Airtightness and ventilation in a mild climate country rehabilitated social housing buildings – What users want and what they get

Ramos, Nuno M. M.; Almeida, Ricardo M. S. F.; Curado, António; Pereira, Pedro F.; Manuel, Sofia; Maia, Joana

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.04.016

Cited by 44 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This value is quite common in this type of building, although it is more than twice the reference value for energy certification of existing buildings in Spain (0.63 ac/h according to Royal Decree 235/2013 [65]). Moreover the value considered was higher than the average ventilation rates for renovated buildings, ranging from 0.35 to 1.01 ac/h in the study published by Ramos et al [66].…”

Section: Energy Simulation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

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Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

et al. 2018

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The actual energy consumption and simulated energy performance of a building usually differ. This gap widens in social housing, owing to the characteristics of these buildings and the consumption patterns of economically vulnerable households affected by energy poverty. The aim of this work is to characterise the energy poverty of the households that are representative of those residing in social housing, specifically in blocks of apartments in Southern Europe. The main variables that affect energy consumption and costs are analysed, and the models developed for software energy-performance simulations (which are applied to predict energy consumption in social housing) are validated against actual energy-consumption values. The results demonstrate that this type of household usually lives in surroundings at a temperature below the average thermal comfort level. We have taken into account that a standard thermal comfort level may lead to significant differences between computer-aided energy building simulation and actual consumption data (which are 40-140% lower than simulated consumption). This fact is of integral importance, as we use computer simulation to predict building energy performance in social housing.

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Section: Energy Simulation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…. Moreover the value considered was higher than the average ventilation rates for renovated buildings, ranging from 0.35 to 1.01 ac/h in the study published by Ramos et al [66]. The heating-user profile was developed based on questionnaires and interviews conducted with residents.…”

Section: Energy Simulation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

et al. 2018

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“…Almeida et al [9] showed that the windows' permeability indices can have a very wide range of variability (from 4.8 to 96.4 m 3 /h m 2 ), due to the year of construction, the frame material, and the opening system. Nevertheless, if the airtightness performance is too high, it can contribute to deteriorating indoor air quality (IAQ), due to the less air exchange [10]. Furthermore, the air replacement is very important, especially in natural ventilated buildings, where it is almost exclusively granted by the infiltrations and by opening the windows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mean Age of Air in Natural Ventilated Buildings: Experimental Evaluation and CO2 Prediction by Artificial Neural Networks

Buratti

Palladino

2020

Applied Sciences

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The mean age of air (MAA) is one of the most useful parameters in evaluating indoor air quality in natural ventilated buildings. Its evaluation is generally based on the CO2 monitoring within the environment; however, other methods can be found in the literature, but they have not always led to satisfactory results. In this context, the present paper is focused on two main topics: the effect of the windows airtightness and of the environmental conditions on MAA and the application of artificial neural network (ANN) for the CO2 prediction within the room. Two case studies (case study 1 located in Terni and case study 2 located in Perugia) were investigated, which differ in geometric dimensions (useful area, volume, window area) and in airtightness of windows. The indoor and outdoor environmental conditions (air temperature, pressure, relative humidity, air velocity, and indoor CO2 concentration) were monitored in 33 experimental campaigns, in four room configurations: open door-open window (OD-OW); closed door-open window (CD-OW); open door-closed window (OD-CW); closed door-closed window (CD-CW). Tracer decay methodology, according to ISO 16000-8:2007 standard, was compiled during all the experimental campaigns. A feedforward ANN, able to simulate the indoor CO2 concentration within the rooms, was then implemented; the monitored environmental conditions (air temperature, pressure, relative humidity, and air velocity), the geometric dimensions (useful area, volume, window area), and the airtightness of windows were provided as input data, while the CO2 concentration was used as target. In particular, data of 19 experimental campaigns were provided for the training process of the network, while 14 were only used for testing the reliability of ANN. The CO2 concentration predicted by ANN was then used for the MAA calculation in the four room configurations. Experimental results show that MAA of case study 2 is always higher, in all the examined configurations, due to the higher airtightness characteristics of the window and to the higher volume of the room. When the difference between indoor and outdoor temperature increases, the MAA increases too, in almost all the investigated configurations. Finally, the CO2 concentration predicted by ANN was compared with experimental data; results show a good accuracy of the network both in CO2 prediction and in the MAA calculation. The predicted CO2 concentration at the beginning of experimental campaigns (time step 0) always differs less than 2% from experimental data, while a mean percentage difference of −18.8% was found considering the maximum CO2 concentration. The MAA calculated using the predicted CO2 of ANN was greater than the one obtained from experimental data, with a difference in the 0.5–1.3 min range, depending on the configuration. According to the results, the developed ANN can be considered an alternative and valuable tool for a preliminary evaluation of MAA.

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“…A number of studies have been conducted on airtightness in single-family homes in northern Europe [2][3][4][5][6] and the United States [7][8][9] over the last three decades. It has also been an emerging field of research over the last 10 years in southern Europe, Spain included [10][11][12][13][14], where the Infiles research project [15] presently underway has been enlarging the country's airtightness database [16][17][18][19][20] using a standardised measuring protocol to ensure comparability of the findings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Airtightness on Thermal Loads in Legacy Low-Income Housing

et al. 2019

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Spain's high winter weather-associated death count, the second largest in Europe, can be attributed primarily to the low construction standards of its social housing, particularly the stock built prior to the entry into effect of the earliest statutory provisions on envelope quality. Hence, improving building envelopes to both reduce energy consumption and raise occupant comfort levels is important. Air leakage is one of the factors with the greatest impact on indoor comfort and domestic energy consumption. This study explores the sensitivity of energy consumption to that parameter in a series of types of social housing built between 1950 and 1979 in five Mediterranean climate zones. Demand in a total of 53 housing units located in 21 developments was simulated to that end. The findings show that air permeability has a significant effect on wintertime demand in the sample studied. Although the impact is greater in the more severe climates where it is estimated to be over 10 kWh/m 2 , it may also affect energy consumption in mild climates.

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Airtightness and ventilation in a mild climate country rehabilitated social housing buildings – What users want and what they get

Cited by 44 publications

References 18 publications

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

Mean Age of Air in Natural Ventilated Buildings: Experimental Evaluation and CO2 Prediction by Artificial Neural Networks

Effect of Airtightness on Thermal Loads in Legacy Low-Income Housing

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