The world’s energy use in buildings (residential and commercial) accounts for around 40% of the worldwide energy consumption, and space heating is the responsible for half of the energy need in the building sector. In Europe, only a small share (less than 10%) of existing buildings was built after 1990. Most of the building stock does not satisfy the recent energy technical standards; in addition there is a very low trend to construct new buildings in the last years. Renovation of the existing buildings is a feasible option to reduce the energy need in Europe, but finding the optimum solutions for a renovation is not a simple task. Each design parameter differently influences the final energy need of buildings and, furthermore, the different variables are differently correlated each other. Building refurbishment will benefit from a tool for the selection of the best measures in term of energy need. This work, through a global sensitivity analysis, aims at determining the contribution of the design parameters to the building energy demand and the correlation between the different variables. The considered parameters are related to the improvement of the thermal transmittance of both the opaque envelope and the windows, the solar transmittance of the glazing surfaces, the window size, the thermal inertia of the internal walls and the external sunshades for windows. Several dynamic simulations have been performed varying the design parameters from different starting conditions. Finally, due to the large number of cases elaborated, an inferential statistical analysis has been performed in order to identify the predominant factors and the correlation between the design parameters in a global context.

In the quest for improving building energy efficiency raising the level of performance of the building enclosure has become critical. As the thermal performance of the building enclosure improves so does the overall energy efficiency of the building. One key component in determining the energy performance of the building enclosure is windows. Windows have an integral role in determining the energy performance of a building by allowing light and heat from the sun to enter into a space. Energy efficient buildings take advantage of this free solar energy to help offset heating energy consumption and electric lighting loads. However, windows are traditionally the least insulating component of the modern building assembly. With excessive use, larger window areas can lead to greater occupant discomfort and energy consumption from greater night-time heat loss, higher peak and total cooling energy demand from unwanted solar gains, and discomfort glare. As a result, windows must be carefully designed to not only minimize heat loss, but also effectively control solar gains to maintain both a thermally and visually comfortable environment for the appropriate climate region and orientation. In this thesis, a complete analysis of window assemblies for commercial office buildings is presented. The analysis is divided into three sections: the Insulated Glazing Unit (IGU), the Curtain Wall Section (frames), and the overall energy performance of a typical office building. The first section investigates the performance characteristics of typical and high performance IGUs, specifically its insulating value (Ucg), its solar heat gain properties (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, SHGC), and its visual transmittance (VT) through one-dimensional heat transfer and solar-optical modeling. Mechanisms of heat transfer across IGUs were investigated giving insight into the parameters that had the most significant effect on improving each performance characteristic. With a through understanding of IGU performance, attainable performance limits for each of property were generated from combining of different glazing materials, fill gases, and coatings. Through the right combination of materials IGU performance can be significantly altered. The U-value performance of IGUs ranges from 2.68 W/m2K (R-2.1) for a double-glazed, clear, air filled IGU to 0.27 W/m2K (R-21) for a quint-glazed, low-E, xenon filled high performance IGU. The second part of the thesis looks at the thermal performance of curtain wall sections that hold the IGU through two-dimensional heat transfer modeling. Similar to the IGUs, heat transfer mechanisms were studied to by substituting different materials to determine which components are crucial to thermal performance. From this analysis improvements were made to typical curtain wall design that significantly reduces the overall heat transfer within the frame section, producing a high performance curtain wall section. With simple modifications, a high performance curtain wall section can reduce its U-value by as much as 81% over a typical curtain wall section, going from 13.39 W/m2K to 2.57 W/m2K. Thus significantly reducing the U-value of curtain wall systems, particularly for smaller windows. The final part of the thesis examines the impact of typical and high performance windows on the energy performance of perimeter offices of a high-rise commercial building located in Southern Ontario. An hourly simulation model was set up to evaluate both the annual and peak energy consumption of a typical perimeter office space. The office faced the four cardinal directions of north, east, south, and west to evaluate the effect of orientation. The model also included continuous dimming lighting controls to make use of the available daylight. The effect of exterior shading on perimeter space energy performance was also investigated with both dynamic and static exterior shading devices. The results of the simulations revealed that window properties have very little influence on the energy performance of a high internal heat gain office, that is typical of older offices with less energy efficient office equipment and lighting and a higher occupant density. Conversely, window properties, particularly the insulating value of the window, has a greater effect on the energy performance of a mid to low internal heat gain office that is typical of most modern day commercial buildings. The results show windows with lower U-values yet higher SHGC are preferred over windows of similar U-values but with lower SHGC. The results also indicate that both static and dynamic shading have very little effect on energy performance of mid to low internal heat gain offices. From this analysis optimal window areas in the form of window-to-wall ratios (WWR) are presented for each orientation for mid to low internal heat gain offices. The optimal WWR for south-facing facades are between 0.50 to 0.66, and 0.30 to 0.50 for east-, west-, and north-facing facades, while for high internal heat gain perimeter spaces window areas should be kept to a minimum.

In the quest for improving building energy efficiency raising the level of performance of the building enclosure has become critical. As the thermal performance of the building enclosure improves so does the overall energy efficiency of the building. One key component in determining the energy performance of the building enclosure is windows. Windows have an integral role in determining the energy performance of a building by allowing light and heat from the sun to enter into a space. Energy efficient buildings take advantage of this free solar energy to help offset heating energy consumption and electric lighting loads. However, windows are traditionally the least insulating component of the modern building assembly. With excessive use, larger window areas can lead to greater occupant discomfort and energy consumption from greater night-time heat loss, higher peak and total cooling energy demand from unwanted solar gains, and discomfort glare. As a result, windows must be carefully designed to not only minimize heat loss, but also effectively control solar gains to maintain both a thermally and visually comfortable environment for the appropriate climate region and orientation. In this thesis, a complete analysis of window assemblies for commercial office buildings is presented. The analysis is divided into three sections: the Insulated Glazing Unit (IGU), the Curtain Wall Section (frames), and the overall energy performance of a typical office building. The first section investigates the performance characteristics of typical and high performance IGUs, specifically its insulating value (Ucg), its solar heat gain properties (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, SHGC), and its visual transmittance (VT) through one-dimensional heat transfer and solar-optical modeling. Mechanisms of heat transfer across IGUs were investigated giving insight into the parameters that had the most significant effect on improving each performance characteristic. With a through understanding of IGU performance, attainable performance limits for each of property were generated from combining of different glazing materials, fill gases, and coatings. Through the right combination of materials IGU performance can be significantly altered. The U-value performance of IGUs ranges from 2.68 W/m2K (R-2.1) for a double-glazed, clear, air filled IGU to 0.27 W/m2K (R-21) for a quint-glazed, low-E, xenon filled high performance IGU. The second part of the thesis looks at the thermal performance of curtain wall sections that hold the IGU through two-dimensional heat transfer modeling. Similar to the IGUs, heat transfer mechanisms were studied to by substituting different materials to determine which components are crucial to thermal performance. From this analysis improvements were made to typical curtain wall design that significantly reduces the overall heat transfer within the frame section, producing a high performance curtain wall section. With simple modifications, a high performance curtain wall section can reduce its U-value by as much as 81% over a typical curtain wall section, going from 13.39 W/m2K to 2.57 W/m2K. Thus significantly reducing the U-value of curtain wall systems, particularly for smaller windows. The final part of the thesis examines the impact of typical and high performance windows on the energy performance of perimeter offices of a high-rise commercial building located in Southern Ontario. An hourly simulation model was set up to evaluate both the annual and peak energy consumption of a typical perimeter office space. The office faced the four cardinal directions of north, east, south, and west to evaluate the effect of orientation. The model also included continuous dimming lighting controls to make use of the available daylight. The effect of exterior shading on perimeter space energy performance was also investigated with both dynamic and static exterior shading devices. The results of the simulations revealed that window properties have very little influence on the energy performance of a high internal heat gain office, that is typical of older offices with less energy efficient office equipment and lighting and a higher occupant density. Conversely, window properties, particularly the insulating value of the window, has a greater effect on the energy performance of a mid to low internal heat gain office that is typical of most modern day commercial buildings. The results show windows with lower U-values yet higher SHGC are preferred over windows of similar U-values but with lower SHGC. The results also indicate that both static and dynamic shading have very little effect on energy performance of mid to low internal heat gain offices. From this analysis optimal window areas in the form of window-to-wall ratios (WWR) are presented for each orientation for mid to low internal heat gain offices. The optimal WWR for south-facing facades are between 0.50 to 0.66, and 0.30 to 0.50 for east-, west-, and north-facing facades, while for high internal heat gain perimeter spaces window areas should be kept to a minimum.

With an increasing awareness of energy consumption and CO 2emission in the population, several initiatives to reduce CO2emissions have been presented all around the world. The main part of these initiatives is a reduction of the energy consumption for existing buildings, while the others concern the building of eco-districts with low-energy infrastructures and even zero-energy infrastructures. In this idea of reducing the energy consumption and of developing new clean areas, this master thesis will deal with the high energy quality services for new urban districts. In the scope of this master thesis project, the new concept of sustainable cities and of clusters of buildings will be approached in order to clearly understand the future challenges that the world’s population is going to face during this century. Indeed, due to the current alarming environmental crisis, the need to reduce human impacts on the environment is growing more and more and is becoming inescapable. We will present a way to react to the current situation and to counteract it thanks to new clean technologies and to new analysis approaches, like the exergy concept. Through this report, we are going to analyze the concepts of sustainable cities and clusters of buildings as systems, and focus on their energy aspects in order to set indoor climate parameters and energy supply parameters to ensure high energy quality services supplies to high performance buildings. Thanks to the approach of the exergy concept, passive and active systems such as nocturnal ventilation or floor heating and cooling systems have been highlighted in order to realize the ‘energy saving’ opportunities that our close environment offers. This work will be summarized in a methodology that will present a way to optimize the energy use of all services aspects in a building and the environmental friendly characteristics of the energy resources mix, which will supply the buildings’ low energy demands.

No description available.

This thesis researched the accuracy of measured energy data in comparison to estimated hand calculation data and estimated building energy performance simulation data. In the facility management industry, there is minimal evidence that building energy performance software is being used as a benchmark against measured energy usage within a building. Research was conducted to find examples of measured energy data compared to simulated data. The study examined the accuracy of a simulation software and hand calculations to measured energy data. Data suggests that comparisons may be made between building energy performance simulated data and measured data, though comparisons are solely based on each individual case. Data suggests that heating load simulation data is more accurate for benchmarks than cooling load simulation data. Importing models into Autodesk Green Building Studio (GBS) was not as successful as was expected. When only four of the initial ten building models chosen imported successfully, the remaining twenty-five other building models were imported. Only two of the twenty-five models successfully imported into GBS. The sample size of this research changed from ten to six. The results of this study show that GBS simulated data was close to actual data for the heating loads. For the cooling loads, however, GBS simulated data was consistently low in comparison to the actual data. The results of this study show that hand calculations were consistently low and not as close as GBS simulated data when compared to the actual data for the heating loads. The opposite was true with the cooling loads as hand calculations were consistently high in comparison to actual data.

The global share from buildings towards energy usage in residential and commercial buildings have been increasing constantly reaching between 20% to 40% in developed countries and has overtook the other major sectors: industrial and transportation. Energy demand reduction in the building sector is important for Sweden to achieve national energy aims for reduced energy use in the future.  For this reason, energy efficiency measures in buildings today is one of the main objective for energy policy towards 2020 goals.   This project moves on the same path to find energy efficiency potential in Fridhemsskolan buildings in Gävle, Sweden by performing energy audit using IDA-ICE software to simulate energy performance for the buildings under study. In addition, measurements have been made on three of the school buildings named Hus 1, Hus 2 and Hus 3.   The results include different energy efficiency retrofits on each building and economic analysis of these retrofits for each building individually and for the whole buildings together. The presented measures are reducing working hours of the ventilation system in Hus 2, change of CAV system with VAV system in (Hus 1 and Hus 2) and lights changing to LED, s efficient lights and building envelope improvement which includes walls and roof extra insulation and windows replacement.   Replacement of the CAV system in Hus 1 and Hus 2 were not economically beneficial when considering their high cost compared to energy reduction that can be achieved by applying them. On the other hand, energy retrofits analysis showed that combination of the following energy efficiency measures is the most effective and profitable: extra insulation (walls and roof), windows replacement and lights change to LED in the three buildings. In addition to these measure is reducing running hours of the ventilation system in Hus 2.   Implementation of the recommended energy efficiency measures will save 120, 737 kWh/ year of the district heating and 21, 962 kWh/year electricity consumption with capital investment of 417, 396 SEK and 98, 957 SEK/ year cost saving with payback period of 4.2 years. These figures represent 40.3% and 18.1% reduction in district heating and electricity energy use respectively.   Since reducing working hours of ventilation system measure has no capital investment and have the highest figure of energy reduction it reduces payback period significantly. In case the amount of money saved by this measure doesn’t consider; payback period for the other measures which require capital investment will be 13.5 years and the energy saving in terms of cost will be 30, 874 SEK/ year.

Master of Architecture / Department of Architecture / Gary J. Coates / Buildings account for a large part of total U.S. energy consumption and generate far more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector of the economy. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how buildings can be designed in a way that helps to mitigate global environmental problems, while resolving local urban design, architecture and social issues. This purpose was achieved by designing a zero-energy garage apartment for a site located along an alley in Manhattan, Kansas. The methodology for the design was to: identify a client; define project goals and design criteria; determine solar and geothermal renewable energy system requirements; design the garage apartment by employing energy efficient strategies relating to bioregional design and passive solar design; identify eco-friendly materials obtainable within a 500-mile radius of the site; and identify energy-efficient construction methods. The energy performance of the garage apartment was constantly monitored using eQUEST and Energy-10 simulation softwares. Operational definitions: Garage apartment- a building behind the main building[superscript]1, which is part of the same plot as the main building. It is also called a 'backhouse', 'granny flat' or a 'rear house'. Zero-energy house- for this thesis, a grid connected self-standing zero-energy house, which results in zero utility bills throughout the year.

Energy usage deriving from human activities is increasing day by day acting against the quality of the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources. The major impact of these actions is reflected on the quality of daily life. In order to face the challenge of preserving an acceptable balance between human needs and environmental status, the combination of proper design and energy simulation of buildings is the key towards smarter and more sustainable solutions. Solutions that covers a respectable percentage of the current domestic energy needs without further environmental foot printing. In the scope of this project, an existing single-family house in Southern Greece (Heraklion, Crete) is modeled using Revit ® Architecture software and then is simulated with IES® VE (plug-in) in order to give the level of energy intensity. The energy model used is fully harmonized with the new rules set by the "National Regulation for Energy Performance of Buildings - (K.En.A.K)" as it was put in force from October 2010 and onwards, and fully complies with the European Standards (EN ISO) published for the various tasks of building`s thermal performance. The structure and contents presented in this report are in full compliance with the technical directives [31, 32, 33] published by the Technical Chamber of Greece, in favour of the complex task of "Energy Certification of Buildings". The most significant capabilities of sophisticated software tools, like Revit® Architecture, IES® VE, Polysun® and PVsyst®, in favour of sustainable building design and simulation are shown throughout the whole report. Moreover, their valuable contribution is highly acknowledged by the engineers encountered with the task of studying the energy performance of existing or newly constructed buildings in Greece and issuing, the mandatory by law, "Energy Performance Certificates".

Buildings play a central role for livability and carbon footprint of urban areas. Ambitious energy saving and emission reduction targets created a need for a new generation of decisionsupport methods and tools that allow for detailed analysis of urban energy on a large scale. Urban building energy modeling (UBEM) that has emerged recently is an efficient approach to assess energy performance of multiple buildings and system effects from urban energy interventions. However, the further upscale of UBEMs is significantly limited due to the lack of automation for building energy performance (BEP) simulations required for such models in large amounts. This thesis aimed to explore challenges for automation of BEP simulations, and to develop a prototype tool that would serve as a middleware between UBEM and BEP simulation engine, focusing on the IDA ICE simulation software. The result of this thesis is icepy — a tool for automation of BEP simulations in IDA ICE. It uses IDA ICE API and Lisp scripting to provide interaction between UBEM process and IDA ICE in order to generate initial simulation model (IDM), execute simulation and manage results in an automated way. Being implemented as a Python package, it allows to modify multiple IDMs or export simulation results with a few lines of code. The developed tool has been tested and validated for the case building in Minneberg, Stockholm. The automation capabilities provided by icepy has allowed to perform sensitivity analysis for building design parameters as was demonstrated for the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and three various algorithms for window distribution. The resulting tool has limited functionality as it addressed building envelopes which is only one component of building simulation. However, it has proved to be an efficient approach to automate simulation process and has shown a good potential for further development of such tools. / Byggnader spelar en central roll för urbana områdens levbarhet och koldioxidavtryck. Ambitiösa mål för energibesparing och utsläppsminskning har skapat ett behov av en ny generation beslutsstödmetoder och verktyg som möjliggör detaljerad analys av städers energianvändning i stor skala. Urban byggnadsenergimodellering (UBEM) har nyligen utvecklats och är ett effektivt tillvägagångssätt för att bedöma energiprestanda för flera byggnader och systemeffekter för olika energiåtgärder inom den urban miljön. Den ytterligare uppskalningen av UBEM är dock begränsad på grund av bristen på automation av simulering som är inriktade på byggnadsenergiprestanda (BEP), vilket krävs för att hantera stora byggnadsbestånd. Det här examensarbetet syftar till att utforska utmaningar med automatisering av BEP-simuleringar och att utveckla en prototyp som ska fungera som en mellanprogramvara mellan UBEM och BEP-simuleringsmotorer, med fokus på IDA ICE(som är en simuleringsprogramvara). Resultatet av examensarbetet är icepy, som är ett verktyg för att automatisera BEP-simuleringar i IDA-ICE. Icepy använder IDA ICE API och Lispskript för att tillhandahålla interaktion mellan UBEM-processen och IDA ICE för att generera en initial simuleringsmodell (IDM), utför själva simuleringen och slutligen hanterar resultatet på ett automatiserat sätt. Genom att icepy implementeras som ett Pythonpaket kan den modifiera flera IDM:er och även exportera simuleringsresultat med några få kodrader. Området Minneberg i Stockholm har använts i en fallstudie för att validera och testa verktyget. Automatiseringsfunktionerna i icepy har möjliggjort känslighetsanalyser för olika byggnadsdesignparametrar, exempelvis studerades påverkan av olika värden på förhållandet mellan fönster och väggar genom användning av tre olika algoritmer för fönsterdistributioner. Det utvecklade verktyget har begränsningar i funktionalitet framförallt på grund av att enbart byggnadens ytterskal studerades i byggnadsenergisimuleringarna. Verktyget har dock visat sig vara ett effektivt tillvägagångssätt för att automatisera simuleringsprocesser, vilket visar på en god potential att också vidareutveckla dessa verktyg.