Zero energy homes – Are they economically viable?

Berry, Stephen; Davidson, Kathryn

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2015.05.009

Cited by 41 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…In 2016, the International Energy Agency [2] stated that energy use in the water sector in 2014 was equivalent to 4% of global electricity consumption. Europe has similar numbers, with 3% of global electricity consumption [3], and other studies on efficient and low-carbon energy consumption have 2 of 20 been carried out worldwide [4][5][6][7][8]. In Spain, the water sector consumed 5.8% in 2008 [9], but the authors did not include Spanish households in the primary energy consumed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standalone Photovoltaic Direct Pumping in Urban Water Pressurized Networks with Energy Storage in Tanks or Batteries

2020

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Photovoltaic energy production is nowadays one of the hottest topics in the water industry as this green energy source is becoming more and more workable in countries like Spain, with high values of irradiance. In water pressurized systems supplying urban areas, they distribute energy consumption in pumps throughout the day, and it is not possible to supply electromechanical devices without energy storages such as batteries. Additionally, it is not possible to manage energy demand for water consumption. Researchers and practitioners have proven batteries to be reliable energy storage systems, and are undertaking many efforts to increase their performance, capacity, and useful life. Water pressurized networks incorporate tanks as devices used for accumulating water during low consumption hours while releasing it in peak hours. The compensation tanks work here as a mass and energy source in water pressurized networks supplied with photovoltaic arrays (not electricity grids). This work intends to compare which of these two energy storage systems are better and how to choose between them considering that these two systems involve running the network as a standalone pumping system without being connected to electricity grids. This work also calculates the intermediate results, considering both photovoltaic arrays and electricity grids for supplying electricity to pumping systems. We then analyzed these three cases in a synthetic network (used in earlier research) considering the effect of irradiation and water consumption, as we did not state which should be the most unfavorable month given that higher irradiance coincides with higher water consumption (i.e., during summer). Results show that there is no universal solution as energy consumption depends on the network features and that energy production depends very much on latitude. We based the portfolio of alternatives on investments for purchasing different equipment at present (batteries, pipelines, etc.) based on economic criteria so that the payback period is the indicator used for finding the best alternative, which is the one with the lowest value.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standalone Photovoltaic Direct Pumping in Urban Water Pressurized Networks with Energy Storage in Tanks or Batteries

2020

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“…Therefore, a valuation of an energy performance feature of the passive house or zero-energy building is needed to determine total cost occurred during whole life cycle period on building. The importance of including the energy certification of buildings in property valuation may, in turn, motivate an improvement in energy efficiency in housing and an improvement in the environment in general [40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Economic Feasibility of Passive Houses in Korea

2018

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The number of passive houses and zero-energy buildings being developed is increasing, as measures to reduce the rapidly increasing building energy consumption. While government building policies focus on energy savings, investors and the building market emphasize the initial investment cost. These conflicting perspectives obstruct the development of passive houses in the building market. In this study, a series of building energy analyses, including the effect of energy saving measures and economic information considering long-term economic benefit and incentives policy, will be presented. Analyses were performed on the energy-saving measures needed to improve the performance of single-family houses in Korea to that of the passive house standard, as well as the energy saving effect and increased cost. The application of energy saving measures for passive house implementation resulted in an additional cost of 1.85%–4.20% compared to the conventional reference house. In addition, the proposed passive house alternative shows a short payback period and life cycle cost (LCC) result, compared to a conventional building’s life cycle period. The possibility of passive house implementation is high, and developing the passive house is affordable for the investor or end user in Korea.

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“…Within the context of ZCB, the changing environment for ZCB will urge firms to take advantage of business opportunities and respond to contingencies through building up their dynamic capabilities. Building energy codes are steadily moving towards nearly zero energy or zero carbon (Berry and Davidson, 2015). Despite the inconsistency in the ZCB definitions, government targets for achieving zero carbon have been put forward in many countries.…”

Section: Business Model Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%