Impact of Climate Change: Environmental Assessment of Passive Solutions in a Single-Family Home in Southern Spain

According to the IPCC Climate Change projections by 2050 temperatures in southern Spain will have increased noticeably during the summer. Housing—in its current form—will not be able to provide a suitable response to this new climate scenario, and will in turn prompt an increase in cooling energy consumption and a series of problems relating to health and comfort. The Design Builder simulation tool was used to quantify the impact of this future climate scenario on energy demand, as well as its effect under free-running conditions on indoor temperature. Different passive conditioning strategies were evaluated to establish their influence on the indoor comfort conditions. The case study examined a theoretical single-family residential unit model in order to establish guidelines for the pre-selection of the most suitable passive solutions. The results show that passive conditioning strategies analysed (envelope treatment, solar gain protection and night-time natural ventilation) reduce energy demand and indoor temperatures, thus increasing energy efficiency and improving indoor comfort conditions. Therefore, these passive conditioning strategies reduce the cooling energy consumption.Spanish government BIA2014–53949-R BIA2017-86383-

Development of Dutch occupancy and heating profiles for building simulation

Building simulations are often used to predict energy demand and to determine the financial feasibility of the low-carbon projects. However, recent research has documented large differences between actual and predicted energy consumption. In retrofit projects, this difference creates uncertainty about the payback periods and, as a consequence, owners are reluctant to invest in energy-efficient technologies. The differences between the actual and the expected energy consumption are caused by inexact input data on the thermal properties of the building envelope and by the use of standard occupancy data. Integrating occupancy patterns of diversity and variability in behaviour into building simulation can potentially foresee and account for the impact of behaviour in building performance. The presented research develops and applies occupancy heating profiles for building simulation tools in order create more accurate predictions of energy demand and energy performance. Statistical analyses were used to define the relationship between seven most common household types and occupancy patterns in the Netherlands. The developed household profiles aim at providing energy modellers with reliable, detailed and ready-to-use occupancy data for building simulation. This household-specific occupancy information can be used in projects that are highly sensitive to the uncertainty related to return of investments

Building monitoring to determine occupancy patterns in renovation projects

This paper proposes an approach to monitor buildings that will undergo a renovation process. The objective is to inform the design process regarding energy and indoor conditions requirements of different households for building simulation and energy calculations. This approach is intended to be part of a renovation strategy in the Netherlands. The results on a pilot study showed that the case studies have different occupancy patterns and comfort preferences. A comparison between the households showed that the activity level of the residents as well as the employment condition and household composition can have an effect on comfort and heating patterns

Renovation of social housing in the Netherlands:user research approach

Large differences between the expected and actual energy consumption have been found in energy efficient dwellings. Research has shown that these differences are partially caused by occupant behaviour. The financing and payback periods of low carbon technologies are often uncertain because of the impact of the occupant on building performance. This translates into a reluctance to invest in far-reaching renovation projects. The goal of the 2ndSkin project is the renovation of social rental multi-family housing in the Netherlands by providing a solution for zero energy renovation that reduces the occupancy effects on building performance. This investigation focuses on the identification of target occupants and their characteristics and requirements to inform design decisions, and the energy calculation process. This paper presents the user research approach developed for the 2ndSkin renovation process, which consists of statistical analysis of Dutch households, a monitoring campaign in the area of study and requirements elicitation. The results highlight the effect of different household types on energy consumption and occupant requirements, and point at the importance of taking into account household typology and socioeconomic characteristics in energy calculations or building simulations and occupant requirements in the design process

2NdSKin:a business opportunity driven zero-energy apartment refurbishment approach in the Netherlands

The post-war apartments in the Netherlands account for 1/3 of the residential stock. To increase the renovation rate, the product-/service propositions have to change radically. This paper presents the 2ndSkin refurbishment concept – a business opportunity driven research and development projects – that results in zero energy use of dwellings, while minimising construction time and maximizing occupants’ acceptance. The project is developing a scalable approach, relying on prefabrication and industrialization, benefitting from economies of scale to drop cost. This is a shift from the traditional, project-based working culture of the construction industry. Furthermore, the paper proposes a business model for similar refurbishment approaches. The model aims at reversing the traditional decision-making process, to facilitate the zero-energy refurbishment introduction to the market

Comparing sustainable renovation processes on tentant participation to foster urban area transitions

In urban transitions, one issue is the improvement of building stock energy\u3cbr/\u3eperformance. The current reasoning is often that the promise of increased\u3cbr/\u3ecomfort and health is attractive to residents. However, this does not always\u3cbr/\u3eresult in acceptance and long-term energy reduction. We draw lessons from\u3cbr/\u3ecase studies of renovation projects. It turns out that hardly any neighbourhood is suitable from scratch. Key findings are: an observed innovation-focused process optimized resident participation but risks excluding them from shaping their future. Conversely, an observed resident-led process did not achieve its initial goal due to process barriers, but developed locally based, transferable, organisational learning

A zero-energy refurbishment solution for residential apartment buildings by applying an integrated, prefabricated façade module

The ambition to renovate the postwar building stock to an energy-neutral quality is getting a lot of attention in social housing association and other institutional owners, financial institutions and users. An effective renovation plan has to be long-term, target the deep transformation of the existing building stock, and to significantly improve its actual energy performance towards nearly zero energy levels. Even though the need for refurbishment is urgent, the rate of renovation and the resulting energy savings are relatively low. To address these issues, the paper presents a prefabricated and integrated façade module that gives the possibility to improve the current energy performance up to zero energy, while ensuring minimum disturbance for the occupants, during and after the renovation. Given that the design and installation take this constrain into consideration, it is possible to reach zero energy by adding more efficient installations and energy generation, as well as taking possible behavioral changes into account. Moreover, the paper evaluates such a zero-energy refurbishment in terms of financial feasibility. The proposed approach results in a feasible solution, which achieves high energy savings and addresses the complex issue of integrated refurbishment

Considering user profiles and occupants’ behaviour on a zero energy renovation strategy for multi-family housing in the Netherlands

A number of facade solutions have been developed in recent years to solve the problem of large-scale renovation of housing. In the Netherlands, housing associations have the ambition to achieve an energy-neutral renovation approach, and so, some aim at energy neutrality. However, few address the complexity of multi-family rental dwellings and more importantly, the importance of user behaviour in the actual performance of the buildings. In current approaches, the zero energy target is sought for an average household. In this paper we present an approach to zero energy renovation in which the influence of occupants’ behaviour in building performance is taken into account to eliminate the uncertainties related to energy savings. The results are used to inform the design process regarding the amount of energy production required to reach zero energy performance, and the feasibility of the on-site energy production only with photovoltaic panels. The research showed large statistically significant differences on energy consumption between the different household types, which could contribute to pre-bound effects if these differences are not considered when calculating energy savings and return of investments. When considering scenarios based on behaviour after renovation, the difference between the lowest and the highest heating demand is reduced to 34%