Experimental Evaluation of Energy-Efficiency in a Holistically Designed Building

Abstract

The building sector continues to register a significant rise in energy demand and environmental impact, notably in developing countries. A considerable proportion of this energy is required during the operational phase of buildings for interior heating and cooling, leading to a necessity of building performance improvement. A holistic approach in building design and construction represents a step to moderate construction costs in conjunction with reduced long-term operating costs and a low impact on the environment. The present paper presents an experimental evaluation of the energy efficiency of a building under real climate conditions; the building, which represents a holistically designed modular laboratory, is located in a moderate continental temperate climate, characteristic of the south-eastern part of the Pannonian Depression, with some sub-Mediterranean influences. Considerations for the holistic design of the building, including multi-object optimization and integrated design with a high regard for technology and operational life are described. The paper provides a genuine overview of the energy efficiency response of the building during six months of operational use through a monitored energy management system. The energetic analysis presented in the paper represents an intermediary stage as not all the energetic users were installed nor all the energetic suppliers. However, the results showed a reliable thermal response in the behaviour of recycled-PET thermal wadding used as insulation material in the building and for the intermediary stage in which the building has only secondary energy users, the energetic balance proves its efficiency, keeping the buffer stock of energy high values over 90%.

Thermo-Energy Performance of Lightweight Steel Framed Constructions: A Case Study

“…The experimental module, presented in Figures 4 and 5, was designed following sustainability design criteria: material and resources procurement and efficiency, health and well-being, energy and cost-efficiency. Some of the sustainability aspects of LSF constructions include the speed of construction, possibility of prefabrication, architectural flexibility in building retrofit, small weight with increased mechanical strength, significant potential for recycling and reuse, transportation and handling cost savings, and others [13,[22][23][24].…”

“…The chosen thermal insulation is the recycled-PET thermal wadding, fabricated using polyester fibres recycled from post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. This material has a low environmental impact [22,26], high mechanical resistance, and good physical properties [28]. Another reason for this choice was to stimulate the local economy and the recycling and reuse of materials.…”

“…The module's functioning is based on the energy provided by the on-site generation technologies, the construction being a non-grid connected building. The data acquisition infrastructure consists of 3 CO 2 sensors, 14 humidity sensors and 53 temperature sensors distributed, as previously presented in reference [22]. Sensors were placed on the inner and outer face of the exterior wall and between the layers.…”

“…Simultaneously, the results are consistent with the findings from the literature [49,50], mentioning that residential buildings' performance can be highly variable, and even similar houses could have dramatically different performance levels. Nevertheless, as it was mentioned in Reference [22], the building's envelope plays a pivotal role in reducing the energy demand for heating or cooling.…”

“…It should be mentioned that the calculations do not consider the overall embodied energy of the building. Therefore, it is highlighted the need to provide energy-efficient solutions [22] described by alternative energy sources to reduce the overall energy consumption. [22], the building's envelope plays a pivotal role in reducing the energy demand for heating or cooling.…”