Prefabricated Timber Frame Façade with Integrated Active Components for Minimal Invasive Renovations

AbstractThe objective of the EU-funded project iNSPiRe is to tackle the problem of high-energy consumption by producing systemic renovation packages that can be applied to residential and tertiary buildings. The renovation packages aim to reduce the primary energy consumption of a building to lower than 50 kWh/(m2 a) for ventilation, heating/cooling, domestic hot water and lighting. The packages need to be suitable for a various climates in Europe while ensuring optimum comfort for the building users. One major aspect of iNSPiRe is the development of multifunctional renovation kits that make use of innovative envelope technologies, energy generation (including RES integration) and energy distribution systems. The technologies and renovation approaches developed by the iNSPiRe project will be installed and tested in three demo buildings. In this work the development, testing and modelling of a timber frame façade with integrated mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) and a micro- heat pump (μ-HP) is presented. Three functional models were built for testing in so-called PASSYS test cells for the assessment of the thermal performance and for testing in the acoustic test rig at UIBK. Experimental results are used to validate a physical heat pump and MVHR model. The μ-HP with MVHR is a cost-effective and compact solution for ventilation and heating/cooling for buildings with high standard such as PH or EnerPHit. The integration of active components such as the MVHR and μ-HP in a prefabricated façade enables minimized space use and reducing installation time and effort

Enriching Building Information Modeling Models through Information Delivery Specification

The efficient acquisition and dissemination of information are crucial in building information modeling (BIM). Current BIM models face significant challenges, including inadequate modeling techniques, poorly defined information requirements, and low interoperability. These issues result in poor information quality and complicate the transition from information acquisition to model processing. Public authorities often provide documentation in various formats, requiring manual transfer to software, which is error-prone and burdensome. This process is particularly difficult for small and medium enterprises lacking resources and knowledge. To address these issues, the IDS (Information Delivery Specification) Collab Tool is under development. This tool aims to automate the import of requirements into authoring software, perform automated compliance checks, and enhance interoperability among stakeholders. It will assist designers in providing accurate information according to requirements through the IDS standard, improving model quality and efficiency from early design stages. Adapting BIM models to specific project requirements and aligning new IDS capabilities with traditional industry practices remain significant challenges. Preliminary evaluations indicate the tool’s potential to significantly improve workflow efficiency and compliance in BIM modeling. However, broader awareness and adoption of the IDS standard are needed. Further research and refinement are essential to fully realize the benefits of digital tools in revolutionizing design and construction practices

Compact ventilation and heat pump with recirculation air for renovation of small apartments

A new compact and cost effective heating and ventilation concept for decentral renovation of small flats in multifamily houses was developed and investigated in the framework of the Austrian project “SaLüH!” through a dynamic building and HVAC simulation study based on results of laboratory measurements of functional models. The system consists of a façade integrated supply air/exhaust air heat pump equipped with a desuperheater allowing to increase the heating power and to add more freedom to control the system. The simulation results show that such a system is able to improve the thermal comfort of the flat (compared to the standard heating concept without desuperheater) with good indoor air quality and satisfying energy performance. The proposed system - because of its versatility and compactness - represents an ideal solution for decentral renovation of flats in multi-family houses, especially in case of limited space inside the flat and if central solutions are not possible for technical, economic or social reasons

Steady state and transient simulation of a radiant heating system

Radiant heating generally addresses all heat emission systems that have a share of radiant heat emission greater than 50 %, compared to a convector or fan coil where the heat is transferred mainly by means of convection. Recently, so-called infrared-heating systems are increasingly discussed as a cost-effective heating system. Relative small areas with high surface temperatures of typically up to 120 \ub0C are used. In order to investigate in detail radiant heating systems, building models able to reproduce accurately the occurring physics phenomena are required. Physics-detailed steady state and transient room models have been developed in Matlab\uae. The required view factors for the radiative exchange between all surfaces and between each surface and a sphere representing a person are calculated using COMSOL\uae. Moreover, the thermal comfort in different positions of the room has been evaluated. 1. Introduction The implementation of the concept of NZEB (Kurnitski et al. (2013) will lead to a further reduction of the heating demand of new buildings. Also the heating demand of the building stock will decrease by applying deep renovation. The technology to achieve very low energy demands is available since about 25 years, when the first Passive House was built in Darmstadt, Germany Feist (2016). Technology and products have been further improved since then and cost-effectiveness has been significantly improved. However, in order to improve the economic feasibility of these very efficient buildings, cost-effective heating systems are required. In parallel the share of renewable energies (such as PV or wind) in the electric grid will further increase. Both these developments make electric heating interesting again in spite of the fact that, because of thermodynamic principles, electricity should not be used for heating

Sustainable manufacturing through application of reconfigurable and intelligent systems in production processes: a system perspective

Abstract Sustainable production aims at creating products from processes that minimize environmental impact, energy consumption and natural resources. Customers and markets are ever more leaning towards digital, custom, and flexible solutions with lower environmental impact. Hence, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) solutions are increasingly including social and environmental sustainability aspects. We focus on the realization of an infrastructure integrating industrially relevant application modules by combining system reconfigurability and artificial intelligence, towards sustainable production. To meet the final goal of sustainable production, we address four challenges considering flexibility and sustainability in production in a holistic way: (1) developing infrastructural and methodological tools to support companies to explore the potential of I4.0 towards sustainable production; (2) managing the configurability and customization possibilities of products; (3) effectively handling the flexibility provided by a production system with rapid reconfiguration capabilities; (4) integrating hardware and software flexibility by using reconfigurable robotics and machine learning methods. By developing and connecting different application modules, we obtain a physical demonstrator which represents on the one hand an exemplary scenario of reconfigurable and flexible production system; on the other, it enables new research activities and insights with a see, touch & feel approach for industrial and research realities