Assessment of Reducing Pollutant Emissions in Selected Heating and Ventilation Systems in Single-Family Houses

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study aiming to select the optimal source of heat for a newly designed single-family home. Commercial software was used to compare heating and ventilation systems involving a bituminous coal boiler, a condensing gas boiler, a biomass boiler, a heat pump with water and glycol as heat transfer media. The effectiveness of natural ventilation, mechanical ventilation with a ground-coupled heat exchanger, and solar heater panels for water heating were evaluated. The analysis was based on the annual demand for useful energy, final energy, and non-renewable primary energy in view of the pollution output of the evaluated heating systems. The analysis revealed that the heat pump with water and glycol was the optimal solution. However, the performance of the heat pump in real-life conditions was below its maximum theoretical efficiency. The biomass boiler contributed to the highest reduction in pollutant emissions (according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Change guidelines, carbon dioxide emissions have zero value), but it was characterized by the highest demand for final energy. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery was required in all analyzed systems to achieve optimal results. The introduction of mechanical ventilation decreased the demand for final energy by 10% to around 40% relative to the corresponding heating systems with natural ventilation.

Differentiation of the Level of Sustainable Development of Energy Markets in the European Union Countries

“…The structure of the Polish energy balance, which produces 5% of electricity produced throughout the European Union, is significantly different from the structures from the European Union countries due to the highest coal consumption in the energy sector. The Polish energy industry restructuring in Poland has been carried out for many years in order to achieve the assumed ecological goals in the European Union [38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. The transformation of the energy market depends on the financial conditions of companies from energy sectors which are currently exposed to high financial risk in Poland [45][46][47][48][49].…”

Factors Shaping A/W Heat Pumps CO₂ Emissions—Evidence from Poland

“…When a condensing gas boiler is used as a reference heat source, according to Gajewski et al, the air-to-water heat pump is neither an economically viable nor environmentally beneficial solution [19]. Another more comprehensive (considering more heat sources) study by Hałacz et al revealed that a condensing boiler with natural ventilation in case of single-family houses is, pollutant emission-wise, the most favorable solution [20]. The above-mentioned studies support the argument that the country-specific energy mix has a significant impact on the "greenness" In the months of 2018 In recent years, multiple studies have been dedicated to the analysis of heat pumps' role in shrinking the heating sector's carbon footprint.…”

Annual Energy Performance of an Air Handling Unit with a Cross-Flow Heat Exchanger

“…The Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure and Development on the methodology to determine the energy performance of a building and energy performance certificates [6] presents in detail the calculation procedure to obtain energy performance indicators: EP (nonrenewable primary energy), EK (final energy), and EU (usable energy). This procedure has been presented by several authors recently [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The base to obtain EP, EK, and EU is calculated annual energy use for space heating; cooling; ventilation; domestic hot water (DHW); and, in nonresidential buildings, lighting.…”