contribute to damage only in places where facades are damaged, plaster cracked, or where plants are incorrectly planted.

Improving the Design of Energy-Efficient Building Retrofitting

Practical guidelines are presented for improved process for design and retrofitting of energy-efficient buildings, with an aim to integrate buildings better with the neighbourhood energy system, among others through energy matching. The chapter describes the role of energy simulations in an integrated building retrofitting process and how to select technologies for the retrofitting toward nearly zero energy building level. Feasibility of performing a holistic analysis of retrofitting options can be increased through the integration of BIM, well populated, and linked databases and a multi-criteria decision-making approach. Multiple-criteria decision-making methods aid taking into account a number of building energy performance and user-preference-related criteria and the trade-offs between the different criteria for each retrofitting option. The real-life viewpoints and benefits of utilising the developed methods and processes are discussed, especially from the Eastern European view.

Selection of Renewable Energy Sources for Buildings

This chapter describes a general issue of selecting renewable energy sources (RES) and technical systems. To achieve the nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) standard, application of an RES (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass energy) is necessary. Each type of RES has specific characteristics and can be used to produce electricity and/or heat in certain systems. A short review of various systems using renewable energy sources is presented. To find the required and satisfactory solution that guaranties meeting the nZEB standard, an analysis must be carried out considering a number of aspects: local availability, structure and time-dependence of energy demand, building construction, economic conditions, legal regulations, and specific requirements. Finally, two examples of modernisation towards the nZEB standard are included.

Existing Buildings

This chapter is dedicated to the modernisation process of existing buildings aiming to achieve the nearly zero-energy standard. The process is described from the designer's perspective. Related issues, requirements, constraints, design options, and local determinants are analysed, and optimal architectural solutions for selected case studies are also presented. The analysis is based on the KodnZeb project, which included the modernisation of two existing buildings, located in Warsaw (the Faculty of Building Services, Hydro- and Environmental Engineering and Student Housing Muszelka), which differ in architectural features function, location, and needs. Thus, two diverse approaches to the modernisation process are examined. The chapter concludes with general guidelines and recommendations for similar architectural projects.

Improving the Energy Quality and Indoor Environmental Quality in Retrofit Buildings

Energy requirements are variously specified in different countries. In many cases, different technology is applied. For this reason, improving the energy quality and indoor environmental quality in retrofit buildings requires a detailed study case. Modification of the building structure and technical systems is not sufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to change the behavior of inhabitants and create uniform zones in terms of usage. Preparation of the modernization of building requires elaboration of a detailed concept. Taking all aspects into account is not easy; that is why, in modernized buildings, the design phase often requires more work, time, and nonstandard solutions.

Single-Family Residential Building Energy Retrofit

This chapter is a case study for the energy retrofit of an existing single-family residential building. The main assumption of the project was creating a model example for an energy retrofit with the aim of achieving the nZEB standard in existing residential building. The discussed building was built between the 1960s and the 1970s. The building was built using mixed technologies. The flooring on the ground floor was replaced; the foundation, external walls, and roof were thermally insulated. The windows and doors were replaced with higher parameter ones. Moreover, a modern biomass boiler was installed in the building along with the installation of a mechanical bidirectional ventilation unit with a heat recovery. Before the renovation, the building used about 133.4 GJ final energy for heating annually. After the renovation, the building uses about 8.89 GJ annually. The author describes all the stages of the renovation, the technical solutions, the calculations of economic and environmental benefits of the conducted renovations.

The Concept of Expert System Supporting the Increase of Energy Efficiency in Buildings

This chapter describes the concept of an expert system supporting improvements in a building's energy efficiency. An expert system is a computer program or group of programs that facilitates using knowledge and decision making. The main elements of an expert system are the knowledgebase and a conclusion system. The knowledgebase collects information about a particular area, which was beforehand written in using particular rules. The conclusion system uses the knowledgebase and user input facts to generate conclusions or prove the user's hypothesis. The proposed expert system contains information on building technology, modernization and installation activities, and the values for financial, environmental, and technical indicators characterising these technologies. The user of an expert system defines the problem to be solved using questions. Using the knowledgebase, the system will present the optimal solution or information that the technologies in the existing knowledgebase will be applicable in the case defined by the user.

Selection of Design Methods in the Modernization Process of Buildings to the nZEB Standard

Typical methods of improving energy efficiency of buildings to the nZEB standard, such as better external envelope insulation, using better windows, or introducing a proper ventilation system, may prove inadequate. Often, it is necessary to apply unconventional systems and renewable energy sources. Each case has to be analyzed considering the location, building technology, usage of the building, and even conservation officer's requirements. To verify the effectiveness of standard activities in various climates, the following locations in Europe were chosen: Athens, Stockholm, and Warsaw. For evaluation, two methods were applied: the monthly balance method and the simplified hourly method 5R1C.

The Impact of Forms of Buildings on the Air Exchange in Their Environment

Possibilities for energy-efficient, natural ventilation of buildings in an urban environment depend on the airflow around them. This chapter deals with the issue of dependence of air exchange in urban spaces on the building forms used in them and on relative position of these buildings. The authors focus on the problem of air stagnation in dense urban development. This phenomenon increases the energy demand of buildings. The purpose of the following study is to present this problem and identify it in the selected example of existing settlements in Warsaw. The existing situation was compared with the revised spatial layout. The conclusions relate to spatial features of those building arrangements that are exposed to the problem of insufficient ventilation.

Chosen Case Studies of nZEB Retrofit Buildings

The reasons why the buildings are named intelligent and the cities are called smart arise from the requirement to achieve effective use of natural resources while maintaining at least current standard of living when faced with global climatic changes and growing scarcity of resources. Now, energy efficient and environmentally friendly urban solutions tend to concentrate on the possibilities of upgrade of already existing buildings that form the majority of the contemporary urbanized landscape. Due to the increasing human population, our world is undergoing rapid urban development. This state overlaps with climate changes and growing scarcity of resources, which has a high impact on the ongoing transformation of our built environment. Many of those issues are mirrored by European legislation, especially in Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which makes nearly zero-energy buildings a standard by 2020. Many of the technologies are already available. nZEB renovation process will be a challenge for parties involved in the design and construction process.