bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Energy policy and regulatory tools for sustainable buildings
Authors: Giama Effrosyni , Kyriaki Elli , Papadopoulos Agis M. 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The European Union has established since 2002 a common policy for energy efficient buildings and low environmental impact materials and systems, promoting energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), expressed by means of a series of directives, regulations and policies. Therefore, the European Parliament approved the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 2002/91/EC and its recast, the Directive 2010/31/EU. Based on Article 9 of Directive 2010/31/EU, until the end of 2020 all buildings ought to be nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB), when new buildings operated and owned by public authorities must be NZEB after January 1st 2019. An NZEB building is referred to as a building which has a high energy overall performance and its quantity of energy needed ought to be covered to a quite substantial range by energy from renewable sources, as well as energy from renewable sources generated on-site or nearby. For the case of Cyprus, the limit is set to 125 kWh/m2 of primary energy consumption annually, with a minimum of 25% of this energy resulting from renewables. For Greece this goal has still to be determined. Except from those Directives, the EU set the main goals for energy, transport and GHG emissions not only for 2020 but also for 2030 and 2050. Considering GHG emissions, the legislation framework is supported by a series of international standards such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative and the ISO 14064-65 series of standards which are fully compatible with the GHG Protocol and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Considering the recast of the EPBD, in form of Directive 2018/844/EU, a detailed database is developed of the European, Greek and Cyprus energy and environmental legislation (Directives, Laws, Regulations and policies) for buildings focusing on commercial ones. It is presented in this paper, along with a comment of how a common framework can be adopted in two national regulations and how it can be effectively turned into practice.
Is the tailor recommendation useful? Policy suggestions to upgrade the EPC recommendation report
Authors: Gonzalez-Caceres A , Rammer Nielsen T 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) have asked to Member States (MSs) to include an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) every time a dwelling is sold, rented or built. Additionally, the EPC must include a report that contains a list of recommended measures for improving their energy performance in a cost-effective way. Considering that the Directive does not directly mandate investments or any increase in renovation activity, building owners remain the single decision-makers to invest or not. Due to this, the recommendation list of measure is one of the main tools that can actually encourage building owners to perform renovation activities, avoiding the implementation of sub-optimal investments and preventing lost opportunities. The latest update of the directive, introduced in June 2018, has its main purpose to support and further reinforce the renovation of existing buildings. Despite this, the recommendation reports have not been modified and the latest evaluation of the directive states that it is not performing as expected. Little information can be found about it, either in the academic or institutional level. The article aims to provide a better understanding of the barriers that the energy recommendations report faces in its current state and proposing measures that can be uses to overcome these issues.
Research of energy behaviour and energy poverty of households in Northern Greece
Authors: Boemi S N , Samarentzi M , Dimoudi A 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The present paper examines the phenomenon of energy poverty in Greece. Specifically, energy poverty concerns a growing number of households that have limited access to energy or are unable to pay for this energy, mainly due to insufficient thermal insulation, low income and high energy costs. The continuing economic crisis in Greece has increased the rate of energy poverty as incomes have fallen, the price of oil and PPC tariffs have risen, more households are asked to pay more than 20% of their energy bill income. Excessive energy poverty in turn has an impact on the environment (illegal logging, smog, etc.), but also to the physical and mental health of people exposed to it. The paper includes a case study which provides information and data collected from a sample of 384 households using the questionnaire method in four areas of northern Greece, which is the Edessa area in Central Macedonia, the area of Drama in Eastern Macedonia, the area of Xanthi and the Municipality of Myki (Pomakohoria) in Thrace. Initially, personal data, housing characteristics and household health status are presented. The types of heating system of the examined households and the extent to which they meet the required levels of thermal comfort are presented below. In addition, the aforementioned data is associated with the energy accounts. The findings, show that energy poverty has affected a significant proportion of households in Greece. This is due to the fact that there are households that do not meet the energy needs of their home.
A Panhellenic Social Survey (2018-9) regarding the Quality of Life, Energy Needs and People’s Attitudes towards R.E.S.
Authors: Kosmopoulos P , Kantzioura A , Kosmopoulos I , Kleskas K , Kosmopoulos A M 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
This Pan-Hellenic Social Survey (2018-2019) covers the attitudes of the people regarding Climate Change, Energy Needs, the Quality of Life of the people, and also their recent attitudes towards the Renewable Energy Sources.
It is a well known fact that Hellas is suffering from an economic crisis during the last ten years. As expected, this crisis, has not only immediately affected the economics of each household, but also the quality of life, the comfort conditions and, in consequence, the everyday life of the citizens. It is also very interesting to see how people’s attitudes towards the application of small and large-scale devices of Renewable Energy Sources, i.e. Photovoltaic and Wind generators, change over time.
It is at least an intriguing subject to see how people cope with the above mentioned circumstances. Among other research projects our Laboratory, every two years, conducts a similar social research with printed questionnaires regarding the attitudes of Hellenic people towards R.E.S..
This specific research presented here is of special interest. It aims at the investigation of how peoples’ attitudes and views towards the Environmental subjects and the use of RES. are affected by the Economic Crisis, and a rather dystopian general future. How serious and important are the environmental issues considered to be when people feel that their everyday life is threatened? This subject is approached through this Pan-Hellenic survey analyzing the data gathered by questionnaires.
After an extremely heavy winter, (January 2019), It is very interesting to see how environmental matters are faced in general, regarding energy sources, fuels and related costs during this critical period.But parallel to the above, Hellenic people have to face their household economics, their traditional attitudes towards their environment (both built and natural) and their dependence from imported fuels (oil and gas).
The conclusions of this research are important, describing the hellenic people’s attitudes towards quality of life, energy needs, energy poverty, and their attitudes towards R.E.S. and the environment. A large number of areas and cities have been covered, offering a satisfactory image of the subject.
Imagining a Healthy Future: Cross-Disciplinary Design for Sustainable Community Development in Cange, Haiti
Authors: Albright Dustin , Ersoy Ufuk , Vaughn David , Plumblee Jeff 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
A new center for community development and sustainable infrastructure is being planned for the central plateau of Haiti. This Center of Excellence will support the ongoing applied research of the Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries (CEDC), a service-learning program at Clemson University, which has, to date, produced an exemplary municipal water system and a net-positive-energy waste treatment system in the town of Cange. The new Center of Excellence is envisioned as a setting for collaboration, demonstration, and the exchange of ideas between local communities. Tying into the preceding water and waste infrastructures, the new facility itself is being designed as a leading example of resilient, self-sustaining construction that is replicable in its setting. Renewable energy solutions, including a combination of solar and small-scale hydroelectric, will compliment passive thermal and ventilation strategies. Moreover, embodied energy is addressed through careful attention to the materials and methods of construction in this resource-constrained environment. These topics are especially important in the wake of the reconstruction that continues after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
The design and planning of the Center of Excellence has been orchestrated through a unique educational partnership between students and faculty in the Clemson University School of Architecture and their counterparts from CEDC. In this setting, architecture teams are supported through specific technical consultation from CEDC project teams and former interns, with topics ranging from anaerobic waste treatment, to expected laboratory energy loads, to concrete masonry specifications and testing. This collaboration ensures that the new facility will incorporate and demonstrate the latest research coming out of CEDC, while simultaneously opening the doors to new areas of inquiry.
This paper details the collaborative structure of this research-based design studio, and how multidisciplinary intellectual resources are leveraged toward integrated building and site solutions. The specific goals and parameters of the Center of Excellence facility in Cange will underpin the discussion.
Application of wearable sensory devices in predicting occupant’s thermal comfort in office buildings during the cooling season
Authors: Pivac N , Nižetić S , Zanki V , Papadopoulos A M 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The mitigation of adverse health consequences, improvement of life quality and the work environment with consequential benefits to wellness and performance of the occupants, arise the need for innovations in predicting thermal comfort in the actual time during which a requirement occurs. Late researches in this field largely neglect user engagement in building energy performance. In this paper, the wearable sensory devices are deployed to provide real-time information in a spatially distributed indoor environment during the cooling season in office buildings. The results imply that wearable devices are an efficient tool for collecting individualized human sensation data such as a precise metabolic equivalent of task (MET) and occupant’s activity level which could generate total energy expenditure of an occupant. In addition to sensor data, documenting indoor environmental conditions such as air temperature, relative humidity and a level of carbon dioxide (CO2), could be utilized as useful inputs that complete the more sensibly provided feedback of occupants’ work environmental surroundings. Furthermore, this could provide a potentially significant opportunity for achieving a personal indoor environment that is most preferred.
Principles of passive solar architecture as means of improving health and thermal comfort aspects of indoor environment
Authors: Kujundzic K , Stamatovic Vuckovic S 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The estimates are that we spend majority of our lifetime indoors. Therefore, the quality of indoor environment is crucial to our health. Thermal comfort is amongst the most energy-related aspects of comfort since the energy requirements for heating and cooling refer to more than a half of energy needs in buildings. Passive solar architecture, emerged from the archetypal builders’ responses to the natural environment, by using the energy of the sun for heating and cooling in the most economical and rational way- by applying the laws of physics. The key passive solar architectural principles aimed at achieving thermal comfort presented in the paper are: adaptive thermal comfort (the comfortable indoor temperature levels adjusting to the outside temperature), thermal zoning (variety in disposition and orientation of the different functional zones), and thermal mass (using building materials with ability to effectively store heat), all aimed at enhancing energy efficiency and providing a healthy indoor environment.
Thermal analysis of flat roof systems with regards to their thermal insulation and exterior surface emissivity coefficient
Authors: Choidis P , Evgenidis-Karadimitriou P , Kontoleon K J , Mazzeo D 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
In this study, a numerical analysis of the thermal performance of a flat roof system is presented. The dynamic thermal behaviour of this system is assessed with regards to the effects produced by an insulation layer and the thermal emissivity of the exterior surface exposed to the outdoor environment thermal conditions, such as the ambient air temperature and radiation (short-wave and long-wave). Analysed building components correspond to insulated and noninsulated flat roof assemblies formed by reinforced concrete. For their exterior surface, a varying value of its thermal emissivity is assumed. In this context, the aim of this investigation is to assess the dynamic thermal behaviour of multi-layered roof configurations in terms of thermal flux through their construction; this allows us to determine the overall heat exchange in a daily basis, in the aspect of the above-mentioned parameters. In order to analyse the thermal response of the flat roof located in the Greek region, during the cooling period, a FEM model is introduced (one-dimensional model). Results underline the significance to consider the thickness of the thermal insulation layer, as well as the effect of various emissivity coefficients on heat transfer processes.
Comparison of theoretical heat transfer model with results from experimental monitoring installed in a refurbishment with ventilated facade
Authors: García Belén Zurro , Goikolea Beñat Arregi , Martín José Manuel González , Hernández García José L. 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
One of the main points to consider when a building is renovated is the improvement of its energy efficiency, minimizing the heat loss through the enclosures and its heating consumption. Under this scope idea a ventilated facade was designed and incorporated in an educational building located in the city of Burgos (Spain). The main objective of this document is a comparison between the theoretical model of heat transfer across the building envelope separating the environment and the interior space, and the heat intake through a linear regression model with installed experimental monitoring. For this it has been necessary to carry out an exhaustive study of the thermal transmission of each one of the materials that make up the thermal envelope of the building, as well as the linear thermal bridges that can be produced before and after the renovation. In addition, thanks to the monitoring installed in the demonstrator building, the interior and exterior temperatures and the heat consumption of each of the radiators is known. In this way expected and real energy savings have been compared.
Numerical Investigation of the impact of longitudinal thermal bridging on energy efficient buildings under humid continental climate conditions: The Case of Lithuania
Authors: Cerneckiene Jurgita , Zdankus Tadas , Valancius Rokas , Fokaides Paris A. 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Thermal bridges play a major role in the thermal losses of the building shell and should be avoided, especially under winter dominant conditions and for high cooling degree days regions in Europe and worldwide. Since 2016 the requirement for all new buildings to achieve energy-efficiency class “A” came into force in Lithuania. One of the requirements to meet this class are detailed calculations of the thermal transmittance values of the longitudinal thermal bridges. The same requirement is also requested for higher energy-efficiency buildings that are qualified as “A+” (obligatory since 2018) and “A++” (obligatory from 2021 onwards) class buildings.
The purpose of this study is the numerical investigation of the impact of thermal bridges on energy efficient buildings under humid continental climate conditions. For the purpose of the study, the energy performance of the thermal bridges of a class A building, situated in Lithuania, were analyzed, using the tool Therm of LBNL a two-dimensional conduction heat-transfer analysis, based on the finite-element method. The calculations of the thermal transmittance values of the longitudinal thermal bridges were implemented in accordance with the requirements of EN ISO 10211:2008 standard. Alternative construction designs, with the aim to minimize the thermal losses of the building shell are also presented and discussed in this study. This study showed that detailed calculation of the losses through thermal bridges may have a significant importance to avoid dew points and mold in sensitive parts of the building shell, but they have a minor influence for the energy certification criteria. The findings of this study are anticipated to provide useful feedback for the future development of the construction regulations in the Baltic countries, as well as in countries with humid continental climate conditions.
New Zealand’s unreinforced Masonry Buildings: Facing up to the earthquake.
Authors: Murphy C P 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The damage caused by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake has led to the introduction of compulsory seismic strengthening legislation for all unreinforced earthquake-prone masonry buildings (URM) within New Zealand. The legislation, passed in 2013, requires all such URM commercial, multi-unit and multi-storey residential buildings to be upgraded and strengthened to a minimum of 34% or more of the New Building Standard, irrespective of the earthquake zone within which they are located. Buildings so designated and in high earthquake zones will have a very limited time bring their buildings into line with these requirements. The proposal particularly affects old URM buildings. Some of these are buildings have a declared heritage value, many do not. Most were built around the turn of the twentieth Century. Together they make up a considerable portion of many small town commercial precincts. The legislation affects all parts of New Zealand, regardless of the particular region’s exposure to earthquake risk.
The paper will background the current legislation, compare international legislation and study the financial effects of the legislation, case studying buildings within two distinct seismic zones. The findings suggest that where the cost of the upgrade puts the viability of the building as a rental investment at risk, the owner will most likely adopt demolition is the only feasible outcome. This could have far-reaching implications for the wellbeing of many small towns within New Zealand. An alternative strategy is examined and assessed.
Stability investigations in composite steel-concrete walls for restoration purposes to enhance structural and sustainability design
Authors: Nikolaidis T N , Koukouli N , Maliokas A , Baniotopoulos C C 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
In the present paper a methodology is proposed to evaluate the sustainability of intervention in existing multi-storey concrete buildings using structural steel systems. Taking into account that an intervention in an existing building can be characterized as sustainable if the design considerations include critical sustainability assessments, a method is proposed and then applied to a case study for the restoration of an eight-floor building located at the center of the city ofThessaloniki.This case study is also compared to other relevant assessments with the option of reuse of the existing building only with elementary restoration works and the design of a new composite steel-concrete building constructed at the same location. The analysis includes a description of the building characteristics and pathologies, with an estimation of the structural performance after the application of an optimization process when using structural steel systems for its enhancement.
Evaluation of the thermal performance of a Social Interest Housing (SIH) with ecological brick masonry produced with urban solid waste stabilized in a tropical climate to replace the use of traditional building materials
Authors: Dunel M P , Teixeira Barbosa C F 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The increasing urbanization and industrialization of modern societies has led to a large-scale production of solid waste, and its proliferation is therefore a global problem with immediate consequences for public health and the environment. Urban solid waste must be managed and controlled so as to reduce its volume and hazard, minimizing the damage of environmental pollution and the impacts in the population health. Currently, the most common waste control techniques are recycling and composting. Such techniques are known as tools that allow waste reuse. In this context, the use of recyclable materials in civil construction has been increasing day to day. However, in Brazil, no approach was found regarding material for the civil construction that is based on domiciliary solid residues, as the ecological brick. In this work, the thermal comfort of the ecological brick was analyzed, a brick of low environmental impact and of easy applicability that can be used to improve the thermal comfort of the Brazilian constructions in general, including the housing for the low-income population. The main objective of the study was to verify the effectiveness of the ecological brick regarding the thermal comfort. The methodology consists of measuring the thermal comfort in a reference model of low-income residence with ecological bricks masonry produced with waste from urban solid waste. Changes in the envelope were soon made, such as the addition of coating mortar and white paint and the replacement of the ecological brick masonry with the ceramic brick masonry with and without coating in order to compare the values of the residence internal temperature. The measurement was performed by computational simulation with the EnergyPlus® software using the real-scale prototype of the popular standard Brazilian house, on the typical summer day. In the results, it was noticed that the residence of ecological bricks obtained a sensitive difference in temperature in comparison to the residence of solid ceramic bricks. The prototype built with ecological brick contributed to better conditions of thermal comfort, as it provided lower internal temperatures, and, consequently, lower heat gain. Therefore, it was verified a change in the values of thermal transmittance and delay related to the behavior of masonry in the different environments of the building. As for the influence of the addition of the coating mortar and the external paint with a light color, it was observed that there was a significant improvement in the thermal performance of the masonry. Therefore, for a better thermal comfort of the users of the buildings in the bioclimatic zone-8, it is indicated that the seal composed by ecological bricks is towed and its facade painted with light colors.