Respecting the thermodynamics principles of the heat transfer - as the most important condition for achieving high energy

efficiency in buildings - energy of the ground and heat pumps - the most reliable alternative energy source
Dr M. Kekanovi *, A. eh** and Dr I. Hegedi***
*,**,***

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Subotica, Serbia *kekec@gf.uns.ac.rs **ceh@gf.uns.ac.rs ***hege@tippnet.rs INTRODUCTION Several technologies that we use today gives maybe more benefit for certain industries, than for their users. So it can be believed that in the last fifty years, particularly in Europe, the present practical methods of thermal insulation of buildings with a very low energetic efficiency were simply forced methods. Thermal insulation technique of the exterior walls with just from the outside, which is being mostly used in Europe, has not yet been proven in real situations and it would be logical just at first glance, that the heat accumulates and preserves in the walls. The declarations that this is the only logical way of building insulation, has been accepted without prejudice. Intentionally or not, the laws of thermodynamics - which are taught even in elementary school had been forgotten. These laws describe the physical behaviour of thermal energy, where warm air, as easier, always moves upward when the medium is gas, but heat transfers through conduction inside the building materials. This take place from a region of high temperature to another region of lower temperature, regardless wherever it is: up, down or on the sides. (Fig1.) Interestingly, today in the European Union and elsewhere in Europe, the recommended thickness of conventional insulation for exterior walls, is a few tens of centimetre (from 20cm and even up to 40cm), commended by Directives to raise the energy efficiency of buildings. In this case, the advantage again is for the industries. On the other hand, ordinary people in general, gets an entirely unnatural substance "nylon bags", which obstruct ventilation and diffuse natural environment and water vapour since the walls are hardly permeable to water vapour (expanded polystyrene) or they need to be protected with polyethylene films from entering the water vapour (wool). Even with substantial insulation, energy consumption for heating the buildings in winter is reduced just slightly but it also consumes even more energy in summer - for cooling. In other words, conventional solutions like this would hardly satisfy class A, according to The Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings

AbstractThe solution of accumulating and keeping the heat in the walls is through insulating from the outside, a common method used in Europe although it hadnt been confirmed on the physical basis, in regards with the conditions of continental climate, may it be in winter or in summer. In effect, during summer season part of the heat gets inside despite the insulations in the walls and over the night the condition within doesnt improve as the insulation would not let it pass through. During winter season, it is unacceptable to sacrifice solar energy when there is still plenty of a sunny day, for the reason that the insulation on the external side of the walls is blocking the suns energy. From aspects of thermodynamics, the best solution would be to set the insulation on the ceiling and to use walls with optimal thermal insulation thru their entire thickness and at the same time, which are sound- and fireproof as well. This article recommends technical solutions, confirmed by positive feedbacks; StiroFert and a lightweight formworkinsulating concrete blocks, demonstrate and execute a high energy efficiency (energy consumption for heating and cooling of 64 KW/m2 on an annual basis). In order that heating and cooling system through the use of heat pumps with downhole heat exchangers and with the coefficient of thermal efficiency of 1:5 to 1:6, it is necessary to implement this solution of transferring the solar energy into the ground around the downhole heat exchangers, so it could be applied not only individually but also in major cities. This technology would not only return the seized energy from the ground but could also bring in the ground a much larger amount of totally free solar energy by transporting through the thermal oil from solar collectors to the ground around the downhole heat exchangers. The leading consumers of energy in the world are buildings. In average, they use 50% of the total produced energy. The consumption would be reduced enormously in up to 15% using the described solution. Thus, the result would be the end of all crises that have befallen the world (energy, ecological, economic), improvement of world economy, social development and prosperity of mankind.

Figure1. Conventional way of building insulation in winter regime

Figure 2. Energy efficient way of isolating class A objects -at the winter regime - with structural built-in insulation in the slabs and the walls made of light weight formwork-insulating concrete blocks

(2002/91/EC - Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council) as a respond on an evident energy-, environmental crisis in the world. A LOGICAL WAY OF BUILDING INSULATION FROM THE ASPECTS OF
THERMODYNAMICS

According to the laws of thermodynamics and the movement of warm air as it easily goes upward, in the air, the most important is the ceiling insulation, to avoid hot air from entering into the cold concrete slab. On the other hand, when the ceiling is not insulated, heat then enters the concrete slabs through conduction as stated in the laws of thermodynamics - heat would go by the walls of brick, block or concrete. Walls made in these kinds of materials are like chimneys, instead of smoke, they transfer heat by conduction in a vertical direction to colder places, but are difficult to insulate, like foundations, balconies, gable walls, the outer parts around the opening of windows and external doors. Thus, obviously in this case, insulation on the outside of exterior walls, partially prevents heat loss by transmission in horizontal direction but losses by conduction in the vertical sense are not prevented (Fig. 1). Consequently, conventional thermal insulating materials from the facade should be "moved" in the ceiling, where they will be protected and can give more contribution to energy saving and efficiency, as well as the rationalization of investment in buildings which is considered as the main energy consumers. In regards with conventional concrete slabs, expanded polystyrene, with at least a 5 cm in thickness should be glued to the ceiling and secured with steel or PVC dowels by placing a glass or PVC mesh in a layer of plaster. Stone wool with the same thickness can also be set on the ceiling, supported with gypsum board hanging substructure. In that way hot air will be prevented from entering the concrete slabs and its circulation in the room will flow in corners or along the windows. Moreover, condensation in those places will be solved. Compared to the case where we missed to set insulation in the ceiling, the energy efficiency of the building should raise by at least 25%. The best solution for the walls would be to have optimal thermal insulating performance all over their thickness. Heat conduction thru these walls in cold places would be prevented, both horizontally and vertically (Fig. 2.). The excellent solution for the wall composite is concrete which is a combination of cement, lime Ca(OH)2 and granulated expanded polystyrene, a hydrophobic

material that does not absorb too much moisture, that might reduce the insulating properties of the wall. These walls would then be, alongside a thermal insulation (k<0,25W/m2K), vapor permeable and ventilated (water vapor transmission rate =19,6), sound and fireproof (resistance greater than other conventional walls), thanks to their porosity (open and closed). These walls by summer works like those that are made from earth (ie. rammed soil or adobe) Outside, they warm up during the day and cools down overnight (Fig. 3). The lime contained by the wall, is conventionally indispensable material, as it disinfects and regulates air quality, microclimate and humidity in the room. In addition, the lime also pulls out the moisture from the rooms and transfers it to the exterior part of the wall and is then drained out due to the warming sun. Some authors based their conclusion in external (38 0C) and indoor air temperature (25 0C) in summer that the water vapor will move from outside to the inside as the saturation vapour pressure (p') is higher on the exterior than in the inside of the building ( pe' > p'). This would then mean that the partial pressure of water vapor (pe = pe') is greater outside than within the premises (pi = pi'). This situation happens only if you look at things superficially, overlooking the physical behaviour of the outside wall that is without moisture. The fact that the sun and wind dries out the outer surface of the wall imply that the saturation vapour pressure values will there tend to be just about equal to zero (pe '= 0%). In truth, it is the lime in the walls that pulls out moisture from the rooms to the outside of the walls and dries out due to the heat of the sun. Therefore, the water vapour during summer is not moving from outside to inside, but rather it moves in vice versa. This progress should be enabled instead of being prevented. Finishing of the walls from the inside and outside may not be a barrier for vapour, but conversely permeable. Even if the external side of the wall gets wet due to rainfall, it will soon dry out. So it would be a big mistake if we put water/vapour barrier for the external walls as this will only prevent the natural physical processes, thus turning the house into a nylon bag

Figure 5. Girder-grilled, reinforced concrete floor StiroFert structure with elements that provide a powerful load bearing capacity and thermal insulation Figure 3. Energy efficient way of isolating class A objects - during the summer regime - with structural built- in insulation in the slabs and the walls made of a lightweight formwork-insulating concrete blocks

The walls should be vapor permeable all the way through its whole thickness. In that way, the entire place would have a pleasant microclimate with less moisture and heated walls alongside the floor slabs giving rise to a condition that decrease the need for air conditioners that consumes energy, thus eliminating health risks and damaged ozone layer. Walls completed all throughout its thickness to have optimum insulation, would provide greater resistance to heat transfer during winter season compared to conventional insulated walls build today. It is important to emphasize as well, that walls insulated all the way through their thickness, would receive most of the free solar energy at some point in the heating season, from October to April. Such helps to significantly contribute to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. On the other hand, walls insulated in the conventional way (merely from exterior side), would not be able to absorb the sun's energy and it is such a waste of an entirely free, solar energy. Conventional insulation from the exterior walls acquires a fraction of the heat during summer but also because of that, recovering at night is futile (Figure 4). So after a few days, these walls would already be heated besides being barely vapor permeable. From these conditions, air-conditioning is required, otherwise people will have difficulty to function well and live.

Figure 4. The conventional way of insulation buildings during summer - conditions inhumane for people

In the light of these recommendations for building insulations, StiroFert are designed, patented and already

applied on tens of thousands of square meters of floor structure (Figure 5). StiroFert is a structurally permanent insulated stay-in-place EPS formwork, which makes this construction, to be lightweight, girder-grilled, and with great span slab (with a span of over 10 m). The same stayin-place EPS formwork is also applied to ceiling as a powerful insulation which has an average thickness of at least 13 cm and with the thermal conductivity coefficient k<0,25W/m2 K. An excellent finishing for the ceiling is gypsum-lime fireproof plaster and steel mesh. The slab represents a perfect fireproof solution, with high resistance against heat and without demeaning the structures mechanical performance, even for a duration (of fire) of several hours. Designed, patented and applied as lightweight formwork-insulating concrete blocks - EkoKeko blocks (Fig. 6) are made based on the granules of expanded polystyrene, cement and lime. EkoKeko blocks have vertical and horizontal cavity that provides reinforcement for concrete therein. Hence, with only 25 cm wall thickness, loadbearing capacity and construction safety for multistory buildings is achieved. The walls are simultaneously thermal insulated, soundproof, vapor permeable, fireproof - with features that were mentioned before now in this article. Feedbacks concerning the energy efficiency from existing buildings which were made with StiroFert-slab solution and formworkinsulating EkoKeko blocks, shows that the energy consumption in residential houses, all throughout the year, is between 58 and 64 kW/m2. In the case of walls made from bricks or adobe, or hollow clay blocks, mortar with some thermal insulating properties should be use instead of regular mortar, with coating of 6 to 8 cm on the outside and 3 to 4 cm inside. Ceiling insulation is mandatory for high energy efficiency and climatic conditions would then be satisfied as in summer or in winter. For existing buildings, chiefly multistory, the simplest way of raising the energy efficiency is to insulate the ceilings in the manner as described, and by placing a cork on the interior side of the walls with thickness of at least 10 mm. Such is needed to be done if there is no possibility to use thermo-plasters on facade with previously described thickness.

Objects, warmed by ground source heat pump and with suggested insulating solutions, would be highly energy efficient, with the efficiency coefficient of at least 1:5 or even up to1:6. This coefficient of efficiency depends on the construction of the heat pump, hydraulic of flow, and mostly on how well the building was insulated. Particularly in the case of large heating surface such as floor or wall, the water temperature onset should not be greater than 28 0C and 24 0C when it returns back. The ground energy is by far the most reliable alternative energy source compared to others. Heating and cooling using heat pumps have long been used in Europe as well as with the other part of the world, although only in individual cases. In fact, present solution for ground source heat pumps is not applicable to be used to a level for the whole cities, as it would exhaust the energy from the ground and would result to the deteriorating of ground temperature, thus making the system unprofitable. The risk of negative impact on the earth's core should also be considered, if the current system of geothermal heat pumps would be applied to the level of larger cities, with much greater lengths of boreholes (much more than 120 m), using the earth's energy from greater depths

Figure 7. Ground source heat pump

(Figure 7). In this article, presented is a solution that is registered

Figure 6. Formwork-insulating KekoEko blocks for masonry, made on the basis of granules of expanded polystyrene, cement and lime, with cavities for reinforcement and concrete

Figure 8. The new system, using the solar energy by solar collectors through the ground around the heat exchangers and that way renewing the earth's energy - this system is also applicable for the level of the larger cities

THE GROUND AS A RELIABLE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCE

as a patent and consist a fact that using solar collectors to transport the sun's energy in the ground around the downhole heat exchangers, in equal amount as the power drawn from the ground or greater. Specifically, a spiral tube made of thin stainless steel wrapped around the outer side of the heat exchanger and then lowered into the

ground. The solar energy is transported through this tube by thermal oil from solar collectors and to the ground around the heat exchanger. The earth would accumulate that energy (Figure 8). With this technology, drained energy from the ground returns or can transfer an even larger amount of totally free solar energy. In that case, the capacity of the heat exchangers would be much higher than the current 70W/m1. Energy intake around the heat exchanger into the ground could start immediately at late summer until the end of the heating season. After that period, the ground cools down till next summer, thus avoiding the conventional air conditioning as the same system can be use to cool down buildings as well. With this patented solution adverse disturbances can be avoided and can be applied to cities, regardless of their size. Ice-covered streets in winter in cities could be avoided also. CONCLUSIONS The solution of keeping the accumulated heat in the walls, insulated on the exterior side, which is currently used mostly in Europe, is as impractical as the solution to save power in batteries. Therefore, it would be wiser to use walls and floor structures (strictly observing the laws of physics and thermodynamics), as it is described in this article - that would enable consumption of minimum amount of energy of less than 60 kW/m2 yearly, including heating and cooling. Such building system that is improved with heating and cooling system using the described heat exchangers with heat pumps, (using the most reliable alternative energy from the ground and from the sun), would result to a total consumption of energy below 15 kW/m2 yearly. This solution would automatically reduce the need for the most hazardous sources of energy by combustion and splitting the heavy atoms. Thus, the emission of greenhouse gases is enormously reduced as the adverse effects of "greenhouse gases". In order to apply heating and cooling system using heat pumps with heat exchangers, not only individually but also in major cities, it is necessary to make a new one as described in the solution, by transferring solar energy into the ground close to heat exchangers. With this technology, seized energy from the ground can be

replaced, or it can transfer an even larger amount of entirely free solar energy, transporting it through the thermal oil with solar collectors around the heat exchangers in the ground. Globally, buildings are the largest consumers of energy and on average, uses over 50% of the total energy produced. These solutions would enormously reduce the consumption of energy. The result: end of all crisis that have befallen in the world (energy, ecological, economic), improvement of economy, social development and prosperity for mankind.

REFERENCES
[1] M. Kekanovi: Priznati patent pod brojem 50224 - Mogunost specijalnog olakanja, izolovanja i armiranja meuspratnih konstrukcija, Glasnik intelektualne svojine, 15.07.2009. [2] M. Kekanovi: Priznati patent pod brojem 50934 Laki betonski elementi za zidove i meuspratne konstrukcije, Glasnik intelektualne svojine, 31.08.2010. [3] M. Kekanovi: Priznati patent pod brojem 50270 Postupak za proizvodnju peno-polistiren-perlit-betona, Glasnik intelektualne svojine,15.07. 2009. [4] M. Kekanovi: Priznati patent pod brojem 49444 Postupak za dobijanje betonskih, keramikih, izolacionih, modularnih, fasadnih, ekolokih, nosivih elemenata, Glasnik intelektualne svojine,03.03.2006. [5] M. Kekanovi: WO/2001/059794 Heat Echanger for geothermal heat-or cold, WIPO,16.08. 2001. [6] M. Kekanovi., A. eh: Polumontane superlake kasetirane StiroFert armiranobetonske konstrukcije, 15. Zbornik radova Graevinskog fakulteta u Subotici, Subotica, 2006. [7] M. Kekanovi,I. Hegedi, A. eh , Z. Kljaji: Graenje stambeno poslovnih objekata visoke energetske efikasnosti, 18. Zbornik radova Graevinskog fakulteta u Subotici, Subotica, 2009. [8] M. Kekanovi, M. Kustudi , Z. Kljaji : Katalog savremenih graevinskih konstrukcija, StiroFert doo, Vrbas, 2009. [9] Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, 2002. [10] M. Kekanovi , A. eh: Polumontane superlake kasetirane StiroFert armiranobetonske konstrukcije, 15. Zbornik radova Graevinskog fakulteta u Subotici, Subotica, 2006. [11] M. Kekanovi ,A. eh , Z. Klaji : Rotiljno-kasetne meuspratne ploe velikih raspona kao sistem za graenje stambeno poslovnih adaptabilnih objekata, INDIS 2009, Novi Sad