Modelling of double ventilated facades according to CEN Standard 13790 method and detailed simulation

The European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) encourages the use of technologies in buildings that can potentially improve their energy performance. Double ventilated façades can often have a positive contribution to this objective and their effect has to be quantified during the calculation of the overall energy performance of the buildings. The updated EN ISO 13790 Standard is part of the new set of CEN Standards that have to be delivered to support the EPBD requirement for a general framework for the methodology of calculation of the total energy performance of buildings. It contains a method to calculate the contribution of the double ventilated façades to the annual heating and cooling requirements of buildings. At the same time (validated) detailed simulation tools, which are also allowed in this Standard, offer an alternative way to quantify the effect of the double ventilated façades on the buildings' energy performance. This paper examines a case study where the ESP-r simulation program and the method described in the Standard were used for a common building specification to investigate the impacts from a double ventilated façade on the energy performance of the building. It discusses the potential differences that might appear when a detailed simulation tool (ESP-r) is used with constrained (according to the Standard) inputs and also unconstrained inputs, compared to the outputs obtained from the method described in the Standard. Some parametric studies are included to show whether the same trends are obtained using both the method in the Standard and the detailed simulation approach

History and development of validation with the ESP-r simulation program

It is well recognised that validation of dynamic building simulation programs is a long-term complex task. There have been many large national and international efforts that have led to a well-established validation methodology comprising analytical, inter-program comparison and empirical validation elements, and a significant number of tests have been developed. As simulation usage increases, driven by such initiatives as the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, such tests are starting to be incorporated into national and international standards. Although many program developers have run many of the developed tests, there does not appear to have been a systematic attempt to incorporate such tests into routine operation of the simulation programs. This paper reports work undertaken to address this deficiency. The paper summarizes the tests that have been applied to the simulation program ESP-r. These tests have been developed within International Energy Agency Annexes, within CEN standards, within various large-scale national projects, and by the UK's Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. The structure used to encapsulate the tests allows developers to ensure that recent code modifications have not resulted in unforeseen impacts on program predictions, and allows users to check for themselves against benchmarks

Carbon and energy performance of housing : a model and toolset for policy development applied to a local authority housing stock

The area of strategy formulation for energy and carbon performance of housing is coming under increasing focus. A model has been developed based on simulation results aligned with knowledge of the housing stock which can be used to calculate energy, carbon and cost results from a reduced number of input parameters. The context of the model can be varied to reflect different climates and patterns of use. The model is embedded in a user friendly java tool which can be used to give results for a dwelling or the housing stock of an organisation, region or country. It is possible to investigate the effect of housing upgrade options, future building regulations, climates, patterns of use, renewable energy systems etc. and support formulation of future policy. In this paper the tool is briefly described and an example given showing its application to a local authority rented housing stock

Integrated comparative validation tests as an aid for building simulation tool users and developers

Published validation tests developed within major research projects have been an invaluable aid to program developers to check on their programs. This paper sets out how selected ASHRAE Standard 140-2004 and European CEN standards validation tests have been incorporated into the ESP-r simulation program so that they can be easily run by users and also discusses some of the issues associated with compliance checking. Embedding the tests within a simulation program allows program developers to check routinely whether updates to the simulation program have led to significant changes in predictions and to run sensitivity tests to check on the impact of alternative algorithms. Importantly, it also allows other users to undertake the tests to check that their installation is correct and to give them, and their clients, confidence in results. This paper also argues that validation tests should characterize some of the significant heat transfer processes (particularly internal surface convection) in greater detail in order to reduce the acceptance bands for program predictions. This approach is preferred to one in which validation tests are overly prescriptive (e.g., specifying fixed internal convection coefficients), as these do not reflect how programs are used in practice

Oral History Project/Mary Fitzsimmons

In this Interview it takes a look into the life of Mary Fitzsimmons and how she experienced World War 2 from her eyes

Transformation through learning: Education about, for, and as sustainability

The United Nations foregrounds education as a means to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (https://sdgs.un.org/goals). In this conceptual paper, we argue education must offer learning that is transformative to better prepare learners to respond to the current global challenges. We argue that the dominant educational approaches fall short of realizing learners' potential for transformation toward sustainability. Focusing on the region of Southeast Asia we draw on educator experiences working with and at the Green School (Indonesia) and United World College (Singapore) to map some of their educational successes and identify some of the key processes and conditions that have contributed to those successes. The potential that exists in the context of independent international schools maybe a relevant factor in their success. We see the lessons that can be learned from these examples as useful in other school contexts. We draw on three sequential pedagogical development phases of learning in engaging with sustainability: namely, Learning about Sustainability, Learning for Sustainability (LfS), and Learning as Sustainability. We argue that the third transformative learning phase, Learning as Sustainability (which also incorporates processes of learning about and for sustainability) offers the best fertile ground for engaging learners as active social change agents within and outside of the learning environment. We see these learning phases as all interconnected, dynamic, and fluid rather than a formulaic progression. This paper contributes to advancing schools toward a perspective on education that reflects an ecological approach toward sustainability and support educators to better integrate education as sustainability in their learning activities. It is worth mentioning that changes in the school that reflect an ecological approach does not guarantee that the experience of the learner will result in transformative Learning as Sustainability. Instead, it is our contention that attaining a clear understanding of these learning processes empowers educators to facilitate an environment by identifying and incorporating the necessary conditions required to inspire deep ecological transformation, thus increasing the potential to arrive at Learning as Sustainability

U-Pn geochronology of deformed metagranites in central Sutherland, Scotland: evidence for widespread late Silurian metamorphism and ductile deformation of the Moine Supergroup during the Caledonian orogeny

Within the Caledonides of central Sutherland, Scotland, the Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Moine Supergroup record NW-directed D2 ductile thrusting and nappe assembly, accompanied by widespread tight-to-isoclinal folding and amphibolite-facies metamorphism. A series of metagranite sheets which were emplaced and penetratively deformed during D2 have been dated using SHRIMP UâPb geochronology. Zircon ages of 424 8 Ma (Vagastie Bridge granite), 420 6 Ma (Klibreck granite) and 429 11 Ma (Strathnaver granite) are interpreted to date emplacement, and hence regional D2 deformation, during mid- to late Silurian time. Titanite ages of 413 3 Ma (Vagastie Bridge granite) and 416 3 Ma (Klibreck granite) are thought to date post-metamorphic cooling through a blocking temperature of c. 550â 500 8C. A mid- to late Silurian age for D2 deformation supports published models that have viewed the internal ductile thrusts of this part of the orogen as part of the same kinematically linked system of forelandpropagating thrusts as the marginal Moine Thrust Zone. The new data contrast with previous interpretations that have viewed the dominant structures and metamorphic assemblages within the Moine Supergroup as having formed during the early to mid-Ordovician Grampian arcâcontinent orogeny. The mid-to late Silurian D2 nappe stacking event in Sutherland is probably a result of the collision of Baltica with the Scottish segment of Laurentia

Series of experiments for empirical validation of solar gain modelling in building energy simulation codes - experimental setup, test cell characterization, specifications and uncertainty analysis

Empirical validation of building energy simulation codes is an important component in understanding the capacity and limitations of the software. Within the framework of Task 34/Annex 43 of the International Energy Agency (IEA), a series of experiments was performed in an outdoor test cell. The objective of these experiments was to provide a high-quality data set for code developers and modelers to validate their solar gain models for windows with and without shading devices. A description of the necessary specifications for modeling these experiments is provided in this paper, which includes information about the test site location, experimental setup, geometrical and thermophysical cell properties including estimated uncertainties. Computed overall thermal cell properties were confirmed by conducting a steady-state experiment without solar gains. A transient experiment, also without solar gains, and corresponding simulations from four different building energy simulation codes showed that the provided specifications result in accurate thermal cell modeling. A good foundation for the following experiments with solar gains was therefore accomplished