The world is observing unprecedented, devastating, yet growing effects of climate change. GDP has been slow for decades; Covid-19 has disturbed the economy; energy prices are rising; unemployment remains high; consumer debt and budget deficit are climbing; wealth inequality is at an all-time high. Still, 89% of the energy consumed in the United States comes from non-renewable sources. Amid this challenging time, the question this work tries to answer is how can we protect our climate and environment through innovative development policies and practices that concurrently promote social equity and preserve economic viability? To answer this question, I explore five sustainable housing goals: climate protection, policy innovation, environmental protection, social equity, and economic growth. I use data and empirical analysis to show sustainable development challenges and conflicts are significant. I share lessons learned from cities and states that act as pioneers of climate and environmental protection; I explore a balanced integration of economic, environmental, and social goals through zero-energy building in the traditionally siloed policy sector of low-income housing; I show that a lack of consideration for social equity can turn environmental initiatives into luxury goods that surrender equity to profitability; I show that a lack of consideration for economic viability can lead to underinvestment in environmental and social equity initiatives. The overall insights derived from this study suggest that state housing agencies and local governments, particularly in large cities and in communities that are more vulnerable to environmental risks, are in a unique position to stimulate and drive climate and environmental protection. Significant between-agency differences in housing policy innovation persist, and future policy innovation research should explore factors that impact the utility of policy innovation and barriers the environmental sustainability movement faces at the organization level and beyond. Existing challenges to distributed energy generation need further study. This research highlights the need for greater policy attention to affordable housing needs in core urban areas, neighborhood diversity, and costs of gentrification. / Doctor of Philosophy / The world is now observing unprecedented, devastating, yet growing effects of climate change. Covid-19 has slowed the economy; energy prices are rising; unemployment remains high; consumer debt and budget deficit are climbing, and wealth inequality has reached an all-time high. While renewable energy is rapidly growing in worldwide adoption, still 89% of the energy consumed in the United States comes from non-renewable sources. Sustainability thinking encourages integrated, interdisciplinary approaches and policies that holistically address multiple contemporary problems. Sustainable development requires a balanced integration of economic, environmental, and social justice goals with traditionally siloed policy sectors, such as housing, as a goal of governance. Policy integration is deemed necessary because some policy sectors – like environment and climate – alone are not capable of achieving all objectives and, thus, must work with other sectors. Despite the importance of sustainability to the future of the planet, there are inherent economic, environmental, and social justice conflicts involved in reaching sustainable development, and conflict resolution has not been easy. The overarching question in this work is how can we protect our climate and environment through innovative housing policies and practices that promote social equity and preserve economic viability? I explore five glocal sustainable housing goals, namely climate protection, policy innovation, environmental protection, social equity, and economic growth. The overall insights derived from this study suggest that state housing agencies and local governments, particularly in large cities and in communities vulnerable to environmental risks, are in a unique position to stimulate and drive climate and environmental protection. Significant between-agency differences in housing policy innovation persist, and future policy innovation research should explore factors that impact the utility of policy innovation and barriers the environmental sustainability movement faces at the organization level and beyond. This research highlights the need for greater policy attention to affordable housing needs in core urban areas, neighborhood diversity, and costs of gentrification. There are barriers to distributed energy generation that need to be studied.

Samtidigt som kraven på energieffektivitet inom byggbranschen blir allt hårdare har klimatskalets utformning stor betydelse. Författarens uppgift är att utreda åt Sigma Civil AB hur ett verktyg som beräknar U-värden utformas samt att med hjälp av den göra en jämförande studie på yttertak och ytterväggar, med avseende på klimatskalets påfrestningar.   Andra delar som ingår i klimatskalet är grundkonstruktioner men eftersom det är ett arbete som omfattar 10 veckor avgränsas arbetet till yttertak och ytterväggar. För att arbetet skulle kunna utföras på ett bra sätt som möjligt har författaren genom litteraturstudier i form av böcker, internetbaserade sidor och olika rapporter tagit del av information som hjälpt både vid utförande av beräkningsverktyget men också vid jämförelsen av byggdelar.   Resultatet för den här studien visade att koljerntekniken på grund av sin täta struktur fungerar bäst av de takkonstruktioner som jämfördes i studien. I den analys som gjordes för väggkonstruktioner var det en yttervägg med PIR-isolering som klarade sig bäst. En av de slutsatser som jag drar av studien är att bättre isoleringsmaterial krävs för att klara framtidens krav på klimatskalet. Det andra som är viktigt att ta med sig från studien är att byggbranschen bör vara öppen för nya tekniker, som till exempel koljerntekniken och PIR-isoleringen. / While requirements increasingly become harder in the construction industry that it will be built energy efficient, buildings envelope design plays a very large part. My task is to investigate for Sigma Civil AB how a tool that calculates the U-value is formed as well as using it to make a comparative study on the roof and exterior wall, with respect for the building envelope external influences.   Another part of the building envelope is the basic designs, but because it is a work where is only 10 weeks I need to delimit to the roof and exterior walls. In order that the work could be carried out in the best possible way I did literature study in form of books, internet based pages and various reports to receive information that helped me both when I was performing the calculation tool but also doing the comparison of the building parts.   The result of this study showed that the koljern-technique because of its dense structure works best as a roof, compared to the other roofs in the study. In the analysis made for wall constructions, it was an exterior wall with PIR-insulation that worked best. One of the conclusions that I draw from this study is that better insulation needs to meet future requirements for the building envelope. The other thing that is important to take from the study is that the construction industry should be open to new technologies, such as the koljern-technique and PIR-insulation.

Purpose: Production and utilization of buildings contributes immensely to global carbon dioxide emissions. The construction sector today accounts for over a third of global energy use will increase as the world population increases. According to the EU Directive from 2010, all new buildings in EU member countries as of December 31, 2020 are to be classified as near-zero energy buildings (NZEB). The goal is to investigate the various energy-affecting measures of the involved architects, structural engineers and planners that can improve the energy performance of a kindergarten to be closer to near-zero and identify obstacles that make it more difficult to achieve NZEB. Method: The investigation strategies for the project are qualitative methods in the form of semi-structured interviews with architects, planners and ventilation engineers for six different kindergartens. The interviews were conducted by telephone in which the questions were sent in advance to those interviewed. Mail interviews were conducted early on which resulted in either short answers or not answers at all. The energy performance documents of the different kindergartens were analyzed to get information about the different energy performances. Findings: The result does not contain a solution as to what the near-zero energy definition is or how to define it, but is more like guidance concerning what factors you can influence to get closer to near-zero energy for a kindergarten. Recurring problems surfacing in the interviews is that not all the involved roles have been able to influence predetermined choices of shape and space that, among other things, contribute to a limited space for services that planners are having difficulty influencing afterwards. Implications: The result helps contribute to making sure buildings are built in a more energy-efficient way and by such reducing the construction sector's share of the global energy consumption. The building's energy efficiency may not contribute to poor indoor climate in such a way that it affects children's health in a negative manner. This results in a need for careful planning where all parties can contribute with their best energy efficiency solutions without being too limited by the architectural constraints of shape and space. Alternatively, better communication between planners and architects in the earlier stages. Good planning contributes to a better result. Limitations: The result is based on Swedish kindergartens in a Nordic climate and should not be applied in countries without a Nordic climate. The result is not only applicable to kindergartens but is largely applicable to most similar buildings. Contact with more architects, constructional engineers, planners and more kindergartens would have given a better result.

The European Parliament Buildings Directive (EPBD) obliges Sweden to develop plans to enhance the amount of NZEB. Define what NZEB for them exactly constitutes - technical definitions and system boundaries for energy performance calculations. The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning in Sweden has received an assignment from the Swedish government to propose the definition and quantitative approach on energy requirements for NZEB. NBHBP suggest the system boundary should be the delivered (bought) energy. The delivered energy divide into two different energy form. The set system boundary to calculate the specific energy performance with the introduced weighted factor. Makes it possible to compensate the specific energy performance by using renewable energy generators on site. The risk is inefficient buildings can use renewable energy technologies on site to compensate the delivered energy to achieve the 80 kWh/m2, year (the proposed energy requirements for NZEB). This results to high energy cost along with large investments in renewable technologies on site, or the need to add fossil fuels to make up the high-energy demand. The both reference houses Circuitus and Bright Living are NZEB, per the Swedish definition proposal of NZEB from NBHBP. The most significant difference is Circuitus has better heat exchanger and building envelope than Bright Living.

<p>Research on net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) has been largely centered around improving building energy performance, while little attention has been given to indoor air quality. A critically important class of indoor air pollutants are nanoaerosols – airborne particulate matter smaller than 100 nm in size. Nanoaerosols penetrate deep into the human respiratory system and are associated with deleterious toxicological and human health outcomes. An important step towards improving indoor air quality in NZEBs is understanding how occupants, their activities, and building systems affect the emissions and fate of nanoaerosols. New developments in smart energy monitoring systems and smart thermostats offer a unique opportunity to track occupant activity patterns and the operational status of residential HVAC systems. In this study, we conducted a one-month field campaign in an occupied residential NZEB, the Purdue ReNEWW House, to explore how energy use profiles and smart thermostat data can be used to characterize indoor nanoaerosol dynamics. A Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer and Optical Particle Sizer were used to measure indoor aerosol concentrations and size distributions from 10 to 10,000 nm. AC current sensors were used to monitor electricity consumption of kitchen appliances (cooktop, oven, toaster, microwave, kitchen hood), the air handling unit (AHU), and the energy recovery ventilator (ERV). Two Ecobee smart thermostats informed the fractional amount of supply airflow directed to the basement and main floor. The nanoaerosol concentrations and energy use profiles were integrated with an aerosol physics-based material balance model to quantify nanoaerosol source and loss processes. Cooking activities were found to dominate the emissions of indoor nanoaerosols, often elevating indoor nanoaerosol concentrations beyond 10⁴ cm^-3. The emission rates for different cooking appliances varied from 10¹¹ h^-1 to 10¹⁴ h^-1. Loss rates were found to be significantly different between AHU/ERV off and on conditions, with median loss rates of 1.43 h^-1 to 3.68 h^-1, respectively. Probability density functions of the source and loss rates for different scenarios will be used in Monte Carlo simulations to predict indoor nanoaerosol concentrations in NZEBs using only energy consumption and smart thermostat data.</p>

Construction and operation of commercial and residential buildings in the United States have been identified as the single largest sector of energy consumption and contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Subsequently, buildings must be a primary target for reductions. From short-term incentives, to long-term milestones, building energy efficiency, specifically net zero energy buildings, have emerged as a significant and unprecedented objective for a variety of public and private organizations in the United States. Altering the practices of the building culture requires not only technological innovation, but also an understanding of how practitioners within the building culture see their role in transforming it. Consequently my research seeks to understand how building industry professionals comprehend their capacity to influence the cultural boundaries of their profession in order to account for and mitigate the impacts of energy and emissions in the built environment. Ultimately, this study is an investigation into the social construction of technological change. The AIA+2030 Professional Series offered by the Denver Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has served as the single case study for this investigation. By limiting local conditions to the Denver-based Series and defining advocates as the self-selected group of participants, I’ve narrowed this analysis to reflect a workable microcosm of practitioners who are committed to the investigation and integration of net zero energy design, construction, and building operation practices. In order to substantiate this empirical analysis, I employed a triangulated series of data collection and interpretation consisting of: participant observation, interviews, and a survey. Data analysis involved an iterative process of coding and categorizing the primary key words and themes that emerged throughout my investigation. Each of the perspectives offered during this investigation indicate that architects who are advocates of net zero energy building design perceive that consequential opportunities for fundamental change exist within the social and cultural facets of the building culture. Ultimately, by preferencing social and cultural activism over technological manipulation, these advocates have corroborated the notion that technological change is fundamentally rooted in social change. / text

The vaccine cold chain is an integral part of the process of storing and distributing vaccines prior to administration. A key component of this cold chain for developing countries is the primary vaccine storage warehouse. As the starting point for the distribution of vaccines throughout the country, these buildings have a significant amount of refrigerated space and therefore consume large amounts of energy. Therefore, this thesis focuses on analyzing the relative importance of parameters for the design of an energy efficient primary vaccine storage warehouse with the end goal of achieving Net-Zero Energy operation. A total of 31 architectural design parameters, such as roof insulation U-Value and external wall thermal mass, along with 14 building control parameters, including evaporator coil defrost termination and thermostat set points, are examined. The analysis is conducted across five locations in the developing world with significant variations in climate conditions: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Tunis, Tunisia; Asuncion, Paraguay; Mombasa, Kenya; and Bangkok, Thailand. Variations in the parameters are examined through the implementation of a Monte Carlo-based global uncertainty and sensitivity analysis to a case study building layout. A regression-based sensitivity analysis is used to analyze both the main effects of each parameter as well as the interactions between parameter pairs. The results of this research indicate that for all climates examined, the building control parameters have a larger relative importance than the architectural design parameters in determining the warehouse energy consumption. This is due to the dominance of the most influential building control parameter examined, the Chilled Storage evaporator fan control strategy. The importance of building control parameters across all climates examined emphasizes the need for an integrated design method to ensure the delivery of an energy efficient primary vaccine warehouse.

As the third largest energy consumer, the residential sector in Canada is responsible for 17% of energy consumption and 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. With the increase in population, the number of new houses is expected to increase by 2.8 million from 2005 to 2020, and more energy is expected to be consumed despite the emergence of better insulated houses and more efficient heating methods. The primary objective of this study is to determine the prospects of reducing CO2 emissions from the residential sector in Waterloo Region by achieving a higher building standard, such as the Passivhaus (PH) and Net Zero Energy (NZE). The profile of the building envelope, including the initial CO2 emissions was compared against the requirements of the PH and NZE standards, using the Residential Energy Efficiency Project dataset (2007-2012). The second objective evaluates the barriers and drivers that influence the setting of higher building envelope standards. Ontario Building Codes (1975-2012) were analysed to determine the changes to insulation requirements over time, and Ontario Legislative Assembly debates (1970-2012) were reviewed to determine the barriers and drivers expressed in political debates. Content analysis was applied to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s documents to determine the frequency of nine word categories prior to each new building code. This study identified three main categories of drivers: awareness of environmental issues, resource limitation, and the implications of climate change; and three categories of barriers: financial, political and structural, and barriers related to information, promotion, and education. The findings of this study confirm that existing houses in Waterloo Region can achieve substantial reductions in CO2 emissions and energy usage by meeting higher building standards. Building code improvements have certainly played an important role in the evolution of Ontario houses, and the 2012 building code, achieves the R-2000 standard universally. More advanced standards show the potential for greater savings, but have only been adopted on a voluntary basis.

Individual and societal desires for fossiluel independence are an increasingly popular goal. This research investigates residential geothermal space heating and cooling as a viable technical and financial alternative. The road to net-zero energy is then assessed, weighing the benefits and detriments to the consumer. First, the template for location-specific geothermal space heating and cooling is developed through a pilot analysis of a home in Memphis, Tennessee. A methodical process of soil investigation, prototype home characteristics, and financial incentives is designed. Expanding upon existing studies, accurate soil data is extracted from beneath the foundation of a specific address, rather than region-wide soil averages. This high level of precision allows the owner of a specific address to preview realistic results and develop truthful expectations. Payback period and system lifetimes savings are calculated using two methods. Second, the framework developed through the Memphis, Tennessee pilot home is used to investigate 11 additional cities across the continental United States. The increase in breadth uses a representative city from its respective climate zone. While each city within a single climate zone will vary from the representative city, a general climate performance can be determined. With each location’s soil properties and heating and cooling demands, the borefield design and heat pump system capacity is customized and applied for analysis. Using human interest surveys from previous energy projects, a climate is ultimately classified as viable or nonviable for geothermal heating and cooling. Finally, the increasingly popular net-zero energy building concept is explored through a complementary solar photovoltaic (PV) array to the geothermal system. An array capacity is sized and priced to offset the total facility energy use in each climate’s representative city. Once determined, the payback and lifetime savings values are calculated and the GHP + PV system results are compared to a baseline + PV system. From this, a system type is identified as the more viable option for each of the 12 climate zones. The final touch on this research is the introduction of the human perceptions toward environmentally friendly renewable energy in general and how it affects a consumer’s ultimate decision.

Buildings account for up to a third of total world greenhouse gas GHG emissions, and this pattern is expected to persist. By 2050, cities will be home to 70 % of the world's population, demanding a significant number of buildings to be constructed. Efforts to reduce these emissions in the past had varied performance. However, several examples indicate that well thought and adequately executed mix of building technology coupled with environmental policies may reduce emissions. Therefore, cities worldwide are joining the race to decarbonize their buildings to become net-zero carbon and support green economies through a diversified bundle of policies. However, designing and selecting the appropriate mix of building technology and environmental policies is challenging to generate the most outlast net-zero carbon impacts. This research aims to uncover the intersection between science and policy's role in achieving a global net-zero energy building sector. First, an urban comparative analysis for ten environment-leading cities has been made to understand the latest progress in the building sector and draw on future recommendations. The findings are thematically grouped into five themes a) Building's energy efficiency (energy demand sector). (b) Electrified renewable grids (energy supply sector). (c) Green fiscal incentives (d) Education and capacity building. (e) Governance and collaboration. Second, the University of Ottawa has been utilized as a part of the campus as a living lab initiative to examine installing photovoltaic panels over the campus buildings as part of the university expansion program to achieve net-zero operations by 2040. The following parameters have been considered to address the PV systems viability, 1) the expected electricity output. 2) the initial and operational costs. 3) the GHG reductions in operational energy. 4) the PV system embodied carbons. RETScreen Expert software has been used to perform the Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) to assess PV system output and financial viability. One Click-LCA software to carry-out Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess embodied carbons. The results indicate from analyzing 31 buildings that 20% - 107% of electricity can be offset depending on each building's energy use and solar collector area. Additionally, the 31 buildings analyzed for electricity generation collectively have the potential to save around 23% of the total campus electricity consumption with a production capacity of 18 million units (kWh) annually, including 21,108 solar panels. Also, the project shows financial viability only if the PV systems are installed as part of the whole campus with a Net Present Value (NPV) of $4,985,89 and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 11.4%. The analysis shows 24% and 18% maximum sensitivity to increased initial cost and decreased electricity generation/rate. Finally, the GHG estimated reductions over 25 years from generated electricity are 14,445 tCO2, and the estimated increased embodied carbons from the Life Cycle Assessment are set to be 1,023 tCO2. Additionally, drawing upon urban analysis and the case study, the research highlights the dynamic nature of the building sector emissions reduction and city initiatives. Thirdly, a detailed analysis was carried out in the System Advisor Model (SAM) software to integrate the solar system with energy storage in the Advanced Research Complex (ARC) Building at the University of Ottawa. The study assesses the system viability and helps the university to reduce its monthly electricity bill and help Ontario to maintain its grid reliability by keeping the electricity demand low at peak times. The findings show that using an integrated solar system with an energy storage system by mitigating 100%, 90%, 75%, and 50% of the building electricity demand during the Ontario gird peak could lead to a Net Present Value of $2,01, $1.70, $1.30, and $0.864 million over 25 years the lifetime of the project through the Ontario Global Adjustment Program. The study also shows that with the absence of the Ontario Global Adjustment Program as a fiscal reform tool and relying only on the time of use electricity rates, the solar panels with an energy storage system could lead to a negative Net Present Value of $-550 thousand.