Abstract.Achieving Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs) is a main goal for the European Union, in order to reduce energy consumption in the building sector. NZEB means a building that has a very high energy performance. Its energy requirements should be covered by renewable sources, produced on-site or nearby [1]. It could be possible if building were turned into a "small power generating station", or reducing consumption with passive building proposals. However, we think that it is worth looking for a balance between energy consumption and generation for every building, following this simple equation:
Consumption = demand -generationThe European regulations have already begun to indicate deadlines to implement NZEB requirements in buildings. This study was performed by using a computer building model, including its geometry, building materials, usage profiles and installations. Thus, we could compare the characteristics of the different regulations, and we could evaluate the progress toward the NZEB concept.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.