Energy-efficient Building in Greenland: Investigation of the Energy Consumption and Indoor Climate

AbstractRecently, a brand new single family home was built in Sisimiut, Greenland. The building was constructed as a wooden house typical for Greenland. However, some non-traditional measures were implemented in order to reduce the energy consumption and improve indoor air quality. Assessment of the influence of these measures is essential for their implementation on a wider scale. In particular, functionality of the state of the art ventilation system is of large concern as these systems have not been commonly used for their sensitivity towards the extremely cold climate. A detailed monitoring system was installed in the house. It enables the evaluation of the indoor air quality, as well as building's energy performance.The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the performance of the newly constructed house by and compare it with the performance of identical house built in a traditional way by using a computer model. The data obtained from the measurements in the new house were used to verify the model. Significant energy savings and improvements of indoor air quality were found in the new house when compared to the traditional one. Moreover, all the extra measures have a feasible payback time despite high prices of labor and transportation to Greenland

Current building strategies in Greenland

Most buildings in Greenland are built within the last 70 years. Within this relatively short period, the building styles have often changed; from small wooden houses in the 50ties to also encompass more industrialised buildings in the 70ties, and later more diverse technics. This paper describes the major tendencies in building construction of today. Apart from an extreme climate, one of the challenges in Greenland is the lack of building materials; almost everything has to be imported. Greenland is an island-operated community, with no interlinking road grid between towns and settlements. Therefore, everything must be transported by ship or plane. Furthermore, severe mould growth is a big problem. Consequently, three building strategies are currently prevailing. 1) In-situ concrete gables and partitioning walls, and facades with wooden studs. 2) Focus on non-organic material and therefore concrete structures with exterior insulation. 3) Strategies focussing on the process e.g. mainly using prefabricated elements. The paper describes the pro and cons for the different strategies seen in a Greenlandic context. The harsh climate makes Greenland a good test site for assessing new building designs. Furthermore, assessment of sustainability might be very different in Greenland from countries where resources and transportation is very different