Protocol and assessment tool for performance evaluation of light-frame building envelopes used in residential buildings

In the Canadian climate, the performance of wood-frame building envelopes is affected directly by moisture management as well as by the quality of design, construction workmanship, and maintenance. Trapped moisture reduces the thermal performance of the envelope and can lead to mould growth that deteriorates building materials and contaminates the indoor-air. The means to evaluate the impact of these factors on the overall performance of the envelope are limited. Computer models that exist are still, for the most part, reserved for researchers or have not been validated to a sufficient comfort level for the designer. Till now large scale testing that would provide realistic results have been limited due to the lack of facilities and the lack of evaluation procedures. This research project develops a protocol that facilitates the evaluation of the performance of light-frame building envelopes. The protocol evaluates the building envelope as a system under the following main issues: air-tightness, moisture management performance, thermal performance, energy performance, structural stability of building envelope, acoustic performance, fire response performance and quality of workmanship. It sets the internal and external loads that affect that performance and develops a procedure for evaluation. The evaluation protocol includes performance criteria, associated standards, and compliance evaluation methods. The second part of this study involves developing an assessment tool that uses data generated by the above evaluation procedure. This assessment tool is designed to provide a fast check of the building envelope system compliance against performance requirements. Intended to be comprehensive and user-friendly for professionals, this tool can also be used by producers and exporters of factory-made houses in Canada to examine existing designs and to verify the performance of new designs. The validation of the protocol and the assessment tool is done by evaluating the performance of five different building envelope assemblies: one modular prefabricated house designed and built in conformance with the requirements of NBC and Québec Energy Code (A-standard house), one modular prefabricated house designed to conform to requirements of Novoclimat program (A-Novoclimat house), one panellised high performance house (M-Thermo house) and two Advanced houses: NOVTEC Advanced house and Innova Advanced house. The results of validation show that the protocol and the assessment tool are effectively used to establish the performance profiles of these five case studies, demonstrating in each case the adequacy of each parameter. The results also demonstrate that the protocol provides a means of comparing the relative performance of respective parameters across case studies

Barriers and Needs for Building Integration of Solar Thermal and Photovoltaics

The International Energy Agency (IEA) Task 41 is conducting an international survey concerning the integration of solar energy systems and architecture in order to identify barriers that architects are facing in incorporating active solar technologies in their design. The survey investigates the possible barriers of solar thermal and photovoltaics, to understand why there is still a resistance among architects for using these elements in their architectural design. Moreover, it asks about the needs of architects, on what should be developed for a wider use of solar active systems in the building skin. The survey also provides valuable information towards a comparative study of the two solar technologies from the perspective of architectural integration potentials. As the survey is conducted in 13 countries around the world (EU, Canada, South Korea), it gives a possibility to identify possible regional differences in understanding and acceptance of active solar technologies

Achieving Solar Energy in Architecture-IEA SHC Task 41

AbstractDespite the wide diversity of available solar technologies, solar energy systems are still not considered as main stream technologies in building practice. This may be attributed to several factors such as lack of awareness and knowledge among architects, lack of tools supporting the design process, and lack of solar products designed for building integration. In order to address these issues, the IEA SHC Task 41 “Solar Energy and Architecture” was carried out during 2009 to 2012. The main aim was to promote the use of solar energy systems within high quality architecture. The main expected outcome is an increased use of solar energy in buildings, reducing the non-renewable energy use and GHG emissions. Fourteen countries participated. The work was organized in three subtasks: A) integration criteria and guidelines, B) tools and methods for architects, and C) case studies and communication guidelines. This article presents an overview of the Task's activities and results. The results include an inventory of computer tools, a literature review, a survey on solar systems perception and use by architects, a survey on needs regarding tools for solar design, recommendations for computer tool developers and different guidelines for solar product developers and architects. Finally an extensive collection of more than 250 case studies with integration of solar systems was evaluated and resulting in the online publication of around 65 selected cases demonstrating inspiring solar architecture. The results of Task 41 are also currently being disseminated through seminars and workshops for building professionals

The communication process

In order to stimulate an increased use of solar in energy conscious building design, the Task 41 participants have developed a Communication Guideline as a tool to support architects in their communication process with especially clients, authorities and contractors. Today the energy performance of solar solutions is well documented and well known especially in the “technical environment”. This knowledge, however, needs to be communicated in a convincing way to the decision makers in order to ensure a broad implementation of sustainable solar solutions in future building design. The Communication Guideline includes convincing arguments and facts supporting the implementation of solar based design solutions. The Communication Guideline is divided in three main parts: • Part 1: Convincing clients to request and commission solar buildings • Part 2: Communication strategies at the design/ construction team level • Part 3: Tools and Reference

Technology transfer : can Canadian affordable homes be built in the countries of former Yugoslavia

The objective of this thesis is to identify alternative building systems for low rise housing, that can be applied to the market of countries of the former Yugoslavia. Six building systems, developed and produced in Canada, have been selected for this purpose. In order to compare them to existing system, the set of criteria for evaluation is developed, based on three major aspects: the technical aspect deals with codes and regulations, implementation, durability and other physical characteristics of building systems; the economic aspect compares costs; and the psychological aspect investigates the level of acceptance from both the builders' and homeowners' point of view.The results of this research prove the complexity of the issue of technology transfer. Even though all evaluated building systems showed technical and, particularly economical improvements over the existing masonry, it is the issue of cultural acceptance that is the determining factor in the success of a new product. That is the main reason why building systems based on concrete would more likely be accepted over "light" frame systems. (Abstract shortened by UMI.

Making Toronto Solar Ready: Proposing Urban Forms for the Integration of Solar Strategies

AbstractAs highly dense urban areas are also the top energy consumers, the question as to how we can design our cities to be “solar ready”, i.e. suitable for successful integration of active and passive solar strategies in buildings, arises. Through a series of insolation simulations of typical urban morphologies found in the city of Toronto, this study will attempt to (i) identify if Toronto is “solar ready”, (ii) suggest strategies to overcome obstacles, and (iii) develop new urban formations that maximize insolation levels to promote the integration of solar strategies in our built environments

The design process known as IDP: a discussion

The Integrated Design Process (IDP) was developed to streamline the design process of (solar integrated) low-energy buildings. One of the biggest differences with the traditional design process is the involvement of engineers and other consultants right from the early design stage. Although the IDP has been fully developed in theory with clear and general descriptions, the practical application of the IDP is, however, often far from smooth. In this article, some critical issues of the IDP are discussed, based on literature review, interviews with architects, and experiences with local and international projects, with the hope that these experiences help improving future design process. The discussed issues are: quantification of actors' input, the education of the IDP in the contemporary university curricula, costs of the IDP, and communication. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Solar energy as a design parameter in urban planning

By the end of 2020, all EU member states need to ensure that all newly constructed buildings consume ` nearly zero' energy and that their energy needs are produced locally as much as possible and with renewable sources; a concept called nearly Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB). At the same time, more and more people live in cities, where the access to local renewable energy sources -wind and solar-is limited. Planning for such ZEBs in cities is therefore a difficult task since urban planners often do not have the technical knowledge to quantify the contribution of solar energy in their urban plans. This study shows an exploration of geometrical forms of urban blocks and the potential of solar energy to the local production of energy. Simulations were performed with the program Ecotect for the city of Lund in southern Sweden. It was found that the impact of the geometry form on the potential of solar energy was significant (up to twice as much) and some forms were found to be less sensitive for different orientations. When the urban blocks were surrounded by other geometry, which resembles the situation of a dense city, the contribution of solar energy decreased by 10-75%. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd