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The paper analyses the most suitable temperature regime of district heating (DH) systems for a new building and exiting dwelling building area depending on end-user thermal energy consumption. Research methodology includes algorithm with several modules. The multi-criteria analysis is used for evaluating of different DH systems and finding of optimal solution of 12 scenarios by taking into account different criteria. The TOPSIS and PROMETHEE tools are integrated to find the optimal solutions. The DH systems multi-criteria analysis is tested for climate conditions in Baltic States. The results show that optimal solutions for standard buildings are temperature regime of 90/60 or 60/30 and boiler house fuelled by wood chips. Temperature regime 60/30 in case of the energy-efficient building scenario also is close to the best solution.

In the last few decades, an increasing attention has been paid to the enhancement of energy performance and indoor comfort conditions of historical buildings, where the architectural heritage and artistic value do not allow typical retrofit intervention. The need to enhance the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of historic buildings is addressed in this paper, through energy modeling and dynamic simulation of a real building with the integration of renewable energy plants for building heating and cooling. The pilot case study is “Palazzo Gallenga Stuart”, a historical university building located in Perugia, Italy. The energy performance of the building has been evaluated in order to reduce the building energy demand through the implementation of high-efficiency technologies in historic buildings. The increase of the energy efficiency of the building has been pursued through the improvement of the actual energy plants’ technology by introducing a more effective heat pump plant, in order to prevent the use of visually impacting external units on building historic façade.

Residential, commercial and industrial buildings share nearly one-fourth of the total electrical energy consumption in Thailand. The design of energy efficient buildings relies on a selection of appropriate techniques that complement the local climate. The two important elements to be considered carefully in tropical climate are the cooling technology and the electrical appliances (including the lighting system). In this paper, the focus is on the design of residential and commercial buildings in a tropical climate. The literature data and the results from a case study in Thailand are gathered and a strategy for energy efficient buildings is proposed. In short, the design of the building envelope, the cooling technology and the efficiency of the appliances are the crucial factors in reducing energy consumption. This investigation shows that building energy demand could be reduced by as much as 28% through the use of low thermal conductance material alone for a building wall.

In Mexico, as in many other countries, the energy crisis has permeated throughout many sectors, particularly the construction sector. Mexico has started to develop and implement actions for the efficient use of energy in order to reduce its consumption. The field of building construction has been particularly active in studying ways to optimize the use of energy, especially regarding energy use indoors. One of the main goals of architectural design is to create the proper indoor conditions so individuals can carry out their daily activities in a comfortable area. Interior space must be designed and calculated to provide a comfortable temperature, appropriate lighting, sound control and ventilation for individuals to carry out their daily activities, but must also address the energy required to provide all these characteristics. In warm dry climates, air-conditioning is responsible for a significant amount of the energy consumed in buildings. Proper building design is necessary in order to reduce energy consumption in this sector. This paper shows the results of simulations with the Energy Plus software to compare the thermal performance of a low-cost housing located in a warm dry climate, Hermosillo, Sonora, with similar construction systems in the envelope. Furthermore, an analysis of the effect of the color exterior finish, represented as a gradual change in the absorptance to solar radiation. The simulation is performed for two conditions of use of low-cost housing, the first condition considers the room without air conditioning and the second considers the air conditioned room. To simulate analyzed housing with air conditioning, is used an air conditioner from the database Energy Plus, corresponding to a Mini-split system compact unit zone cooling with a COP (Coefficient of performance) of 1.83.

Environmental certification is a key issue for improving energy efficiency, minimizing energy consumption and allowing greater transparency on energy uses in buildings. If sustainability of the building process is an already consolidated issue for new constructions, as well as for existing buildings, for traditional and historic buildings a dedicated consideration still must be carried out, due to the major complexity of the variables to be taken into account. This paper deals with the criticality of applying LEED® Italia rating systems for New Construction and Major Renovation to the case study of an ancient stable located in correspondence to a Middle Age fortress in Perugia, Italy. This gap analysis process shows the weakness of existing tools when applied to the historical context, by highlighting the need of a new assessment framework in case of restoration and preservation processes. GBC Historic Building™, a new rating system that GBC Italia is now developing, offers the opportunity to combine framework and criteria of the International LEED® standards and the specific knowledge of the restoration and preservation theory and practice. The case study highlights possible modifications and integrations of the existing LEED®/GBC topics, with the ultimate purpose of bridging the gap between energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and cultural heritage preservation.

Energy consumption by industrial sectors has possessed a large proportion of total energy use in many countries especially China. For the purposes of energy conservation, the government of China has implemented long-term policies to continuously assist thermal power industries in improving the energy efficiency. This paper investigates the short- and long-term causal relationship implied by the standard coal consumption per unit product of power (SCC), the rate of electricity consumption of power plant (EC), the total water consumption per unit product of power generation (WC) and the total oil consumption per year (OC). The result indicates that there is mutual influence among variables. The SCC is significantly correlated with the EC, a large amount of EC may impact SCC heavily. The OC is proved to be a new driving factor, and it has long-run equilibrium relationship with other three variables.

Although it has been proven that systems for integrating energy flows of different businesses are technically possible, economically profitable and environmentally sound, few such systems have been realized in Norway. This paper shows that other aspects must be considered, and argues that such infrastructures should be understood as sociotechnical. We studied a regional cluster in Norway, Kviamarka, and how the businesses successfully integrated energy flows by integrating production processes in the energy system. The surplus heat, cooling water and CO 2 output that are byproducts of several companies in the cluster are used by other companies in the cluster, which makes it more energy-efficient. This case showed how integrating companies’ energy flows involve a material and structural bridging of the companies and a focus on the mutual trust and interdependence of the actors in order to establish and maintain a collective energy system. Establishing a system for synergizing energy flows involved solving issues regarding negotiation of roles and responsibilities as well as context-specific issues. We also report on findings from the project INTERACT, in which we studied sociotechnical issues in synergizing energy flows through different situations and scenarios. To study context-specific issues in other initiatives for creating energy-efficient systems, we developed a scenario typology. The scenarios are defined not by the technical properties of the system but by how the actors are bound together by the energy infrastructure and how that affects their respective roles and responsibilities. The typology highlights different core challenges and possibilities related to different socio-technical systems. The rationale behind energy efficiency is based on the idea that different flows of energy (surplus heat, cold etc.) can be synergized by connecting different actors. Thus, the potential for innovation lies in how actors are organized and use their complementary energy resources.

Improved understanding of ship energy use can be a crucial part of the process of increasing ship energy efficiency. In this paper, the methodology of energy analysis is applied to ship energy systems in order to showcase the benefits of such methodology. Data from one year of operations of a case study ship were used, together with mechanistic knowledge of ship systems, in order to evaluate the different energy flows. The identification of main producers, consumers and waste flows, allowed by the application of the method, leads to the suggestion of a number of possible improvements guided by the improved knowledge of the ship's energy system.

Mauritius has a long tradition of using cogeneration systems for electricity generation. Bagasse, a by-product of sugar cane is burnt in high temperature and pressure boilers to produce superheated steam to be used for combined heat and power generation. Steam is fed in condensing extraction steam turbine coupled with an alternator to produce electricity and the exit low pressure steam of the turbine is used for the processing of sugar with flexibility to be employed also in distillery and refinery activities. Multi-criteria analysis of such bio-refinery inputs and outputs is conducted considering Energy, Engineering, Economic, Environmental and Ethical dimensions like sustainability, equity and democratization of the energy sector. Due to the reduction of price obtained for the sale of sugar to the European Union, the sugar industry has to re-engineer itself to move towards the flexi-factory concept for its survival. Production of high value-added refined sugar/special sugars, dehydrated ethanol for transport and power use and green electricity are constrained by a host of factors from climatic conditions to the price of sugar on the world market through the grid power costs itself dependent on world oil and coal prices. Environmental standards are also to be considered. The aim of this paper is to optimize the cogenerated energy systems of the cane flexi-factory by a holistic energy systems analysis. Actual parameters of a flexi-factory are used to calculate the energy efficiency of each components parts of the system as well as social, economic and environmental benefits. Policy implications crucial to the future viability of such complex energy systems; these are fully discussed in relation to national and international objectives.

Building envelope is widely recognized as a key factor that influences building energy consumption. However, the bulk of passive envelope research is based in cold climates. It remains largely unknown how building envelope design measures are selected and to what extent building energy efficiency can be improved in hot-humid climate. This paper explores the energy-efficient envelope design measures through the combination of understanding the environment, identifying potential measures, setting up models, running analysis, and making design decisions. The findings should inform building envelope design decisions and support building energy performance analysis in hot-humid climate.

The twenty-first century has been a scenario for explosive investment in renewables. This paper examines such investment as well as the policies that support it. China represents a unique case in this regard due to its fast development. Whereas the issue of securing energy supply is becoming increasingly important over time, the energy return ratios, such as EROI, are important to evaluate the efficiency of energy production. A novel methodology is presented to identify the most convenient location to increase efficiency and energy return for renewables. The methodology also assesses the effects of renewables policies at different scales.

Under the frame of Total-Factor Energy Efficiency, considering desirable outputs and undesirable outputs taking by energy and related factors, this paper uses super efficiency DEA method to measure energy efficiency of 11 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) in western China from 1989 to 2009, and utilizes fixed effect model of variable intercept to analysis factors of influencing energy efficiency of provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) in western China. The analysis shows that: (1) Under the situation of overall low energy efficiency in western China, in region, energy efficiency level presents the slow rise tendency from the year of 2005 after maintaining certain time interval slow drop. In the region the difference is small. (2) Factors of technical progress, industrial structure, government influence, opening degree, system variable as well as structure of energy consumption have different effects on energy efficiency, and these factors to action mechanism of energy efficiency exist difference.

TOTAL Exploration and Production is involved in a number of production and/or processing projects such as Heavy oil, Oil sands and LNG which require substantial amounts of energy (heat and power). Alongside this, sustainable development of energy resources is a prime target for the Total group, which strives constantly to reduce the GHG intensity of its production activities. On new projects and for major plant modifications, this is achieved by optimizing energy efficiency and preventing continuous flaring of produced gas, which is marketed or re-injected instead. On current producing installations, a continuous improvement process to address flaring reduction and energy efficiency is on-going. However in view of the coming development challenges, Total is further considering the development of facilities with a limited GHG footprint, by the means of emissions reduction through carbon capture and sequestration. Designing capture-ready installations is the first step on this path. It is a challenging task owing to the evolving nature of available technology, the high energy demand and correlative emissions of carbon and the unusual specific constraints in dedicated Oil and Gas energy plants. This paper presents our experience in this learning process applied to the oil & gas industrial environment. With the collaboration of Technip, Total initiated a study on the integration of carbon-capture solutions within cogeneration plants. On the strength of its in-house experience of oxy-combustion and acid gas removal, of transport and re-injection of acid gases, Total considered both oxy-combustion and post-combustion as promising technologies. The objective of the study was to assess the potential of each technology to tackle carbon capture on the two main types of thermo-mechanic converters present in a cogeneration plant: turbines and boilers, as well as evaluate the constraints. Alternative cogeneration plant concepts, with or without combined cycle were considered, to challenge further the impact of capture on cogeneration design. The actual operating conditions of a typical cogeneration plant burning clean natural gas, particularly its flue gas emissions, compatible with the target project’s constraints, were proposed as the design basis for capture systems of various scales. The requirement to keep to simple capture concepts was critical in view of the challenging economic environment of carbon capture, the evolving technology and the probable tightening of emission-reduction targets. Due to the uncertainties as to the final fate of the carbon dioxide, EOR or/and geo-storage, nearby or distant, in depleted fields or saline aquifers, being considered, several CO2 conditioning process options were defined. The integration of capture-ready building blocks within the plants was a significant step in the design process for alternative cogeneration plants, and enabled the synergies and constraints of operating the capture systems to be identified. The key risk items were highlighted, offering insight into the expected roadmap of the capture technology development. The results of this work compare the main features of the oxy-combustion and post-combustion CO2 capture technologies for steam-boiler and/or gas-turbine effluents and flag up some essential local constraints affecting the performance of the various capture-ready cogeneration schemes.

The paper maked an empirical study on the energy efficiency feature of TianJin from 1990 to 2008 based on nonparametric frontier model. The result shows that the trend of energy efficiency was descend in advance then uplifted. We analysed the influencing factors used TOBIT-model. The energy efficiency is influenced by many factors, such as industry structure, technology progress, institutional factor, government force, and the degree of opening. At last, we gave some advices to improve the energy efficiency in TianJin.

Energy efficiency of water supply systems in high-rise residential buildings becomes a concern for sustainable development nowadays. It has been reported the energy efficiency for high-rise water supply systems is below 25% and more than 75% input energy is ‘lost’, about half of the energy loss attributes to water pumps. Water pump operating at low efficiency is highly undesired. This paper investigates the in-use water pump efficiency for water supply systems in high-rise buildings of Hong Kong. The pumping efficiencies evaluated from a survey of 20 high-rise water supply systems were presented as a function of installation time. Expressions of in-use pump efficiency were proposed and pump replacement time was suggested. Better performed pumps got longer suggested service period and poorer performed ones got shorter payback periods. More frequent replacement was suggested for larger pumps and the payback period was generally shorter.

In data centers, about 40% of the total energy is consumed for cooling the IT equipment. Cooling costs are thus one of the major contributors to the total electricity bill of large data centers. This paper studies two factors affecting data center cooling energy consumption, namely air flow management and data center location selection. A unique rack layout with a vertically cooling air flow is proposed. Two cooling systems, computer room air conditioning (CRAC) cooling system and airside economizer (ASE), have been studied. Based on these two cooling systems, four cities have been selected from the worldwide data center locations. A number of energy efficiency metrics are explored for data center cooling, such as power usage effectiveness (PUE), coefficient of performance (COP) and chiller hours. By analyzing the effects of chiller hours and economizer hours, comparative economic results of cooling power consumption are provided in both systems. The results show that the cooling efficiency and operating costs vary significantly with different climate conditions, energy prices and cooling technologies. As climate condition is the major factor which affects the airside economizer, employing the airside economizer in the cold climate yields much lower energy consumption and operation costs.

Airflow pattern in a data center impacts the cooling effectiveness of the air-conditioning systems significantly, and hence impacts the energy efficiency of the whole data center. This paper presented investigation of the airflow pattern for a typical data center by CFD simulation. An under-floor air supplying system was used in the targeted data center. Cooling performance of the original and three more modified airflow pattern was simulated by CFD software. In optimizing the cooling efficiency, the measurements including blanking of the unused rack space, adding vertical partitions, and partly enclosing cold aisles were adopted to modify the original airflow pattern. The cooling performance was compared by indices like Supply Heat Index (SHI), Return Heat Index (RHI), Rack Cooling Index (RCI) and Return Temperature Index (RTI). The results indicated that partly enclosing cold aisles got most significant improvement in cooling performance. The supply air temperature could be increased by 3 °C. While for the index itself, RTI was found not appropriate in evaluating of cold air by-pass or hot air re-circulation in some cases.

Land transport is the major mode of transportation in Laos where it has consumed about 96% of total energy consumed in the transport sector. This paper investigates the effectiveness of the policy packages, which includes counter measures (CM) relevant to the transport sector, namely 1) fuel switching, 2) advanced technology and 3) modal shift to reduce energy consumption and CO 2 emission during 2010-2050. In this study, the Long-rang Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) model was applied to forecast sector-wise transport demand. Results show that the energy consumption in the transport sector will be increased from 548 ktoe in 2010 to 2,823 ktoe in 2050 while CO 2 emission will be increased from 1,656 kt-CO 2 in 2010 to 8,511 kt-CO 2 in 2050. However, implementation of four mitigation actions will reduce energy consumption by 9.3% and CO 2 emission by 20% when compared with the BAU scenario.

During the study two buildings have been analysed, both belong to 103 series buildings. The main objective of the work is to assess the efficiency of mechanical ventilation systems with heat recovery in renovated multi-family residential buildings. A comparison with natural ventilation systems is included. The paper focuses on data collection and analysis in two newly renovated buildings; both for energy efficiency and indoor air quality. It also shows one of the ways to solve space and low ceiling problems in existing multi-story apartment buildings by integrating supply air ducts in the insulation layer of the building facade.

High energy consumption problem has become increasingly acute human needs. Domestic heating in winter involves considerable expenses, so the idea of energy conservation and the need to implement reliable and innovative solutions in the field of energy in constructions emerged. Given these constrains, a judicious approach of the built environment is the study of energy consumption starting from the concept phase. This paper presents a parametric study regarding impact on energy consumption for different factors and the weighing associated. The analysis has been performed using an energy simulation program, which is able to provide a complex analysis of the thermal behavior of the building for different cases. The thermal behavior of a building should be the result of a multi-criteria optimization, considering both thermal comfort and energy savings. The purpose was to determine for each climatic zone when it is ineffective to increase the thermal resistance of the envelope element and the gain in energy economy begins to be insignificant. From these results we have chosen the optimal case for certain characteristics of glazed and opaque elements analyzing which is the best orientation for this case, considering both, heating and cooling load. The study indicated an optimal configuration of the envelope elements and optimal orientation of the building in order to reach the passive house level, demonstrating the necessity of such a step from the design phase.

This article evaluated the energy effeciency in Hebei Province using some indicators such as comprehensive energy consumption, efficiency of energy transformation. Then it makes a comparative analysis about the HeBei Province's status in the country's energy conservation. The final part of the paper predicts energy consumption indicators in HeBei province from 2009 to 2013.

Most developing countries are facing energy shortage and this impacts the social and economic development. Reliable electrical networks are absolutely necessary for energy supply. Unfortunately, the energy access has become a major problem in developing countries. When electricity is available, in large cities for instance, the grid is not reliable. Additionally, power cuts, power interruptions and electricity rationing are frequent, causing social tensions. This work focuses on a solution for lighting during electricity rationing. The use of a dual-voltage LED lamp can be an alternative solution to expensive kerosene and candles. A dual-voltage LED lamp can give the same light output at 240 VAC, 20 VAC or 24 VDC. Here is proposed a design of a small electrical grid encompassing dual voltage lamps and energy storage. This solution can be implemented in single family homes and in renewable energy mini-grids, and as well as in whole cities. Successful trials have been carried out at the Open University and in Cambridge, UK and results are presented in this paper.

Energy demand imputable to buildings corresponds to around 40% of the total in most of the developed countries, showing the great potential in this field to propose and implement effective strategies for energy saving and environmental sustainability. Additionally, urban areas are the most impacted zones by anthropogenic sources and they are often affected by local climate phenomena such as urban heat islands. In this view, several measures to mitigate this effects and to save energy in constructions are dealt with the implementation of cool materials for roofs and urban paving. Since the majority of cities in Europe is characterized by traditional architectures in residential buildings, the implementation of white cool coatings is not feasible and new solutions are being proposed. In particular, starting from previous works of the authors about the development and continuous monitoring of cool clay tiles, this paper deals with the thermal analysis of low-visual-impact cool tiles in single family residential buildings with varying climate conditions (i.e. latitude) in Europe, from hot subtropical semi-arid climate (Tripoli) to oceanic climate (Munich). A calibrated and validated simulation model by mean of experimental in-lab and in-field measurements, has been used for studying the thermal effect of the proposed clay tiles. The analysis shows how the clay tile has a promising potential to decrease the indoor overheating in all the climate conditions, with relatively low penalties in winter even in the coldest areas.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 sets a goal for the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. In preparation for implementation of a cap and trade program under this Act, Chevron has undertaken a detailed assessment of greenhouse gas mitigation options and costs. Such an assessment is key to making compliance decisions within the constraints of a given cap and trade regime. If the cap and trade market is minimally restricted (i.e., recognizes that climate change is a global issue and thus has no geographic restrictions and no set requirement for onsite emission reductions), facilities can make the best economic (and environmental) choices of where to ‘make’ emission reductions inside the facility fenceline and when to ‘buy’ the emission reduction allowances or credits on the market. The scope of the study included Chevron’s two refineries and a large heavy oil steamflood production operation in California. This paper will discuss how mitigation technologies are identified and assessed, describe some of the key greenhouse gas mitigation alternatives of interest to the Chevron California facilities and present a business-based approach to analyzing mitigation costs. Technologies studied included energy efficiency, advanced energy (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, nuclear, low temperature heat recovery) and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). For each mitigation option, a consistent methodology, based on the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association/American Petroleum Institute (IPIECA/API) Guidelines for Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Projects was used to assess baseline or ‘business as usual’ emissions, net emission reductions due to the project, capital cost, operating cost and any project benefits (e.g., reduced fuel use for energy efficiency projects). These values were then entered into a business evaluation tool to calculate a Net Present Value for each option. Key conclusions: • Broad involvement of various disciplines is needed to identify new alternatives for greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. • Other than CCS, options for significant reductions of refinery and petroleum production emissions were extremely limited in the facilities studied. • Since cost-effective, feasible options are limited for refineries and petroleum production facilities, availability of sufficient allowances and offsets is an important element if state goals are to be achieved. • Although a number of energy efficiency projects were identified, the cumulative total emissions reductions available through energy efficiency projects is minimal. • Renewable and advanced energy projects that generate electricity generally have very high mitigation costs, and may not greatly benefit facilities if emission caps apply only to direct emissions, since these projects reduce the quantity of purchased electricity rather than emissions from the facility itself (and are therefore not eligible for credit under most regulatory design schemes). • Renewable and advanced energy technologies for steam generation may have significant mitigation potential for heavy oil steamflood production. Further development and demonstration is needed to determine whether these technologies will be viable. • In order to support good business decisions, it is important that greenhouse gas mitigation technology evaluation be done in a manner consistent with other business evaluation processes.

The Sassi of Matera are a unique example in the world of rock settlements, developed from natural caves carved into the rock and molded into increasingly complex structures inside two large natural amphitheaters. Research focuses on the compatibility of the energy efficiency measures applied in Sassi buildings with the recent MiBACT guidelines on “Energy efficiency improvements in cultural heritage” and AiCARR guidelines on “Energy efficiency of historical buildings”. The paper aims to analyze energy and environmental performance of different building typologies and monuments of the Sassi site.

Phase Change Materials (PCMs) have the ability to absorb and release thermal energy, in the form of latent heat, during the melting or solidifying processes respectively. Thus, they may be used as additives in the production of thermally efficient composite building materials, such as plasters. This paper focuses on the design and production of PCM-enhanced lime plasters with significantly low thermal conductivity and increased specific heat capacity. The aforementioned plasters are appropriate for application in southern European climatic conditions. Due to their compatibility with traditional substrate materials, they may also be used for the renovation and retrofitting of existing structures. 97 539 545

This paper proposes a two stage Range-Adjusted model to assess the inefficiency and congestion of mix energy consumption. In order to investigate the case over time, DEA window analysis is combined with our model. The proposed two-stage DEA approach has been applied to examine the inefficiency and congestion in 16 APEC countries considering the energy mix effects from 1996 to 2011. Our results of empirical study show that the energy congestion in 16 APEC countries is still mainly due to the fossil energy, however, we also should take some useful measures to control the congestion comes from non fossil energy according to its rising trend in recent years.

The number of tall buildings is increasing as a result of the advances in construction technologies and the rising land prices. These buildings are characterised by their high energy consumption compared to other building types as they rely intensively on mechanical HVAC systems due to the extreme weather conditions associated with the increase in height. However, they present a great opportunity for energy savings. In recent years, it has been noticed the increasing interest in geometry and form of tall buildings, as a result of the evolution of parametric modelling and 3D visualisation tools, on the expense of the environmental aspect. This paper discusses factors affecting the energy consumption in the tall buildings. Through an extensive analysis of Literature, active and passive energy efficient strategies adopted in tall building at various building stages are identified. In addition, the role of architectural design parameters, such as building form, orientation and envelope on the tall building energy performance are highlighted. Finally, a set of guidelines and environmental design strategies to be considered in different phases in order to achieve energy-efficient tall buildings are proposed. These strategies have been categorised into four stages namely early design, conceptualisation, and documentation and operational. A 3D modelling approach was used to visualise and illustrate the proposed strategies in different stages.

The Directives 2002/91/CE and 2010/31/UE greatly evolved the building and real-estate sector towards low energy building, both in the case of building retrofitting and new buildings. Thanks to the Energy Performance Certificate influence on the real estate market, or thanks to the economic crisis, as it is some new buildings - the best - were built with Energy Class A or Nearly Zero classification. The Energy Building Performance standards, e.g. CEN Umbrella and their transposition, will be improved in the future, in spite of this these should be considered solid, and designers, architects and engineers must apply technical strategies (e.g. high insulation, reduction of air leakage, use of renewable systems) in order to reduce building energy consumption. The new challenge will be to improve relations between Building Energy Performance and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). As regards these relations, the CEN Umbrella provides to implement the Standard 15251. In the present paper we describe the results of IEQ monitoring in a low energy performance building (Class A+ less than 25 kWh/m 2 year). The results show that low energy performance building do not always guarantee a better category of IEQ, especially during the summer.

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the influence of a heating system control program and thermal mass of the external envelope on the internal thermal comfort. The analogous influence was considered based on the final energy consumption for heating purposes. A building that was chosen for the purpose of the analysis is located in Warsaw. This building fulfils national requirements. To evaluate the problem, various programs for heating system control were applied: constant space temperature, and reduced space temperature. Besides that three kinds of external walls were chosen. To obtain the results the simulation program was applied.

The efficient use of energy is a priority when a technology migration plan is being executed. Several factors must be taken into account in order to achieve this goal. In this paper the migration from liquefied petroleum gas based cookers to electric induction cookers is analyzed, emphasizing on the selection of the best material to produce the cookware suitable for induction cookers in terms of energy saving and performance. To accomplish this study, several tests have been performed in three kind of pots made of different materials: stainless steel, cast iron and aluminium. These tests have allowed to evaluate some material properties as rust resistance, structural stability of pot bottom under thermal impact conditions, energy efficiency measurements in different body cookware materials, energy efficiency with different distances between induction zone and pot bottom, relation between energy efficiency and initial measurements of concavity/convexity and energy efficiency before and after thermal impact conditions. After completing this research, it has been found that the enameled cast iron and the stainless steel present higher efficiency in the same stove.

It is described a prototype residential unit ensuring comfortable interior conditions at minimum energy cost through the interaction of three autonomous architectures: a) a spatial arrangement of tectonic elements; b) an assembly of sustainable material components; and c) a cognitive architecture of control systems. The prototype is an experiment on sustainability and connectivity, integrated within the context of a city that is envisioned as an energy efficient grid. This paper offers insight into the dynamic interactions between the material elements of the physical architecture, and the attributes and events of the control architecture that are associated with them.

In recent years, Kazakhstan has a growing interest in sustainable and energy effective combined supply for decentralized energy consumers. This is due to the development of the regions and the desire of consumers to obtain modern energy services. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the energy efficiency of a combined energy autonomous system constructed on the basis of cogeneration (CHP) and trigeneration (TG) (involving low-potential heat of the earth (LPH)) low and domestic size power plants. Method of the research is mathematical modeling and simulation of combined heating, cooling and power supplying in the system that combines a thermodynamic cycle in the internal combustion engine (ICE) and a geothermal heat pump with direct mechanical drive compressors (DMGHP). Parametric adjustment and calibration of mathematical models are implemented on the basis of experimental research on a prototype for a trigeneration plant. The research has established that the application of cogeneration plants for autonomous objects in extreme continental climate in Kazakhstan with a large seasonal variation in outdoor temperatures are significantly inferior to the energy efficiency of trigeneration plants. Thus, if the average annual energy efficiency of cogeneration systems based on internal combustion engines does not exceed 50–60%, and the usage of TGP, which includes (DMGHP), allows to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel 3–4 times by involving source of renewable energy low-potential heat of the earth. It should be noted, that LPH is available in all regions of Kazakhstan and practically does not depend from climate conditions.

Residential and commercial buildings consume 66% of the electricity and 33% of all energy in the United States and are therefore considered as a key sector to review for energy savings. Early studies have reported a great potential for achieving cost-effective energy efficiency in buildings through influencing behavioral change. However, it still remains a serious challenge to avoid negative boomerang effects in consumer behavioral change. Likewise, it is unclear how the lacking factor of the personality trait, which is vital to the success of normative feedback approach, shapes energy-related behaviors. To address these challenges, this paper presents a model-based approach to simulate the process of energy behavior change. Based on a modified opinion dynamics model, this study 1) explains the personality-behavior relations and acquires the elementary rules of behavior change by testing different treatment strategies; and 2) develops a personality trait-based energy reporting mechanism to lead behaviors towards more a favorable and sustained energy conservation movement.

The full exploitation of locally available renewable resources together with the reduction of system installation and management costs are key issues of diffused Distributed Generation (DG). In the given context, hybrid systems are already at an advanced stage of development which typically integrate several sub-systems. In such hybrid systems, Renewable Energy Sources generation systems (e.g. photovoltaic panels) are coupled to energy storage devices (electric batteries) and with programmable generators (a diesel generator or, more recently, with a sub-system based on fuel cells) allowing stable operations under a wide range of conditions. In this paper a solution which uses hydrogen and fuel cells as a programmable source is presented and is studied by means of a mixed experimental and numerical: a Hardware-In-Loop test bench designed and realized at the Department lab, able to reproduce the behavior of a hybrid system for domestic applications. The system is controlled by means of a rule-based control strategy acting on the common DC-bus whose optimization has a significant influence both on system design and on its overall system energy performances. Results show that Rule-Based strategy have a great potential towards cost reduction and components lifetime increase, while energy efficiency mainly depends on correct system sizing.

European directives are pushing EU member states to promote energy retrofits of their building stocks. Nevertheless, building renovation stagnates due to many issues, including financial, informational, behavioral, educational and other challenges. All of these increase for the public housing sector, where specific problems such as fuel poverty and social exclusion sum up to common problems such as the tenant-landlord dilemma. On the other hand, public housing represents an important asset for local governments, both in terms of economic and social value. By improving the quality of life and the economic resilience of inhabitant of public housing, local authorities may obtain long-term returns for social inclusion, and citizens’ wellbeing. Following this perspective, the municipalities of Milan and Lisbon committed, within the larger framework of the EU funded Sharing Cities project, to promote the renovation of some pilot public housing estates. The design process, the objectives, the expected outcomes and the monitoring and assessment process are described in the paper, trying to highlight the potential benefit for tenants, local governments and, in the long run, for the whole society.

Thermal Energy Storage ( TES ) is an important technology to balance the hourly energy supply and demand in Building Cooling Heating and Power ( BCHP ) systems, aiming to lower primary energy consumption. The solid sensible TES and latent TES , which are relatively developed, have the potential to be generalized in BCHP systems. However, design problems such as what are the key parameters or how to get the optimal value for this specific application remain unclear. The objective of this paper is to give a theoretical method to solve those two problems. The fixed storage period constraint is taken into consideration, which was important but not considered in the published articles. Firstly, a new evaluation index called the non-dimensional cooling capacity is defined to evaluate the thermal performance of TES . Secondly, the key non-dimensional design parameters are found based on the mathematical model. Finally, the sensitivity analysis of those parameters is studied. The results can be applied to further understand TES in BCHP systems and are helpful to design BCHP systems.

Every year governments of the European Member States invest several billion Euros in maintenance and upkeep of their schools. With 17% of non-residential buildings in the European Union being educational buildings, there is a substantial opportunity for setting examples of integrated refurbishment actions, which address functional and energy-related aspects in a joint view. Currently these potentials are not fully exploited. The reasons for the few numbers of truly holistic school refurbishment projects can be found in the limited budgets, the political and institutional framework conditions as well as the lack of innovative and holistic building refurbishment concepts. The assumption for research was that refurbishment in educational buildings focuses mostly on single measures in respect of maintenance and adaptation of the building structure. Energy efficiency measures are only selectively considered and functional changes are rarely implemented in existing buildings. This paper summarizes the results of the research project SchulRen+ [5] that analyzed school buildings in an integrated approach: Considering structural, functional and energy-related aspects in a joint view – the project reveals high performance refurbishment actions that have the potential for the development of ‘Nearly Zero Energy’ or ‘Plus Energy’ buildings. Based on the example of the school building stock of the city of Vienna, a nationally funded project analyzed these constraints with the goal of providing workable solutions for integrated school refurbishments. In an interdisciplinary approach, stakeholders from the city municipality, schools as well as building professionals provided input for the development of a methodology for replicable energy- and functionally optimized school refurbishment concepts. Structural, functional and energy relevant framework conditions were summarized and synergetic potentials of comprehensive school refurbishments were highlighted. Following the requirements of the stakeholders, different scenarios (light, intermediate, advanced) were subsequently tested in terms of functionality, energy efficiency and life cycle costs. For one case study a typical end of 19 th century building was selected - similar building types can be found across central Europe. It demonstrated the required changes in prospective school refurbishment projects. The emphasis was on the energetic optimization in synergy with the optimization of the functional room concepts in order to give justice to the changed requirements in new teaching types and methods. The case study resulted in concrete recommendations for decision support and showed how portfolio management and a holistic refurbishment approach could be undertaken for larger educational building stocks.

Due to the fact that efficiency of PV panels decreases by approximately 0.5%/K, possibilities to stabilize the temperature on the panel's surface are considered in this paper. The aim of this investigation is to determine the transition temperature of PCM layer that allows avoiding rapid temperature fluctuations on the PV back surface. To meet the stated goal, dynamic simulations of thermal and electrical performance of PV/PCM panels were carried out using ESP-r software. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that additional PCM layer on the back side of PV panel can effectively increase the efficiency of electricity production with PCM transition temperature about 20 °C.