Case Study of a Nearly Zero Energy Building in Italian Climatic Conditions

Abstract

Abstract:The building sector is an important stakeholder in the energy and environmental scenario of any country. It continues to grow across the world due to factors such as population growth, and economic and infrastructure development. Within the European Union, buildings account for 40% of the total energy requirements and 30% of carbon dioxide emissions. The building sector is keen to improve its sustainability standards and also to help achieve the 20-20-20 targets set by the European Union. The present work aims to design a nearly zero energy sports gymnasium building in Calolziocorte, Italy. Various sustainability techniques are applied in an integrated design project approach using ECOTECT software to undertake the energy modelling exercise. Firstly, the base-case is modelled with conventional building materials and the total energy demand is calculated. Duly considering the local climatic conditions, sustainable materials are chosen for walls, the floor, the roof, and windows and a 38% reduction is noted in the total energy demand of the building compared to the base-case. The impact of louvers as a passive design technique has also been examined on the total energy demand of the building. The monthly load/discomfort analysis is undertaken for various individual functions inside the building to identify the critical areas that consume more energy. The monthly load/discomfort analysis is performed with the proposed materials and the air infiltration rate is improved through the building envelope and 63% reduction is noted in the total energy demand of the building compared to the base-case. A solar access analysis is conducted to understand the on-site energy production and then the building net energy demand is calculated, which is reduced to 90% compared to the base-case.

Spatiotemporal variation in urban overheating magnitude and its association with synoptic air-masses in a coastal city

“…In New York 41 , and Rome 42 , DW and HW, while in Shanghai, HW conditions were associated with higher mortality and morbidity rates during summer. Further, it will also have adverse impacts on energy consumption and environmental quality as under HW/ W conditions in summer and during extreme heat events, the anthropogenic flux will also increase further due to the higher usage of airconditioning devices 43,44 , which will further deteriorate the environmental quality (due to the increased ozone formation 45 ), and exacerbate the UO magnitude. A projected increase in extreme heatwave events 46 , and a projected increase in the proportion of urbanites living in Australian capital cities 47 will make the Sydneysiders further vulnerable.…”

Solar Energy as Emergency Power Resource, the Design Specifications and Requirements

“…It's good to mention here that building beside consuming energy and resources harming the atmosphere, In USA, as example, buildings produce 38% of the CO2 emissions, more than other sectors in the USA. While in the European Union (EU), buildings accounts for 40% of total energy and 55% of the electricity consumption [19].…”

“…The International Energy Agency (IEA) defines a zero energy building as a building with large photovoltaic (PV) cells and a photo-voltage system. The concept of zero energy includes net zero site-energy, net zero source-energy, net zero energy emissions, and net zero energy costs [19].…”

Spectrally-Selective Energy-Harvesting Solar Windows for Public Infrastructure Applications

“…While such BAPV systems generate adequate electricity, their transparent area fraction is limited, which often makes them unattractive in architectural installations. A number of recent studies have been dedicated to uncovering the potential of renewable energy technologies including photovoltaics for reaching the important goal of net-zero energy consumption in buildings and infrastructural installations [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Figure 1 summarizes three well-known commercialized and recent examples of the relevant technologies and also provides the data on the currently-available electric power generation capacities per unit wall area.…”