PhD Program on Sustainable Energy Systems

2013-14


Energy in Buildings (EB)


Assignment I


(Certified Passive House in Oregon, (U.S.A) Source: www.jetsongreen.com)

Student

Ricardo Santos N79805


Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


CONTENTS
2 Introduction and objectives ................................................................................................ 3
3 situacions according to the rules of energy eficiency design ........................................ 3
3.1 1
st
Situation Solar Heating and dehumidification of the indoor air ............................. 3
3.2 2
nd
Situation - Heat water sanitation .............................................................................. 4
3.3 3
rd
Situation Flat roof window (Claraboias) ................................................................ 5
3.4 4
th
Situation Photovoltaic System ............................................................................. 5
3.5 5
h
Situation Solar tube ................................................................................................ 6
4 situacions contrarly to the rules of energy eficiency design .......................................... 7
4.1 1
st
Situation - Too much glazed envelope faced to South ............................................ 7
4.2 2
nd
Situation External walls without being isolated correctly ..................................... 8
4.3 3
rd
Situation The faade with more glazes faced to the North (North West) ............. 8
4.4 4
th
Situation Building without any kind of natural ventilation ...................................... 9
4.5 5
th
Situation Insuficient isolation through the type of the glaze window used on north
faade .................................................................................................................................. 10
5 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 11




Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


1 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
This works aims to collect examples (photographs) on beahalf of Passive design
strategies, from real buildings and according to the following criteria/situations:

according to the rules of Eenergy Eficiency design;
contrarily to the rules of Eenergy Eficiency design;

For each situation described above, it was collected five pictures, taken by the author, i.e,
not collected from books or internet, where each one is related to 1 strategie, in favor/against
the Energy Eficiency design.
Other pictures were might used, in order to help to explain the concepts beyind each
identified strategie, explaining therefore why the feature is in accordance or in contradiction
with the bioclimatic design principles.

2 SITUACIONS ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF ENERGY EFICIENCY
DESIGN
2.1 1
st
Situation Solar Heating and dehumidification of the indoor air


Fig.1 Solar heating system a) Aspect view b) Implementation diagram (Source: Chatron)

This system, allows to heat and dehumidify the indoor air of the building, by using the air
from outside, through a collector installed on the roof (Fig.1), where the air heated by the sun, is
subsequently forwarded to the spaces to be heated, improving human comfort and energy
saving (Fig.2).



Fig.2 Application of this system into an office buidling (Lisbon) (Source: Taken by the student)


Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


In industrial versions, the indoor air can be captured from inside of the building, reheated
and sent it back to the place. These systems allows to achieve efficiencies around 75% on the
conversion of the solar energy stored in the solar panel, into heat energy.

2.2 2
nd
Situation - Heat water sanitation




Fig.3 Application of this system into a small residence (Ericeira, Mafra)
(Source: Taken by the student)

This system converts solar energy into hot water, even when the sun is weak, the hot water
is accumulated (Fig.3).
The system has two main components: a solar colletor for the capture of solar energy and
a reservoir to store the hot water (Fig.4). These two components can be connected with or
without a circulation pump, depending on the possibility of placing or not the storage tank at a
higher level than the (s) solar collector (s).



Fig.4 Solar heating with a force circulating system a) Aspect view b) Implementation diagram (Source: a) Taken
by the student b) adapted from Portal da energia )


The use of this kind of system, allows to obtain up to 55 %, of equivalent natural gas
savings, in terms of annual values (ADENE, 2004).




Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


2.3 3
rd
Situation Flat roof window (Claraboias)

Fig.5 Application of this system into an office building (Lisbon)
(Source: Taken by the student)

The flat windows (Fig.5) are an ideal place to enjoy the natural light and thus save energy
both in heating and lighting product.
Decorative, durable and resistant, provide greater diffusion and uniform distribution of light.
Can be applied with or without base-footer, although it is always advisable to its
application, especially in large measures.
The use of strategies based on bioclimatic , ie architecture, building design , so that they
are adapted to the local weather conditions and comfort needs of the occupants , allows
singinitficativos achieve gains in energy efficiency .
One example is the efficient use of natural lighting through the use of flat roof windows
(Fig.5) , coupled with a better control on their use .
Typically, this control are based on a study of solar incidence conducted in order to ensure
an effective solar control.
The choice of the glaze of these devices assumes particular relevance, because an
efficient choice, is based on an appropriated selection of the solar factor, in order to reduce
energy consumption associated with the thermal comfort , and therefore optimize it at the same
time through the glazes, which are incorporated into the device .
Its control is based on solar heat gains achieved , primarily during to the winter and
summer seazons, where in winter theyre used with a reflector element, in order to increase the
solar gains , while in summer the windows are shaded so avoiding the excessive solar gains
and drawbacks of the year.
Therefore the use of these devices , allows to achieve a better energy efficiency , both in
terms of lighting systems, as with thermal systems , leading to an increased of thermal and
lighting confort for the users of those buildings .

2.4 4
th
Situation Photovoltaic System

Fig.6 Application of this system into a residencial building (Loures)
(Source: Taken by the student)


Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


Photovoltaic solar panels convert solar into electrical energy through the photoelectric
effect, which the resulting energy, can be stored during the day for the energy needs during the
night.
The installation of these technologies on buildings (or around these) (Fig.6), allows the
reduction of country external dependence in terms of imported fossil fuels, allowing at the same
time, and for the owner of the facility, the production of electrical energy without CO
2
emissions,
addictionally achieving significant savings on his energy bill.

2.5 5
h
Situation Solar tube


Fig.7 Solar heating system a) Aspect view b) Implementation diagram (Source: Chatron)


Theire ecological systems, where natural light
from the sun, is captured and directed through a tube, coated inwardly by highly reflective
materials, which minimizes the dispersion of rays and allows the delivery of light through
considerable distances without transmission of heat or cold pipe (Fig.7).
On Fig.8, is given other examples of its implementation, one applied to an office building,
and other applied to an industrial one.



Fig.8 Application of this system into parking zone belonging to an education building (Lisbon)
(Source: Taken by the student)

According to some studies, about 80% (Chatron) of working hours in closed
environments, could be performed with natural lighting, therefore thus contributing


Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


directly to the reduction of energy consumption and consequently to improve the energy
efficiency of buildings.

3 SITUACIONS CONTRARLY TO THE RULES OF ENERGY EFICIENCY
DESIGN
3.1 1
st
Situation - Too much glazed envelope faced to South



Fig.9 Example of building with too much glaze faced to north, where in both cases, there was the option to put most
windows faced to south (Mafra) (Source: Taken by the student)

Although its seems there is no evidence (at the first glance) of this on Fig.9, but this part
of the building is faced to South, with too much windows.
According to Mendona (2004), any building that has a handy compartment in housing,
fitted with a glazed, can function as a system of direct gain, as long as accoumplish (at least)
the following conditions:

windows preferably south faces to prevent losses exceed the gains in winter;
Transparent window area in harmony with the thermal storage capacity (immersive
opaque);

Although most buildings operate with direct gain systems, whose basic characteristics are
based on the capture area to the south, with the warm spaces directly exposed to solar
radiation and vestments interior (walls, ceiling and floor slabs) used as heat storage, if there is a
good ratio of opaque glazed spaces and spaces, what will be beneficial in winter, can be
detrimental in the summer.
If the glazing area is increased, it is also necessary to consider how to store heat in the
building material and which resulting temperature swing.
Therefore, it should be a correct ratio between the glass and opaque area, in order to
enable keeping one the lower temperature oscillation that can increase the thermal comfort,
which is not the case of the example presented above.









Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


3.2 2
nd
Situation External walls without being isolated correctly

Fig.10 Example of a building with external walls without being isolated correctly (Peniche)
(Source: Taken by the student)

On Fig.10, is presented an exemple of a building without additional thermal isolation on his
external walls.
A good use of thermal insulation in roofs, walls and floors, allows the reduction of heat
exchange by lowering the coefficient of thermal transmission, and protects the building against
temperatures variations, yielding therefore as an end result to the same level of thermal
comfort, although with lower energy consumption.
There are many materials available on the market, most of them, applicable to alvenary
walls, most used in building construction in Portugal.
According to Lanham et al (2004), the materials wich are most used in the construction
market, are:

Polyurethane
Extruded polystyrene
Polyethylene

The example presented above, does not have the adequate insulation, taking into account
the geographic location of the building.
3.3 3
rd
Situation The faade with more glazes faced to the North (North West)


Fig.11 Example of building with too much glaze faced to North West (Venda do Pinheiro, Mafra)
(Source: Taken by the student)
Although its seems not quite evident from the photo at a first glance, but this building
(Fig.11) , has its main (and largest) glazed facade oriented to the North, more specifically to
North West, which contribute to a more energy use.


Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


In the north faade , where solar radiation is diffuse , the light level inside and provided
thermal gains are low and secondly the light variability is practically null at the end of the day ,
thats why is important to optimize the configuration of the building so the spaces located in this
type of facade must therefore be secondary spaces such as storerooms , circulation spaces ,
garages , etc. ..
The facades facing south , in turn , are more isolated, providing a great light levels inside
the spaces . This type of facade is therefore recommended for spaces of principal and
sedentary activity. From this point of view -oriented elements in the west and east produce
thermal and similar lighting effects , but at different times of the day. Thus , the facades West
orientation with the light level is highest during the afternoon due to the incidence of direct
radiation in this facade during this period .

3.4 4
th
Situation Building without any kind of natural ventilation


Fig.12 Example of building without natural ventilation (Malveira, Mafra)
(Source: Taken by the student)

Through Fig.12, we can see an example of a building, where natural ventilation is not
taken into consideration, which could affect the confort of the occupants, through a bad air
quality, or even if its replaced by artificial ventilation means (e.g. AVAC systems), it might affect
the overall energy consumption of the builsing, by increase it.
Therefore, and on the context of bioclimatic architecture, ventilation assumes special
relevance, since for an average climate in terms of temperature and humidity, at least 1
trd
of the
air volume of each division, should be replaced each hour (Gonalves, & Graa, 2004) so as to
ensure a minimum in terms of level comfort and habitability, by improving the air quality and
minimum habitability in the division concerned.
In Portugal, ventilation is one of the essential factors to take into account on the building project,
where there are several available options on this context, from solar chimneys up to simple
cross ventilation.











Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


3.5 5
th
Situation Insuficient isolation through the type of the glaze window
used on north faade


Fig.13 Example of building without an adequate insulation on their windows (Azueira, Mafra)
(Source: Taken by the student)

The example shown on Fig.13 will not satisfy the "best practices" regarding a bioclimatic
strategy, since the location and orientation of the building in question, require higher level of
isolation, which is not satisfied by the type of window shown on the example above, particularly
due to the type of glaze used (simple glaze) and the frame (wood and without additional
insulation).
According to Gonalves & Graa (2004), one of the bioclimatic strategies most used for
heating, relates to the restriction of conduction losses, mainly (and according to bioclimatic
chart) in Zones H, corresponding to winter climates aggressive .
In this sence, it becomes essential the application of insulating material on the constructive
elements of the buildings, where the windows, are one of these elements.
Choosing the right window, provides important energy savings in the building.
There are several types of window available on the market, such as:
Clear (simple, double, triple).
Reflective.
Absorbing.
Low emissivity
Others (Selective, Inert gases, Electrochromic,..)
In Portugal, the system most used currently, is the simple one, followed by the "double
glaze", which objective is to retain a layer of air (Argon or Krypton) between two or more layers
of thinner glass.
The greater is the thickness of the air, greater is the thermal insulation.
There is another variant of the clear glaze, the triple glaze, which allowes better isolation
and consequently greater heat loss limitations, but involves more demands on support of the
window in terms of weight glaze support.


Energy in Buildings |Assignment I t I





Ricardo Santos N 79805



15/11


Another of bioclimatic heating strategies employed for the H zone, is relating to the
restriction of losses by infiltration through the wind outside the building (Area H in Bioclimatic
chart), corresponding to winter climates aggressive - where one of the ways to implement this
strategy, relates precisely to the implementation of window frames with efficient sealing and
protection from prevailing winds.

4 BIBLIOGRAPHY
ADENE (2004) Utilizao de Colectores Solares para Aquecimento de gua no Sector
Domstico, DGEG-ADENE, ISBN 972-8268-29-7, 2ed., Lisboa
Gonalves, H., Graa, J., M., (2004) Conceitos Bioclimticos para os Edifcios em Portugal,
INETI ISBN 972-8268-34-3, DGEG, Lisboa, Novembro
Lanham, A., Gama, P., Braz, R.(2004), Arquitectura Bioclimtica Perspectivas de inovao e
futuro, Seminrios de Inovao, IST, Lisboa
Mendona, P.J.F.A.U(2005), Habitar sob uma segunda pele - Estratgias para a Reduo do
Impacto Ambiental de Construes Solares Passivas em Climas Temperados, Provas para a
obteno do grau de doutor em Engenharia Civil, Departamento de Engenharia Civil,
Universidade do Minho, Guimaraes
Sites
Portal-Energia - http://www.portal-energia.com/funcionamento-paineis-solares-termicos-para-
aquecimento/

Junkers -
http://junkerspt.resource.bosch.com/media/junkers_pt/_rea_geral/documenta__o/cat_logo_e_fol
hetos/material_t_rmico/catalogo_cerapursolar_set10.pdf
Chatron - http://www.chatron.pt/engine.php?cat=235