How the Energy Price Variability in Italy Affects the Cost of Building Heating: A Trnsys-Guided Comparison between Air-Source Heat Pumps and Gas Boilers

Ballerini, Vincenzo; Schio, Eugenia Rossi di; Valdiserri, Paolo

doi:10.3390/buildings12111936

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In Table 1 the dimensions and thermophysical characteristics of the main envelope elements are reported; the transmittance values of the main envelope elements (vertical walls and int-floor) are typical of the northern Italian buildings built in years 1970-1990, as reported in [9]. The building has been modelized employing type 56 (multizone building), while the generators have been modelized in two different ways: the gas boiler have been modelized employing type 122 coupled to radiators radiators (types 320 and 362 [19]), while the heat pump has modelized employing two interpolators, in order to determine step-by-step, the Coefficient of performance of the machine (COP) and the thermal power output (P th ), function of the external air temperature and of the inverter frequency.…”

Section: Setting Of the Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transition towards more sustainable energy sources in building heating, however, should not overlook the importance of thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Ballerini et al presented an economic analysis comparing gas boilers and heat pumps as generators for building heating [9]. The aim of the present paper is to complement the analysis presented in [9] by taking into account the comfort analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ballerini et al presented an economic analysis comparing gas boilers and heat pumps as generators for building heating [9]. The aim of the present paper is to complement the analysis presented in [9] by taking into account the comfort analysis. According to the ISO standard 7730 definition [10], thermal comfort is the "condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Influence of different heating systems on thermal comfort perception: a dynamic and CFD analysis

Ballerini,

Volo,

Pulvirenti

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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In this paper, we investigate the influence of different heating systems on the thermal comfort indexes, Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD), for a residential apartment located in Bologna (Italy). The apartment has an area of 40 m2 and is located on the ground floor of 4 floors building. The envelop consists in horizontal perforated bricks with internal thermal insulation material and two windows. The analyses are performed employing Trnsys, a commercial dynamic simulation software and Simcenter STAR-CCM+, a multiphysics computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The CFD analysis regards a steady condition of a typical winter day in Bologna. Thermal comfort indexes and thermal energy demand are studied comparing two different heating generation systems existing in the considered apartment: a condensing gas boiler coupled with radiators as terminal emitters and an air-to-air heat pump. By crossing the results obtained by the dynamical approach and by the CFD simulations, a two-objective methodology where energy consumption is minimised while thermal comfort is obtained, is presented.

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Section: Setting Of the Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Influence of different heating systems on thermal comfort perception: a dynamic and CFD analysis

Ballerini,

Volo,

Pulvirenti

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…For example, Singh Gaur et al [7] presented a review on several aspects of heat pumps, including their role in the decarbonization of the heating sector and recent technological advances. In Italy, Ballerini et al [8] analysed the variation in the thermal energy demand for different temperature levels of the set point of indoor air. They performed dynamic simulations for three different residential buildings and in three different climates to compare the cost of heating generation by an air-to-water heat pump and a gas boiler.…”

Section: Background Scope and Novelty Of The Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Saving, Energy Efficiency or Renewable Energy: Which Is Better for the Decarbonization of the Residential Sector in Italy?

Noro

Busato

2023

Energies

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The residential sector is currently responsible for approximately 30% of the final energy consumption and 12% of direct CO2 emissions in Italy, mainly due to the heating and cooling of buildings and the use of domestic hot water. Such figures show a significant potential for reducing non-renewable primary energy utilization to comply with the decarbonization constraints of the European Union. In this context, the purpose of this work is to provide a quantitative assessment of the effect of a different number of actions (eight for energy savings, four for energy efficiency and two for the installation of renewable energy plants) that could be implemented at the national level to reduce the consumption of natural gas in the residential sector. Two typical residential buildings are dynamically simulated using Trnsys®, and the savings from energy, economic and CO2 emissions points of view are evaluated in the different climatic zones of Italy. The most effective action foresees the replacement of natural gas boilers and old air conditioners with modern heat pumps and air/air chillers as well as the installation of a controlled mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery. This solution allows for non-renewable primary energy savings of 58% and an economic savings on annual energy costs of 72%.

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“…By analyzing the system characteristics under different operating modes, a system operation strategy was formulated based on the building load characteristics. Vincenzo et al [18] studied the variation in thermal energy demands of a residential building at different indoor air set-point temperatures and proposed an economic analysis comparing the costs of the ASHP system and gas boiler. Alalili et al [19] used TRNSYS to evaluate the effectiveness of an HVAC system consisting of a photovoltaic/thermal collector and ASHP.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Objective Optimization Research on the Integration of Renewable Energy HVAC Systems Based on TRNSYS

Si,

Peng,

Jin

et al. 2023

Buildings

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Well-designed passive buildings can drastically reduce building energy consumption, and optimal design of air conditioning systems is the key to achieving low operating energy consumption in near-zero energy buildings. TRNSYS was used to build the simulation model for a near-zero-energy building and its air conditioning system in Beijing. The Taguchi method was used to sort the design parameters that affect system performance according to the degree of influence and find the best combination of design parameters to optimize the system, which increased the solar fraction of the system by 4.6% and reduced the annual operating energy consumption by 7.32%. For the optimized system, a multi-objective optimization function of the life cycle costs and carbon emissions was established. By comparing the energy consumption, life cycle costs, and carbon emissions of the air conditioning system under different system configurations, optimal configuration solutions under different design target weights were obtained. It was found that using a ground source heat pump system + solar collector system had better energy-savings benefits, but the operating costs were slightly higher. The application of absorption refrigeration can reduce the system operating costs but will increase the initial investment. The best economic benefits were achieved using the ground source heat pump system + solar collector system for heating in winter and the ground source heat pump system for cooling in summer, and the best environmental benefits were obtaining using the ground source heat pump system + solar collector system for heating in winter and the ground source heat pump system + solar absorption refrigeration system in summer, which provides a reference for the optimization design and research of air conditioning systems in near-zero energy buildings.

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How the Energy Price Variability in Italy Affects the Cost of Building Heating: A Trnsys-Guided Comparison between Air-Source Heat Pumps and Gas Boilers

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Influence of different heating systems on thermal comfort perception: a dynamic and CFD analysis

Influence of different heating systems on thermal comfort perception: a dynamic and CFD analysis

Energy Saving, Energy Efficiency or Renewable Energy: Which Is Better for the Decarbonization of the Residential Sector in Italy?

Multi-Objective Optimization Research on the Integration of Renewable Energy HVAC Systems Based on TRNSYS

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