Search results for "Building design"
showing 10 items of 19 documents
Is the NZEB Benchmarking Approach Suitable for Assessing Energy Retrofit Design?
2013
Currently, many effort have been done to enable energy saving issues in building design and many definitions have been introduced for most performing constructions based on energy balance between energy demand and supply. Recently, the Net Zero Energy Building theory has bypassed old Passive House concept but many questions still remain open. Present work aims to estimate how NZEB requirements matching could be affected by the choice of their definition and the choice of weighting factor system, to be count in the energy balance. NZEB concept is mainly referred to new buildings design. Its application to existing buildings is for sure an hard task provided the architecture and physical cons…
A Survey on Daylighting Education in Italian Universities : Knowledge of Standards, Metrics and Simulation Tools
2021
Daylighting is a strategic topic to achieve sustainable buildings, so it is more and more imperative that it is implemented in architecture curricula to prepare a new generation of daylighting-oriented practitioners. In this frame, the DAYKE project (Daylight Knowledge in Europe) was set up to explore the level of knowledge about daylighting among European professionals and students. DAYKE-Europe was replicated as DAYKE-Italy to study the knowledge of daylight standards, metrics and software among Italian architecture students, and to compare it to that observed within DAYKE-Europe. A sample of 542 questionnaires were collected in five universities. Primary outcomes were: (i) a general low …
Building integrated solar thermal design: assessment of performances of a low cost solar wall in a typical Italian building
2016
Abstract Present work deals with the topic of building integration of solar thermal collector (BIST) as a refurbishment measure. Such equipment, more than its main function as heating generator, plays a specific role as a building component (envelope finishes, thermal insulation layer, roof cover etc). Consequently, from a heat transfer point of view, an integrated component affects twice the global building balance: supporting the thermal plant (i.e. providing heat for final uses) and modifying the wall heat-transfer pattern (i.e. reducing thermal losses). In turn, the collector performance itself is influenced by the wall structure (back losses reduction). Present work proposes a method f…
Energy Conscious Building Design
1987
Since the beginning of energy crisis many design tools have been developed in order to enable the designer to cope with energy consumption in buildings. These tools are of different kind: from very sophisticated simulation models to simplified (often too much) methods. Each of them offers various advantages and disadvantages, and it is up to the designer to choose among them.
Assessment of the Entropy of Spatial and Time Distributions of Rooms Daylighting: A Possible Tool for a Sustainable Design
2015
The indoor visual comfort of subjects faced with indoor ambient lighting varies with the position of the subject and is not constant over time. Average performance indexes, such as the mean value of Daylight Factor and Daylight Autonomy, are commonly used to analyse lighting distribution. These indexes, however, don’t properly take into account either the spatial or the time distribution of values affecting the non-uniformity of environmental lighting. Indeed, these are limited to the definition of a mean value or to the assessment of time availability of daylighting. This paper examines spatial and temporal non-uniformities in indoor lighting as possible causes of discomfort for occupants.…
PCM thermal storage design in buildings: Experimental studies and applications to solaria in cold climates
2017
Abstract As energy availability and demand often do not match, thermal energy storage plays a crucial role to take advantage of solar radiation in buildings: in particular, latent heat storage via phase-change material is particularly attractive due to its ability to provide high energy storage density. This paper analyzes the performance of a building-integrated thermal storage system to increase the energy performances of solaria in a cold climate. A wall opposing a highly glazed facade (south oriented) is used as thermal storage with phase change materials embedded in the wall. The study is based on both experimental and simulation studies. The concept considered is particularly suited t…
An integrated simulation method for building energy performance assessment in urban environments
2012
a b s t r a c t The microclimate around a building, establishing through the interaction with other buildings or the natural environment, is a significant factor in the building energy consumption. This paper presents a method for the quantitative analysis of building energy performance under any given urban contexts by linking the microclimate model ENVI-met to the building energy simulation (BES) program EnergyPlus. The full microclimatic factors such as solar radiation, long wave radiation, air temperature, air humidity, and wind speed have been considered in the proposed scheme. A case study has been conducted to analyze the effects of different microclimatic factors on the energy balan…
THE OPTIMUM SELECTION OF THE WINDOW SHADING LEVELS AND OF THE INDOOR VENTILATION RATES AS A DESIGN STRATEGY FOR BIOCLIMATIC COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
1991
ABSTRACT Ventilation rates, shading level of windows and indoor air temperature are analyzed together in order to single out the optimum mix referred to the thermal comfort situations of thermally moderate commercial buildings. Thermal comfort is here taken into account by means of the Predicted Mean Vote ( Fanger, 1970 ). A short selection of graphs is proposed, able to provide the simultaneous view of the effects produced, on the PMV, by modifications of the above cited parameters. Graphs can be usefully adopted for the proper design of the glazed surfaces, especially for passive solar buildings.
Investigation of design strategies and quantification of energy flexibility in buildings: A case-study in southern Italy
2021
Abstract The need for nearly (net) zero energy buildings in the current European landscape does not merely refer to energy balances: the aim to investigate the interaction between generation and load and find sources of technical-economic energy efficiency is marking the rise in interest throughout research and practice of energy flexibility solutions in buildings. In this regard, the study aims at enhancing the energy flexibility of a building in southern Italy through Rule-Based Control algorithms for the control of the space heating system and the charge and discharge of an electricity storage. The influence of electricity pricing and the thermal comfort conditions on flexibility is also…
Analysis and Improving Methods of Efficiency of Solar Energy in Municipal Heating System
2011
This paper introduces the current state of solar heating system among Wanzleben city heating net. In view of low efficiency (only 20-30%) of this system, it analyses the shortcomings of this applied system from sensors' situation, fixed flow problem, the influence of the user's water temperature and the length of pipe separately. Some improving methods which are effective by theoretical analysis are suggested. The implementation steps have to be discussed in more detail with the utility.