Proposal for a modified cost-optimal approach by introducing benefits evaluation

The recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive introduced the concept of nearly-zero energy building and encouraged setting the nearly-zero energy target with a view to cost-optimal level - the energy performance that leads to the lowest cost during the building estimated economic lifecycle. To searching this regard, the cost-optimal methodology based on the global cost was defined providing a tool to assess different nearly-zero energy scenarios. Nowadays, the cost-optimal analysis is used as a decision-making tool between different energy design alternatives mostly on a theoretical level; but it has spread little among the professional field. The aim of this paper is to give a more holistic and all-comprehensive approach to the cost-optimal methodology. This paper proposes and applies a modified approach of the cost-optimal evaluation, which will lead to the achievement of more interesting results for all the actors involved, including investors and final users. This study highlights the usefulness of including not only costs but also benefits that can derive from each energy design scenario. Choosing different energy efficiency solutions, the related benefits evaluation could turn the tables. Different kinds of benefits could be considered as the increase of the real estate market value, the enhancement of the indoor comfort, the reduction of CO2 emissions and others. Thus, a proposal of how quantifying these qualitative benefits in monetary terms is shown to introduce them in the global cost formula. Actually, benefits conversion into monetary values is the most challenging issue. Precisely, this paper shows a list of benefits that can affect the choice of different envelope and HVAC system solutions, pointing out their influence on the global cost evaluation. Certainly, introducing benefits in the global cost formula means using a more holistic and complete approach, while the already complex degree of the cost-optimal methodology – due to the numerous input data –increases. To validate the reviewed global cost formula, it will be necessary to apply it to various case studies

Occupants’ perception of historical buildings’ indoor environment. Two case studies

In Europe, some historical cities have more than 50% of buildings dated from before 1920. Nowadays, these buildings faces challenges when adapted to the current necessities of livability, environmental and economical sustainability. Literature demonstrates that occupants’ comfort perception and consequent behavior affect buildings’ energy efficiency and are influenced also by the building configuration. Despite a large number of studies in literature investigating occupants’ behavior and comfort in different situations, there is a lack of such studies for historical buildings. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to characterize occupants’ thermal and comfort perception in two historical buildings during summer season. In these terms, results of objective measures were compared to occupants’ evaluations of the indoor environment. Results showed that, for both case studies, despite the good thermal performances of the building fabrics and the fact that almost all of the occupants like to work in a historical building (they would also choose it instead of a modern one), most of them didn’t rate the building as comfortable from a thermal point of view

Energy Conservation In Historical Buildings. A Methodology Focused On Building Operation And Users’ Engagement

Worldwide, the building sector accounts for 40% of total energy consumption. In Europe, where more than 14% of buildings dates from before 1920, reaching over 50% in some cities, historical buildings are fundamental to reach the current ambitious emissions’ reduction targets. Today, the energy retrofit of historical buildings is relevant not only from an environmental and economic point of view; it is also necessary to adapt these buildings to the current liveability standards, provide adequate indoor environmental conditions for artworks preservation and maintain the buildings as living evidences of the past. So far, architectural heritage preservation and energy efficiency have often been seen as mutual exclusive purposes, probably because the majority of actions usually proposed to enhance energy performances of buildings require interventions on the architectural fabric and surfaces, undermining the building’s historic evidence. Instead, energy efficiency in historical buildings should be pursued adopting actions with the lowest impact possible on the building fabric. This paper presents a methodology investigating the potentialities energy performances’ enhancement by acting only on building use and operation, so that the fabric can be maintained as much as possible as the original evidence. Besides the methodology’s theoretical phases, the article describes its application on a real case study in Italy

Practical differences in operating buildings across countries and climate zones: Perspectives of building managers/operators

Occupant-centric building design and operation has attracted recent research efforts in many countries, as building occupants are being more recognized as the main drivers in planning and operating safe, comfortable, energy-efficient indoor environments. In this matter, the role of building managers and operators is crucial to capture the needs of occupants and to adapt the response of the building accordingly. IEA EBC Annex 79 participants conducted 72 interviews with operators and facility managers across 7 countries (Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Singapore, and USA) covering a wide range of ASHRAE 169 climate zones (from 0 to 5 in the climate classification). This paper presents a qualitative cross-case analysis of operators’ perspectives and experiences to identify regional differences. Therefore, the analyses are based on the hypotheses that climate or other country-related aspects would be the main drivers of building operation procedures differences. Results show climatic differences have little influence on building management, while occupants’ complaints are very influenced by them. Moreover, operators are lacking clear tools, like guidelines and standards, on how to optimize building management in a climatic-adaptive and occupant-centric manner. Therefore, the development of operation protocols for building sustainable operation respecting climatic context and occupants’ control is recommended

A review of select human-building interfaces and their relationship to human behavior, energy use and occupant comfort

In recent years, research has emerged to quantitatively and qualitatively understand occupants' interactions with buildings. However, there has been surprisingly little research on building interfaces and how their design, context (e.g., location), and underlying logic impact their usability and occupants’ perceived control, as well as the resulting comfort and energy performance. Research is needed to better understand how occupants interact with building interfaces in both commercial and residential applications; both applications are important to address as there are many differences in interface types, level of control and understanding, and even expectations of engagement. This paper provides a cursory review and discussion of select common building interfaces: windows, window shades/blinds, thermostats, and lighting controls. The goal of this paper is to review literature related to these human-building interfaces to explore interface characteristics, current design and use challenges, and relationships between building interfaces and occupants. Human-building interface interactions are complex, more research is needed to understand design, use, and characteristics. Common themes emerged throughout the literature review to explain occupant interactions (or lack of interactions) with building interfaces, which included thermal and visual comfort, ease and access of control, interface/control placement, poor interface/control design, lack of understanding, and social-behavioral dynamics

Quality criteria for multi-domain studies in the indoor environment: Critical review towards research guidelines and recommendations

10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109719Building and Environment226109719-10971

Quality criteria for multi-domain studies in the indoor environment: Critical review towards research guidelines and recommendations

The perception, physiology, behavior, and performance of building occupants are influenced by multi-domain exposures: the simultaneous presence of multiple environmental stimuli, i.e., visual, thermal, acoustic, and air quality. Despite being extensive, the literature on multi-domain exposures presents heterogeneous methodological approaches and inconsistent study reporting, which hinder direct comparison between studies and metaanalyses. Therefore, in addition to carrying out more multi-domain studies, such investigations need to be designed, conducted, and documented in a systematic and transparent way. With the goal to facilitate and support future multi-domain studies and their meta-analyses, this work provides (1) a range of criteria for multidomain study design and reporting (i.e., defined as quality criteria), and (2) a critical review of the multi-domain literature based on the described criteria, which can serve as guidelines and recommendations for future studies on the topic. The identified quality criteria encompass study set-up, study deployment and analysis, and study outcome, stressing the importance of adopting a consistent terminology and result reporting style. The developed critical review highlights several shortcomings in the design, deployment, and documentation of multi-domain studies, emphasizing the need for quality improvements of future multi-domain research. The ultimate goal of this work is to consolidate our knowledge on multi-domain exposures for its integration into regulatory resources and guidelines, which are currently dominated by single-domain knowledge