Nearly Zero Energy Buildings

The bioclimatic architecture, started in the eighties, has had the historical merit of having raised public awareness and experts on the importance of making architecture, for the purpose of solving the problem of energy saving. Today, in light of the different energy strategies in force on an international and European scale, codified in EC Directive 31/2010 on nZEB (Torcellini P., 2006), emerges the need for a new approach to redevelopment that looks at the environmental and energy objectives with innovative technological solutions, aimed at optimizing the passive bioclimatic behavior of a building. In the world of architecture, from the beginning of the 90s to today, it has been possible to witness the appearance of structures able to adapt their form, shape, colour or character responsively (via actuators), reflecting the environmental conditions around them. These skills, which redescribe the architectural relationship with the space and the surrounding environment, fall within the scope of what is commonly called "Responsive Enviroment". In this new scenario we explore the possibilities offered by the latest technologies in support of traditional architecture. This article, in an attempt to interpret the culture of our time, aims to advance in the field of "Responsive Enviroment" through the creation of an "intelligent", dynamic and adaptive, architecture which redefines the common perception of the environment.

Since thermal bridges in buildings may result in excessive heat
loss, mold growth and deterioration of indoor air quality; to
eliminate thermal bridges becomes very crucial in buildings. In
this paper, the impacts of thermal bridges on energy demand
of an existing tunnel form work building are studied in which
Passive House Principles are applied. Balcony, basement wall,
roof, floor slab, interior wall and corner detail are evaluated
using Therm 6.3 Software for the thermal bridge calculations.
Since the results show that the fraction of the transmission
heat losses is highest in the balcony, balcony detail is studied
in more detail to show the impacts of improved detailing on
annual heating demand.
In the Passive House building, the impact of evaluated thermal
bridges, as the percentage of the total annual heating demand,
is 14%.The amount of heat losses through thermal bridges is
highest at the balcony, unheated basement wall and roof detail
respectively. Floor slabs and interior walls are the places
where most of the total fabric conduction heat losses occur
in the building. To insulate the balcony floor slab above and
below the slab can reduce the thermal bridge heat losses by
32%. To use a thermal break element can reduce the thermal
bridge heat losses by 84% and increase the minimum surface
temperature significantly ensuring a detail without the risk of
structural damage.

Özet: Enerji konusunda dışa bağlı ülkeler için enerjinin verimli kullanılması büyük önem kazanmaktadır. Dünyada, Kullanılan enerjinin önemli bir bölümü binalarda ısıtma ve soğutma amaçlı kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada Türkiye’de yalıtım konusunda yayınlanan bilimsel çalışmaların eğilimleri tespit edilmiştir. Ülke çapında kullanılan ve tavsiye edilen yalıtım malzemeleri sınıflandırılarak sunulmuştur. Ayrıca yeni yalıtım malzemeleri tanıtılmış ve mevcut malzemelerle kıyaslanmıştır. Makalede özellikle yerli çalışmalara yol göstermek amacıyla, yalıtım konusunda henüz ele alınmayan konular belirlenmiş ve binalarda enerji verimliliği kapsamında yalıtımla enerji verimliliği fırsatları değerlendirilmiştir.

Optimización multi-objetivo en el diseño paramétrico
Reducción del consumo de energía en calefacción y refrigeración en tipologías de vivienda agrupada.
Autor 01 Patricia Edith Camporeale
Filiación: Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Dirección: Calle 47 núm 162, (1900) La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina Correo: pcamporeale@fau.unlp.edu.ar
Autor 02 Pilar Mercader Moyano
Filiación: Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura. Universidad de Sevilla
Dirección: Av. de la Reina Mercedes 2, (41012) Sevilla, España 
Correo: pmm@us.es

Resumen
El trabajo aborda la problemática de la forma arquitectónica en sus etapas iniciales de diseño donde, debido a su falta de definición formal y material, resulta difícil realizar una simulación para conocer su nivel de eficiencia energética. Se aplica un método de cálculo cuasi-estacionario utilizado en la norma argentina IRAM 11900 de Etiquetado Energético de Edificios para el índice de consumo de energía primaria en calefacción y refrigeración junto con un indicador bioclimático que evalúa el potencial de generación de energía solar fotovoltaica en cubiertas y fachadas Norte. Luego de una investigación bibliográfica, se comprueba el escaso número de trabajos que se enfocan en el estudio de las formas arquitectónicas generativas desde una perspectiva del consumo energético. En consecuencia, se propone un flujo de trabajo parametrizando los datos de entrada: climáticos, materiales, normativos y formales, de las tipologías más frecuentes del tejido urbano de las ciudades argentinas: torre, edificio en altura y bloque lineal destinados a vivienda. El edificio se sitúa en un terreno urbano del Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires. La optimización multi-objetivo permite que las morfologías iteren desde una torre exenta a un edificio compuesto por dos bloques y un edificio en altura que las articula. Los resultados muestran las opciones formales que mejor responden a la reducción del consumo de energía primaria. Esta metodologia constituye una herramienta idónea para su uso en la etapa de diseño conceptual sea para una obra nueva como para una rehabilitación energética, donde suelen emplearse modelos de caja negra, como el diseño arquitectónico.
Palabras claves: optimización multi-objetivo, diseño paramétrico, metodo holístico, eficiencia energética en calefacción y refrigeración

This article covers the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) definition of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs). Improving the building efficiency to reduce the energy consumption achieving the cost-optimal was the major objective in this paper. This paper presents the common insulation material utilization during the operation process, besides the physical properties of materials. On the other hand, was compared the cost-effectiveness and the safety conditions of the material. Finally, this paper reviews the various software modelling and simulation tools to choose the easy interface comprehensive for design, analysis, and calculation of the energy required to preserve building performance criteria based on the inputs of building properties as well as the mechanical and dynamic systems.

Since the 1980s, the bioclimatic architecture has had the historical merit of having raised public and experts’ awareness on the importance of designing buildings with the purpose of solving the problem of energy saving. Nowadays, in the light of the most recent energy strategies policies, in force on an international and European scale, codified in EC Directive 31/2010 concerning the implementation of the Nearly Zer-Energy Buildings (NZEB), (Deru et al. 2006), the need for a new approach to redevelopment that focuses on environmental, climate and energy objectives with innovative technological solutions emerges, aimed at optimizing the passive bioclimatic behaviour of a building. In the world of architecture, from the beginning of the 1990s to today, it has been possible to witness the appearance of structures able to adapt their form, shape, colour or character responsively (via actuators), reflecting the environmental conditions around them. These skills, which redescribe the architectural relationship with the space and the surrounding environment, fall within the scope of what is commonly called “Responsive Environment”. In this new scenario, we explore the possibilities offered by the latest technologies in support of traditional architecture. This article, in an attempt to interpret the culture of our time, aims to advance in the field of “Responsive Environment” through the creation of an “intelligent”, dynamic and adaptive architecture which redefines the common perception of the environment.

Almost a century ago Modernism challenged the structure of the city and reshaped its physical space in order to, amongst other things, accommodate new transportation infrastructure and road networks proclaiming the, nowadays much-debated ‘scientificated’ pursuit of efficiency for the city. This transformation has had a great impact on the way humans still design, move in, occupy and experience the city. Today major cities in Europe, such as Paris and London, are considering banning vehicles from their historic centers. In parallel, significant effort is currently underway internationally by designers, architects, and engineers to integrate innovative technologies and sophisticated solutions for energy production, management, and storage, as well as for efficient energy consumption, into the architecture of buildings. In general, this effort seeks for new technologies and design methods (e.g., DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus simulation engine; Rhicoceros3D with Grasshopper plugin and E...

Almost a century ago Modernism challenged the structure of the city and reshaped its physical space in order to, amongst other things, accommodate new transportation infrastructure and road networks proclaiming the, nowadays much-debated ‘scientificated’ pursuit of efficiency for the city. This transformation has had a great impact on the way humans still design, move in, occupy and experience the city. Today major cities in Europe, such as Paris and London, are considering banning vehicles from their historic centers. In parallel, significant effort is currently underway internationally by designers, architects, and engineers to integrate innovative technologies and sophisticated solutions for energy production, management, and storage, as well as for efficient energy consumption, into the architecture of buildings. In general, this effort seeks for new technologies and design methods (e.g., DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus simulation engine; Rhicoceros3D with Grasshopper plugin and E...

This research analyses the reduction of primary energy consumption (PE) 1 of slab and high-rise housing typologies through the optimization of their building shapes. The process considered applies passive strategies at the concept stage of the architectural design. A quasi-steady state method provides an estimation of building PE consumption in heating and cooling. Then, a multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (GA) 2 optimizes the building shapes with three competitive objective functions: minimization of PE consumption per m 2 (PEI), and maximization of passive volume ratio (PVR) 3 , and the sum of roofs and best oriented surfaces (RBOS) 4. The performance-driven design workflow shows the Pareto front solutions that reflect the influence of passive strategies on the building shapes. A performance simulation of the single tower with Energy Plus permits to evaluate the quasi-state method sensibility. Finally, a multivariate linear regression evaluates the interdependence among the optimized parameters. The methodology is tested in four cities with temperate climate: Resistencia and Buenos Aires in Argentina, and Seville and Madrid in Spain. It is suitable for the early stages of design since it allows designers to relate architectural morphologies with environmental issues to reduce energy consumption and GreenHouse Gassesémissions within the current Climate Change scenario.

Nearly-Zero Energy Building features have great impact on the overheating of residential premises under various urban conditions in which the building meets the applicable insolation criteria in Estonia. Different building regulations require measures that often conflict with each other. The features necessary for the energy consumption required for nearly-Zero Energy Buildings, the distance required for the buildings to guarantee the minimum insolation hours, and the maximum quantity of degree-hour in the mandatory period are characteristics that need to be carefully integrated; otherwise, the achievement of one or two could prevent the possibility of satisfying the others. Have been studied variations of internal temperatures in a residential premises located in Tallinn, Estonia, with different orientations and neighboring building distances, on different floors and in the different configurations of windows closed, with windows opened and with shadings. The outcomes show that a nearly-Zero Energy Building, when located at a distance from the surrounding buildings that fulfills the insolation criteria, dramatically exceeds the maximum number of degree-hours. This would lead to the need for additional energy in order to cool the residential premises, so to compromise the fulfilling of nearly-Zero Energy Building's consumption target, or to the use of passive strategies. The use of natural ventilation, in addition to mechanical ventilation, or operable external shadings, decrease significantly the variations of interior temperature and maximum degree-hour , that in most part of the cases fulfill the requirements. Therefore in nearly-Zero Energy Buildings passive strategies are mandatory also in Northern latitudes and the different requirements for daylight standard, indoor temperature and energy consumption must be carefully integrated in order to yield a design that could fulfill them.

In Europe, buildings consume around 40% of total energy and produce 36% of CO2 emissions, the significant potential of cost-optimal energy savings could conceivably save new buildings around 80% of standard operational costs (Pikas, Thalfeldt, & Kurnitski, 2014). To tackle this issue, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) introduced the mandatory policy for Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEB), that requires all new buildings to exhibit high energy performance, zero to very low energy consumption, and that energy be only sourced from renewables produced on-site or nearby. The EPBD's nZEB directive aims to improve the energy performance of all buildings by December 31, 2020, and requires that all new buildings constructed within the European Union to demonstrate nearly zero-energy levels. The directive defines cost-optimality for nZEB buildings as " the cost-optimal balance between the investments involved and the energy costs saved throughout the lifecycle of the building " (European Parliament, 2010). Specifically, nZEB buildings are expected to require 2-3 times less energy compared to current modern buildings, the buildings are anticipated to be easy to operate and maintain, provide strong energy savings, and ameliorate the indoor environment quality associated with improving the health, comfort and productivity of occupants (Kurnitski, Cost Optimal and Nearly ZeroEnergy Buildings (nZEB), 2013).