bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comfort IAQ – a new tool to simulate the indoor particulate matter pollution in relation to the chosen supply air filter quality
Authors: Zimmer Tobias
Published: August 2019

Many factors are rather well known for their ability to create a good indoor air climate, but when it comes to airborne particles, there is no great deal of documentation to consult and set requirements. Nor are there much of other specific guidelines. The new, product-neutral and free online calculation tool Comfort IAQ helps to understand the mechanisms behind IAQ and gives a good indication on what would be the impact on indoor air quality (IAQ) due to air exchange, outdoor air environment, air filter selection and building envelope characteristics. Comfort IAQ allows to simulate the concentrations of Particulate Matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) in a specific ventilated room, depending on the chosen supply air filter quality. To model the room and the supply air conditions in a realistic way, Comfort IAQ allows to define besides outdoor air conditions (ODA) also the room dimensions, the air changes, the recirculation air rate as well as the supply air filter quality (based on ISO 16890, EN779 or ASHRAE 52.2). Based on these values, the Comfort IAQ tool provides an estimation of the indoor particle concentration and gives engineers and planers a good tool to optimize the Indoor Air Quality, by choosing the best combinations of supply air filter qualities and ventilation rates for a specific application. The algorithms in the online tool Comfort IAQ have been developed by Lars Ekberg, (Docent-installallationsteknik, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola) and the accuracy of the calculations was verified by comparing them with measurements in a full-scale test chamber.
Aerosolization of Aspergillus niger spores from colonies on different positions of a circular tube
Authors: Li Xian , Zhang Tengfei , Wang Shugang
Published: August 2019

Subject to the blowing air, fungal spores can be aerosolized from the colonies growing on cooling coils. The blowing air may accelerate and decelerate when passing a coil. The caused spore detachment may be different, when the fungal colonies grow on different positions of the coil. This study investigated the aerosolization of Aspergillus niger spores from a colony on a circular tube in a wind tunnel. The colony was first cultured in the carved groove along the longitudinal tube, and then the spores were aerosolized by a gradual increase of the blowing air speed. The grown colony on four different positions of the coil surface were blown for aerosolization. In addition, the airflow surrounding the circular tube was numerically solved to estimate the drag force for aerosolization of the spores. The results revealed that the collected airborne spores when the colonies were located tangentially to the upcoming airflow were six to eight times of those when the colonies were located parallel with the upcoming airflow for both the 4-day-old and 10-day-old colonies. The local air speeds in different positions of the tube were highly different from the inlet air speed of the wind tunnel. Such difference should be accounted for when estimating the drag force to aerosolize the fungal spores on the coils.
Field study of indoor environment quality in an open atrium with ETFE membrane in a healthcare facility
Authors: Tang Haida , Li Chunying , Ding Jianhua
Published: August 2019

The hospital street is widely utilized in the modern health care facilities as a main traffic streamline to connecting all of the outpatient rooms and treatment departments for easy access. This study investigate the indoor environment quality of a typical hospital street, i.e., a high space atrium with ETFE membrane structure in the top. The investigation combines the on-site measurement and subjective survey. The results indicates that the indoor air temperature in the atrium reaches up to 32.6oC in a summer day causing thermal discomfort according to ASHRAE 55. The CO2, PM2.5, TVOC concentration in the hospital street comply with the Chinese standard for hospitals. The illumination in the corridors around the atrium is below the threshold of Chinese standard, i.e., 100 lux. Due to the vibration of the light ETFE membrane structure, the noise level in rainy days is as high as 79.5 dB which causes acoustic discomfort of occupants. This study is beneficial for the design of the hospital street design with the ETFE membrane structure.
Hue-Heat Hypothesis: A Step forward for a Holistic Approach to IEQ
Authors: d’Ambrosio Alfano Francesca Romana , Bellia Laura , Fragliasso Francesca , Palella Boris Igor , Riccio Giuseppe
Published: August 2019

For many years different human factors contributing to the IEQ have been studied separately. Concerning thermal perception, despite it is almost accepted that thermal comfort can be influenced by concomitant stimulation of non-tactile modalities, relatively few investigations have succeeded in delineating non-tactile stimulations as the visual ones. The hue-heat hypothesis is based on the idea that, when spectral irradiance pattern at the observer’s eye shows a great amount of short wavelengths, the space is perceived as cooler. Conversely, when long wavelengths are predominant, the space is perceived as warmer. This means that operating on light characteristics could help in improving thermal comfort for the occupants with possible energy savings obtained by acting on the set-point temperature of HVAC systems. To verify this hypothesis, this paper will deal with a subjective investigation carried out in a special mechanically conditioned test room equipped with white-tuning LED sources. Investigated subjects have been exposed to two different light scenes consisting of warm (3000 K) and cool light sources (6000 K) at a fixed task illuminance value. Preliminary results seem to demonstrate that cool light is effective in shifting to cool the perceived thermal sensation with a general increase of people under neutral conditions.
Table top surface appraisal by school children under different lighting conditions tested in the Senselab
Authors: Ortiz Marco A. , Zhang Dadi , Bluyssen Philomena M.
Published: August 2019

To find out whether a surface finishing was preferred under different lighting conditions by school children, in the light test chamber of the SenseLab, 335 children from previous studied schools were asked to assess a desk surface during different light conditions. A two-way randomized design was used to test children’s assessments for six school desks table tops (brown, yellow and grey wood, and, normal, matt and reflective white), under three different light conditions: energizing, calming, and focusing. A statistically relevant relationship was found for the three wooden surfaces, but none for the white ones. Such results may be due to the fact that better contrast between the participants’ form and the surface appeared with the wooden-like surfaces, as opposed to that with the white surfaces. Similarly, white surfaces’ characteristics seemed to be more difficult to assess (mattness, reflectiveness, opacity) as opposed to those for the wooden-like surfaces (colour yellow, brown, grey).
Passive control of the bed micro-environment by using naturally ventilated mattress
Authors: Snášelová Tereza , Bivolarova Mariya Petrova , Melikov Arsen Krikor
Published: August 2019

Proper sleep is of a big importance considering that people spend one third of their lives sleeping. Thermal conditions and indoor air quality have an impact on sleep and thus must be optimized and controlled to enhance sleep quality. However, changing the thermal environment in the whole bedroom is not efficient, because of unnecessary use of energy and slow response of the HVAC system. Control of the bed microclimate is a quick and efficient way to obtain optimal conditions. Passive methods of control may, in a simple and inexpensive way, create comfortable and beneficial conditions for sleep. The performance of a porous mattress from highly-breathable material was investigated to validate the hypothesis that the natural ventilation it generates improves thermal and humidity conditions in bed. A simple method using a wet cloth was used to simulate sweating on the surface of a thermal manikin resembling a person in bed. The results showed promising effect of the breathable material on improving thermal and humidity conditions in bed, especially when it was used without textile cover. However, the mattress together with its original textile cover did not provide any significant ventilation effect, neither on humidity conditions in the bed, nor on cooling of the manikin’s body.
An inquiry into the certification potential of built environments’ affordance
Authors: Mahdavi Ardeshir , Berger Christiane
Published: August 2019

Buildings are typically equipped with a number of elements and devices (e.g., windows, blinds, luminaires, radiators) to control indoor environmental conditions. The availability, effectiveness, and usability of control devices and their interfaces constitute an essential aspect of built environments’ quality. This aspect has been sometimes referred to as indoor-environmental “affordance” (or “ecological valency”) and can be interpreted as a descriptor of buildings’ responsiveness toward inhabitants’ needs and requirements. However, in contrast to some other building quality aspects such as energy efficiency, there is a lack of systematic evaluation or certifications procedures for objective characterization of indoor environments’ affordance as related to the availability and effectiveness of control devices and their human interfaces. This paper entails an exploration of the potential for and associated challenges of designing and implementing affordance measurement and certification procedures. Challenges include, above all, assigning relative weights and coefficient values to different domains (e.g., thermal, visual, acoustical), devices, and levels of their effectiveness. Irrespective of their success to date, attempts toward operationalization of indoor-environmental affordance can be quite beneficial: The affordance framework can offer a systematic, intuitive, and compact framework to guide the workflow toward the provision and maintenance of adequate indoor environments for human occupancy.
The effect of acoustical treatment on primary school children’s performance, sound perception, and influence assessment
Authors: Zhang Dadi , Tenpierik Martin , Bluyssen Philomena M.
Published: August 2019

A previous field study showed that more than 85% of Dutch children reported they were bothered by noise in the classroom. To investigate the impact of acoustical treatment on children’s phoneme identification, 335 school children (9 to 13 years old) from the previously studied schools were invited to take part in a series of tests in the acoustical chamber of the SenseLab. All the children performed two series of listening tests and evaluations in chamber A (untreated) and chamber B (acoustically treated) respectively, while at the same time one of seven background sounds (45dB or 60dB traffic noise, 45dB or 60dB children talking, 45dB or 60dB music, or no sound) were randomly played in the chambers. T-tests were conducted to compare the results of children’s phonological process tasks, sound perceptions, and influence assessments in these two chambers. Results showed a statistically significant difference in children’s sound perceptions (p=0.01). Children reported the untreated chamber A to be noisier.
Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Indoor Environmental Quality in a nZEB sport hall in a Mediterranean climate.
Authors: Ortiz Joana , Gonzalez Matterson Maria L. , Taddeo Paolo , Salom Jaume
Published: August 2019

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the environmental comfort of the users of a new nZEB sport hall located in Tarragona, Spain, through a Post Occupancy Evaluation. The study is composed by two phases of measurements where the visual comfort, the thermal comfort and the air quality are evaluated. The first monitoring campaign is focused on a detailed visual comfort evaluation under daylight conditions, done on July 28th, 2017. The second monitoring campaign is focused on the thermal comfort and the air quality and was performed during the Mediterranean Olympic Games from June 19th to July 1st of 2018. Moreover, around 140 of surveys are done to the audience to compare the calculated comfort parameters with the perception of the users. The results of the Post Occupancy Evaluation are satisfactory, obtaining good comfort indexes and demonstrating a good perception by the users.
Effect of insulation on indoor thermal comfort in a detached house with a floor heating system
Authors: Guo Qianwen , Ooka Ryozo , Oh Wonseok , Choi Wonjun , Lee Doyun
Published: August 2019

Appropriate insulation materials, with unique physical properties and of moderate thickness, are essential for energy savings in residential buildings. However, the impact of thermal insulation on indoor thermal comfort with floor heating systems has not been studied extensively. In this study, simulations of a typical Japanese detached house were conducted with four different thicknesses of insulation material in the walls, ceiling, and floor to estimate the mean air temperature (MAT), mean radiant temperature (MRT), floor temperature, predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD). The results showed that increasing the thickness of thermal insulation increased the MAT and MRT by 1.4 – 4.0 ℃ and 1.3 – 4.4 ℃, respectively. Moreover, as the thickness of the thermal insulation increased, the floor temperature rose and exhibited smaller fluctuations. Finally, it was found that increasing the thickness of thermal insulation improved the indoor thermal comfort environment, as evidenced by an increase in the PMV from –1.0 to 0.3, and a decrease in the PPD from 25.1% to 9.5%.
Quantification of indoor environments and study of thermal comfort in naturally hostel buildings in the tropical country, India
Authors: Kumar Sanjay , Singh Manoj Kumar , Gupta Varun Kumar
Published: August 2019

Hostel buildings prime objective is to provide better thermal environments to the students for their good health and learning performance. In India, a very few studies are done on the thermal environments of multi-storied naturally ventilated hostel buildings. We carried out a thermal comfort study in two mid-rise (~G+5 floors) naturally ventilated (NV) hostel buildings during monsoon season (August-September, 2018). The field study conducted for three consecutive weeks collecting 642 valid subjective responses with objective information regarding thermal parameters of 253 rooms. Statistical analysis of student’s responses and measured thermal environment variables was performed for assessing inter buildings effects, different weather conditions (rainy or cloudy) and daytime duration (morning, afternoon and evening), respectively. The study finds the mean thermal neutrality at 29.9°C for the studied group using Griffiths’ method. The results suggested that more than 80% of subjects were voting within central three categories when indoor operative temperature ranged between 28-32.1°C. The primary adaptive action of occupants includes switching on the fans (100%) followed by the opening of external doors (80%) and opening or closing of windows (55%) to restore thermal comfort in built environments.
Air Flow Door Barrier for Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms
Authors: Venås Bård , Vikan Anders Welde , Lind Merethe Cecilie , Harsem Trond Thorgeir
Published: August 2019

Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms (AIIRs) are used in hospitals to counter the spread of airborne infections. These rooms usually work well as long as the doors to the patient rooms are closed. However, passage through open doorways initiates air flows that may lead to containment failure. This paper presents a new “Air Flow Door Barrier” system for AIIRs and analyses its efficiency through CFD simulations. The overset mesh method is used to represent a hinged door and a person transiting from the patient room to the anteroom. The new system consists of a fan which introduces filtered patient room air into the anteroom through large displacement diffusors. It runs in synchronization with the door operator and produces an evenly distributed velocity across the open doorway. It is found that the system has the potential to remove nearly all transfer of air out from the patient room. The development of the system is part of an ongoing project aimed at finding cost-effective solutions for retrofitting existing patient rooms. However, the system also has the potential to be beneficial when considering inclusion in new standard AIIRs.
User Perception of Indoor Temperature and Preferences in Energy-Efficient Office Renovation Cases in the Netherlands
Authors: Kwon Minyoung , van den Dobbelsteen Andy , Remøy Hilde
Published: August 2019

A comfortable indoor environment is one of the primary conditions of buildings. A majority of studies have attempted to compare occupant satisfaction of green-certificated offices and conventional offices. However, comparison of occupant perception with the adaptive comfort model may show differences and provide recommendations for the globe temperature in comfort. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the seasonal adaptation to indoor temperature, and to report the results of users’ thermal perception surveys on energy efficient renovated office buildings. This work compares occupants’ perception of indoor thermal quality. Data of indoor temperature were collected for 2 weeks in three seasons: summer, winter, and mid-season. Monitored indoor temperatures were compared with occupants’ thermal sensation, preference, and satisfaction regarding thermal comfort. The research found the relationship between indoor temperature and occupants’ thermal sensation. Results show that occupants perceived thermal quality better in renovated offices compared to non-renovated ones, but they do not always experience better thermal comfort than people in a non-renovated office.
The role of the reference building in the evaluation of energy efficiency measures for large stocks of public buildings
Authors: Guolo Erika , Pistore Lorenza , Romagnoni Piercarlo
Published: August 2019

With the last European Directive 2018/844/EU, EU Member States have to outline effective strategies for the energy renovation of existing buildings, so as to achieve the objectives set respectively for 2030, 2040 and 2050, taking advantage of new financing instruments. In this process, public buildings are identified as important drivers for energy-behavioural changes among citizens and, in addition, they can benefit from encouraging mortgages for certified energy efficient renovations. However, the problem of dealing with existing public buildings is their sample size combined with the current necessity of significant renovations. In this scenario, the reference building acquires a key role as the starting model for the evaluation of primary energy needs and of retrofit measures. In this work, a reference building selected by a previous work is further analyzed, testing selected potential retrofit interventions by means of model simulation. The implemented measures are then evaluated using a cost-optimal approach, in order to integrate their priority with respect to cost-effectiveness. The aim of the work is to test on a building centrotype selected retrofit measures, to be then extended to the other buildings similar for their main geometrical and thermophysical features.
Boosting affordability, acceptability and attractiveness of deep energy renovations of residential buildings – a people-centred ethnographic approach
Authors: Cerinsek Gregor , Bancic Domen , Podjed Dan , D’Oca Simona , Vetrsek Jure , Dolinsek Slavko , Veld Peter op’t
Published: August 2019

A prevailing perception within the research field of energy and buildings is that buildings – and not people – consume energy. Researchers and practitioners often neglect the important effect of the actual behaviour of people living or working in buildings, together with the values, habits, motivation factors, and other practices connected to the energy use. The key aim of this paper is to demonstrate the added value of the ethnographic approaches and interdisciplinary analysis for understanding and influencing human behaviour to support and enhance deep energy renovation of residential buildings. It presents the methodology together with preliminary findings from a demonstration study in Slovenia. It concludes by providing case-specific recommendations in terms of affordability, acceptability and attractiveness by considering everyday lifestyles, motivations, and issues faced by actors involved in the renovation processes.
Progress in energy efficiency standards of residential buildings in China’s severe cold and cold zones
Authors: Yu Zhenyu , Xu Wei , Chen Xi , Sun Deyu , Zhang Jing , Lu Fei , Liu Changping
Published: August 2019

Since Chinese government released the first residential building energy efficiency standard in 1986, the energy efficiency of residential buildings have been improved significantly. Three editions of residential building energy efficiency standards in severe cold and cold zones have been issued in the past 30 years, meanwhile, a new version is in the course of development and will be released in 2018. The paper reviews energy efficiency standards that have been issued for residential buildings in severe cold and cold zones in China, and development of new energy efficiency standards. The paper also describes the variation of key requirement in standards. Finally, future prospects for further developing energy efficiency standards for residential buildings in China are addressed. The findings show that the energy consumption reduction percentage has raised from 30% of JGJ 26-86 to 65% of the JGJ 26-2010. The insulation performance of roofs and external walls increased respectively by 103% and 83%, and the window performance increased by 130%.
A Study on Energy and Cost Efficiency for Existing Hotel Buildings in Turkey
Authors: Atmaca Merve , Yýlmaz Zerrin
Published: August 2019

In Turkey, according to TUİK Sectoral Energy Consumption Statistics (2006), the hotel buildings with the highest share, constitute 35% of the total building energy consumption. Energy needs and consumption behaviours differ according to the typology of the building. Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) has been adapted to the conditions of Turkey to increase energy and cost efficiency, to reduce the environmental and economic negative effects. The energy consumption and the global cost were investigated under different conditions in an existing hotel building. The paper is unique in its ability to deliver optimum solution through comparison by evaluating energy and cost efficiency at the same time considering sectoral, climatic, technological and economic national conditions when the literature research detailed in the present works about the problem is evaluated in detail. All findings have been compared simultaneously under different climate regions of seasonal and yearly working conditions of selected test hotel to obtain the energy and cost efficiency. Among the proposed improvement scenarios, the optimum scenario is determined in terms of cost and energy efficiency in S18 which has the highest energy efficiency. In this case, both insulation material type and thickness as well as glass type can be bent and through multiple measures can be achieved by 25.7% improvement for energy efficiency.
A Long-term Strategy for Energy and Cost Performance Improvement of Existing Residential Buildings: Step-by-step Renovation in Turkey
Authors: Ashrafian Touraj , Yilmaz Zerrin , Moazzen Nazanin
Published: August 2019

Recast version of Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD-Recast) obligate member states to keep the cost analysis in parallel with the energy analysis during the renovation actions for the existing building by taking the cost-optimal level of minimum energy performance requirement to the account. Although this cost-optimal level is indicating the minimum cost level for a period, it can provide buildings’ owners with an enormous initial cost. One of the most challenging barriers to energy efficient and cost-optimal renovation of existing buildings is the reluctance of owners to involve in their project as an investor due to the high cost of application. Particularly in developing countries, such reluctance is more tangible as the governments are not capable of providing enough financial incentives for owners due to a large number of buildings that should be renovated and small available budget. A proper solution for the problem is to divide necessary actions for each building to certain sub-actions and apply them as a step-by-step renovation project. On the other hand, the progressive application of renovation activities has some restrictions. It is necessary to define the due amount for households and keep the cost of each step within the payable range.

Moreover, the low rate of building renovation which affects the EU goals can be improved remarkably by application of step-by-step actions not only by increasing the number of owners’ contributions but also by improving the time of implementation, proper distribution of skilled labours and directed economic resources. This paper aims to assess the step-by-step application of the energy efficient renovation actions through energy and cost analysis under Turkey’s climatic, economic and sociological conditions. One of 26 reference residential buildings in Turkey is analysed in this paper. The due amount for each step is defined, and some renovation actions and their combinations applied to the case building and the results compared with the base condition. Then a proper combination of measures established based on the cost-optimal analyses. These appropriately combined actions are then divided into some sub-actions; following this, cost and energy studies are conducted again to determine the appropriate arrangement of sub-actions.
Evaluation of the behavior of an innovative thermally activated building system (TABS) with PCM for an efficient design
Authors: Guerrero MCarmen , Sánchez José , Álvarez Servando , Antonio Tenorio José , Cabeza Luisa F. , Bartolomé Cesar , Pavón MCarmen
Published: August 2019

The global energy crisis has caused a double effect. On the one hand, users are increasingly aware of the energy cost they face. On the other hand, public administrations have become aware of the importance of limiting energy consumption in buildings as a way to combat climate change and reduce the energy dependence with the climate. This situation supposes a great opportunity for innovative constructive solutions with an energetic behaviour that surpasses the traditional approach of reduction of the transmittance. In this work, studies are presented to obtain potential of a new solution thermally activated with two innovations with respect to those existing in the market: its activation is done by hot / cold water produced by renewable systems; and its concrete structural element in addition to having coupled the heat exchanger presents an innovative mortar doped with PCM microencapsulated phase change material.
Preliminary numerical studies conducted for the numerical model of a real transpired solar collector with integrated phase changing materials
Authors: Bejan Andrei - Stelian , Croitoru Cristiana Verona , Bode Florin
Published: August 2019

Solar energy has a great potential to reduce the worldwide energy consumptions thus mitigating the impact of building systems on the global warming. Transpired solar collectors (TSC) are cost-effective solutions and phase changing materials (PCM) implemented within them could store the energy during the periods when solar radiation is available. The current paper is part of comprehensive numerical studies and analyses the mesh independency studies conducted in ANSYS Fluent with SST k-Ω viscous model and the numerical model preliminary results (3.3ºC rise in temperature). The results emphasise that the 5 million cells mesh is the feasible option for the studied case.
Practical natural ventilation performance metric based on thermal autonomy for sustainable building design
Authors: Hiyama Kyosuke , Wen Liwei
Published: August 2019

Natural ventilation is an essential component in sustainable building design. However, successfully incorporating it remains difficult because the utilizable amounts of ambient energy resources differ according to project conditions such as ambient climates. Moreover, lack of a metric that could encourage an architect to design a proper plan and façade for natural ventilation at the schematic design stage is being recognized as a barrier to successful achievement of natural ventilation. An inappropriate plan and façade would make it impossible to make thorough considerations for successful implementation of natural ventilation at the later design stages. To encourage even the architects without special expertise in natural ventilation, the metric should be as simple as possible to evaluate the achieved natural ventilation design intuitively and rationally. This paper proposes net Thermal Autonomy as a modified metric of Thermal Autonomy, which cannot easily evaluate the achievement level because the applied weather data significantly influence the calculated value. In the proposed metric, a universal threshold covering climate factors is available by applying net time, while the outdoor condition suitable for natural ventilation is used in the denominator. The practicality of the proposed metric is examined through parametric building energy simulations and analyses.
A simple methodology for comparing cost-benefit of traditional, green and cool roofs
Authors: Di Lorenzo Diletta , Lupo Valeria , Peri Giorgia , Rizzo Gianfranco , Scaccianoce Gianluca
Published: August 2019

Energy policy makers, architects and researchers, when designing new buildings or rehabilitating the existing ones, are engaged in the attempt of limiting the energy needs for climatization (NZEB buildings) and the environmental pressure exerted by buildings (EU Climate Action). The pursuit of this demanding assignment calls for innovative solutions in conceiving the building envelope and its energy systems. Recently, among the most effective tools for improving the energy and environmental performances of buildings, the technical interventions regarding the roofs are gaining a rising attention. Indeed, covers of buildings are responsible of a relevant part of their energy losses and, on the other hand, could contribute to increasing the UHI effect. In the paper, a simple methodology that compares the energy and environmental benefits of cool and green coverages with traditional ones is presented. The capability of limiting the UHI effect of these solutions is also analysed. The methodology is applied to four cities of the Sicilian Island, characterized by different building density and different microclimates. This in-field application shows the feasibility of the method to be used in different urban contexts, as a useful contribution to the design of new buildings or to the re-design of the existing ones.
Innovative pre-fabricated components including different waste construction materials reducing building energy and minimising environmental impacts (InnoWEE)
Authors: Fodor Loredana , Ducman Vilma , Ferrarini Giovanni , Tamburini Sergio , Tsoutis Constantinos , Becherini Francesca , Garrido-Marijuán Antonio , Mezzasalma Giulia , Rossi Leonardo , Lezak Emil , Bernardi Adriana
Published: August 2019

InnoWEE is a four-year project (from 2016 to 2020) financed by the European Community that involves ten partners from different European countries, as Greece, Italy, Belgium, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Poland. The aim is to use the waste materials coming from construction and demolition processes of buildings and include them into a geopolymeric matrix with the purpose of producing prefabricated panels for different applications. Construction and demolition waste (CDW) materials with suitable characteristics have been selected to develop high performance geopolymeric panels for building walls envelopes and radiant panels for indoor walls and ceilings with low environmental impact. Field tests will be carried out in different sites in Europe characterized by different climatic conditions to check the simplicity of the installation procedure and the performance of the panels in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact.
Analysis of Annual Energy Use Intensities (EUIs) by End-Use in Apartment Units According to Stratification Variables (2017 – 2018)
Authors: Jin Hye-Sun , Lim Han-Young , Kim You-Jeong , Lee Soo-Jin , Kim Sung-Im , Lim Jae-Han , Song Seung-Yeong
Published: August 2019

To achieve the goal of reducing greenhouses gases, many countries have recognized the importance of energy conservation in the building sector, and such countries are considerably strengthening their building energy conservation policies by reinforcing design standards, encouraging remodeling, and requiring zero-energy construction. In order to effectively strengthen these policies, it is necessary to provide information concerning energy consumption in the building sector to ensure the technical and economic feasibility of policies in the marketplace, and to allow building users and policy makers to easily access and understand energy consumption characteristics. It is important to provide information that allows people to effectively understand the state of energy consumption by end-use (space heating, space cooling, domestic hot water, etc.) as part of the creation of a concrete plan for energy reduction that incorporates various service systems and is familiar to people. This is because providing such information plays an important role in establishing concrete policies and encouraging voluntary energy performance improvements by building occupants. South Korea operates the Korea Energy Statistics Information System (KESIS) and the information provided by this type of information system consists mainly of energy consumption by energy source (electricity, gas, etc.), and such systems remain inadequate for providing effective information on energy consumption and energy use intensity (EUI) by end-use (space heating, space cooling, domestic hot water, etc.) as part of the creation of a concrete plan for energy conservation. In order to accurately provide energy consumption information by end-use rather than limit the information to mainly consumption corresponding to energy sources, in this study, measurement systems were installed in 2014 ~ 2016 based on the overall sampling designs of previous studies for apartment units, classifications, measurement and data gathering methods for energy consumption by end-use. The annual statistical values for EUI by end-use were collected from the measurement data for 71 sample apartment units from May 2017 to April 2018. This data was calculated and analyzed using stratification variable levels for completion year, supplied area, and the heat source type.
Assessment of the energy efficiency of a public university building in Southern Brazil
Authors: Garcia J. , Santos de Souza L. , Kretzer M. B. , Rupp da Silva M. , Hackenberg A. M.
Published: August 2019

The adequate assessment of the thermal performance of a building requires the knowledge of its characteristics within its inserted context, making it possible to verify the actual and future performance of the building. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the energy efficiency of a public university building located in southern Brazil. The assessment was carried out according to the Brazilian Technical Regulation for Energy Efficiency Labelling of Commercial, Services and Public Buildings (RTQ-C). In this study, the building envelopment was evaluated under the actual condition and in the reference condition, using the simplified method. The constructive parameters of the building were obtained from the architectural project and technical standards, although the assigned climatic group of the building was defined based on the Brazilian bioclimatic zones. In the end, it was possible to identify the energetic efficiency level of the envelopment through the total annual thermal load of the building in its actual condition. Considering the urban and climatic context, as well as constructive characteristics of the building, strategies were proposed that can be adopted even in the project planning stage, aiming to improve the classification of the envelopment and to meet the energy efficiency policies of the country.
ImmoGap – Analysis of the performance gap of apartment buildings
Authors: Mojic Igor , Lehmann Meta , van Velsen Stefan , Haller Michel
Published: August 2019

Within the project ImmoGap, the so-called performance gap for multifamily buildings was analysed. It contributes to a better classification and a clearer definition of the term “performance gap”. As a first step, a literature study on this topic was carried out. In principle, the “Performance Gap” is understood as an additional consumption of energy or a failure to meet energy benchmarks. The term “Performance Gap” suggests that a desired service is not provided. This is critical, because there are several reasons why a building consumes more energy than originally planned. In the project, the heating energy consumption of 65 multifamily buildings was compared with the design heating demand according to the Swiss standard SIA 380/1 (based on EN ISO 13790:2008). In contrast to other studies, the project team was able to access measurement data with a very high time resolution. On average, the heat demand calculated with standard use is exceeded by 44%. Four of the buildings show an additional consumption between 100% and 115%. Detailed investigations with simulations and measurements show that the additional consumption can largely be explained by the user behaviour regarding shading, ventilation and room temperature, which deviate from the standard. If the observed user behaviour was already used in the demand calculation, the examined buildings on average would not show any “performance gap”.
Thermodynamic sustainability assessment for heating of residential building
Authors: Gojak Milan , Bajc Tamara
Published: August 2019

More than one third of the world’s primary energy demand refers to residential sector. Heating is considered as one of the main part of the energy consumption in buildings. In this study, a thermodynamic sustainability assessment analysis of different energy sources for heating of residential building, with net floor heated area of 162 m2, for Belgrade weather data, was presented. Five options of energy sources were studied, namely: coal, natural gas, electricity, district heating and air-water heat pump. Energy and exergy analyses were conducted and appropriate efficiencies were determined. Energy and exergy flows in boundaries of the building and in the whole chain from primary to final values were analyzed. The environmental impact factor and exergetic sustainability index were determined for all considered energy sources. The exergy efficiency is very low in all analyzed cases, which further implies poor thermodynamic compatibility of energy quality from the supplied side and the energy used for building heating. It was shown that the highest exergy efficiency is for the case of heat pump utilization (about 6%), due to the energy used from environment. The minimum environmental impact factor (15.37) and maximum exergetic sustainability index (0.065) were found for the case of heat pump utilization.
Integration of fast fluid dynamics and Markov chain model for predicting transient particle transport in buildings
Authors: Liu Wei , Chen Chun
Published: August 2019

Fast simulation tools for the prediction of transient particle transport are critical in designing the air distribution indoors to reduce the exposure to indoor particles and associated health risks. This investigation proposed a combined fast fluid dynamics (FFD) and Markov chain model for fast predicting transient particle transport indoors. The solver for FFD-Markov-chain model was programmed in OpenFOAM, an open-source CFD toolbox. This study used a case from the literature to validate the developed model and found well agreement between the transient particle concentrations predicted by the FFD-Markov-chain model and the experimental data. This investigation further compared the FFD-Markovchain model with the CFD-Eulerian model and CFD-Lagrangian model in terms of accuracy and efficiency. The accuracy of the FFD-Markov-chain model was similar to that of the other two models. For the studied case, the FFD-Markov-chain model was 4.7 times faster than the CFD-Eulerian model, and it was 137.4 times faster than the CFD-Lagrangian model in predicting the steady-state airflow and transient particle transport. Therefore, the FFD-Markov-chain model is able to greatly reduce the computing cost for predicting transient particle transport in indoor environments.
Differentiating between direct and indirect exposure to exhaled particles in indoor environments with mechanical ventilation systems
Authors: Chen Chun , You Ruoyu
Published: August 2019

Exhaled contaminants transported in the air can result in the transmission of many airborne infectious diseases in indoor environments. When the exhaled air from the infected person directly enters the breathing zone of another person, direct exposure occurs. When the exhaled contaminants disperse in the room and then are inhaled by another person, indirect exposure occurs. This investigation developed a method for differentiating the direct and indirect exposure to exhaled contaminants in indoor environments with mechanical ventilation. A literature review was conducted to collect experimental data for 191 person-to-person contaminant transport cases. With the analysis of the database, a mathematical method was developed to differentiate direct and indirect exposure in rooms with mixing and displacement ventilation systems. The proposed method correctly differentiated direct and indirect exposure for 120 out of the 133 mixing ventilation cases and 47 out of the 58 displacement ventilation cases. It can be used at the early design stage to quickly assess whether there will be direct exposure to exhaled contaminants in a room with mechanical ventilation systems.
Building hvac retrofitting using a pv assisted dc heat pump coupled with a pcm heat battery and optimal control algorithm
Authors: Zanetti Ettore , Scoccia Rossano , Aprile Marcello , Motta Mario , Mazzarella Livio , Zaglio Maurizio , Pluta Jakub
Published: August 2019

In the last years, the EU and scientific community put a lot of effort in trying to increase the sustainability in renovated buildings by introducing novel concepts and technologies. This paper presents the outcomes of a retrofit case study carried out within the Heat4Cool H2020 project concerning space heating (SH) and domestic hot water (DHW) systems. The case study is a multi-family residential building located in Chorzow, Poland, where the SH and DHW are provided by natural gas boilers present in each apartment. The proposed approach is to combine the existing gas boilers with phase change material storages (PCM) and a direct current air source heat pump (DC-EHP) assisted by a photovoltaic system (PV) connected to the grid. TRNSYS was used for the dynamic simulations, and to support the introduction of the retrofit layout. New custom TRNSYS’ types were developed for each technology and tested against experimental data provided by industrial partners. Furthermore, a state-of-the-art rule-based controller was developed combining TRNSYS with a MATLAB’s script and tested against an interior point optimal control algorithm. In the best-case scenario the yearly primary energy savings are more than 30% accounting for the PV energy sold to the grid and around 11% considering only self-consumption, while the pay-back time is around 10 years considering EU28 economic conditions and 20% overall discount for the renovation project.
Photocatalytic techniques to prevent and combat healthcare associated infections
Authors: Bucureşteanu Răzvan , Apetrei Roxana , Ioniţă Monica , Cinteză Ludmila-Otilia , Diţu Lia-Mara , Husch Mihai
Published: August 2019

An ever-increasing rate of morbidity and mortality caused by healthcare associated infections is reported annually. Air circulation mediates contact with microbial contaminated aerosols and represents a major risk of transmitting healthcare associated infections. We propose a revolutionary technique for the protection of interior surfaces based on a photocatalytic composition with doped TiO2 or ZnO type semiconductor metal oxides which exert antimicrobial effect. In principle, there is an activation of the photocatalytic coating with light from the normal lighting apparatus, which may incorporate one or more sources of photocatalytic excitation light. By studying the air circulation in the hospital, it is possible to design light fixtures with specific design of light distribution, in order to perform the disinfection of the air and surfaces and to amplify the antimicrobial effect. The disinfection process does not affect patients or healthcare professionals, it can be done in their presence and has a continuous, controllable effect. Photocatalytic paint in combination with a prototype luminaire with a precise spectrum light sources, light output and a light intensity distribution curve relative to the shape and dimensions of the rooms, shows that the proposed method may represent a successful alternative to classical methods of disinfection in hospitals. This technique can also be used in other areas of interest.
Using Artificial Neural Networks for Indoor Climate Control in the Field of Preventive Conservation
Authors: Harasty Simon , Böttcher Andreas Daniel , Lambeck Steven
Published: August 2019

In the field of preventive conservation, a main goal is the conservation of cultural heritage by establishing an appropriate indoor climate. Especially in applications with limited possibilities for the usage of HVAC systems, an optimization of the control strategy is needed. Because the changes in temperature and humidity are slow, the usage of predictive controller can be beneficial. Due to the availability of already gathered data, data driven models like artificial neural networks (ANN) are suitable as model. In this paper four different approaches for optimizing the control strategy regarding the requirements of preventive conservation are presented. The first approach is the modelling of the indoor climate of a building using an ANN. As further improvement and second application the adaption of a weather forecast to a local forecast is shown. Since the building stock has the biggest influence on the linkage between outdoor and indoor climate next to the air change rates, an ANN model for a building’s wall represents the third application. Finally, the potential for reducing the need for computational power by using an ANN instead of a non-linear optimization for the predictive controller is presented.