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Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G: Energy and Buildings".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 23778

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Tomasz Kisilewicz

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Guest Editor
Chair of Building Design and Building Physics, Faculty of Covil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland
Interests: building physics; low energy buildings; passive solar use; internal environment quality; air quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We have been reducing the energy demand of buildings for several decades as an essential element of building sustainable development. During this period, the requirements for the thermal resistance of opaque components and windows changed dramatically. There are strict requirements regarding building tightness, ventilation,  heat recovery and HVAC installations. New methods of passive and active solar energy harvesting and energy acquisition from the external environment have been developed and widely implemented. The building became a complex system of various devices, requiring expertise and rational use.

However, a significant element of the building sustainable development is also the internal environment quality (IEQ), assuring safety and comfort of building use in every respect. High energy requirements can lead to contradictions with the quality of the environment. Therefore, there are new trends aimed at making better use of the natural, passive thermal phenomena occurring in the building envelope and reduction of natural resource consumption. At the same time, attention is paid to the adaptability of the human body and leaving the user more freedom in shaping the conditions.

IEQ covers a wide spectrum of issues related to thermal comfort, lighting, acoustics and internal air quality (IAQ). The latter aspect is recently extended to include PM migration to the building interior.

This issue welcomes research papers showing an overview of recent advances in the above mentioned and creatively extended fields of sustainable building development.

Prof. Tomasz Kisilewicz
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • low energy building
  • passive measures
  • internal environment quality
  • thermal comfort
  • internal air quality
  • sustainable building

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 6089 KiB  
Article
Measurement of the Green Façade Prototype in a Climate Chamber: Impact of Watering Regime on the Surface Temperatures
by Peter Juras and Pavol Durica
Energies 2022, 15(7), 2459; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15072459 - 27 Mar 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1914
Abstract
Green façades with an active water regime and the water flowing through the substrate itself are not common. This system reduces the temperatures and incorporates the evapotranspiration, which could be more effective than by the regular green façades. The use of a double-skin [...] Read more.
Green façades with an active water regime and the water flowing through the substrate itself are not common. This system reduces the temperatures and incorporates the evapotranspiration, which could be more effective than by the regular green façades. The use of a double-skin façade with a ventilated air cavity can reduce the heat load, but the evapotranspiration can reduce it even more with additional benefits. Green façades could also serve as a key element for reducing the surface temperatures of the insulated metal panels (IMP), which are mostly used as a façade system for production facilities or factories. In this paper, a prototype of a double-skin façade, which consisted of vegetation board from recycled materials and IMP, is tested in a climate chamber to evaluate the function and benefits of such a combination. The outdoor skin is made from board, the surface of which is covered by the rooted succulent plants. Measurement results are represented as a direct comparison of single sunny day surface temperatures with and without a double-skin (green) façade. The use of the green façade reduces the indoor surface temperature of IMP by 2.8 °C in this measurement. The use of water circulation through the outdoor skin reduces the temperature of the vegetation board by 28 °C. This could have a great impact on the microclimate around the façade. Because of the controlled environment and ventilation system in a climate chamber, it is not possible to investigate the airflow and solar chimney effect within the ventilated cavity. In addition, it is complicated to show the potential of microclimate change caused by the wet vegetation surface. For the mentioned reasons, the need to carry out “in situ” tests on a model wall under the real conditions was indicated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment)
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19 pages, 7924 KiB  
Article
Traditional Town Houses in Kyoto, Japan: Present and Future
by Chiemi Iba and Shuichi Hokoi
Energies 2022, 15(5), 1913; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15051913 - 5 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5030
Abstract
Climate change is an important issue that affects energy consumption, causes health problems, such as heat stroke, and requires urgent countermeasures. Serious health problems, including cardiac arrest, often occur in winter in traditional residences in Japan. Cooling-heating energy is required to maintain a [...] Read more.
Climate change is an important issue that affects energy consumption, causes health problems, such as heat stroke, and requires urgent countermeasures. Serious health problems, including cardiac arrest, often occur in winter in traditional residences in Japan. Cooling-heating energy is required to maintain a healthy thermal environment. Although energy efficiency standards for buildings have been introduced worldwide to reduce energy consumption and various passive energy-saving methods are being investigated, traditional residences still face difficulties in conducting renovations because of various restrictions, such as the conservation of historical or aesthetic values. In this study, these issues and their appropriate countermeasures were investigated for a traditional townhouse in Kyoto, Japan, “Kyo-machiya” (including its new form “Heisei-no-Kyo-machiya”). The potential of reducing heating and cooling loads was examined by conducting numerical analysis considering residents’ lifestyles. Field surveys of the indoor environment were conducted in both summer and winter. It was revealed that by optimizing the times and positions of opening and closing the windows and indoor partitions, the indoor air flow could be adjusted from both thermal comfort (cooling in summer) and discomfort (cold drafts in winter) perspectives, leading to improving the indoor environment without using energy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment)
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14 pages, 6790 KiB  
Article
Positive Aspects of Green Roof Reducing Energy Consumption in Winter
by Peter Juras
Energies 2022, 15(4), 1493; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15041493 - 17 Feb 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2334
Abstract
Greening structures attract worldwide attention because of their multidisciplinary benefits. Green roofs are considered one of the best ways to eliminate summer overheating, mitigate climate change, or reduce the urban heat island effect. The winter season and its impact on building energy consumption [...] Read more.
Greening structures attract worldwide attention because of their multidisciplinary benefits. Green roofs are considered one of the best ways to eliminate summer overheating, mitigate climate change, or reduce the urban heat island effect. The winter season and its impact on building energy consumption are often overlooked. Common standards do not take a green roof structure into consideration because of possible high water content in their layers. Additional roof layers may have a positive effect during the winter; they help reduce surface overcooling in cloudless winter nights. This paper analyses experimental measurements taken on two different extensive green roofs and compares the results with a single-ply roof (R) with a PVC membrane. Surface overcooling of the R due to radiation reaching up to 10 °C, whereas the green roof membrane is protected. The influence of thermal loss is not so important for the current climate in Central Europe, as the required U-values are lower than 0.1. The temperature difference is reduced from 17 °C on the membrane to 0.7 °C on the top of the concrete slab. The green roof is still advantageous, and the vegetation surface has better thermal stability. The advantage is clearly recognisable in the area of the condensation zone. The difference between these two extensive green roofs is very small in regard to the accuracy of the temperature sensors. The outcome showed the thermal loss reduction compared to the common flat roof; however, after analysis, it was more marginal than expected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment)
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18 pages, 6102 KiB  
Article
How to Adapt Mongolian Yurt to the Modern Requirements and European Climate—Airtightness versus CO2 Concentration?
by Tomasz Kisilewicz, Katarzyna Nowak-Dzieszko, Katarzyna Nowak, Sabina Kuc, Ksenia Ostrowska and Piotr Śliwiński
Energies 2021, 14(24), 8544; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248544 - 18 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3728
Abstract
There are currently trends in the world to transfer and adapt traditional solutions to contemporary needs. This applies, inter alia, to mobile shelters used by nomadic peoples. The article is devoted to the research on the quality of internal air in the yurt [...] Read more.
There are currently trends in the world to transfer and adapt traditional solutions to contemporary needs. This applies, inter alia, to mobile shelters used by nomadic peoples. The article is devoted to the research on the quality of internal air in the yurt and the possibilities of its adaptation to high contemporary quality and environmental requirements, while maintaining its characteristic sustainable values. The tested traditional Mongolian yurt was moved from the dry and cold climate of the Asian steppe to the temperate climate of Central Europe and has been significantly modified. The outer shell materials have been changed, replacing natural materials with modern tight insulating foils. The wood-fired stove has been replaced with an electric heater and the roof opening has been firmly closed. All of these modifications resulted in far-reaching changes in the quality of the internal environment in the yurt. The conducted measurements and simulations of CO2 concentration in the modified yurt proved that the efficiency of ventilation system is not sufficient and that the air quality is very poor (even for a single user). In the case of a larger number of users, the concentration of CO2 has already reached a level that was dangerous to health. The simplest method of improving the air quality in the yurt is its careful unsealing to the required level. Striving for a low energy demand, however, would require a completely different approach (for example, in the form of forced ventilation with a heat recovery unit, ultimately powered with a PV array). Such a solution is very different from the traditional yurt model but is close to modern expectations and environmental requirements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment)
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20 pages, 7296 KiB  
Article
Moisture Risk Analysis for Three Construction Variants of a Wooden Inverted Flat Roof
by Agnieszka Sadłowska-Sałęga and Krzysztof Wąs
Energies 2021, 14(23), 7898; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14237898 - 25 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2452
Abstract
The paper presents an analysis of the hygrothermal performance of an inverted flat roof with a CLT (cross-laminated timber) structure in a building that meets the requirements of Passive House Standard (PHS) with regards to the potential risk of moisture. The calculations were [...] Read more.
The paper presents an analysis of the hygrothermal performance of an inverted flat roof with a CLT (cross-laminated timber) structure in a building that meets the requirements of Passive House Standard (PHS) with regards to the potential risk of moisture. The calculations were made in the WUFI®Plus and WUFI®Bio software. The following variants were taken into account: three structure configurations, three different external climates and different scenarios of microclimate control and air change rate. The results of the calculations show that, especially in cooler climates, there is an actual moisture risk in the structure despite the excellent thermal insulation. The structure of the inverted flat roof, due to the use of a tight membrane on the outer side, allows for the partition to discharge the excess moisture only to the inside of the building. Ensuring the comfort of users may require periodic humidification of internal air, which translates directly into an increase in moisture content of the structure. The performed analysis clearly showed that there are no universal solutions. It is important to point out that for the proper performance of inverted wooden roofs, it is crucial to analyse moisture, not only thermal and energy parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment)
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25 pages, 3522 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Risk Management in Passive Buildings Projects
by Maria Krechowicz and Jerzy Zbigniew Piotrowski
Energies 2021, 14(20), 6830; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14206830 - 19 Oct 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3071
Abstract
Nowadays, we can observe a growing interest in passive buildings due to global climate change, environmental concerns, and growing energy costs. However, developing a passive building is associated with meeting many Passive House requirements, which results in their increased complexity as well as [...] Read more.
Nowadays, we can observe a growing interest in passive buildings due to global climate change, environmental concerns, and growing energy costs. However, developing a passive building is associated with meeting many Passive House requirements, which results in their increased complexity as well as many challenges and risks which could threaten the successful completion of the project. Risk management is a key tool enabling meeting today’s challenging passive house project’s demands connected with quality, costs, deadlines, and legal issues. In this paper, a new model of risk management dedicated for passive buildings based is proposed, in which a novel Fuzzy Fault Tree integrated with risk response matrix was developed. We proposed 171 risk remediation strategies for all 16 recognized risks in passive buildings projects. We show how to apply the proposed model in practice on one passive building example. Thanks to applying the proposed risk management model an effective reduction of the risks of the basic event is enabled, leading to a significant reduction of the top event risk. The proposed model is useful for architects, installation designers, contractors, and owners who are willing to develop attainable and successful passive buildings projects that benefit all stakeholders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment)
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26 pages, 8859 KiB  
Article
Efficiency of Solar Shading Devices to Improve Thermal Comfort in a Sports Hall
by Anna Dudzińska
Energies 2021, 14(12), 3535; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14123535 - 14 Jun 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4191
Abstract
Thermal environment in sports facilities is probably one of the most important parameters, determining the safety and performance of athletes. Such facilities, due to the required operating temperature and physical activity of users, are a serious challenge for both investors and administrators, especially [...] Read more.
Thermal environment in sports facilities is probably one of the most important parameters, determining the safety and performance of athletes. Such facilities, due to the required operating temperature and physical activity of users, are a serious challenge for both investors and administrators, especially in summer. The additional criterion of low energy consumption in extremely airtight and well-insulated passive buildings often results in overheating of the interior, creating considerable economic and operational problems. The significant need to reduce solar gain during periods of high outdoor temperatures for low-energy buildings prompts a variety of design solutions. Sun shading systems, as an indispensable element of glazed surfaces, are designed to control the amount of solar radiation reaching the building interior, at the same time creating a favorable microclimate inside. This article analyzes the effects of sun shading, which have actually been applied and modified on the southern façade of a passive sports hall in Słomniki. Measurements of the thermal conditions in the hall were the starting point, on the basis of which a model of the object was created in the DesignBuilder program. Using simulation analyses, thermal conditions arising with the use of different variants of internal and external shading devices were studied in the program. The results presented in the article show that in a well-insulated hall of large volume, appropriately selected external shading devices are only able to reduce the access of sunlight to the rooms. External brise-soleils are able to limit the access of solar radiation to the rooms by up to 30%, but this is not enough to guarantee internal thermal comfort. Internal blinds do not affect the interior microclimate significantly and do not protect protection from overheating. Momentary differences in PMV values for different patterns of closing the blinds do not exceed 0.2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low Energy Building Design That Ensures High Quality of Internal Environment)
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