A bstractToday, the building sector alone accounts for 40% of the total energy consumption in the European Union (EU). In most EU member states, about 70-90% of the buildings were constructed at least 20 years ago. Due to this, these buildings have a worse energy efficiency behavior than the new ones that complies with current regulations. As a consequence, acting on the existing building stock is needed, developing special methods on assessment and advice in order to reduce the total energy consumption. This article addresses a procedure allowing the classification and characterization of existing buildings facades. It can help researchers to achieve in-depth knowledge of the facades construction and therefore knowing their thermal behaviour. Once knowing that, the most appropriate upgrading strategies can be established with the purpose of reducing the energy demand. Furthermore, the classified facade typologies have been verified, complying with current and future Spanish regulations and according to the results obtained, a series of upgrading strategies based on the opaque part and those in the translucent part, have been proposed. As a conclusion, this procedure helps us to select the most appropriate improvement measures for each type of facade in order to comply with current and future Spanish regulations. This proposed method has been tested in a specific neighbourhood of Madrid, in a selected period of time, between 1950-1980, but it could be applicable to any other city.
Prediction of the energy performance of buildings helps designers with decision-making during the design process in new construction, as well as in renovation projects. Simulation software is used as a prediction tool to calculate the energy performance of buildings. However, numerous studies question its reliability due to the existing discrepancy (gap) between calculated and actual energy performance. Although occupant behaviour is identified as a factor of major impact on the energy performance of buildings, the complex stochastic nature of user behaviour makes it difficult to define actual occupancy patterns. As a result, standard and normative data are usually used as input in energy simulation models. The aim of this research is to test the effect of the use of actual presence profiles on energy demand simulations compared to the use of international normative presence profiles. A study on energy demand has therefore been developed, using dynamic simulation and monitoring campaigns. The results show that the heating and cooling energy demand may differ by up to 15% depending on whether actual or standard presence profiles are used. Therefore, presence profiles should be considered as a significant factor in the adjustment of input data in renovation projects. The final aim of this investigation is to determine the effect of using more accurate building and occupancy simulation parameters when assessing the feasibility of building renovation (payback period calculation for example). This paper focuses on the effect of presence profiles.
Simulation programs are used to calculate the energy performance of buildings. However, numerous studies have shown a gap between calculated and actual thermal performance of buildings. One of the factors that have been identified as a source of uncertainty in building simulations is the occupancy of the building and occupants' behaviour. These parameters are usually defined based on standards or assumed conditions. Thus, this research focuses on the occupants' presence and behaviour in residential buildings. This paper presents an investigation on energy demand via dynamic building simulations and monitoring campaigns. The values obtained from the monitoring campaign were used as input data into the thermal simulation program and a comparison between normative and actual occupancy patterns was performed based on an occupied dwelling in Madrid, Spain.
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