bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Glare analysis of an integral daylighting and lighting control strategy for offices
Authors: Ploerer D , Wasilewski S , Grobe L O
Published: December 2023

Complex Fenestration Systems (CFSs) can significantly impact both the visual and non-visual daylight effects on the occupants as well as the energy performance of buildings. To ensure that those impacts improve the overall situation, proper control algorithms are required if the CFS can be operated. The state of the CFS directly and immediately effects the indoor lighting situation. The thermal condition of the building is usually strongly but not directly influenced by the condition of the façade system due to thermal capacities.

In this study an experimental integral control strategy, called Integrated Lighting Module (ILM) is investigated in terms of it’s glare prevention capabilities and compared to a cut-off- and a simple rule based control logic. The ILM is an autonomous software package capable to run on building management hardware to control façade systems and artificial lighting in real buildings in an energetically optimised way. The adaptive sampling algorithm raytraverse is employed to calculate Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) values, which are used as a benchmark for the control strategy comparison. The other aspect of this comparison is the opening of the façade, which is evaluated as statistics how often each possible façade state is selected by each control strategy.
Investigating Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) as an Indicator for Overheating in a free-running building: a case of thermal comfort improvement in a child development centre in Thailand
Authors: Borisuit A , Suriyothin P
Published: December 2023

Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) is widely used to assess direct sunlight exposure in the building as a proxy to detect potential visual discomfort. Even though ASE was not targeted at thermal comfort, the relationship between direct sunlight and thermal sensation has been known. The study aims to explore the associations of ASE and thermal comfort criteria through an improvement of thermal comfort in a Child Development Centre (CDC) in Thailand. An existing condition of a CDC building and a simplified version were simulated using the IESVE simulation tool. Overhangs, external shutters, and double glazing were integrated into the computer models to improve thermal comfort. CIBSE TM52 overheating criteria are used to indicate thermal comfort. We found significant correlations between ASE and the criteria of CIBSE TM52 (r=0.28-0.56; p<0.05), indicating that more thermal discomfort is significantly correlated with a higher percentage of direct sunlight area. However, ASE could not justify thermal comfort since it does not include other essential thermal comfort factors, especially sunlight intensity. Such that double glazing could improve overheating criteria but not ASE. Future studies incorporating essential factors according to different climates are needed.
Assessing views from office buildings in virtual reality
Authors: Kojima Y , Ohki C , Kawano A , Takagi N , Koga Y , Majima R , Okamoto T , Jarrin F
Published: December 2023

In office architecture, the importance of windows providing daylight and views has been identified to make the physical environment of the workplace comfortable and healthy. This study aims to develop a window view quality index for application at the design stage of office buildings. In this paper, satisfaction with the views from window was evaluated using VR images, and it was shown that there is a high correlation between the trend in view satisfaction using VR and the trend in view satisfaction of the actual building. This suggests that VR can be used in the future to evaluate the view quality from the window.
Quantifying the impact of Covid-19 on the energy consumption in the low-income housing in Greater London
Authors: Mohajeri N , Javanroodi K , Fergouson L. , Zhou J , Nik V , Gudmundsson A , Anvari E Arab , Taylor J , Symonds P , Davies M
Published: December 2023

Covid-19 has caused great challenges to the energy sector, particularly in residential buildings with low-income households. This study investigates the impact of the confinement measures due to the Covid-19 outbreak on the energy demand of seven residential archetype buildings in Greater London. Three levels of confinement for occupant schedules are proposed and compared with the base case before Covid-19. The archetypes, their boundary conditions, and input parameters are set up according to statistics from English Housing Survey (EHS) sample data for low-income housing. The base case scenario (normal life without confinement measures) is validated against the measured data energy consumption from the National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework (NEED) statistics. The results show that electricity consumption is significantly lower than that for heating and hot water for all the archetypes. By comparing the base case scenario with the full Covid-19 lockdown scenario, the results indicate that heating and hot water consumption (kWh) for all the residential archetypes increases, on average, by 10%, and total electricity demand (kWh) increases by 13%. The study highlights the importance of introducing detailed occupancy profiles in multi-zone building energy simulation models during a pandemic that leads to a greater shift towards home working, which may increase the risk of fuel poverty in low-income housing.
Cozie Apple: An iOS mobile and smartwatch application for environmental quality satisfaction and physiological data collection
Authors: Tartarini Federico , Frei Mario , Schiavon Stefano , Chua Yun Xuan , Miller Clayton
Published: December 2023

Collecting feedback from people in indoor and outdoor environments is traditionally challenging and complex to achieve in a reliable, longitudinal, and non-intrusive way. This paper introduces Cozie Apple, an open-source mobile and smartwatch application for iOS devices. This platform allows people to complete a watch-based micro-survey and provide real-time feedback about environmental conditions via their Apple Watch. It leverages the inbuilt sensors of the smartwatch to collect physiological (e.g., heart rate, activity) and environmental (sound level) data. This paper outlines data collected from 48 research participants who used the platform to report perceptions of urban-scale environmental comfort (noise and thermal) and contextual factors such as who they were with and what activity they were doing. The results of 2,400 micro-surveys across various urban settings are illustrated in this paper, showing the variability of noise-related distractions, thermal comfort, and associated context. The results show that participants experienced at least a little noise distraction 58% of the time, with people talking being the most common reason (46%). This effort is novel due to its focus on spatial and temporal scalability and the collection of noise, distraction, and associated contextual information. These data set the stage for larger deployments, deeper analysis, and more helpful prediction models toward better understanding the occupants’ needs and perceptions. These innovations could result in real-time control signals to building systems or nudges for people to change their behavior.
Impacts of energy saving measures on IEQ, task performance and COVID-19 contagion risk in public buildings: analysis of a case-study in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
Authors: Albertin R , Hokayem A El , Pernigotto G , Gasparella A
Published: December 2023

The recent 2022 energy crisis has pushed several Italian public administrations to adopt solutions to reduce energy demand for space heating in public buildings. Reduction of HVAC system operation time, decrease of heating setpoint and changes to ventilation schedules are some examples of typically implemented measures. However, some of them are in direct competition with those adopted so far to limit the risk of COVID-19 contagion, such as higher ventilation rates. Furthermore, limited operation time and lower setpoints can lead to suboptimal thermal comfort conditions for workers in public buildings, with subsequent decrease of their task performances. In this framework, to assess the global efficacy of the most recent energy saving policies in public buildings, this research focuses not only on the quantification of energy savings but also on the analysis of increased COVID-19 contagion risk, as well as performance loss due to suboptimal building operation conditions. To investigate the impact of new building operation policies for energy savings, an intermediate storey of a public office building in Bolzano, Italy, was selected as a case-study.
Application of sensitivity analysis on building dynamic lifecycle assessment of GHG emissions: a French case study
Authors: Mosquini L H Neves , Delinchant B , Jusselme T
Published: December 2023

This study presents a novel approach to simplify the dynamic life cycle assessment (DLCA) of buildings by identifying and prioritizing influential dynamic parameters (DPs) to improve building energy performance and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Current life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies lack temporal considerations, which can significantly impact a building’s environmental footprint over its multi-decade life span. We conducted an extensive literature review on DPs in DLCA, informing the creation of a multi-scenario parametric framework. A case study was then selected to apply the developed DLCA methodology and perform a global Sensitivity Analysis to pinpoint the most influential DPs on global warming potential. The DLCA framework integrates data from the French database for environmental product declarations and utilizes EnergyPlus simulations for operational emissions assessment. The study identifies ten DPs, revealing the most impactful ones to be industry and waste sector emissions reductions, building occupancy, and global warming. Additionally, we found minimal interactions between DPs, which facilitates the simplification of the DLCA process. This research enables building stakeholders to focus on a more selective set of parameters, enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of building life cycle assessments. Overall, our findings contribute to the continuous improvement of LCA methodologies and promote sustainable building practices.
Life Cycle Assessment of the new Solar Thermal Power Plant SolarCAD II connected to a District Heating Network in Geneva, Switzerland
Authors: Solano J , Frossard M , Lasvaux S , Duret A
Published: December 2023

This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the solar heat injected in a District Heating Network (DHN) by a new solar thermal power plant in Geneva. An environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is conducted according to ISO 14040, ISO 14044 and SN EN 15804+A2:2019. The scope of the study includes the complete life cycle of the solar power plant heat generation system. The baseline GHG emissions results show that the solar heat injected is responsible of about 15 to 18 gCO2-eq per kWh depending on whether we account for the environmental impacts of the steel gratings or not. This value is mostly determined by the manufacturing and use stages. Different sensitivity analyses are then performed in order to test the robustness of the main influential parameters (e.g., lifetime, efficiency, electricity mix) and better quantify the variability of the GHG emissions. Finally, this LCA study of a solar thermal plant connected to a Swiss DHN provides a first value of the solar heat in comparison with other heat production routes for DHN already provided in LCA databases such as the Swiss KBOB 2009/1:2022 platform for LCA in the construction sector.
Decarbonisation roadmap for the building activities: LCA modelling of the renovation lever
Authors: Pellan M , Louërat M , Almeida D , Dubois F , Habert G
Published: December 2023

Renovation of the existing building stock plays a central role in every decarbonisation scenario. Yet, its impact is rarely addressed in a life-cycle perspective, leading to potential over benefits and neglecting the cross-sectoral impacts that it generates. This article introduces the methodology developed as part of the building activities decarbonisation roadmap to quantify the effect of renovation on operational and embodied greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). It focuses on describing the modelling tools that are used to create prospective decarbonisation pathways from a georeferenced database. In particular, the macro component approach used to describe the materiality of existing buildings and renovation packages, as well as the energy simulation tool used to quantify energy saving measures are introduced. Explorative scenarios are modelled based on different renovation levels, renovation packages and targeted buildings to investigate the whole-life GHGE by 2030 and 2050. Preliminary static results underline the necessity to consider embodied GHGE and to introduce an optimisation approach to target the buildings with the highest GHGE savings potential.
Regulation on carbon emissions for buildings with special conditions: analysis, calculation model and stakeholder perspectives
Authors: Tozan B , Nielsen L H , Hoxha E , Birgisdóttir H
Published: December 2023

Climate change enhances the focus on reducing global greenhouse gases from the construction industry since it is responsible for 37% of the emissions. Several nations are implementing regulating laws by requiring life cycle assessments and by setting a threshold of CO2e emissions. In the case of Denmark, the valid limit value of 12 kg CO2e/m2/year is based primarily on a sample of conventional buildings consisting of residential and office buildings. Initially, 90% of all new buildings are expected to comply with this value, while the remaining 10% must apply strategies for carbon reduction. Some building typologies that need to serve specific functions might not be able to reduce emissions due to special conditions, which will result in additional carbon emissions, and thus, exceed the limit value. This study identifies special conditions, such as hygiene requirements, that can lead to exceeding the limit value and recommends adaptation to handle the allowable additional carbon emissions in building regulations. The findings of the study are useful for policymakers that must decide how to handle special conditions of buildings in regulations.
LCA models in building industry practice - how do practitioners’ assumptions affect LCA results?
Authors: Andersen Camilla Ernst , Hoxha Endrit , Rasmussen Freja Nygaard , Birgisdóttir Harpa
Published: December 2023

This study exemplifies uncertainties in Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) by investigating the results of nine building LCAs made by nine LCA practitioners. The study compares material quantities and Global Warming Potential (GWP) results of the nine LCAs before and after a review process. From the building LCAs before review, we identify several errors that significantly influence material quantities and GWP results. After correcting the errors, we still see notable differences in the material quantities and LCA results from the nine LCAs. The study proves a need for conducting thorough reviews to eliminate the most prominent errors in building LCAs and a need for uncertainty assessment as a standard practice.
Veggies and PV: Optimization of Building-Integrated Agriculture in an Energy Hub
Authors: Waibel Christoph , Shi Zhongming
Published: December 2023

Building-integrated Agriculture (BIA) is the concept of utilizing façade surfaces for crop production. The potential is to reduce land-use and to increase the utility of built-up area. If outdoor building surfaces were to be used for farming, it results in a competition for sunlight between crops, solar renewable energy (such as photovoltaics, PV), and daylight access to illuminate indoor spaces. We therefore propose a coupled BIA and multi-energy systems model that can represent various energy sources (such as sunlight) and their conversion and storage (such as façade based crop production, PV, or electric batteries) in order to optimally meet demands for building energy and food. It is formulated as a mixed integer linear program (MILP) optimization model that describes the energy flows as an annual hourly time series. The model conducts a bi-objective minimization of monetary cost and carbon emissions, resulting in a Pareto front of optimal solutions. The model meets building energy demands for cooling, heating and electricity by an optimized energy technology portfolio, as well as nutritional demands for leafy vegetables of all occupants by either BIA or supermarket purchases. We apply our model to a residential case study in Singapore, which serves as an example for a high density city with already numerous community-driven and practiced BIA initiatives ongoing. Our results show that when minimizing cost, utilizing PV is more cost efficient on highly exposed surfaces such as the roof than BIA. However, for more shaded façade surfaces, crop production can be a cost and environmentally efficient addition to building design, as the annual vegetables demand of all occupants can be covered entirely by self-grown produce.
Multiscale pattern analysis of building replacements in Zurich from 2000 to 2019
Authors: Ye Jingxian , Fivet Corentin
Published: December 2023

Building replacement (BR) – i.e., the demolition of existing structures and subsequent construction of new buildings on the same site – is often understood as a necessary urban planning strategy despite significant environmental implications regarding solid waste generation, raw material depletion, and embodied greenhouse gas emissions. Besides, BR may also be considered an effective form of urban mining. Yet it has not been adequately studied in academic literature. Current studies often adopt a simplified ‘black box’ approach that overlooks the intricate internal mechanisms and fails to capture the interconnected material flows within the building stock. To address these gaps, this paper utilizes descriptive statistics and bipartite graph analysis to examine the transformation patterns of BR across three spatial scales in the city of Zurich. The analysis encompasses 1,018 replacement projects involving 6,115 building units from 2000 to 2019. By comparing the characteristics of demolished and newly constructed groups, the study reveals insights into the dynamic nature of BR. From a broader perspective, the combination of the various heterogeneous BR-related findings in this paper highlights the need to evaluate the application of circular economy principles to large building stocks with a more nuanced understanding of building stock dynamics over time.
Circular economy meets building automation
Authors: Cai Hanmin
Published: December 2023

This paper demonstrates the concept of reusing discarded smartphones to connect the end-of-life of e-wastes with the start-of-life of smart buildings. Two control-related and one communication-related case studies have been conducted experimentally to evaluate the applicability. Diverse controlled systems, control tasks, and algorithms have been considered. In addition, the sufficiency of communication with external agents has been quantified. The proof-of-concept experiments indicate the technical feasibility and applicability to typical tasks with satisfactory performance. As the capabilities of smartphones improve over time, higher computing performance and lower communication latency can be expected, which enhances the prospect of the proposed reuse concept.
Dynamic open-source simulation engine for generic modeling of district-scale energy systems with focus on sector coupling and complex operational strategies
Authors: Ott Etienne , Steinacker Heiner , Stickel Matthias , Kley Christian , Fisch M. Norbert
Published: December 2023

This paper introduces a new simulation engine for generic modeling that allows fast and efficient simulation of the energy supply of district-scale sector-coupled energy systems during their early planning stage. The engine combines rule-based control algorithms, system dynamics modeling and an agent-based approach to simulate energy systems, while providing extensive possibilities to model complex operational strategies without requiring linearisation. The simulation engine determines the energy flow and operational state of all components at each time step, providing a comprehensive understanding and evaluation of the system’s behavior. Users can select and size technologies, determine the connections between technical components, and define operational strategies individually. The underlying mathematical model is based on energy balances, with a special emphasis on the order in which the supplied, requested, and transformed energy is calculated. Additionally, the simulation engine is suitable for black box optimisation e.g. for optimal sizing of components. To demonstrate its applicability, the simulation engine is used to model an exemplary sector-coupled energy system using practice-related operational strategies, and the results show the expected behavior according to the implemented mathematical models and operational strategies. The simulation engine is released as open-source software, making it suitable for participatory development.
Exploring the potential of scaling up Smart Local Energy Systems to transform clusters of housing: Insights from a case study in Wales, UK
Authors: Tadrak W , Patterson J , Chatzivasileiadi A
Published: December 2023

The research investigates the potential of Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) to transform existing small clusters of housing into aggregates of prosumers capable of sharing locally generated renewable energy in SLES located in the Swansea area, South Wales, UK. The performance of 3 SLES retrofit scenarios is compared and evaluated at a household and cluster scale. The Energy Plus software within the DesignBuilder interface is used to carry out the modelling. Results show that SLES retrofit measures at a cluster scale are advantageous in terms of economic and environmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The modelling also showed that replacing photovoltaic panels with a wind turbine in a small cluster of homes in rural Wales, UK offers no benefit in terms of renewable energy generation, carbon emissions or income. Overall, this research offers insights into the potential of SLES in retrofitting small housing clusters into low-carbon aggregates, emphasising the role of PV panels as a renewable electricity source.
Decarbonising heating and cooling using temperature setback and geothermal energy
Authors: Ben Hui , Walker Sara , Brown Christopher , Kolo Isa , Falcone Gioia
Published: December 2023

The lion’s share of buildings’ energy consumption is used for maintaining a thermally comfortable indoor environment. Strategies of reducing heating and cooling demand can thus be crucial for buildings to achieve net zero. This research aims to investigate the extent to which an occupancy-based temperature setback strategy and geothermal energy supply can decarbonise an office building. The objectives include: 1) exploring the optimal setback temperature for maximum energy savings, both in present time and under the future climate scenarios, and 2) evaluating the extent to which a geothermal borehole can meet the building’s energy demand. The outcome shows that a temperature setback strategy coupled with geothermal energy supply can decarbonise heating and cooling by around half. As for overall building energy demand, temperature setback can make demand reduction by over a tenth while the geothermal energy can meet the demand by a minimum of a fifth.
E-DYCE - Dynamic approach to the dynamic energy certification of buildings
Authors: Larsen O K , Pomianowski M Z , Chiesa G , Belias E , de Kerchove d’Exaerde T , Flourentzou F , Fasano F , Grasso P
Published: December 2023

The energy performance certification (EPC) scheme, introduced in the European Union approximately 20 years ago, has become the focus of the upcoming revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Despite its widespread use, the current EPC scheme has several shortcomings that need to be addressed. The Energy flexible DYnamic building Certification (E-DYCE) project has developed a dynamic approach to address these issues. The methodology includes a dynamic assessment of a building’s energy needs and comfort conditions under standard and different from standard conditions of building use to support Performance Gap (PG) analyses. The E-DYCE approach includes a dynamic building performance simulation with comfort and energy-related key-performance indicators (KPIs) measured and calculated according to E-DYCE DEPC methodology. These KPIs can inform end-users about indoor environmental quality conditions decisive for building energy performance, aid building managers in detecting dysfunctions resulting in PG, and include energy performance indexes for heating, cooling, lighting, domestic hot water, and more. Overall, the E-DYCE approach offers dynamic, reliable, and customer-tailored information and optimization possibilities to end-users while potentially resolving known shortcomings of the existing EPC schemes.
Thermochemical storage networks for integration of renewable energy sources through seasonal load shifting
Authors: Baldini Luca , Zambrano Juan Mahecha
Published: December 2023

Thermochemical networks are a rather new subject in research and support our goal to lower winter electricity demand and foster the integration of renewable energy sources. This paper takes a first step towards a performance analysis of thermochemical networks and a comparison to a classical district heating network for a virtually defined network of 1.3 km length, assuming a space heating load of 204.7 MWh represented by 33 residential buildings. The performance comparison is done for winter operation when space heating demand is present. The simulation results clearly revealed that for the classical district heating system, thermal and pressure losses lead to a significant increase in the loads, further increasing the electricity demand for the heat pump and the circulation pump. Conversely, for the thermochemical network, no compressor is needed to extract the heat from the boreholes and the circulation of the sorbent solution was found to be minute, leading to a negligible electricity demand for space heating supply. This resulted in a very high electric COP as well as a high exergy efficiency compared to a classical district heating system. Further, the volumetric energy storage density was compared, recording a 2 to 22.3 times higher value for the thermochemical network.
Solar potential on facades at urban scale: an integrated approach combining solar and digital building modelling
Authors: Desthieux G , Gressin A , Raybaud B , Ingensand J
Published: December 2023

The paper presents an integrated approach to improve the solar radiation modelling on facades in large-scale built-up areas. The modelling of the built environment must first be improved in terms of level of detail. Thus, from aerial oblique images, a digital twin of the urban scene is created, allowing to process the facades as textured objects and to detect windows using an artificial intelligence image processing. Reflected radiation is significant on vertical surfaces, but complex to model on large areas. The developed model is based on a simplified radiosity approach, which reduces the volume of analysis, storage and thus the computation time, while producing reliable results. A demonstration of the integrated tool is presented for an urban area in Geneva (1 km2), including a solar energy balance assessment for one of the buildings using the results from the solar modelling. The perspective is to generalise the approach to a larger scale and to complete the solar cadastre of the roofs of the Greater Geneva area with the facades.
Experimental energy performance in electrified renewable energy-sharing community
Authors: Kim Min-Hwi , Kim Haneol , Kim Jong-Kyu , Ahn Young-Sub
Published: December 2023

In this study, the empirical results of renewable energy self-sufficiency for communities consisting of residential and nonresidential buildings were analyzed. These buildings were combined with a grid-connected electrified community. The community was primarily powered by building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems, and cooling and heating water were supplied by geothermal and hydrothermal source heat pump systems. The community building comprised 56 detached houses and two office buildings. The community’s primary electricity generation was provided by a 500 kWp BIPV, approximately 7.1 kWp installed per household. This community had facilities that provided cooling, heating, and domestic hot water from heat supply stations. Thermal energy for cooling and heating was mainly generated by geothermal and sewage water-source heat pumps, stored in a daily heat storage tank, and supplied to households. Based on the analysis using ISO 13790-based software, the cooling and heating requirements were 51 and 42 kWh/m2, respectively. The cooling and heating requirements were 49 and 44 kWh/m2, and a difference of approximately 5% between the simulation and experiment results was observed. Consequently, the annual zero-net energy balance was 138.2% when the plug load was excluded but 46.8% when the plug and electric-vehicle electricity loads were included.
Analysing energy use clusters of single-family houses using building and socio-economic characteristics
Authors: Schaffer M. , Hansen A. R. , Vera Valdés J.E. , Marszal-Pomianowska A.
Published: December 2023

Clustering has been shown to be a promising approach to reduce the large amount of data from smart heat meters to representative profiles. However, attempts to understand why a case (building including its occupants) is within a particular cluster have only been moderately accurate. Therefore, this work uses existing energy use clusters based on about 4500 single-family homes to investigate whether socio-economic characteristics (SECs) alone or in combination with building characteristics (BCs) can improve the insight into the energy use clusters. An established variable selection and classification approach based on random forests was used. The results show that the eight SECs used alone provide poor insight into the energy use clusters, achieving only a Matthew Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of around 0.1. Simplifying the energy use clusters based on similarities, which was successful in the past, only moderately increased the MCC (≈ 0.17). When combined with BCs, SECs were never selected by the algorithm used, showing that they do not lead to a (significant) increase in MCC for both unsimplified and simplified clusters. Thus, this work suggests that SECs do not provide additional insights into why a case is within its respective energy use cluster.
Making an air-source heat pump smart-grid ready
Authors: Thorsteinsson S , Cai H , Bendtsen J D , Heer P , Vivian J
Published: December 2023

In this paper we discuss the differences between the industrial and academic definition of smart-grid readiness of heat pumps and investigate possibilities to bridge this gap such that existing heat pumps, to a higher degree, can participate in a smart-grid or flexibility setting. A weather compensated heat pump has been equipped to enable heating reference tracking by overriding the outdoor air temperature measurement. The reference tracking has been performed using a model predictive controller and a PI-controller. The results show that it is possible to track a heating reference but also that operating the heat pump according to smart-grid objectives has consequences, such as reduced COP and increased defrosting rate. The model predictive and PI-controller showed little difference in performance, meaning that even simple rule-based controllers can be used for tracking. Lastly, the paper provides suggestions for signals that should be available if heat pumps in the future should operate closer to the researchers’ expectations of smart-grid readiness.
Sensitivity analysis of fifth generation district heating and cooling coupled with borehole thermal energy storage with respect to cooling adoption
Authors: Li Xiang , Chambers Jonathan , Yilmaz Selin , Patel Martin K.
Published: December 2023

Fifth generation district heating and cooling (5GDHC) is a promising solution for decarbonising building thermal demands, as it allows for simultaneous heating and cooling through a bi-directional network. This paper aims to investigate the general performance of 5GDHC under uncertainty. Initially, an uncertainty analysis is performed on a 5GDHC model in a case study, revealing significant variation in economic, technical, and environmental performance due to uncertain parameters. Subsequently, variance-based global sensitivity analysis is used to rank the uncertain parameters based on their impact on the economic performance of 5GDHC. The results identify cooling adoption rate, borehole pricing, and discount rate as the most influential parameters. Lastly, factors mapping demonstrates that cooling adoption rate within 0.6-0.9, low borehole costs, low discount rates, and high gas prices will drive the switch to 5GDHC. Overall, this study emphasizes the general applicability of 5GDHC.
Performance analysis and optimization of a solar assisted heat pump concept
Authors: Frappé Mathieu , Mora Laurent , Sempey Alain , Viot Hugo , Hubert Tessa
Published: December 2023

Solar-assisted heat pumps have become a popular choice for efficient and environmentally-friendly heating and hot water production. This article introduces a unique concept of integrating a solar thermal facade into buildings to provide the cold source for a heat pump, which is a novel approach compared to other available solutions. While accurate sizing is crucial for efficient system operation, evaluating the potential benefits of better control strategies is also important because these strategies can bring significant benefits to the system. However, at present, there is a shortage of tools that can facilitate accurate sizing and effective evaluation of various control strategies for such systems. This article explores the benefits and challenges associated with this innovative technology, highlighting the need for developing models with a good representation of the system behavior and accurate performance estimation. A parametric study will be conducting on the principal components sizing for various climates in France. The aim is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the installation’s potential performance, with the optimization of sizing and control strategies to be performed at a later stage.
Comparison of different deep neural networks for system identification of thermal building behavior
Authors: Gölzhäuser Simon , Frison Lilli
Published: December 2023

Having accurate information available about future thermal building behavior can help to make good decisions in various heating control tasks. However, creating precise mathematical models for many different buildings is a complex and time-consuming task, owing to the heterogeneity of the building stock and the behavior of its occupants. In this paper, we propose a DNN-based system identification approach for predicting the room temperature inside a building based on past information and future weather forecasts. We evaluate various state-of-the-art and custom-built DNN architectures for TSF. Besides prediction performance, storage space and inference speed as measures for the respective model’s complexity are also taken into account. Our main contribution is demonstrating the effectiveness of these models in predicting the room temperature for differently parameterized simulated buildings. By using several distinct buildings for training, validation and testing, we additionally show that these models are capable to generalize in a way such that the room temperature for different buildings can be predicted by a single model, without any changes or adaptions.
How good is the advice from ChatGPT for building science? Comparison of four scenarios
Authors: Rysanek Adam , Nagy Zoltan , Miller Clayton , Dilsiz Aysegul Demir
Published: December 2023

This paper resulted from several questions discussed between its human authors shortly after the public launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT:

Can a language model, trained on an unimaginably vast database, be able to resolve fundamental data inference and data-driven forecasting problems which have been ’typical’ research fare in the building science domain? Is it possible that research problems which ’typically’ require user-intensive tools, such as building performance simulation and problem-specific machine learning models, can today be addressed by ChatGPT in a manner of seconds? If so, what does this mean for the future of building science, let alone the writing of novel research contributions in academia?

The entirety of this paper was produced with significant use of ChatGPT. Four arbitrarily-selected case studies were extracted from recent peer-reviewed journals and reputable sources. ChatGPT was tasked with attempting to infer the same results as the publications using only each case study’s input data. Not only were ChatGPT’s results found to be relatively credible, ChatGPT was able to communicate its results instantly and in an academic language. From start to finish, the entirety of this paper, from initial brainstorming to final editing, was completed in no more than 8 human-hours by the study’s (human) authors. The content of this paper is original and has not been published previously.
Modeling uncertainty in positive energy districts through a non-probabilistic approach
Authors: Shamsi Mohammad Haris , Kouti Amin , Ma Yixiao , Engelen Lukas , Sharifi Mohsen
Published: December 2023

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) transcribe an emerging energy transition paradigm for rapid upscaling of building energy efficiency programs to match the urgency of climate mitigation and adaptation. PEDs facilitate pro-active sharing of information and experiences, responsive learning and dissemination, and cooperation across sectors and disciplines. The rapid evolution of technologies for energy efficiency and integration of renewable energy in buildings requires a research-to-design approach. Therefore, it is imperative that a designer makes informed decisions at an early stage of design from an energy-efficiency perspective. However, since PED design involves a significant number of stakeholders, the design parameters could be highly uncertain, which eventually affect the quality of the design solution space. This study uses a bilateral process workflow to quantify risks using a nonprobabilistic technique and a PED roadmap structure. The workflow evaluates different PED scenarios and quantifies the PED potential for the city of Sint-Niklaas in Belgium. The results indicate that risk quantification significantly improves PED decision-making when evaluating collective solutions (district heating) for a district.
Assessing pathways to carbon neutrality in a neighbourhood study in Germany
Authors: He Miaomiao , Nemeth Isabell , Blumenthal Astrid von , Haupt Thomas , Stopper Jochen , Jungwirth Johannes
Published: December 2023

Neighbourhoods are becoming more and more important for the success of the energy transition and achieving the climate protection goals. This paper describes results from a case study of a typical residential neighbourhood in Germany, in which investigation of pathways to climate neutrality has been carried out. Both technical potential and challenge under the current legal framework are presented. The aims are to answer questions such as to what extent and in what sequence the energy-related emissions of an existing neighbourhood can be reduced in the long term through further integration of photovoltaics, low-carbon technology, thermal storage and, if necessary, building refurbishment. Two pathways are exanimated: in the gas pathway by using CHP units with biogas and in the electricity pathway by electrifying the heat demand through the use of heat pumps. Three scenarios are defined for both pathways, which differ in particular by the level of building refurbishment, PV generation, supply temperatures in the heating network and uptake of electric vehicles.
Optimization of a ventilation system integrated into a window frame using CFD simulations
Authors: Karolin J. , Rahiminejad M.
Published: December 2023

A decentralized ventilation system has the potential to decrease the pressure drop in a ventilation system and consequently, increase the efficiency of the system and building skin. Including a decentralized ventilation system in a window cavity allows independent regulation of the fresh air quality in each room and can be easily installed without any additional brickwork. In this study, a novel ventilation system integrated into a window-frame is examined and the most critical region regarding pressure drop is identified using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations. The entire fresh air channel including the optimized section is compared with the original volume regarding system resistance and satisfaction of the required airflow according to Swiss standards. The results suggest a relocation of the restricting control unit and an increased cross-section to decrease the air velocity and the pressure drop. The simulations predicted that the required airflow for sufficient indoor air quality is exceeded using the optimized geometry.
A database for positive energy districts (PED)
Authors: Alpagut B , Bossi S , Civiero P , Diaz S , Gollner C , Haase M , Kuzmic M , Sanchez N , Seco O C , Soutullo Castro S , Turci G , Zamini S
Published: December 2023

The development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is a complex process that involves the integration of various technologies, stakeholders, and policies. To facilitate this process, a database for PEDs has been developed as a joint effort of COST Action ‘PED-EU-NET’, IEA EBC Annex 83, and JPI Urban Europe. This paper reports on the realization of the PED-Database framework and its online implementation as a modular web interoperable platform, giving details on the development life cycle since the scoping phase up to the testing phase. The PED-Database offers a variety of implementation strategies and conceptualizations for the PED concept, making it a valuable resource for urban planners, policymakers, and researchers. The testing phase has shown that there is no one-fits-all solution for PED implementation, and the overall PED framework definitions require further detailing in the local context. However, the database allows users to visualize and compare different PED scenarios by customizing their selection, accessing to the information provided by real PED cases that best meets their expectations and goals. Overall, the PED-Database provides a valuable tool for the development of sustainable and energy-efficient urban areas.
Method combining expert and analytical approaches towards economical energy renovation roadmaps and improved indoor comfort
Authors: Pomianowski M Z , Wittchen K , Schaffer M , Hu Y , Chiesa G , Fasano F , Grasso P
Published: December 2023

This paper proposes a two-fold method, combining expert and analytical approaches, to develop an energy renovation roadmap for residential apartment buildings. The expert approach provides cost estimates based on energy performance certificates, considering the building’s existing condition, national building tradition, and requirements. Renovation actions are limited to the most probable and required actions. The analytical approach uses computer power and various renovation action variations to identify optimal solutions for defined KPIs. As the cost efficiency of energy conservation action depends on model complexity, the expert approach considers this aspect. The analytical approach focuses on indoor comfort and energy use, as cost optimality evaluation is not possible for non-linear costs of energy conservation actions. Sensitivity analysis is used to support credible ranges for rentability of energy conservation measures and reflect on optimal solutions and indoor environmental consequences.
Comparison of supervised algorithms for automated data analysis in existing buildings
Authors: Stinner Florian , Kümpel Alexander , Müller Dirk
Published: December 2023

Non-residential buildings are equipped with building automation systems (BAS). BAS provide a vast amount of building operation data. However, the analysis of this data is laborious and requires a scalable and automated process. The authors developed the BUDO schema for a standardized, object-oriented description of monitoring metadata. The translation process employs artificial intelligence to translate the properties of data streams (labels, time series) from BAS into the BUDO schema. The translated data is then analyzed using various applications to detect inefficiencies, such as incorrect placement of outdoor temperature sensors or a weekend shutdown that has not been properly implemented. The paper presents a process that automatically translates, structures and analyzes operational data to identify potential for energy savings. The OOM4ABDO project monitors 138 buildings to analyze and improve building operations, whose subset of data we are using here. In addition, we use an open source data set of about 70 buildings. We compare several feature extraction methods and classifiers on their ability to support each of the stages (label translation, time series translation, application). The algorithms used reach F1 scores of up to 98% for label translation, 90% for time series translation and 92% for applications.
Effect of built form on local wind characteristics, a case of tropical savanna climate in India
Authors: Dev Govind , Saifudeen Aysha , Anurup K , Chacko Bijoy
Published: December 2023

Passive techniques play a substantial role in regulating the indoor environmental quality of a building, especially in the tropics. Proper air movement is necessary for warm and humid indoors by utilising the local wind pattern. Many factors influence and alter the wind character of a region. Any built form has a significant influence on the wind and vice versa. This research extensively studies the effects of wind when it encounters different built and unbuilt spaces of an office building in India’s tropical savanna climate. Applications such as Building Information Modelling (Autodesk Revit) and Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation (Autodesk CFD) are used for analysis. The impacts on the local wind character at chosen wind path timings are studied in detail to arrive at the conclusions. Various effects like wind acceleration, corner jetting, channelling, funnelling, windbreak and cumulative effects are observed as occurring due to the influence of the building’s form on the local wind. These effects increased the wind velocity from 10kmph up to 19kmph and decreased up to 6kmph. The study concludes by arriving at several considerations while developing built forms that help to reduce negative impacts and improve positive impacts on aspects like aerodynamics, user comfort, impact on surroundings, the microclimate and structural wind loads.