residential buildings

The research presented in this paper was conducted in order to test whether the thermal preferences of occupants in low energy houses are influenced by their environmental values. This was done through a thermal comfort study and Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI) of 40 low energy households located within two very different climates, cold temperate and hot humid, in Australia.

This article presents the results of a thermal comfort investigation carried out in a residential gated community located in a hot-humid climate.  The study comprises of real-time field monitoring of thermal comfort in representative apartment units and assessment of the utility and cooling energy consumption in these residences.  Utility energy consumption data of the residences for one year period was obtained and a survey was administered to identify the trend of air-conditioner use.  The results are summarized and used to validate a simulation model.

In Portugal, the external thermal insulation systems (ETIS) are nowadays a current technical solution in residential buildings, contrasting with the rarely used internal thermal insulation systems (ITIS). In this paper, a quantitative analysis on ITIS is done based on three hygrothermal façade requirements: interstitial condensations, thermal bridges, and temperature variations across the external wall. Computer simulation was used as research tool.

Efforts to save energy may easily lead to the compromisation of indoor environmental conditions and vice-versa. This study suggests an indicator for indoor environmental quality classification, developed with the purpose of assisting households that are trying to save energy, to maintain optimum levels of indoor environmental quality during this effort. The “Dwelling Environmental Quality Index” (DEQI) is a comprehensive indoor environmental quality indicator, reported to occupants as an easily understood number (percentage).

A new student accommodation for engineering students “Apisseq” was built in the town of Sisimiut, Greenland in 2010. Its purpose is not only to provide accommodation for students. Thanks to its complex monitoring system it enables researchers to evaluate the building’s energy performance and indoor air quality (IAQ) as well as performance of some single components. In summer 2012 a blower door test was performed on all 37 living units out of which 33 are identical single room flats and 4 are larger double room flats.

The present study describes the potential improvement of summer comfort and reduction of energy consumption that can be achieved by adopting passive cooling solutions, such as daytime comfort ventilation with increased air velocities and night cooling, in domestic buildings. By means of the IDA ICE based software EIC Visualizer, the performances of ten ventilation and cooling strategies have been tested in four different climatic zones across Europe (Athens, Rome, Berlin and Copenhagen).

The Spanish Technical Building Code is one of the three royal decrees that were approved in Spain as a consequence of the transposition of the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (2002/91/EU) [1]. One basic document of the Technical Building Code deals with the limitations in the energy demand of buildings. Nowadays, due to the recast of the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (2010/31/EU) [2], a revision process of the current regulations has begun, starting with the Technical Building Code, with its first revision envisaged for 2012.

The thermal comfort of the residential building Home for Life is investigated with a particular focus on the strategies used to achieve good thermal comfort, and the role of solar shading and natural ventilation. Home for Life was completed in 2009 as one of six buildings in the Model Home 2020 project. It has very generous daylight conditions, and is designed to be energy neutral with a good indoor environment.

Natural ventilation in residential dwellings is very important for occupants’ health and comfort. Previous studies by the authors have concluded that natural ventilation performance in dwellings can be enhanced by positioning the two groups of window openings (bedroom windows and living room windows) in opposite directions or perpendicular to each other; and/or the use of side-hung windows. However, the buildings selected for those studies were located in an isolated site, for the purpose of focused evaluation of the influence of various configuration parameters and window types.

The Spanish Technical Building Code is one of the three royal decrees that were approved in Spain as a consequence of the transposition of the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (2002/91/EU, 2002). One basic document of the Technical Building Code deals with the limitations of building energy demands. Nowadays, due to the recast of the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (2010/31/EU, 2010), a revision process of the current regulations has begun, starting with the Technical Building Code, with its first revision envisaged for 2012.