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Highlights  A 'performance gap' is found to exist between measured and modelled building fabric performance.  Highly accurate measurement of building fabric properties (i.e. U-values and air permeability) is possible under controlled conditions.  Calibration of building energy models using accurate measurements of the building's fabric properties reduces the observed performance gap.

SUMMARYBuildings and their related activities are responsible for a large portion of the energy consumed in China. It is therefore worthwhile to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. This paper describes a low energy building design in Hangzhou, south China. A hybrid ventilation system which employs both natural and mechanical ventilation was used for the building due to the severity of the climate. The passive ventilation system was tested using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the results showed that, in the mid-seasons, natural ventilation for the building is viable. The likely thermal performance of the building design throughout the year was evaluated using Dynamic Thermal Simulation (DTS) with local hourly standard weather data. It is concluded that the hybrid ventilation system is a feasible, low energy approach for building design, even in subtropical climates such as south China.

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