Search results for "tRNS"
showing 10 items of 46 documents
Assessing the Energy-Saving Potential of a Dish-Stirling Concentrator Integrated into Energy Plants in the Tertiary Sector
2021
Energy consumed for air conditioning in residential and tertiary sectors accounts for a large share of global use. To reduce the environmental impacts burdening the covering of such demands, the adoption of renewable energy technologies is increasing. In this regard, this paper evaluates the energy and environmental benefits achievable by integrating a dish-Stirling concentrator into energy systems used for meeting the air conditioning demand of an office building. Two typical reference energy plants are assumed: (i) a natural gas boiler for heating purposes and air-cooled chillers for the cooling periods, and (ii) a reversible heat pump for both heating and cooling. For both systems, a dis…
Energy balance and life cycle assessment of small size residential solar heating and cooling systems equipped with adsorption chillers
2017
Abstract Solar heating and cooling systems for space heating and cooling are experiencing a growing trend and interest. However, the actual energy and environmental performance of small/medium size installations is not clearly foreseeable. In this paper, an analysis of such systems using adsorption chillers in different European climates is presented. Solar systems have been simulated in TRNSYS and compared to a conventional system employing a vapour compression unit. The results have been used for a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, determining the potential impact during the whole life of the system, from raw materials supply to its end-of-life. The LCA has been carried out by using the …
Different energy balances for the redesign of nearly net zero energy buildings: An Italian case study
2015
Abstract The currently developing concept of a Net Zero Energy Building introduces new challenges and research problems. The calculation of a net zero energy balance is heavily influenced by the energy carrier weighting factors that are chosen, which can deeply influence the future energy market towards adopting specific energy technologies. The following paper proposes an analysis of different definitions and conventions for Net Zero Energy Buildings that employ different calculation methodologies and apply different weighting factors to an Italian case study. The case study, which is called “the Leaf House”, is one of the first examples of a nearly net zero energy building in Italy. A bui…
Numerical Assessment of Heating Energy Demand for Office Buildings in Italy
2016
Abstract Buildings energy consumption depends on several parameters, such as climate, envelope typologies, occupant behavior, intended use, etc.; assessment of the energy performance of a building requires substantial input data describing constructions, environmental contexts, thermo-physical properties, geometry, control strategies and several other parameters influencing the thermal balance. In the last years, several numerical approaches dedicated to building simulation have been tested developing specialized software. On the other hand, simplified building models permit the evaluation of indoor conditions and heating/cooling loads with a good level of accuracy and without excessive com…
Redesign of a Rural Building in a Heritage Site in Italy: Towards the Net Zero Energy Target
2017
In order to achieve the ambitious objective of decarbonising the economy, it is mandatory, especially in Europe and in Italy, to include the retrofitting of existing buildings. In a country where a large share of existing buildings have heritage value, it is important to design effective retrofit solutions also in historical buildings. In this context, the paper describes the experience of re-design of an existing rural building located in Sicily, inside the ancient Greeks' “Valley of the Temples”. An energy audit was performed on the building, and its energy uses were thoroughly investigated. A building model was developed in the TRNSYS environment and its performances validated. The valid…
Energy and Economic Analysis of Different Buildings Constructed with Environmentally Sustainable and Traditional Materials
2013
The use of bioclimatic principles can reduce energy demands and CO2emissions in the building sector. Costs are one of the most important barriers to a widespread adoption of the green architecture e.[ The aim of this study is to compare the energy and economic performances of two buildings: a real residential bioclimatic building located in Cinisi (a small town near Palermo, Sicily) and an imaginary residential building supposed having the same geographical location, cubature, shape and orientation as the bioclimatic building but built by conventional building materials. The tools used for this study were TRNSYS and HOMER[
Modelling relationship among energy demand, climate and office building features: A cluster analysis at European level
2016
Abstract More than one-third of the energy demand of industrialised countries is due to achieving acceptable conditions of thermal comfort and lighting in buildings. Energy demand in buildings depends on a combination of several parameters, such as climate, envelope typologies, occupant behaviour, and intended use. Indeed, assessing a building’s energy performance requires substantial input data describing constructions, environmental conditions, envelope thermo-physical properties, geometry, control strategies, and several other parameters. This has been a very active area of research in recent years, and several numerical approaches have been developed for building simulation; furthermore…
MED parallel system powered by concentrating solar power (CSP): model and case study: Trapani, Sicily
2014
Abstract: This work presents an overlook on a new model that simulates the physical operation in steady state of a multi-effect distillation (MED) plant with parallel-feed (P) configuration. This model includes the consumption of steam with steam ejectors, and its validation was done using data from a real MED industrial plant using a thermal vapor compressor (TVC) operating in Italy, in the Sicilian city of Trapani. Results show that the MED model returns accurate predictions of the plant behavior, very useful for a first analysis on such type of investments. This MED model was also integrated into the system advisor model developed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Simulatio…
A novel solar-geothermal trigeneration system integrating water desalination: Design, dynamic simulation and economic assessment
2016
Abstract In this paper, an innovative solar-geothermal polygeneration system is investigated. The system supplies a small community with electricity, desalinated water and space heating and cooling through a district network. The hybrid multi-purpose plant, based on an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) supplied by medium-enthalpy geothermal energy and by solar energy; this latter is provided by Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTC). The geothermal brine is first used to drive the ORC loop, then to provide space heating at around 85÷90 °C (in the winter), or cooling (in the summer, by means of a single-effect absorption chiller). Finally, the geothermal brine drives a Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) s…
Annual heating energy requirements of office buildings in a European climate
2016
Abstract The concept of implementing energy savings to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has become a key element of energy policies of any industrialized country. In the civil sector and specifically, energy savings for office buildings, there are still opportunities for further enhancements related to correctly determining the air conditioning thermal requirements. However, there is a lack of simple correlations that allow a preliminary assessment for a single building or correlations that can be quickly applied at the district level. This paper proposes several simple correlations that determine the heating loads of a typical office building by only knowing the Degree-Days of a specific Eu…