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Since a solution towards carbon neutrality in already highly populated territories that does not profoundly alter the territories has not yet been found, territorial acupuncture, a new methodology presented in this paper, proposes a solution to this challenge and simultaneously helps to counter the dysfunctional dichotomy between large urban centres and small towns. The aim of this study is therefore to present this new concept and its operation. Hence, a phased study was carried out. Territorial acupuncture is the result of merging different theories and practices, such as Biourbanism, urban acupuncture, and energy community design. For Territorial Acupuncture, the territory is conceived as a single organism and, just like acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine, punctual interventions (in this case, interconnected energy communities) would benefit the entire territory organism. To make the theory work properly, it will be necessary to carry out multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary analyses over the entire territory to identify the intervention points and then proceed to the design and interconnection of the individual district. Thus, Territorial Acupuncture provides a new approach to the resilience of densely populated territories, which, through punctual interventions on a district scale, benefits the entire territory by modifying energy, socio-economic, and environmental dynamics.

A Positive Energy District (PED) is a portion of urban area with defined boundaries that can produce energy in excess of its own consumption. The aim of this study is to analyse design variations among the six projects (12 case studies) of PED belonging to the European Smart Cities and Communities programme. Thus, it will be possible to identify the reasons behind the energy choices related to generation, storage and distribution that appear in the different geographical areas. To achieve this, different data were collected by consulting official documents and creating questionnaires that were communicated with the project representatives. Thus, the result of this study is a catalogue of the energy system solutions adopted in the studied PEDs with a critical analysis of the different motivations behind them in order to outline general trends in the geographical areas with similar characteristics. In conclusion, this study defined which technological choices are the most common in territories with similar profiles and how divergent those with different profiles are. Furthermore, applied to a large catalogue of PED, the methodology identified would make it possible to create different operating models for different territorial types and urban settlements.

T cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphomas is a rare form of malignancy with poor outcomes. TCLS are a heterogeneous group of lymphoid malignancies that occur in nodal and extranodal sites. There are two main types of TCLs namely T-lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia and Peripheral T-cell lymphomas classified based on clinical manifestations and cytogenetic mutations. The use of advance technology like karyotyping, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) has allowed us to study TCLs in detail and to observe a different biochemical change that occurs in different TCLs allowing us to classify and treat them differently. This review focuses on the different mutations occurring in different TCLs and how they help us distinguish one type from another.

Empagliflozin (Jardiance®) is an insulin independent antihyperglycemic agent used in treatment of T2D.The drug is a sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor approved in USA and Europe and other countries of the world. As empagliflozin demonstrates cardioprotective and Reno protective properties its prime target are patients having CVD and CKD complicated by T2D. This review sheds light on mechanism of action of the drug and with the help of clinical outcomes establishes the use of empagliflozin in T2D patients. Although empagliflozin is a well-tolerated and easy to administer drug, it has some side effects and contraindications which are discussed in the article to help the reader weigh its beneficial effects against its adverse effect and understand its use in clinical medicine.

Buildings consume significant amount of final energy and they emit large amount of CO2 emissions. To address this issue, nearly zero energy buildings is becoming a common in many countries, while research is advancing towards the positive energy building (PEB) target by utilizing renewable energy that can support reducing the emissions from the building stock. The aim of this study, is to design and model a renewable-based energy system for a real demo apartment building in Nordics (Finland) in order to be a PEB, by exceeding the building’s heating, cooling and plug load demands. The novelty of this study is to assesses the fulfillment of the PEB level in cold climate, by simulating various technologies (such as photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) system, heat pump (HP), wind turbines, seasonal thermal energy storage etc.) their integration with the building, its controls strategies, types of load included in the energy balance and definition of building boundaries across which the balance is calculated. TRNSYS simulation software is mainly used for dynamic simulation of the energy system. The electricity import and export, the life cycle cost (LCC), and the onsite energy matching factors are calculated to estimate the performance of the proposed system. In addition, the challenges related to the building’s limited physical boundary are discussed. The results of this study shows that, if all the demands are included, i.e. heating, cooling and plug loads, then it is difficult to reach the PEB level. In this case, the investment cost in the energy system is around 47–62% of the LCC and the rest is the operational cost. On the other hand, the PEB levelis relatively easier to achieve if the plug loads are excluded, then the investment cost is around 88–100% of the LCC and there can be positive cash flow due to larger energy export than import. The PEB level is possible to be achieved when all the demands are included if the building boundary is extended to a virtual boundary outside its physical boundary that allows the addition of more renewable generations or by changing the building’s shape that allows the more installations of renewables on the roof. In this scenario, the investment cost on the energy system is around 62–91% of the LCC. Compared to the buildingcost, the energy system cost is generally low, i.e. around 1.2–4.3% of the building cost.. It can be concluded that in the Nordic conditions, it is difficult to reach the PEB level for the buildings in urban areas if the all the building’s energy demands are included. Renewable energy generations, such as additional PVT and wind turbines, are needed to be installed in an extended (virtual) boundary of the building if the PEB criterion has to be met when considering all the energy demands. Investment cost of the renewable energy system is low compared to the building’s cost, therefore, such renewable-based solutions can be provided with small additional cost, along with the new building’s cost, so that PEB and carbon neutrality targets can be achieved.

This book investigates positive energy buildings (PEBs). It provides and describes them, explains why they are important in the fight against climate change and discusses how they might be implemented. The book presents some of the main findings from the early stages of the EXCESS project and key learnings from understanding the role of PEBs in mitigating climate change. The book is composed of five chapters which cover the following topics: the importance and future of PEBs from a challenge and opportunity perspective; providing a definition of PEBs from both technical and social perspectives; discussion on key regulatory, social, financial and technology-related aspects impacting the implementation of PEBs; suggestions for local municipal authorities on support implementing PEBs; demonstration of PEB implementation plans in different climatic zones to support energy transition and help mitigate climate change.

Buildings are one of the largest contributors towards emissions. The EU countries plan to cut 80% of the emissions by 2050. The aim of this article is to model two different photovoltaic (PV) based energy systems integrated either with new or old building in a district and to conduct emissions comparison against a reference city level energy system in the Nordic region. The main novelty lies in the analysis of the CO2 reduction potential from the grid and buildings. The relative emissions reduction is found to be 85% when the new building is integrated with PV+heat pump and seasonal storage system compared to the reference energy system. The emission reduction cost of such a system is 8.59 €/kg CO2/yr. Such systems can support in reaching the EU’s emissions target.

Currently, no common definition of PEBs exists, which complicates technical solutions’ and business models' development across different climatic zones. This chapter defines a PEB based on thorough research conducted in the EU-funded EXCESS project. The chapter begins with a discussion on PEB backgrounds, such as PEB concepts' origin and comparison of concepts similar to PEB. After that a technical framework is introduced by presenting different technical criteria that need to be considered. Based on the EXCESS project's research, a positive energy building (PEB) is defined as ‘an energy-efficient building that produces more energy than it uses via renewable sources, with high self-consumption rate and high energy flexibility, over a time span of one year’. After the technical framework introduction, a social framework of PEBs is discussed. Finally, a technically and socially feasible PEB definition is provided. This discussion includes PEB as part of an energy community and PEBs in relation to smart readiness indicator.

This chapter begins with presenting regulatory, social, financial and technology-related aspects affecting the wide roll-out of PEBs, discussing both the preventing and promoting factors. Recommendations are also given on how to overcome the barriers and take advantage of the opportunities. After this, the possible renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies are discussed. The opportunities, climatic and other challenges, and cost analysis are presented for the renewable energy sources and energy storage. Moreover, PEBs as a part of the local energy infrastructure are presented. Finally, key learnings are provided for the main actors.

Positive energy buildings (PEBs) can contribute to mitigating climate change. This introductory chapter provides a broader context for PEBs and information on current PEBs in Europe. First, the chapter presents the important role of the building sector in climate change mitigation on the global and EU level, and PEBs as enablers for a consumer-centred clean energy transition and contributor to climate neutrality. The chapter then touches upon the current European climate and energy policy framework for 2030 and the European Green Deal with its goal for Europe’s economy and society to become climate-neutral by 2050 and reflects the role of PEBs in these. The chapter ends by introducing examples of existing PEBs all around Europe.

This chapter discusses mainly the technical implementation of PEBs. First, the chapter presents how the EXCESS project parties are planning to implement the PEB concept in four different geographical areas in Europe, as cooling and heating demands vary between regions. The demo locations are Helsinki in Finland, Granada in Spain, Hasselt in Belgium and Graz in Austria. After demo case presentations, the roles of digitalisation in PEBs and business models for energy transformation are addressed. Finally, lessons learned from implementing demo cases are discussed.

Buildings and the mobility sectors are the two sectors that currently utilize large amount of fossil-based energy. The aim of the paper is to, critically analyse the integration of electric vehicles (EV) energy load with the building’s energy load. The qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyse the nearly/net zero energy buildings and the mobility plans of the Europe along with the challenges of the plans. It is proposed to either include or exclude the EV load within the building’s energy load and follow the emissions calculation path, rather than energy calculation path for buildings to identify the benefits. Two real case studies in a central European climate are used to analysis the energy performance of the building with and without EV load integration and the emissions produced due to their interaction. It is shown that by replacing fossil-fuel cars with EVs within the building boundary, overall emissions can be reduced by 11–35% depending on the case study. However, the energy demand increased by 27–95% when the EV load was added with the building load. Hence, the goal to reach the nearly/net zero energy building target becomes more challenging. Therefore, the emission path can present the benefits of EV and building load integration.

Buildings account for 36% of the final energy demand and 39% of CO2 emissions worldwide. Targets for increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and reducing building related emissions is an important part of the energy policy to reach the Paris agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. While nearly zero energy buildings are the new norm in the EU, the research is advancing towards positive energy buildings, which contribute to the surrounding community by providing emission-free energy. This paper suggests a definition for positive energy building and presents the framework, elements, and challenges of the concept. In a positive energy building, the annual renewable energy production in the building site exceeds the energy demand of the building. This increases two-way interactions with energy grids, requiring a broader approach compared to zero energy buildings. The role of energy flexibility grows when the share of fluctuating renewable energy increases. The presented framework is designed with balancing two important perspectives: technical and user-centric approaches. It can be accommodated to different operational conditions, regulations, and climates. Potential challenges and opportunities are also discussed, such as the present issues in the building’s balancing boundary, electric vehicle integration, and smart readiness indicators.

Background There have been numerous research papers focusing on improving energy consumption and energy behaviour in domestic and residential contexts. However, workplaces and especially industry settings have gained less attention in scientific literature, even though the industry sector is one of the largest energy consumers in the world. This article introduces a methodological framework that utilizes the energy culture concept, to support understanding the factors that influence energy culture at business industry companies. Methods Building on the concept of energy culture, we introduce an interdisciplinary method, which assesses organizations’ energy culture from different perspectives and recognizes the possibilities for sustainability transitions. To validate this method, the developed energy culture survey has been verified by 27 expert participants from different industry-related companies located in Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Germany France, and Austria. Results Our analysis highlights the need to consider diverse, interdisciplinary aspects to create a successful method for enhancing energy culture in the industrial sector. This will take into consideration human aspects, related to cognitive norms, beliefs, and aspirations, as well as to human interaction with the material world. Conclusions Industrial energy cultures context differs from domestic and residential contexts, and the knowledge from one context cannot be transferred to another context as such. Based on investigated studies undertaken for residential, office, and other sectors and the lessons learned, we developed a systematic method for energy culture understanding in industries. Energy managers may use it, as well as other individuals involved in energy culture issues in the industrial business sector, to evaluate the state of energy culture and engage employees towards new energy-related practices.

Solar and wind energy are the significant renewable energy sources that can be used to tackle the climate change issue. The aim of the study is to design and compare different architectures of community-level energy systems, in order to find a positive energy community in cold climate. The design proposed is a centralized solar district heating network, which is integrated with renewable-based electricity network to meet the heating and electrical demand of a community of 100 houses. The renewable-based energy system consists of photovoltaic panels, wind turbines and stationary electrical storage. In present study the demand of the building appliances, district heating network auxiliaries and electric vehicles are included. TRNSYS is used to simulate these systems. Lastly, multi-objective optimization is done using MOBO (Multi-objective optimization tool). The objective of the optimization problem is to minimize two objective functions-the imported electricity and the life cycle costs. The onsite energy fraction, matching and exported electricity are also evaluated for comparison. The optimization results illustrate that in terms of imported energy, the cases with 600 kW (200 wind turbines) and storages are better compared to the cases without the turbines and storage. For the high performing system (200 turbines with storages and 75 electric vehicles), the corresponding onsite energy fraction (OEF) varied from 1% to 97% and the onsite energy matching (OEM) varied from 76% to 62%, respectively, while the imported electricity can be reduced to 2 kWh/m2/yr. However without storage, the onsite energy fraction (OEF) varied from 1% to 58% and the onsite energy matching (OEM) varied from 90% to 27% respectively. In all the systems, initially investments are made in the wind turbines, storages and lastly in the photovoltaic panels to improve the performance of the optimized solutions. It is found that storages can improve the onsite fraction and matching. Moreover, photovoltaic becomes more important in the cases with higher number of electric vehicles.

In Finland, old apartments (1980s) contribute toward emissions. The objective is to reduce CO2 emissions to reach Europe’s targets of 2050. Three different centralized solar-based district heating systems integrated either with non-renovated or renovated old buildings in the community were simulated and compared against the reference city-level district heating system. The three proposed centralized systems were: Case 1: photovoltaic (PV) with a ground source heat pump (GSHP); Case 2: PV with an air-water heat pump (A2WHP); and Case 3: PV with A2WHPs, seasonal storage, and GSHPs. TRNSYS simulation software was used for dynamic simulation of the systems. Life cycle cost (LCC), CO2 emissions and purchased electricity were calculated and compared. The results show that the community-level district heating system (Case 3) outperformed Case 1, Case 2, and the city-level district heating. With non-renovated buildings, the relative emissions reduction was 83% when the reference energy system was replaced with Case 3 and the emissions reduction cost was 3.74 €/kg.CO2/yr. The relative emissions reduction was 91% when the buildings were deep renovated and integrated with Case 3 when compared to the reference system with non-renovated buildings and the emission reduction cost was 11.9 €/kg.CO2/yr. Such district heating systems could help in meeting Europe’s emissions target for 2050.

Climate change is the biggest challenge of the present era. Buildings being one of the largest consumers of energy can help address this issue in various ways. The objective of the present study is to simulate and optimize a photovoltaic-based energy system integrated with onsite battery and electric vehicles for a demo site in Belgium in the Central European climatic conditions. The energy system of the demo site consists of photovoltaic-thermal panels, providing electricity and heat to the building, a battery as well as several long- and short-term thermal storages to reduce electricity curtailment and import. In the present study, the focus is on the optimization of the electric vehicle and battery charging and the import from the electrical network. Monitored data from the demo site is processed using a machine learning method to identify overproduction curtailment and electric vehicle charging events and to generate profiles of the photovoltaic (PV) energy production, feasible time windows and energy requirements for electric vehicle charging and building’s energy demand. These profiles and data are then used in an optimization method using linear and mixed integer programming to minimize the annual cost of the purchased electricity. Different case studies in terms of PV capacity, battery capacity and electric vehicle charging scenarios are investigated to compare against the performance of the real system. Various criteria, such as the curtailment of the PV production, imported energy cost, onsite energy fraction and matching indicators and lastly the net-zero energy balance of the building are considered to compare the results of the case studies. The study shows that machine learning can be used for the investigation of the monitored data, which can be later used for simulating and optimizing the case studies. The results shows that PV panels with 20 kWp (PV generation to demand ratio of 97%) and battery capacity of 16.1 kWh can result in annual energy cost saving of up to 807€ (31% reduction) with PV curtailment ratio of 34%, compared with the installed real demo building that has 10 kWp PV panels (PV generation to demand ratio of 49%) and battery capacity of 32.2 kWh. This would lead to an increase in the onsite-energy fraction indicator from 45% to 68%. Moreover, this combination can bring the building closer to the net-zero energy balance if the surplus electricity is exported rather than being curtailed. The optimization of the energy system in terms of equipment sizing and operation control is needed to increase the techno-economic performance of the whole system.

Solar thermal energy is widely recognized as one of the most important renewable energy resources. However, in high latitudes, due to various climatic and mismatch challenges, such solar district heating networks are difficult to implement. The objective of the paper is to optimize and compare two different design layouts and control strategies for solar district heating systems in Finnish conditions. The two different designs proposed are a centralized and a semi-decentralized solar district heating system. The centralized system consists of two centralized short-term tanks operating at different temperature levels charged by a solar collector and heat pumps. Borehole thermal energy storage is also charged via these two centralized tanks. In contrast, the semi-decentralized system consists of one centralized low temperature tank charged by a solar collector and a borehole thermal energy storage and decentralized high temperature tank charged by an individual heat pump in each house. In this case, borehole thermal energy storage is charged only by the centralized warm tank. These systems are designed using the dynamic simulation software TRNSYS for Finnish conditions. Later on, multi-objective optimization is carried out with a genetic algorithm using the MOBO (Multi-objective building optimizer) optimization tool, where two objectives, i.e. purchased electricity and life cycle costs, are minimized. Various design variables are considered, which included both component sizes and control parameters as inputs to the optimization. The optimization results show that in terms of life cycle cost and purchased electricity, the decentralized system clearly outperforms the centralized system. With a similar energy performance, the reduction in life cycle cost is up to 35% for the decentralized system. Both systems can achieve close to 90% renewable energy fraction. These systems are also sensitive to the prices. Furthermore, the results show that the solar thermal collector area and seasonal storage volume can be reduced in a decentralized system to reduce the cost compared to a centralized system. The losses in the centralized system are 40–12% higher compared to the decentralized system. The results also show that in both systems, high performance is achieved when the borehole storage is wider with less depth, as it allows better direct utilization of seasonally stored heat. The system layout and controls varied the performance and life cycle cost; therefore it is essential to consider these when implementing such systems.

Regional size solar heating systems allow an efficient use of clean energy technologies and passive buildings. The objective of the thesis is on the design, techno-economic performance, optimization and comparisons of various solar heating system architectures in Nordic conditions for regional demand. These systems provide space heating, domestic hot water and electricity to the community.Detailed simulation is crucial to study the combined effect of renewable energy sources, mechanical components, storages and buildings. In the study, TRNSYS and TRNBuild are used for energy systems and building dynamic simulation respectively. MOBO is used for multi-objective optimization.The thesis includes four publications. The publications contain following topics: developing of control strategies for a basic system, long term parametric study of three systems alternatives, influence of technical failures on the performance of an optimized system, and comparison between centralized and semi-decentralized systems designs. The results showed that parallel short-term storage tanks charging, with temperature difference control at collector outlet, reduced the energy consumption by 20 %, compared to serial charging of the tanks. It is found that by placing a heat pump connected between two short term tanks, using solar charged borehole storage to charge the tank, improved the system performance. Additionally, seasonal storage charging and heat demand played an important role on the performance and investments. However, these systems are sensitive to certain technical failures, inversely they may not be sensitive to certain issues. Results showed that de-stratification, solar circulation pump control and heat pump COP can cause large deviations from the ideal conditions. Semi-decentralized system, where low temperature grid is centralized and high temperature grid is decentralized can clearly outperform centralized system, in terms of the life cycle cost by 35 %. Shape of the seasonal storage varies depending on the stored heat and distribution network typology. The renewable energy fraction of up to 92% can be attained.The thesis shows that it is technically possible to build high performing solar heating networks in Nordic climate. A simulation based optimization problem of solar district and buildings together can reach an optimal or close to optimal solution set, useful for decision makers. Large size of the community allowed the effective use of the seasonal storage and solar energy. Control of each component and optimization is necessary to gain benefits of such concept. Large systems are much cheaper by unit price because of economics of scale. With decreasing trend of the collector and PV cost, economics of such system can be altered with cheap thermal storage. The technical uncertainties should be considered while realizing these systems. To validate the system a pilot project is needed. Life cycle assessment can be done to rationalize its societal impact.

The presented paper focuses on the design of different control strategies of a cold climate community-size solar thermal system located in Finland. The system was designed on TRNSYS software in order to perform dynamic simulation. A solar thermal system operating with various control strategies has been designed with an integrated ground source heat pump and a seasonal borehole storage to provide domestic hot water (DHW) and space heating (SH) for community-size demand. The system has two short term storage tanks, a hot tank and a warm tank. The impact of the considered system solutions on electricity consumption has been evaluated and compared as a function of the different collector control modes and different tank configurations (short term tanks sizes). Results have shown that the proposed system was able to provide a 78-83% renewable energy fraction. Total electricity consumption of the heating system varied by 20% between the best and the worst cases. Furthermore, system performance was better when solar energy was mainly stored in the warm tank. During a 5-year simulation, the annual seasonal storage efficiency improved from 0.23 to 0.31, whereas the heat pump electricity consumption reduced from 57.17 MWh to 45.93 MWh. The demand in winter was met mainly through ground heat and the rest was provided by the heat pump compressor. However, the demand in summer was met almost completely by solar energy.

There is a substantial need to accelerate the advancement and implementation of clean energy technologies in order to solve the challenges of the energy crisis and climate change. Solar heating technology is a feasible solution among clean energy technologies. In real conditions such complex systems often suffer from different kinds of technical failures and deviations reducing the system performance. This paper focuses on the challenges of a solar district heating system at high latitudes, proposes an optimized solution and investigates the influence of possible failures in planning, implementation and operation phase. The configuration proposed is a heat pump connected between two tanks, using solar-charged borehole storage to directly charge the lower temperature tank. Dynamic simulations were performed and a multi-objective optimization was carried out. The impact of the considered system solutions on the renewable energy fraction, purchased electricity and investment cost as a function of demand, solar thermal and photovoltaic areas, tanks and borehole volumes have been evaluated. The influence of 10 different technical failures was investigated. The study showed that in the optimized system, the most serious faults were i) de-stratification of the storage tanks (23–35% increase in annual purchased electricity) ii) on-off instead of variable speed control of the solar circulation pump (1–22% increase) and iii) reduction in heat pump performance (7–21%). These numbers of course depend on the initial assumptions, but still they show the magnitude of performance reduction some failures can achieve. Therefore, these parameters need to be considered during the implementation of such a system.

A solar community meets a significant amount of its energy demand through solar energy. In a high latitude country like Finland, the seasonal mismatch of solar availability makes it very difficult to achieve high renewable energy fractions without seasonal storage. In this study, a solar community located in Finland was optimized with respect to energy demand and life cycle cost. To gain better understanding of both technical and economical scaling effects, the optimization was done separately for four cases with 50, 100, 200 and 500 buildings. The study was performed for Finnish conditions using dynamic TRNSYS simulations and optimized with a genetic algorithm, using the MOBO optimization tool. The modeled energy system had solar thermal collectors and solar electric panels for energy generation, two centralized short-term storage tanks and a seasonal borehole thermal energy storage system (BTES) for energy storage, and a ground source heat pump for additional heat generation. The larger communities providednoticeable cost-benefits when aiming for high performance. Larger seasonal storages allowed more direct utilization of seasonally stored heat, lowering the need for the heat pump and reducing electricity demand. Comparing the best and worst performing optimal energy system, annual demand for heating electricity was reduced by 80%. Renewable energy fractions close to 90% for heating were possible for all community sizes, but the large communities could obtain them with about 20% lower costs.

It is known that enhancement of building energy efficiency can help in reducing energy consumption. The use of solar insulating materials are the most efficient and cost effective passive methods for reducing the cooling requirements of a building in the UAE. Apart from theoretical study, there is no experimental study performed in the UAE on energy savings by using solar insulation materials on buildings. Four (3mx3mx3m) solar calorimeters have been built in RAK, UAE in order to perform an open air outdoor test for energy savings obtained with solar insulating materials. The design is aimed to determine the heat flux reduction and the energy savings achieved with and without different solar insulating materials, mounted at the south wall of solar calorimeters with similar indoor and ambient conditions. Experimental results will be discussed to evaluate the thermal performance during summer's peak season when cooling demand of the building is at peak. Duration of the test is from 2012 to 2014. The steady state experimental study shows that if standard building material i.e. concrete is replaced with energy efficient solar insulation materials (like PIR and EIFS) and reflective coatings, energy savings up to an average 7.6-25.3% can be achieved due to reduction of heat flux by an average 22-75% at south wall during summer's steady state analysis.

It is known that enhancement of building energy efficiency can help in reducing energy consumption. The use of the solar insulating materials are the most efficient and cost effective passive methods for reducing the cooling requirements of the buildings. Apart from theoretical studies, no detailed experimental studies were performed in the UAE on energy savings by using solar insulation materials on buildings. Four (3. m. ×. 3. m. ×. 3. m) solar calorimeters were built in RAK, UAE in order to perform an open air outdoor test for energy savings obtained with solar insulating materials. The design is aimed to determine the heat flux reduction and the energy savings achieved with and without different solar insulating materials, mounted at the south wall of solar calorimeters with similar indoor and ambient conditions. Experimental results are discussed to evaluate the thermal performance during high temperature conditions in summer's period when cooling demand of the building is at its peak and also in winterswhen there is no cooling demand. The test is from 2012 to 2014. The controlled-temperature experimental study at a set point of 24. °C showed that if the standard building material, i.e. solid concrete, is retrofitted with polyisocyanurate (PIR) and reflective coatings or completely replaced with energy-efficient dry insulation material walls such as exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS), energy savings up to an average of 7.6-25.3% can be achieved. This is due to the reduction of heat flux by an average of 22-75% at south wall during summer. Similarly, free floating analysis was done during winter and the measurements showed the behaviour of the heat flux flow and the variations in room temperature due to the variation of thermal mass caused by the difference in heat capacities of the façade with and without insulation. Heat flux and temperature variations were minimal in cases of insulated buildings when compared against a reference building in the winter free flow tests. The temperature variation islimited to 2. °C in case of insulated buildings compared to 6. °C in the reference case caused by high thermal inertia. Thus, insulation is essential in summer as well as in winter for the buildings in Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Overall, this paper provides a novel view on the most significant contributors to the thermal behaviour of the structure, and presents a methodology on the outdoor tests with various materials, that can significantly improve the thermal behaviour of the buildings in the extremely hot climate.