New Calculation Method

The research investigates the new hourly method of the assessment of building energy needs for heating and cooling introduced by EN ISO 52016-1. It is compared against both the hourly model of EN ISO 13790 and a detailed dynamic simulation tool (EnergyPlus). The deviations between methods are discussed through a case study. The new method, if properly customized as regards input parameters, provides results close to the detailed simulation, as regards the energy need assessment. The work is aimed at contributing to the normative activity through the validation of the new calculation method, as to enhance its application for the building energy rating.

The EU Directive 2010/31 abstained from prescribing harmonized and strict requirements for nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs), to provide EU countries flexibility and room for maneuver in setting national targets, in view of the impact of local climatic conditions and specific territorial and socio-economical features on heating and cooling needs. Benchmarks are usually provided in terms of primary energy needs, however the definition of accurate calculation methodologies, notably as regards the cooling share, is a rather challenging task. Nonetheless, its accomplishment is cardinal to countries, like Mediterranean ones, were the building performance is mostly dictated by summertime sensitivities. This paper presents a cutting-edge approach to nZEB performance analysis: the monthly quasi steady-state (EN 13790 as implemented in Italian UNI/TS 11300) and hourly dynamic calculation methods (developed under the standard UNI EN ISO 52016-1:2018) are compared, with due attention to the...

The scientific community, along with the worldwide governments, debate about the performances of buildings for decades and today the subject is still of topical interest. The recent regulatory framework requires increasingly high energy-efficient buildings in order to reduce the overall impact of building sector and to improve the user's well-being. Several stakeholders are called upon to contribute to this end. The collaboration between the professional, industrial and scientific sectors is an engine of this challenge. Following this path, the Construction Technologies Institute (ITC) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) has recently developed a zero energy laboratory with the aim of creating the best platform where companies of the building sector and research bodies can share their expertise for the development and the test of products and systems to reach the Zero Energy Building (ZEB) standard. The paper focuses on the design and testing phases of the laboratory. High performance envelope, efficient HVAC and renewable energy systems are the technical pillars of the laboratory. Several characterization tests have been carried out in order to choose the most suitable technical solutions. The integrated solutions (products and systems) are tested through a continuous monitoring: energy and the Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) variables measurements are performed.

Este trabalho propõe o estudo da viabilidade do uso do ambiente MatLab/Simulink para auxílio no redimensionamento e validação de um dispositivo que simule a dinâmica do sistema circulatório humano. Na perspectiva de obter contribuições para o desenvolvimento do protótipo de uma válvula de controle proporcional que seja capaz de simular a dinâmica do sistema cardiovascular. Através de variações nos parâmetros do modelo objetiva-se que seja possível reproduzir diferentes condições fisiológicas dos pacientes, tais como as situações de repouso e de atividade física. Pacientes em estágio avançado de insuficiência cardíaca são candidatos a transplante do coração. Existem casos que os pacientes não se enquadram neste cenário, os doadores não são satisfatórios para suprir a demanda, seja por número insuficiente ou por incompatibilidade dos órgãos. Pesquisadores tem empreendido o uso de corações artificiais e Dispositivos de Assistência Ventricular Esquerda (DAVE), com o objetivo de estender...

This work presents the energy performance analysis of an autarkic residential building, located in the suburb of L’Aquila, in central Italy. The analysis is performed via a calibrated dynamic thermal model, carried out with EnergyPlusTM engine coupled with DesignBuilder. The aim of this study is the further understanding of the optimization margins of the energy self-sufficient building by considering different Energy Efficiency Measures and the effects obtainable in different climatic conditions. Four Italian cities and three European capitals are considered, in addition to different scenarios, characterized by various technological plants. In fact, a significant difference between the high efficiency of the envelope, and the poor performance of the heating system was observed. The results highlighted the remarkable energy performance optimization of the analyzed building, although the effects of the Energy Efficiency Measures showed notable differences between colder and warmer cl...

Working with a medium scale, research-focused architectural practice this paper measures the efficacy of balanced pressure heat recovery ventilation systems (BPHR systems) in the existing housing stock as a strategy to mitigate thermal heat loss when incorporating ventilation strategies in New Zealand. Current research indicates that BPHR systems boast an efficiency upwards of 80%. The aim of this research is to determine at what point do BPHR systems meet current claims of efficiency. An examination of the existing New Zealand housing stock identifies that 66% of all dwellings do not meet thermal performance requirements. This has been attributed, in part, to the governance of legislation of minimum performance, which did not exist until 1978. This paper, first, identifies building simulation measures and assumptions to accurately simulate BPHR systems in controlled conditions, which is quality assured against the expected performance of a conventional code minimum residential building and a range of models that represent a spectrum of building leakage for pre-legislation buildings. This paper then examines passive ventilation strategies in each model to identify the energy balance of using BPHR systems and the potential for heating energy loss when implementing simpler ventilation strategies. This study identifies that the efficiency of BPHR systems significantly differ in the pre-legislation building simulations. In these models, the building leakage alone renders heat recovery negligible in comparison to simple passive design and occupant-controlled measures thatm achieve a similar result for the indoor air quality.

The paper presents the thermal behavior and energy loads of a two-level residential building designed for a family of four, two adults and two students, for different inside comfort levels reflected by the interior air temperature. Results are intended to emphasize the different thermal behavior of building elements and their contribution to the building's external load. The most important contributors to the building thermal loss are determined. Daily heating and cooling loads are computed for 12 months simulation in Bucharest (44.25ºN latitude) in clear sky conditions. The most important aspects regarding sizing of thermal energy systems are emphasized, such as the reference months for maximum cooling and heating loads and these loads' values. Annual maximum loads are encountered in February and August, respectively, so these months should be taken as reference for sizing thermal building systems, in Bucharest, under clear sky conditions. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease, prolonging the investment return period. The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand-outdoor temperature function for heat demand forecast. The district of Alvalade, located in Lisbon (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665 buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors. The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications (the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered). The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.

The EU Directive 2010/31 abstained from prescribing harmonized and strict requirements for nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs), to provide EU countries flexibility and room for maneuver in setting national targets, in view of the impact of local climatic conditions and specific territorial and socio-economical features on heating and cooling needs. Benchmarks are usually provided in terms of primary energy needs, however the definition of accurate calculation methodologies, notably as regards the cooling share, is a rather challenging task. Nonetheless, its accomplishment is cardinal to countries, like Mediterranean ones, were the building performance is mostly dictated by summertime sensitivities. This paper presents a cutting-edge approach to nZEB performance analysis: the monthly quasi steady-state (EN 13790 as implemented in Italian UNI/TS 11300) and hourly dynamic calculation methods (developed under the standard UNI EN ISO 52016-1:2018) are compared, with due attention to the...

In the framework of the Covenant of Mayors for mitigation and Green House Gas emissions reduction toward a sustainable future, proposed tools used in the South-Mediterranean countries have not always been sufficient. To quantify the territory emissions (Baseline Emission Inventory BEI), local authorities had to rely on inaccurate data that generated inaccurate results. Furthermore, classical tools would not allow any authority wishing to join without any technical assistance from CES-MED to identify and determine the performance of each measure in order to elaborate a feasible Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP). A new tool is necessary to fill the gaps and lead to a more developed approach, more generalized and adapted to the regional context. The first part developed of this tool can assess the basic situation of a municipality in terms of calculating emissions. A second part of this tool is to identify priority energy efficiency measures, determine the performance ...

The EU Directive 2010/31 abstained from prescribing harmonized and strict requirements for nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs), to provide EU countries flexibility and room for maneuver in setting national targets, in view of the impact of local climatic conditions and specific territorial and socio-economical features on heating and cooling needs. Benchmarks are usually provided in terms of primary energy needs, however the definition of accurate calculation methodologies, notably as regards the cooling share, is a rather challenging task. Nonetheless, its accomplishment is cardinal to countries, like Mediterranean ones, were the building performance is mostly dictated by summertime sensitivities. This paper presents a cutting-edge approach to nZEB performance analysis: the monthly quasi steady-state (EN 13790 as implemented in Italian UNI/TS 11300) and hourly dynamic calculation methods (developed under the standard UNI EN ISO 52016-1:2018) are compared, with due attention to the...

The demand for space cooling is the fastest growing end-use of electricity in buildings since many rely on the use of air-conditioners only to control the indoor climate. Ventilative cooling is a passive cooling technique, which involves the use of outdoor air to lower buildings’ indoor air temperature. In order to determine whether ventilative cooling may have the ability to reduce cooling loads, a detailed analysis of the local climate is needed. The aim of this study was to identify which Australian geographical regions have a suitable climate for the utilization of ventilative cooling techniques. The assessment of climatic potential for each geographic location was carried using two approaches: (i) a methodology which does not require detailed knowledge of the building characteristics, and; (ii) building performance simulation of a ‘typical’ Australian detached home. Results showed that the most populated Australian cities would benefit from the use of ventilative cooling techni...

This paper presents the case study of an nZEB building located in the municipality of Mesagne (Apulia, BR). It is a building of 309 m2 of usable floor space with two floors above ground. The building is a proof that a correct integrated design of the HVAC system and the building envelope can easily lead to an nZEB building with high performance in terms of energy consumption and comfort. The external envelope of the building is a structure in tufa blocks plus a mixture of hemp and hydraulic lime plus blocks of hemp and lime. Hemp lime is a mix of renewably sourced hemp shiv, a specially formulated lime binder and water. The air conditioning system is based on a controlled mechanical ventilation with air pre-treatment through an underground tube exchanger. A numerical simulation of the overall building-plant system performance was made with DesignBuilder in order to evaluate the energy consumption for air conditioning and the thermohygrometric comfort in the building. Several simulat...

Este trabalho propõe o estudo da viabilidade do uso do ambiente MatLab/Simulink para auxílio no redimensionamento e validação de um dispositivo que simule a dinâmica do sistema circulatório humano. Na perspectiva de obter contribuições para o desenvolvimento do protótipo de uma válvula de controle proporcional que seja capaz de simular a dinâmica do sistema cardiovascular. Através de variações nos parâmetros do modelo objetiva-se que seja possível reproduzir diferentes condições fisiológicas dos pacientes, tais como as situações de repouso e de atividade física. Pacientes em estágio avançado de insuficiência cardíaca são candidatos a transplante do coração. Existem casos que os pacientes não se enquadram neste cenário, os doadores não são satisfatórios para suprir a demanda, seja por número insuficiente ou por incompatibilidade dos órgãos. Pesquisadores tem empreendido o uso de corações artificiais e Dispositivos de Assistência Ventricular Esquerda (DAVE), com o objetivo de estender...

Working with a medium scale, research-focused architectural practice this paper measures the efficacy of balanced pressure heat recovery ventilation systems (BPHR systems) in the existing housing stock as a strategy to mitigate thermal heat loss when incorporating ventilation strategies in New Zealand. Current research indicates that BPHR systems boast an efficiency upwards of 80%. The aim of this research is to determine at what point do BPHR systems meet current claims of efficiency. An examination of the existing New Zealand housing stock identifies that 66% of all dwellings do not meet thermal performance requirements. This has been attributed, in part, to the governance of legislation of minimum performance, which did not exist until 1978. This paper, first, identifies building simulation measures and assumptions to accurately simulate BPHR systems in controlled conditions, which is quality assured against the expected performance of a conventional code minimum residential buil...

Net zero energy buildings (NZEB) represent reality of new constructions in Europe for environmentally sustainable energy efficiency. The shift to net zero energy settlements represents a further opportunity to achieve extra-energy saving, thanks to utilities sharing, renewables optimization, and microclimate mitigation. This last aspect concerns the opportunity to improve settlements outdoor microclimate conditions in both hot and cold seasons, in a variety of climate conditions, with the purpose to improve occupants’ wellbeing. At the same time, microclimate mitigation at inter-building scale may also involve relatively less severe boundary conditions able to reduce both cooling and heating demand of buildings and better working conditions for HVAC systems, e.g. heat pumps and air-to-air heat exchangers. This extra-energy saving, achievable with no extra costs, may represent an interesting opportunity to be taken into account in net zero energy settlements design and construction. ...

Many European countries assess the heating and cooling needs of buildings using the quasi-steady state calculation method described in EN ISO 13790. The energy need is calculated by establishing the monthly balance of heat losses and heat gains, and the dynamic effects are taken into consideration by introducing correlation factors. The difficulty of evaluating night-time ventilation with such a method comes from the strong influence of the dynamic effects. In this paper, two different calculation methods for modelling night-time ventilation have been developed and tested: one is based on correcting the convective heat transfer by ventilation using the factor   (method proposed in the standard), and the other one introduces an adjustment factor   on the relative heat gains. 288 simulations of a typical Danish office building have been performed using different boundary conditions: level of thermal mass, level of insulation, orientation, internal heat loads, duration and air change rate of night-time ventilation. For both methods, the derived correction factors are highly dependent on the thermal mass of the building. An influence of the period of activation of night-time ventilation has also been observed. Correlations have been developed and an improvement of the accuracy has been observed: the uncertainty on the annual energy consumption obtained with adjustment factor has been decreased from around 10 % down to 5%.

Buildings consume approximately 39% of the total energy used in US, of which 53% is consumed by residential buildings. Besides, indoor air quality (IAQ) have significant impacts on occupant health since people spend on average around 90% of their time indoors. Nowadays, a great number of green building technologies (GBTs) have been developed and implemented in buildings for reducing energy consumption and improving IAQ. This paper proposes an approach to develop a green building technology database for residential buildings including their the technology's feature and performance for energy saving and IAQ improvement under different building configuration and climate conditions. The GBTs are collected from case study buildings. For each study case, the GBTs are classified by the Virtual Design Studio (VDS) building assessment method. A local reference building is first defined for the region where the case building is constructed. Both forward-step evaluation of a proposed GBT to a reference building and backward-step tracking of the contribution of the technology to the case building are conducted. A scalability analysis is also conducted to understand the practical application of the performance parameters to other cases with different building design. EnergyPlus and CHAMPS-Multizone are used to analyse the energy and IAQ performance for each technology. The approach is verified by a case study of two single-family houses in US.

The paper presents the findings on end-users' experiences and expectations about living in multi-family Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs). The survey in four European countries (Slovenia, Italy, Denmark and Germany) was part of EU Horizon 2020 project CoNZEBs (2017-2019) and addressed end-users living or thinking about living in multi-family NZEBs. Targeted end-users were living (as tenants or owners) in either ordinary buildings or in high performance buildings such as NZEBs (mandatory after 2020 according to Directive 2010/31/EU). In the survey, the following topics were addressed: the level of end-user's understanding of the NZEB concept, the source and quality of information on NZEB from the end-users' perspective, the importance of various apartment features for the end-users, perception of NZEB characterizing technologies, and decision triggers for living in NZEB. Concerns, doubts and eventual fears about living in NZEBs were studied to enable a tailored information for future end-users, to increase the demand for NZEB and beyond NZEB buildings and to improve their acceptability. To facilitate the living in NZEBs a guide for end-users was developed, explaining the "Myths" about NZEBs as well as presenting testimonials of current NZEB users in four participating countries.

Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs) and nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs) can be designed from scratch or they can be obtained after deep refurbishments of existing constructions. Both passive and active strategies are fundamental to achieve the ZEB or nZEB target. According to this, among passive systems, green roofs can be a viable solution because they allow to achieve energy savings, also reducing the urban heat island phenomenon. In this research, an innovative roof-lawn system was preliminary analyzed by installing several measurement instruments for obtaining information about thermal heat exchanges. Heat-flow meters, surface temperature and air temperature probes were installed, comparing the performance of the roof-lawn system with a nearby simple old roof, in order to quantify the two different behaviors from a thermal point of view. The roof-lawn system revealed its advantages, showing a higher thermal inertia with no overheating and a lower thermal transmittance, as well as ...

The indoor temperature in public buildings varies according to its internal loads scenario. In fact, this building typology in temperate climates is generally non-air conditioned and naturally ventilated. In order to improve indoor thermal conditions with appropriate solutions, it is necessary to study the vertical temperature profile. The main objective of this study is to show the impact of thermal stratification on thermal comfort of public buildings. The thermo-airodynamic modeling using TRNSYS(C) and CONTAM(C) have been performed in this numerical simulation study. The indoor air volume is vertically subdivided into several levels to evaluate the evolution of temperature profile taking into account the different inside-outside air exchange and air coupling between sub-zones. This study is performed in the city of Morocco that represents Mediterranean climate region with a moderate temperature. The effect of several parameters, such as indoor occupation pattern, internal lightin...

The United Nations as well as the European Union are strongly committed in promoting a transition towards more sustainable and resilient cities. Indeed, they are increasingly affected by different types of threats, among which the natural ones such as earthquakes, fires, and floods (shocks) and climate variability (stresses). Cities are quite often unable to cope with the adverse effects of such natural hazards. This circumstance leads to the need of introducing resilience-related criteria (besides commonly used sustainability indicators) in decision-making processes. This paper investigates at which extent the inclusion of such new indicators, within multi-criteria assessment tools for supporting the decision-making process by Public Administrations, modifies the prioritization processes of a given set of planned actions to be implemented in cities, which are based instead on the above-cited commonly used indicators. The outcomes of the analysis demonstrated that the introduction o...

The Directive 2010/31/EU promotes the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the European Union, by taking into account indoor climate requirements and cost-effectiveness. Thus, the cost optimisation is one of the main objectives of the EU regulatory framework concerning the energy performance of both new buildings and existing buildings subject to refurbishment actions. When assessing the cost-optimal levels of energy performance, the calculation of the energy needs is usually carried out by means of CEN standards or equivalent national calculation methods, based either on steady-state or on dynamic simplified models. However, many research studies have pointed out the limitations of the steady-state approach, especially for high performance buildings. The aim of this work is to study how the calculation method – quasi-steady or dynamic of the energy needs for heating and cooling, impacts on the final optimal design. This is done through the application of a cost...

In the paper a methodology for identifying the cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements (according to Directive 2010/31/EU), already introduced in a previous work, is applied to Italian reference office buildings, different in the glazed area. The optimal energy efficiency measures, resulting from the application of a quasi-steady state numerical model, are then modelled by means of a dynamic simulation tool and the deviations are discussed. The aim is to validate the simplified model and to pave the way for future researches on cost optimality by applying energy performance simulation

In Italy, with reference to assessment of energy performance of buildings, the legislation currently in force still provides for the use of averaged monthly calculation methods. In anticipation of a gradual transition to more accurate calculation methods based on dynamic evaluations, it is of fundamental importance to know the differences in prediction of these different methods (averaged monthly and hourly calculation), with particular reference to those indicated in the European technical standards. With this study, the authors want to push forward the knowledge by using the results of simulations obtained on a sample of single-family and offices buildings. This study is part of a wider research activity aimed at the comparative analysis of the energy demand of new buildings, using averaged monthly and hourly calculation methods.

In a bid to overcome climate change and global warming, the adoption of net zero energy building (nZEB) practices in construction projects has become a viable measure of reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in buildings. nZEB is a facility with a significantly lowered energy needs such that the rest of the energy requirements can be supplied by on-site or off-site renewable technologies. The present study therefore investigated the awareness, benefits and challenges confronting the actualization of nZEB in Nigeria construction industry. A cross sectional survey design was adopted wherein a close ended questionnaire was purposively administered online to construction industry professionals who have understanding of nZEB initiatives. Descriptive statistical tests were conducted, with the results showing about 9% and 25% of the selected professionals been not aware of nZEB concepts and have not been involved in the concept in their professional career. Further details revealed...

The growing concern about energy consumption and environmental resources has led to research on sustainable approaches in construction. Efficient buildings have been built not only to attract new investments but also to take environmental considerations into account. Zero Energy Buildings; use a variety of passive strategies for energy efficiency and to decrease the use of heating, ventilation and air conditioning. These techniques impact directly on cost benefit and energy performance. The objective of this research is to identify efficient approaches for housing, considering the influence of climate, the energy generation, for two Brazilian cities. The cities climates area classified as Af (tropical climate) and Cfb (hot and temperate). The methodological procedures were divided into three stages: simulation to determine energy consumption in the efficient building; estimation of the balance between electric demand and generation by means of a building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV); assessment of the life cycle cost of the net present value of BIPV. The results show that for the tropical climate the payback is 6.75 years and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 15.06% and for the temperate, payback is 10.25 years and IRR of 8.49%. These outcomes demonstrate that in hot climate payback happens in less time, due to the high incidence of solar radiation in the year.

Building sectors are large consumers of energy worldwide, responsible for approximately 40% of the world's primary energy consumption. This paper analyzes the thermal performance of two passive roof construction technologies as a means of improving the indoor thermal conditions under summer conditions. Three identical Test Cell Structures (TCS) were constructed. All the TCSs were calibrated and two types of roofing technologies, Radiant Barrier (RB) and Phase Change Material (PCM) were individually applied to a TCS and their performance in terms of indoor air temperature reduction was compared. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was calculated for the study. The experimental results show that the thermal performance of RB obtained the best thermal improvement. TCS equipped with RB registered indoor air temperature 1.6 °C (2.9 °F) lower than the control test structure.

The U values assumptions for construction components represent a significant source of uncertainty when estimating the energy performance of buildings. This uncertainty affects decision-making processes in multiple ways, from policy making to design of new and refurbished buildings. The correct estimation of both static (e.g. thermal transmittance) and dynamic thermal properties is crucial for quality assurance in building performance assessment. Further, while today many sophisticated simulators are available for building performance modelling, lumped parameter models can help reducing computational time for parametric simulation or optimization and enable inverse estimation of lumped thermal characteristics. A lumped parameter approach for construction components is proposed, for example, by the ISO 52016-1:2017 norm, introducing simplifications that are intrinsically dependent on component's stratigraphy. This approach complements ISO 13786:2017 norm method, which is limited to steady-state periodic temperature and heat flux boundary conditions. In this research we consider these two different approaches, detailed and lumped modelling, comparing them first in idealized conditions and then in experimental conditions to analyse the robustness of methods.

The indoor temperature in public buildings varies according to its internal loads scenario. In fact, this building typology in temperate climates is generally non-air conditioned and naturally ventilated. In order to improve indoor thermal conditions with appropriate solutions, it is necessary to study the vertical temperature profile. The main objective of this study is to show the impact of thermal stratification on thermal comfort of public buildings. The thermo-airodynamic modeling using TRNSYS (C) and CONTAM (C) have been performed in this numerical simulation study. The indoor air volume is vertically subdivided into several levels to evaluate the evolution of temperature profile taking into account the different inside-outside air exchange and air coupling between sub-zones. This study is performed in the city of Morocco that represents Mediterranean climate region with a moderate temperature. The effect of several parameters, such as indoor occupation pattern, internal lighting, sub-zones air exchange and vertical thermal stratification are studied. Numerical simulation results show that thermal stratification of buildings affects the occupant's comfort level

The energy consumption of buildings depends on numerous factors that can be categorized in four major categories: geometry parameters; location; attributes of electric and mechanical systems; and behaviour of users. Most of the existing publications on 'energy-consumption influencing parameters' test the sensitivity of energy consumption to these inputs in a single building; not making it possible to correlate different projects. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact caused by the model when evaluating parameters. In this paper we have studied a series of nine real-world design projects in cold climate (Québec, Canada) to analyse the behaviour of thirteen design parameters. Among the four major categories mentioned above, our scope is limited to geometry parameters (variation in climate, mechanical systems and occupants is excluded). The parameters include building orientation; window-to-wall ratio; overhang size; insulation; and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) for windows. All parameters are analysed using the Morris method for sensitivity analysis and are ranked based on the simulation results. According to the results, window-to-wall ratio and orientation show lower variation among different models while insulation, overhangs and SHGC appear to be more sensitive. The developed analysis is the starting point to what can be a shortcut for designers to control energy consumptions efficiently in new designs.

In Canada, space heating accounts for the largest proportion of energy consumption in residential buildings. Therefore, accurately predicting the heating demand and interior temperature of a residential building plays a vital role in estimating the building's total energy consumption with the consideration of thermal comfort. The prediction results obtained through different models could be used to develop predictive controllers to achieve peak shifting as well as to provide utility providers with valuable information for electric power distribution. Common methods to predict heating demand mainly include physical models and statistical methods. This study used two physical models (i.e. TRNSYS model and TRNSYS-CONTAM model) and one statistical model using supervised machine learning algorithm to predict the heating demand as well as the indoor temperature of a residential building, located in Quebec, Canada. Results show that TRNSYS-CONTAM model has higher accuracy than TRNSYS model no matter in terms of interior air temperature or heating demand prediction, while the statistical model shows better interior air temperature prediction result than physical models.

Increasing building automation to improve energy efficiency introduces a risk of reducing occupants' perceived control and overall comfort. To this end, this paper presents a field study that used contextual techniques to explore the relationship between occupants' perceived control and comfort, as well as their preferences for building automation. A total of 170 occupants in 23 Canadian university campus buildings were interviewed in their offices using semi-structured interviews. All interviews entailed verbally administering a survey while photographs were systematically used to identify the context of occupants' interactions with building controls. Findings revealed that occupants' perception of comfort was moderately correlated to their perception of control over their indoor environment. Occupants also showed an overwhelming preference for more control opportunities in their offices (e.g. operable windows and dimmable lighting controls). Conducting interviews in offices yielded many interesting anecdotes and enabled the researcher to identify contextual issues related to building controls' accessibility, which may have been unnoticed otherwise. The findings of this research contribute to a broader debate within the research community about the appropriate level of building automation to optimize energy efficiency and occupant comfort.

The target of the nearly zero-energy building (nZEB), stated by the European Union, represents one of the most strenuous challenges to reduce energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector. In Italy, the nZEB concept refers to a set of energy performance requirements, fixed at national level and establishing a maximum allowable mean thermal transmittance value of the building envelope, as a function of the heating degree-days and of the shape factor. The building envelope is becoming more and more thermally insulated; this determines the reduction of the energy need for heating, but on the other hand it can cause the indoor overheating and the resulting increase of the energy need for cooling. In the design of highly energy efficient buildings, the different energy needs should be kept in balance as to increase the overall energy performance. The article aims to investigate the conditions and extent for which the envelope insulation is beneficial for containing overall energy needs. A sensitivity analysis that involves different insulation levels of the building envelope is performed on some apartments of a typical residential building, located in three different Italian climatic zones. The energy performance calculations are carried out by means of a detailed dynamic simulation tool (EnergyPlus). The results point out that, whereas the effect of increasing the thermal insulation causes a stable reduction of the energy need for heating, the energy need for cooling is very sensitive to the apartment storey; specifically, it increases in ground-floor apartments, and decreases for topfloor building units. Its reduction becomes progressively more consistent at the decrease of the heating degree-days. Considering the annual imbalances between the energy needs for cooling and heating due to the hyper-insulated envelope, reference values of thermal transmittance can be derived as to maximise the overall energy performance of the building.

Working with a medium scale, research-focused architectural practice this paper measures the efficacy of balanced pressure heat recovery ventilation systems (BPHR systems) in the existing housing stock as a strategy to mitigate thermal heat loss when incorporating ventilation strategies in New Zealand. Current research indicates that BPHR systems boast an efficiency upwards of 80%. The aim of this research is to determine at what point do BPHR systems meet current claims of efficiency. An examination of the existing New Zealand housing stock identifies that 66% of all dwellings do not meet thermal performance requirements. This has been attributed, in part, to the governance of legislation of minimum performance, which did not exist until 1978. This paper, first, identifies building simulation measures and assumptions to accurately simulate BPHR systems in controlled conditions, which is quality assured against the expected performance of a conventional code minimum residential building and a range of models that represent a spectrum of building leakage for pre-legislation buildings. This paper then examines passive ventilation strategies in each model to identify the energy balance of using BPHR systems and the potential for heating energy loss when implementing simpler ventilation strategies. This study identifies that the efficiency of BPHR systems significantly differ in the pre-legislation building simulations. In these models, the building leakage alone renders heat recovery negligible in comparison to simple passive design and occupant-controlled measures thatm achieve a similar result for the indoor air quality.

Working with a medium scale, research-focused architectural practice this paper measures the efficacy of balanced pressure heat recovery ventilation systems (BPHR systems) in the existing housing stock as a strategy to mitigate thermal heat loss when incorporating ventilation strategies in New Zealand. Current research indicates that BPHR systems boast an efficiency upwards of 80%. The aim of this research is to determine at what point do BPHR systems meet current claims of efficiency. An examination of the existing New Zealand housing stock identifies that 66% of all dwellings do not meet thermal performance requirements. This has been attributed, in part, to the governance of legislation of minimum performance, which did not exist until 1978. This paper, first, identifies building simulation measures and assumptions to accurately simulate BPHR systems in controlled conditions, which is quality assured against the expected performance of a conventional code minimum residential building and a range of models that represent a spectrum of building leakage for pre-legislation buildings. This paper then examines passive ventilation strategies in each model to identify the energy balance of using BPHR systems and the potential for heating energy loss when implementing simpler ventilation strategies. This study identifies that the efficiency of BPHR systems significantly differ in the pre-legislation building simulations. In these models, the building leakage alone renders heat recovery negligible in comparison to simple passive design and occupant-controlled measures thatm achieve a similar result for the indoor air quality.

The paper presents the findings on end-users' experiences and expectations about living in multi-family Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs). The survey in four European countries (Slovenia, Italy, Denmark and Germany) was part of EU Horizon 2020 project CoNZEBs (2017-2019) and addressed end-users living or thinking about living in multi-family NZEBs. Targeted end-users were living (as tenants or owners) in either ordinary buildings or in high performance buildings such as NZEBs (mandatory after 2020 according to Directive 2010/31/EU). In the survey, the following topics were addressed: the level of end-user's understanding of the NZEB concept, the source and quality of information on NZEB from the end-users' perspective, the importance of various apartment features for the end-users, perception of NZEB characterizing technologies, and decision triggers for living in NZEB. Concerns, doubts and eventual fears about living in NZEBs were studied to enable a tailored information for future end-users, to increase the demand for NZEB and beyond NZEB buildings and to improve their acceptability. To facilitate the living in NZEBs a guide for end-users was developed, explaining the "Myths" about NZEBs as well as presenting testimonials of current NZEB users in four participating countries.

Too often in architecture and engineering, the simplicity in early design of the apparent guarantees of HVAC equipment manufacturers wins out over the complexity of estimating the effectiveness of natural ventilation even in Net Zero Buildings. The reality is many people in offices and schools find themselves sitting at a fixed desk, in full direct sun, with the cold draft from the HVAC equipment guaranteeing that on average they are comfortable. The drawing of blinds 'solves' the immediate sun problem, but not the quality of the air. Experience with 200+ students designing low energy, high performance naturally ventilated spaces each year over the past decade has demonstrated that the formulae that exist in the literature for early estimation of window opening size have potential if presented in an appropriate format to facilitate sound design decisions. This paper reports the evolution of that format to a calculation dashboard that facilitates accounting for: outdoor and indoor CO2 levels; wind speeds and frequencies of occurrence; coincidence of periods of calm with high outdoor temperatures; window effectiveness coefficients; single-sided vs cross-ventilation options; building shape and orientation; code minimum ventilation rates; and even infiltration. The paper focuses on the limitations of the approach and its potential complementary role in the future as a Quality Assurance tool for critiquing the output of CFD studies of natural ventilation.

The U values assumptions for construction components represent a significant source of uncertainty when estimating the energy performance of buildings. This uncertainty affects decision-making processes in multiple ways, from policy making to design of new and refurbished buildings. The correct estimation of both static (e.g. thermal transmittance) and dynamic thermal properties is crucial for quality assurance in building performance assessment. Further, while today many sophisticated simulators are available for building performance modelling, lumped parameter models can help reducing computational time for parametric simulation or optimization and enable inverse estimation of lumped thermal characteristics. A lumped parameter approach for construction components is proposed, for example, by the ISO 52016-1:2017 norm, introducing simplifications that are intrinsically dependent on component's stratigraphy. This approach complements ISO 13786:2017 norm method, which is limited to steady-state periodic temperature and heat flux boundary conditions. In this research we consider these two different approaches, detailed and lumped modelling, comparing them first in idealized conditions and then in experimental conditions to analyse the robustness of methods.

Indoor environmental parameters especially the air temperature have substantial effect on energy consumption in commercial buildings and indoor thermal comfort. This study presents a tuning approach of dynamic control strategy of temperature set-point with a view to improving occupants' thermal comfort while simultaneously minimizing energy consumption. To determine optimum temperature set-points in response to ambient conditions, this study investigates the thermal comfort conditions of a commercial building based on real time series data. To quantify thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy, this study uses the graphical comfort zone method proposed by ASHRAE Standard 55-2017 through a rigorous analysis. Based on this analysis the study narrows down the comfort range in the context of seasonal variations and proposes tuning the Master Temperature Set-Points (MTSP) with 4.8 0 C variable linear band between upper and lower temperatures dependent on a simple algorithm. This re-setting strategy of temperature set-point ultimately offers extended lower and upper boundary limit for variable linear band. Extension of linear band for MTSP reduces the gap between temperature set-point and outdoor temperature which ultimately offers less heating and cooling energy consumption. Results show that implementation of this proposed approach would lead to monthly 2707.94 kWh energy savings either from heating or cooling or both during winter and summer season.

In Canada, space heating accounts for the largest proportion of energy consumption in residential buildings. Therefore, accurately predicting the heating demand and interior temperature of a residential building plays a vital role in estimating the building's total energy consumption with the consideration of thermal comfort. The prediction results obtained through different models could be used to develop predictive controllers to achieve peak shifting as well as to provide utility providers with valuable information for electric power distribution. Common methods to predict heating demand mainly include physical models and statistical methods. This study used two physical models (i.e. TRNSYS model and TRNSYS-CONTAM model) and one statistical model using supervised machine learning algorithm to predict the heating demand as well as the indoor temperature of a residential building, located in Quebec, Canada. Results show that TRNSYS-CONTAM model has higher accuracy than TRNSYS model no matter in terms of interior air temperature or heating demand prediction, while the statistical model shows better interior air temperature prediction result than physical models.

The negative impact of the building industry has brought a critical emphasis on the performance-related tools and processes of architectural design. The integration of design and performance simulation has the potential to extend the decision-making capabilities of the architects. Amongst a number of performance parameters, windrelated measures are generally problematic for the design phase, due to the computational cost of predicting wind behaviour, the complexity of the urban context and the constantly changing airflow patterns. In this respect, this paper proposes the preliminary exploration of a design method towards integrating Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) coupled with energy modelling and parametric design tools for the wind-related design acts. As building performance is regarded as a design problem that necessitates a designerly point of view as much as a technical perspective, the method aims at providing visual, generative and accurate feedback regarding its potential to facilitate the architect's designerly integration to the process and to provide a flexible design environment. The preliminary quantitative analysis conducted through a case study indicates the preliminary data flow through the design process.

bomba de diafragma do subsistema do ventrículo simulado, constatando uma queda de pressão parecida com as curvas de pressão resultantes da simulação de uma pessoa em repouso Figura 2. Gráfico mostrando o sinal encontrado no bloco da aorta e periférica, mostrando a pressão resultante (4) Conclusão. O material estudado mostra que é possível obter um modelo dinâmico para o desenvolvimento, redimensionamento e validação do protótipo de uma válvula de controle proporcional que seja capaz de simular a dinâmica, auxiliando o ventrículo esquerdo do sistema cardiovascular com auxílio do programa MatLab/Simulink, propondo parâmetros adequados para as simulações.

bomba de diafragma do subsistema do ventrículo simulado, constatando uma queda de pressão parecida com as curvas de pressão resultantes da simulação de uma pessoa em repouso Figura 2. Gráfico mostrando o sinal encontrado no bloco da aorta e periférica, mostrando a pressão resultante (4) Conclusão. O material estudado mostra que é possível obter um modelo dinâmico para o desenvolvimento, redimensionamento e validação do protótipo de uma válvula de controle proporcional que seja capaz de simular a dinâmica, auxiliando o ventrículo esquerdo do sistema cardiovascular com auxílio do programa MatLab/Simulink, propondo parâmetros adequados para as simulações.

The EU Directive 2010/31 abstained from prescribing harmonized and strict requirements for nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs), to provide EU countries flexibility and room for maneuver in setting national targets, in view of the impact of local climatic conditions and specific territorial and socio-economical features on heating and cooling needs. Benchmarks are usually provided in terms of primary energy needs, however the definition of accurate calculation methodologies, notably as regards the cooling share, is a rather challenging task. Nonetheless, its accomplishment is cardinal to countries, like Mediterranean ones, were the building performance is mostly dictated by summertime sensitivities. This paper presents a cutting-edge approach to nZEB performance analysis: the monthly quasi steady-state (EN 13790 as implemented in Italian UNI/TS 11300) and hourly dynamic calculation methods (developed under the standard UNI EN ISO 52016-1:2018) are compared, with due attention to the cooling energy consumption, to spot pros and cons of a finer temporal discretization. Potential nZEB design alternatives in three different Italian climatic zones are contemplated and used to confront the effectiveness of the above procedures. 1. Introduction Considering the tightening of global warming and the increasing occurrence of summer heat waves even in temperate climatic contexts, it is essential to tackle the design of a nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB), that maintains high cooling performance and preserves summer comfort even under abnormal conditions [1], [2]. Despite the awareness of the international scientific community, the actions implemented by the national regulatory instruments, in response to the European Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD recast) [3], merely aim at verifying envelope insulation and solar shadings compliance with prescribed performance indicators [4], [5], disregarding the higher degree of dynamism in summertime. The quasi steady-state calculation method of EN ISO 13790:2008 [6], gold standard for almost all EU countries today, is effective for the calculation of heating needs, but presents severe limitations in the case of cooling energy [7-12]. Also, the tools for dynamic calculation (e.g. TRNSYS and EnergyPlus) are sophisticated and still poorly used by designers, due to the considerable commitment of time and resources. In this context, newly introduced EN ISO 52016-1:2017 [13] (replacing EN ISO 13790) specifies calculation methods for the assessment of buildings energy need for heating and cooling, providing a novel simplified hourly method alongside the monthly method. The dynamic hourly method offers opportunities of great interest [14]. In fact, it is able to deliver more accurate results, without computational overload [15]. In EU countries this regulatory evolution entails the need to revise the current procedure for calculating heating and cooling needs, also in relation to nZEB.

In this work, we presented one of the applications of mathematical modeling to the cardiovascular system, its use in the estimation of the left ventricular volume, which is a basic parameter in the diagnosis of heart disease. To do that, a mold of a bovine left ventricle is prepared, its real volume is determined and then it is compared to the results achieved by medical mathematical methods and with a new proposed method, based on the integral of revolution of a specific polynomial function. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed method is more efficient than medical methods, with a difference of only 3.5% of the actual volume.

Resumo

Nesse trabalho, apresenta-se uma das aplicações da modelagem matemática no sistema cardiovascular, a sua utilização na estimação do volume ventricular esquerdo-um parâmetro fundamental no diagnóstico de doenças cardíacas. Para isso, prepara-se um molde de um ventrículo esquerdo bovino, seu volume real é determinado e, então, comparado com os resultados obtidos por métodos matemáticos médicos e com um novo método proposto, baseado na integral de revolução de uma função polinomial específica. Os resultados preliminares indicam que o método proposto é mais eficiente que os métodos médicos, com diferença de apenas 3,5% do volume real. Palavras-chave: Modelagem Matemática. Novo Método de Cálculo. Volume Ventricular.

The Italian law sets performance requirements for the summer energy need due to the building envelope. Since the calculation is based on a quasi steady state method, it involves the use of a dynamic parameter, i.e. the loss utilization factor for cooling ( C ). This parameter, that is a function of the ratio heat losses over heat gains (1/GLR) and of the building thermal response (Van Dijk 1987), should represent the ratio of the utilized vs. total heat losses in a building.