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This paper aims to show the current state of energy consumption and accompanying energy indicators in the public building sector in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The public building energy consumption data (healthcare, administration and schools) was collected by surveys supported by on-site measurements, calculations and interviews with people responsible for energy monitoring. Statistical processing of the collected data on the real extent and manner of energy usage in public buildings in Vojvodina was used. This paper presents energy indicators which are on average three times higher than allowed by Serbian Ordinance and what is currently present in neighboring European Countries. It is of the utmost importance to use this data and its implications as a catalyst for the implementation of energy management in the public building sector and an increase in energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, energy simulation in many respects assists researchers and engineers in the design phase, as well as in the buildings operational phase. Reliability of the integrated simulation model and the knowledge and experience of the user are the cornerstones of good quality simulation prediction result. This study was preceded by a detailed and long-term experimental analysis of the building with a double-skin ventilated façade [10] . The paper presents results of the measurement, fine-tuning process and validation of the numerical simulation model. The simulation software tool, EnergyPlus in combination with Airflow Network Algorithm algorithm was used for the cavity air temperature and velocity prediction. When the model was verified, the criterion of eligibility were defined with the recommended statistical indicators. In order to achieve the better assessment, the validation process was done trifold: for winter, transitional and summer season. Overall, the research results highlight a very good agreement and a high level of matching between measured values and simulated results, which is a confirmation of the applied energy simulation tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A building energy performance gap can be illustrated as the difference between the theoretical (methodologically defined) and the actual energy consumption. In EU countries, Energy Performance Certificates are issued when buildings are constructed, sold, or leased. This information is the first step in order to evaluate the energy performance of the building stock. In Serbia, when issuing an energy certificate, the adopted national methodology recognizes only energy consumption for heating. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the energy gap and estimate the relevance of an Energy Performance Certificate to meet the national energy efficiency or carbon target. An Energy Performance Certificate determines the theoretical residential and commercial building energy efficiency or its "design intent". This research stresses the necessity of measuring and achieving reductions in actual energy consumption through system regulation and consumers' self-awareness in buildings. The research compares the performance of the building stock (135) that is connected to the District Heating System (DHS), with its own integrated heat meter, to Individual Gas Boiler (IGB) systems (18), in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, built after 2014. For the purpose of comparing energy consumption, 16 buildings were selected that are very similar in terms of design, operation, and location. The data used are derived from metered consumption data, official evidence of city service companies, and Energy Performance Certificates of the considered buildings. We have determined that IGB systems have a much wider specific annual performance gap (11.19–101 kWh/m2a) than the buildings in the DHS (3.16–18.58 kWh/m2a). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent technological advancements have enabled the development and deployment of low-cost consumer grade monitors for ubiquitous and time-resolved indoor air quality monitoring. With their reliable performance, this technology could be instrumental in enhancing automatic controls and human decision making. We conducted a comprehensive performance evaluation of eight consumer grade multi-parameter monitors and eight single-parameter sensors in detecting particulate matter, carbon dioxide, total volatile organic compounds, dry-bulb air temperature, and relative humidity. In the controlled chamber, we generated eight air pollution sources, each at two thermodynamic conditions — cool and dry (20 ± 1 °C, 30 ± 5%), and warm and humid (26 ± 1 °C, 70 ± 5%). The majority of tested devices under-reported reference particle measurements by up to 50%, provided acceptable responses for carbon dioxide within 15% and diverging results with poor quantitative agreement for total volatile organic compounds. Despite the reported disparities in quantitative agreements, most of the low-cost devices could detect source events and were strongly correlated with the reference data, suggesting that these units could be suitable for measurement-based indoor air quality management. Most of the tested devices have also proven to competently measure air temperature (within+/-0.6 °C) and relative humidity (within+/-5% RH) and maintained a stable measurement accuracy over the two thermodynamic conditions. • We evaluated 8 low-cost environmental monitors and 8 single sensors in 2 distinct seasons. • Most of the tested units can be used for measurement-based IAQ and comfort management. • Awair 2nd Edition scored highest overall accuracy in measuring multiple environmental parameters among the low-cost units. • Air pollution source type affects monitor accuracy while seasonal impact is not obvious. • Price of the low-cost monitors does not scale with their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effects of energy infrastructure revitalization in public non-residential buildings in the contexts of energy planning support and energy policy creation. The approach created acknowledges the different degree of relevance of the specific aspects, the specific interests of different stakeholders in energy activity and the variable degree of influence of each effect on the overall development and sustainability of energy solutions. It is based on the mathematical concept of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a multi-criteria optimization procedure. AHP conclusions provide significant contributions in strategic development and transitional path planning and energy policy instruments implementation, while taking all local society and economic specificities into account. Given the fact that the effects of energy infrastructure revitalization are diverse and multidimensional, this method provides an analytical framework suitable for a comprehensive understanding and relative relevance evaluation of each of the effects with the use of structured organization of thinking, facts, new knowledge insights, intuition, experience and performance indicators. The method establishes a comprehensive and systematic algorithm for reasoning and revealing all aspects of energy infrastructure revitalization, and results in an arguable alternative choice in correlation with quantitative (economic, technical) and qualitative (environmental, social) criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]