Energy consumption and potential energy savings in old school buildings

Energy and indoor environmental audits of energy consumption and indoor air quality were taken in 24 school buildings in Slovenia. The audits show that these buildings are high energy consumers and have poor indoor air quality, as expressed by 60% of the surveyed pupils. This article deals with energy consumption in the analysed schools. The nominal heating power of boilers, and heat exchangers, which are used in district heating, show a 57% overcapacity. The heat losses of the school buildings are 89% higher than the recommended values. According to our analysis of the possible measures to improve the situation in the school buildings, it will not be possible to ensure rational energy use and good indoor air quality with low investment costs. Should we change from hot-water heating systems and natural ventilation to energy efficient blown air systems with which one device provides the comfort of both heating and air conditioning?     

Building typologies as a tool for assessing the energy performance of residential buildings - A case study for the Hellenic building stock

Successful strategies towards minimizing the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the building sector require knowledge on the energy-related characteristics of the existing building stock. Despite the numerous studies on energy conservation applications in buildings, current knowledge on the energy-related characteristics of the building stock still remains limited. Building typologies can be a useful instrument to facilitate the energy performance assessment of a building stock. This work is based on a harmonised structure for European building typologies (TABULA) developed for residential buildings, but the methodology may be extended to the tertiary sector as well. National typologies are sets of model buildings with characteristic energy-related properties representative of a country's building stock. The model buildings are used as a showcase for demonstrating the energy performance and the potential energy savings from typical and advanced energy conservation measures (ECMs) on the thermal envelope and the heat supply system. The proposed Hellenic residential building typology is presented for the first time along with an assessment of various ECMs that are used for an estimate of the energy performance of building stock in Greece in an effort to meet the 9% indicative national energy savings target by 2016.     

Energy, comfort and indoor air quality in nursery and elementary school buildings in the cold climatic zone of Greece

Schools are the most suitable type of building for the application of energy efficiency and good indoor air quality measures. This is justified by the fact that such measures can promote sustainability to the future citizens, and even more, ensure a comfortable and healthy environment for educational purposes. Unfortunately, in practice school buildings face the same, or even more intense, energy performance and indoor air quality problems as any other building. The purpose of this study is to investigate the energy efficiency, thermal environment and indoor air quality in public nursery and elementary school buildings in the city of Kozani, located at the cold climatic zone of Greece. The survey, conducted both by in-field measurements and by questionnaires, reveals the main parameters affecting the overall performance of the investigated buildings. The problematic building envelope, the improper control of heating and lighting systems, the absence of proper legislative measures and, above all, the lack of interest concerning the efficiency of such buildings are the main factors in the reported efficiency.     

带热回收的新风空调系统在医院建筑中的应用分析

针对一个独立新风、集中排风并带全热交换器能量回收的医院输液室空调系统,实验测试了空调系统的能耗,计算了全年节能潜力,并通过测量室内CO2浓度,研究了通风对室内空气质量的改善程度。结果表明,该空调系统在改善室内空气质量的同时可以节约能量,是医院建筑的理想空调系统。     

The effect of the ventilation retrofit in a school on CO_2,airborne particles,and energy consumptions

The energy retrofit of existing buildings is a key strategy to reduce the energy costs of the building sector.Amongst the retrofit solutions,the adoption of mechanical ventilation systems represents a necessary approach for buildings w ith high crow ding index,such as schools.The air quality in schools is a main issue since children spend a significant fraction of the year in such microenvironments. To date,the scientific literature has carried out several studies concerning the air quality in naturally ventilated schools worldwide,nonetheless most of the studies performed a general evaluation of the air quality just using the CO_2 as a comprehensive indicator. This is an oversimplified approach since the indoor air quality is affected by several pollutants,including airborne particles,whose behavior cannot be predicted by the CO_2 one.The aim of the research is the evaluation of the effect of the ventilation retrofit in a classroom on different indoor air quality parameters and energy consumption. To this end a mechanical ventilation system w ith a heat recovery unit w as installed in a testclassroom and tests w ith CO_2-based demand controlled ventilation w ere performed. CO_2 levels and indoor-to-outdoor particle concentrations w ere measured and compared to the pre-retrofit ventilation conditions( i. e. manual airing procedures).Results showed that mechanical ventilation systems have simultaneous positive effects on the different pollutants investigated as well as on ventilation heat losses: indeed,lower indoor-to-outdoor concentration ratios,with respect to the airing approach,were detected simultaneously for CO_2,sub-micron particles and PM10.     

Categories of indoor environmental quality and building energy demand for heating and cooling

Maintaining suitable indoor climate conditions is a need for the occupants’ well being, while requiring very strictly thermal comfort conditions and very high levels of indoor air quality in buildings represents also a high expense of energy, with its consequence in terms of environmental impact and cost. In fact, it is well known that the indoor environmental quality (IEQ), considering both thermal and indoor air quality aspects, has a primary impact not only on the perceived human comfort, but also on the building energy consumption. This issue is clearly expressed by the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2002/92/EC, together with the most recent 2010/31/EU, which underlines that the expression of a judgment about the energy consumption of a building should be always joint with the corresponding indoor environmental quality level required by occupants. To this aim, the concept of indoor environment categories has been introduced in the EN 15251 standard. These categories range from I to III, where category I refers to the highest level of indoor climate requirement. In the challenge of reducing the environmental impact for air conditioning in buildings, it is essential that IEQ requirements are relaxed in order to widen the variations of the temperature ranges and ventilation air flow rates. In this paper, by means of building energy simulation, the heating and cooling energy demand are calculated for a mechanically controlled office building where different indoor environmental quality levels are required, ranging from category I to category III of EN 15251. The building is located in different European cities (Moscow, Torino and Athens), characterized by significantly different wheatear conditions. The mutual relation between heating and cooling energy demand and the required levels of IEQ is highlighted. The simulations are performed on a typical office room which is adopted as a reference in validation tests of the European Standard EN 15265 to validate calculation procedures of energy use for space heating and cooling.     

European residential buildings and empirical assessment of the Hellenic building stock,energy consumption,emissions and potential energy savings

The existing building stock in European countries accounts for over 40% of final energy consumption in the European Union (EU) member states, of which residential use represents 63% of total energy consumption in the buildings sector. Consequently, an increase of building energy performance can constitute an important instrument in the efforts to alleviate the EU energy import dependency (currently at about 48%) and comply with the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is also in accordance to the European Directive (EPBD 2002/91/EC) on the energy performance of buildings, which is currently under consideration in all EU member states. This paper presents an overview of the EU residential building stock and focuses on the Hellenic buildings. It elaborates the methodology used to determine the priorities for energy conservation measures (ECMs) in Hellenic residential buildings to reduce the environmental impact from CO₂ emissions, through the implementation of a realistic and effective national action plan. A major obstacle that had to overcome was the need to make suitable assumptions for missing detailed primary data. Accordingly, a qualitative and quantitative assessment of scattered national data resulted to a realistic assessment of the existing residential building stock and energy consumption. This is the first time that this kind of aggregate data is presented on a national level. Different energy conservation scenarios and their impact on the reduction of CO₂ emissions were evaluated. Accordingly, the most effective ECMs are the insulation of external walls (33–60% energy savings), weather proofing of openings (16–21%), the installation of double-glazed windows (14–20%), the regular maintenance of central heating boilers (10–12%), and the installation of solar collectors for sanitary hot water production (50–80%).     

住宅建筑采暖空调能耗模拟方法的研究

住宅建筑的采暖空调能耗受室内居住人员行为方式的影响,在调查研究基础上,确定了两种反映室内居住人员行为方式的计算模式。在两种不同计算模式下,利用建筑热环境模拟工具DeST对上海地区同一住宅建筑能耗进行模拟,并将模拟结果与调研结果进行比较,分析计算模式对上海地区住宅建筑采暖空调能耗大小的影响,从而获得能正确反映上海地区住宅建筑采暖空调能耗大小的模拟计算方法。此方法可用于上海地区住宅建筑采暖空调的能耗分析与评价,并正确指导住宅建筑的节能设计。     

自然通风与建筑节能

自然通风是改善室内热环境和空气品质的主要手段,热压、风压是通风形成的基本条件,合理组织自然通风能够节约建筑耗能,通过分析建筑室内通风组织的措施,为建筑师提供一定的设计依据。     

对热舒适、空气感觉质量及能耗的模拟研究

室内空调设计温度和新风量对热舒适，室内空气质量及能耗量有重要影响，然而对它们之间相互关系进行研究的文献却较少。通过计算机模拟空调系统在7种室内设计温度和7种新风量条件下的运行情况，得到不同的设计条件组合对热舒适、人体感觉空气质量及建筑能耗量的影响。基于这项分析，提出了此办公建筑合理的室内设计温度和新风量取值。     

Evaluation of simplified ventilation system with direct air supply through the facade in a school in a cold climate

Many educational buildings in industrialised countries have poor indoor climate, according to today’s knowledge about the impact of indoor climate on well-being and productivity. Budget restrictions and practical limitations such as lack of space for central air handling units and ventilation ducts, have motivated the application of simplified ventilation systems in some schools, such as taking unconditioned supply air directly from the facade. One such school was recently evaluated in Norway.On cold days, thermal comfort in the classroom deteriorated due to cold downdraught from the supply outlet. In addition, moist and fertile conditions for microbiological growth were observed in the air supply ductwork. On the other hand the same pupils are more satisfied with the school and have less sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms during winter than summer. An improved control strategy with a temperature-compensated CO₂ set-point for controlling the airflow is suggested. This could improve thermal comfort and reduce energy use without compromising perceived air quality (PAQ) during cold weather. Furthermore it could improve indoor air quality (IAQ) during warm weather with only a slight increase of energy use. Further evaluation of an improved solution is needed before such a ventilation concept can be recommended in cold climates.     

Life cycle inventory of buildings: A contribution analysis

A companion paper presented the life cycle inventory (LCI) calculation model for buildings as a whole, developed within a global methodology to optimise low energy buildings simultaneously for energy, environmental impact and costs without neglecting the boundary conditions for thermal comfort and indoor air quality. This paper presents the results of a contribution analysis of the life cycle inventory of four typical Belgian residential buildings. The analysis shows the relative small importance of the embodied energy of a building compared to the energy consumption during the usage phase. This conclusion is even more valid when comparing the embodied energy of energy saving measures with the energy savings they realise. In most studied cases, the extra embodied energy for energy saving measures is gained back by the savings in less than 2 years. Only extremely low energy buildings might have a total embodied energy higher than the energy use of the utilisation phase. However, the sum of both remains small and the energy savings realised with these dwellings are large, compared to the energy consumption of average dwellings.     

Control of indoor CO2 concentration based on a process model

Air-tight buildings need to have ventilation systems, although the use of these systems results in heavy energy consumption within the building sector. For this reason they have to be adequately regulated in order to achieve good indoor air quality and lower operation costs. The main challenge is to optimize regulation in office buildings, theaters, museums, and schools, where there are large fluctuations and heavy operating costs. Each further optimization leads directly to a better indoor climate and a reduction in energy consumption. In the case of ventilation systems, PI or PID regulators are usually used. In the described research an internal model control (IMC) system was designed with an internal loop, which constantly checks the momentary CO₂ concentration, and makes the necessary adjustments to the air flow. The results showed a significant improvement in the CO₂ level when using an IMC controller, in comparison with PI controller. The desired indoor air quality is achieved more than 80% of the time, with lower operating costs.     

Indoor air microbes and respiratory symptoms of children in moisture damaged and reference schools

Microbial indoor air quality and respiratory symptoms of children were studied in 24 schools with visible moisture and mold problems, and in eight non-damaged schools. School buildings of concrete/brick and wooden construction were included. The indoor environment investigations included technical building inspections for visible moisture signs and microbial sampling using six-stage impactor for viable airborne microbes. Children's health information was collected by questionnaires. The effect of moisture damage on concentrations of fungi was clearly seen in buildings of concrete/brick construction, but not in wooden school buildings. Occurrence of Cladosporium, Aspergillus versicolor, Stachybotrys, and actinobacteria showed some indicator value for moisture damage. Presence of moisture damage in school buildings was a significant risk factor for respiratory symptoms in schoolchildren. Association between moisture damage and respiratory symptoms of children was significant for buildings of concrete/brick construction but not for wooden school buildings. The highest symptom prevalence was found during spring seasons, after a long exposure period in damaged schools. The results emphasize the importance of the building frame as a determinant of exposure and symptoms.     

Data collection and analysis of the building stock and its energy performance—An example for Hellenic buildings

The process of building labeling and certification in accordance to the provisions of the European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) constitutes a unique opportunity for collecting information on the characteristics of the building stock and its energy performance on a national and European level. Thus, there is a need to handle data from a large stock of buildings and to be able to analyse information and extract practical trends and benchmarks. Stakeholders and technical managers who oversee a number of buildings experience similar needs in order to collect, organize and monitor the energy performance of a large pool of buildings. To facilitate these efforts, a common evaluation database and complimentary software for its exploitation have been developed in the frame of a European project.This paper presents an overview of the database and its available tools, and the main results from a case study on Hellenic buildings that reveals relevant characteristics. The Hellenic database included a sample of 250 buildings from different regions in Greece, with a breakdown that is representative of the national building stock. The main results focus on the buildings’ energy performance, thermal envelope characteristics and the exploitation of solar thermal energy.     

Environmental efficiency in residential buildings – A simplified communication approach

For all actors involved with planning, developing and managing buildings, the environmental impact relating to energy use and the quality of the indoor environment are both aspects of major concern. It is crucial that a reduction in the environmental impact of a building is not achieved through compromising the indoor environment. This paper presents a method to assess user satisfaction related to the indoor environment and the environmental impact related to the energy use of the building, i.e. the environmental efficiency of the building. This environmental efficiency comprises two indices that are calculated separately but displayed in the same diagram to facilitate communication of complex information. This approach forms part of the Swedish life cycle based environmental assessment tool for buildings, EcoEffect. The present paper presents and exemplifies the environmental efficiency of buildings using data from 26 Swedish multi-family residential buildings and proposes a number of reference values. The concept can be used as an overarching objective for environmental management of a property firm's building stock or for evaluating targets set in the planning process for a new building. It can also be used for environmental rating of buildings, which would probably increase the communication value further. The aggregated indices are rough but proportionately straightforward to calculate and easily communicated. In addition, they address the environmental impacts of buildings in a much more comprehensive way than the current practice.     

Indoor environment quality in buildings and its impact on outdoor environment

The main purpose of buildings is to provide a comfortable living environment for their occupants. This includes, among others, thermal, visual and acoustic comfort as well as indoor air quality. Except during the 1950’s and 1960’s, it has always been considered important that an excess use of energy should be avoided in the construction and the management of a building, sometimes even at the cost of user comfort. Energy saving is, however, not the main purpose of the building. Indeed, if it were really so, the largest energy savings would be obtained by not erecting the building in the first place.Since the Rio conference, there have been more and more incentives to save energy and lower the impact of buildings on the environment. Therefore, there is no excuse for the building sector not to adopt a sustainable development policy.Some energy is required to control the indoor climate and indoor air quality. Therefore, it is often suspected that energy savings result in poorer indoor environment quality, or, on the contrary, that a high comfort level is the result of high technology and high energy consumption. This is not true. It is now generally admitted among building scientists that high quality energy services do not necessarily incur a high energy use, and that good environment quality can be obtained with a reasonable amount of energy and power, and with a low environmental impact.The presentation brings some evidence from past and current research to support this assertion.     

西北村镇单体建筑室内空气质量研究

基于西北村镇传统单体建筑能源利用率低、室内空气质量差的现状,将传统建筑的供能系统改为冬季主要由太阳能热水系统为室内供暖且为住户提供生活热水,并对建筑室内空气质量进行试验测试,测试结果得到:室内SO_2、NO_2、CO含量的1 h平均值,TVOC含量的8 h平均值,CO_2、PM_(10)含量的日平均值、室内风速和室内空气相对湿度在试验周期内都符合GB/T 18883—2002《室内空气质量标准》的相关规定,室内温度平均值在太阳能热水系统供暖期间符合GB/T 50824—2013《农村居住建筑节能设计标准》的相关规定;经综合指数对室内空气质量进行评价,得出太阳能热水系统供能的西北村镇单体建筑空气质量级别属于Ⅱ级,空气质量评价结果为未污染。     

居住建筑围护结构的节能问题

从适宜居住的角度讲,我国绝大部分地区的居住建筑都要采取一定的技术措施来保证冬夏两季的室内热舒适环境。冬夏两季室内维持的温度与室外的温度有很大的差别,这个温差导致能量以热的形式流出或流入室内,采暖,空调设备消耗的能量主要就是用来补充这个能量损失的。在相同的室内外温差条件下,建筑围护结构保温隔热性能的好坏,直接影响到流出或流入室内的热量的多少。建筑围护结构保温隔热性能好,流出或流入室内的热量就少,采暖,空调设备消耗的能量也就少;反之,建筑围护结构保温隔热性能差,流现或流入室内的热量就多,采暖,空调设备消耗的能量也就多。我国现行的居住建筑节能设计标准对建筑围护结构保温隔热性能提出了明确的要求,按照节能设计标准的要求去设计,新建的居住建筑就能比具有传统围护结构的同类建筑节约25％－35％的采暖,空调能耗,而且节能的潜力还十分巨大。     

北京市夏季住宅用能节能潜力调查及分析

为了全面了解北京市目前住宅建筑用能现状,笔者于2007年9月对北京市180多户住宅的结构、主要耗能设备的使用、生活习惯、室内热湿环境及空气品质和能源使用情况等进行了较为详细的问卷调查,在此基础上分析了各方面的节能潜力,并针对性地提出了相关改进建议,为有关部门制定和调整能源政策提供依据。结果显示,目前北京市住宅建筑耗能存在增长趋势,节能潜力较大,主要和节能措施实施力度以及住户节能意识和行为模式有关。