• Energy Research
• 11. Sustainability close
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Abstract This article focuses on the results obtained by the enforcement of a original greenhouse gas emissions policy, issued in recent years in several municipalities in Northern Italy. The Municipality of Reggio Emilia was one of the firsts in Italy to develop and adopt a voluntary building energy-consumption certification method called Ecoabita, aiming to promote energy efficiency in buildings over its jurisdiction. Several reasons make this project innovative: first, the certification method has been processed through and verified by a quality international agency, secondly the procedure is assisting financial-incentive policies both on mandatory (European Directive 2002/91/CE) and voluntary basis (Municipality Protocol Ecoabita), finally it allows to obtain eligible credits for avoided emissions that can be negotiated on the CO2 exchange market. With specific reference to Reggio Emilia case, acknowledged the amount of actions, that are normally scheduled in the municipality throughout a year, it has been evaluated the benefit, in terms of environmental improvement, descended from the protocol, also projecting their trend in future years up to 2020 as well, demonstrating the scheduled interventions are fundamental in sought of the achievement of the Kyoto and Copenhagen commitments. The entire procedure has been developed in accordance to the parameters given by UNFCCC for these kinds of analyses and has been recently confirmed to be one of the most accurate international accounting procedure by a survey developed by the scientific committee of the European Project LIFE-LAKS.

This paper elaborates different hybrid energy scenarios for applications in small or medium residential building facilities in typical Mediterranean climate conditions. Proposed hybrid energy solutions are based on the split air conditioning units as they are the most used individually energy sources able to cover heating and cooling demands in residential building facilities in considered climate conditions. Four different hybrid energy options have been analysed as they represent highly efficient energy solutions that could reduce overall energy consumption as well as also carbon dioxide emissions from residential sector. For each proposed energy solution a technical aspect was addressed, as well as also an economic aspect through obtained LCOE analysis. Therefore, the proposed and analysed hybrid energy concepts turned out to be a viable energy solution for residential applications as calculated LCOE was competitive with current retail prices of electricity on the EU market. The calculated LCOE ranged from 0.036 €/kWh up to 0.159 €/kWh, depending from the considered hybrid energy solution. The solution with the modified split heat pump system turned out to be most favourable. However, as each solution is characteristic one an additional evaluation framework was developed. Finally, the results of this study could be useful as examples of good practice as well as also a useful guidance for policy makers.

Abstract The primary goal of the project is to design a lighting system that provides the highest visual comfort and conserves energy for different uses and furniture layouts, which considers that the design of the house will be used by many different users. Indoor system designs vary in layout, goals and optics with two levels of intervention: when initially furnished and during daily use. Lighting is managed by a building automation system, which is equipped with motion and daylight sensors and human interfaces with user scenarios. An outdoor design that requires only a standalone system and is powered by photovoltaic and eolic devices has been developed. All systems incorporate LED technology and have been custom-developed for Med in Italy, which resulted in new patents. Lighting system projects have been involved in several competitions, e.g., Med in Italy placed in the Solar Decathlon in Architecture, Electrical Energy Balance, House Functioning, and Sustainability and took third place in the final ranking. Further research developments are in progress and will be seen in next Solar Decathlon Europe in Paris in 2014. This paper describes the project, installation and analyses of the energy savings that the Medinitaly system can achieve compared with traditional solutions. Simulation data are compared with measured data from the period of the Solar Decathlon competition.

Abstract A Solar Chimney (SC) is a passive system harnessing solar energy to ventilate inner spaces and improve occupants’ thermal comfort. The purpose of this study is to determine the time periods of a year most suitable for the use of a SC in terms of thermal comfort under the different climates of Bandar-Abbas (hot and humid), Yazd (hot and arid), Paris (mild and humid) and Toronto (cold and humid). To this aim, a thermosyphonic model – validated against published experimental data – was employed for running dynamic thermal simulations of a residential building using the EnergyPlus software. The optimal time periods of operation of the SC, driven by the values of the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) between −0.7 and +0.7 and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) below 15%, are found to be November and January to April in Bandar-Abbas (2265 h), while for the city of Yazd it comprises the months of April and May together with September and October (2145 h). As for Paris and Toronto, the period spans from June to August, for a total of 1065 and 1620 h respectively. Correlation coefficients disclosing the impact of the increased air mass flow rate revealed a positive impact everywhere during nighttime in terms of indoor air temperatures (from 0.02 in Bandar-Abbas to 0.77 in Yazd). On the other hand, the impact on indoor relative humidity is always negatively correlated, with a peak of −0.73 in Yazd. Year-long comfort conditions are finally displayed in psychometric charts against ASHRAE 55 Standard boundaries.

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) connected systems are experiencing rapid market growth. This is due to the continually downward trend in PV cost together with government support programs. A scenario has been assumed to analyse the geographical market of PVs. The results provide clear evidence of the influence that some variables have on the profitability of PV investments. This study presents a model for minimising investment risk and maximising the return of a renewable energy portfolio in Italy. The value of the paper is in showing that the energy and CO 2 reduction potential that can be reached through consumer-oriented policy measures, but the paper also looks at the effectiveness and social implications of such measures. Private households possess immense unused potential for energy reductions (and climate protection) that could be realised through gains in energy efficiency, behavioural changes, and extended use of low-emission energy. The focus of energy policy has been on businesses rather than on private households, which are only partly captured by direct policy measures. To achieve the goals of climate policies, the current political and scientific discussion increasingly considers measures that aim to reduce energy consumption in the private sector. Quantitative estimates are presented for economic indicators and will show the various effects of policy measures on the implemented household types.

Abstract This study is focused on the detection of the expected natural lighting levels of some unrealized residential houses of Le Corbusier. The attention and the interest of Le Corbusier on the topic of residential buildings are widely recognized. Moreover, it also relates to the research of growing performances about the quality of indoor environments, where the daylighting has certainly represented an important aspect, which would need further researches. The study aims to highlight new and inedited daylighting analysis for seven unrealized projects: Maison Fuerte, Maison Cumenge, Maison Canneel, Maisons pour Ingenieurs, Maison Fueter, Maisons des Peons and Maisons Rurales, designed by Le Corbusier, confirming and discovering some design criteria of this master of Modern Architecture related to the daylighting. According to the original drawings, available from the Fondation Le Corbusier, reliable and accurate virtual reconstructions of the projects have been made with which daylighting simulations have been performed for every project and indoor spaces. The daylighting simulations are run, by using advanced solar-lighting design tools, which use international standard calculations, providing results about illumination, luminance, daylight autonomy and daylighting factor. In this study, it has been used an experimental method to discover and to evaluate the daylighting performances of the seven unrealized housing projects. The results of the simulations, processed with values, indices and graphical representations, give a quantitative description of the natural light with high reliability, and with it has been possible to highlight the sensible awareness of Le Corbusier regarding daylighting, and considering the natural light as a fundamental parameter into his design strategy.

Abstract Building modeling and energy performance assessment models have become fundamental tools for both designers and researchers. Spanning the boundary of single building analysis, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how buildings energy performance is influenced by Inter-Building Effects (IBE). Previous research has examined IBE impact on cooling and heating energy performance predictions across buildings, however, the impact of IBE on lighting, which may be substantial, has not been examined. We investigated this impact through coupled numerical and experimental analysis. We built upon and further validated the Inter-Building Effect approach through modeling the contribution of lighting energy use on IBE and through the use of empirical data for model calibration. We demonstrated that the energy use performance prediction deviations resulting from lighting IBE are greater than those from heating or cooling in a case study building and we described this expanded IBE calculation and assessment as IBE II . To further confirm the reliability of the findings, we replicated the analysis for four different building orientations and observed non-negligible primary energy requirement modeling errors irrespective of orientation. This demonstrates the critical need to include lighting in IBE calculations to more accurately model primary energy requirement for buildings in urban contexts.

Abstract Green roofs have recently been regarded as useful tools to mitigate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon, being capable of substantially reducing the roof surface temperature. In this context the paper aims to present an extensive analysis of the surface temperature of an experimental green roof located in southern Italy. The surface thermal performance of both green and traditional roof was analysed in a very concise manner through proper defined indexes. The results of the analysis showed how the traditional roof in June reached a peak of 74.3 °C with a daily excursion of 51.5 °C whereas green roofs were able to produce a surface temperature from 0.57 to 0.63 times lower. The results also showed that in winter the vegetated roof could significantly reduce the daily temperature excursion compared to the reference membrane, indicating a reduction of the heat losses of the indoor spaces toward the external environment. Finally, a statistical comparison in terms of probability density distributions revealed that the dynamic thermal behaviour of the three different green layerings in both seasons was remarkably similar, proving the ability of vegetated roofs to maintain limited temperature variation in the whole year, thus containing heat losses in winter and overheating in summer.