A modelling methodology is developed and used to investigate the technoeconomic performance of solar combined cooling, heating and power (S-CCHP) systems based on hybrid PVT collectors. The building energy demands are inputs to a transient system model, which couples PVT solar-collectors via thermalstore to commercial absorption chillers. The real energy demands of the University Campus of Bari, investment costs, relevant electricity and gas prices are used to estimate payback-times. The results are compared to: evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) for heating and cooling provision; and a PV-system for electricity provision. A 1.68-MWp S-CCHP system can cover 20.9%, 55.1% and 16.3% of the spaceheating, cooling and electrical demands of the Campus, respectively, with roof-space availability being a major limiting factor. The payback-time is 16.7 years, 2.7-times higher than that of a PV-system. The lack of electricity generation by the ETC-based system limits its profitability, and leads to 2.3-times longer payback-time. The environmental benefits arising from the system's operation are evaluated. The S-CCHP system can displace 911 tonsCO2/year (16% and 1.4× times more than the PV-system and the ETC-based system, respectively). The influence of utility prices on the systems' economics is analysed. It is found that the sensitivity to these prices is significant.
A systematic method has been established to perform and analyse in detail the Energy Performance Certification of 21 faculty buildings located at the University of Zaragoza (Spain), according to the transposition of Directive 2010/31/EU. First of all, the problem background and a review of the state-of-the-art of the energy certification in buildings is outlined, regarding both the actual state of the Government regulations and the studies undertaken in several countries to assess the energy performance of different types of buildings, residential and non-residential. A summary of the causes found in other studies for the discrepancies between the estimated (by simulation) and actual energy consumption is shown which is afterwards tested and compared with the results found in the present study. Thereafter, the method followed to undertake the buildings' energy performance certification is explained, and the main results found together with the discussion are detailed, comparing
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