Review of European ventilation strategies to meet the cooling and heating demands of nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB)/Passivhaus. Comparison with the USA

Abstract

The parameters and conditions that govern the ventilation requirements in residential buildings under current regulations worldwide are not harmonized. The reduction in energy demand and the increase in the thermal comfort in dwellings are mainly conditioned by these parameters. This article reviews and compares the ventilation flow rates in residential buildings in various countries: the United States of America, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain. It also compares the requirements of these countries with the requirements of the Passivhaus construction standard, which is recommended by the European Union as an example of nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB). Furthermore, a model for a dwelling is created using TRNSYS software. First, simulations have been performed with the flow rates, ventilation strategies and envelope transmittance required by the regulations of each country. The cooling and heating demands have been obtained for representative cities in different climate zones. With these results, the impact of ventilation parameters in the heating demand of the proposed Spanish dwelling is analyzed. Secondly, the same dwelling has been simulated with the thermal envelope transmittance values recommended by the Passivhaus standard. The ventilation strategies of each country have been maintained. The influence of the ventilation can be observed uninfluenced by other design parameters. It is found that with the current ventilation strategies, the heating and cooling demand values required by Passivhaus can be reached in only a few warm climates. In other cases, the ventilation strategies will need to change, and heat recovery ventilation will be required.

The Effect of Ventilation Strategies on Indoor Air Quality and Energy Consumptions in Classrooms

“…Indoor air quality and energy saving of existing buildings are often considered as incompatible goals [1,2]. Nonetheless, the introduction of the new regulation on the performance of buildings [3], i.e., the introduction of nearly zero energy buildings (NZEBs) as the new building target [4,5], will force the building sector to handle simultaneously the heat losses and the air quality issues, since ventilation approaches not properly designed will likely not fulfill the limitation on energy need for space heating typical of the NZEBs [6][7][8]. Apart from new constructions, the strategic challenge in view of the reduction of the energy consumption of the building sector is the energy retrofit of the existing buildings [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Energy Analysis at a Near Zero Energy Building. A Case-Study in Spain

“…For the residential sector, Tsalikis and Martinopoulos [15] demonstrate that photovoltaics alone can fulfil the annual electricity demand with a payback period shorter than seven years. Concerning the impact of ventilation heating loads on the nZEB requirements, Guillen-Lambea and Rodriguez-Soria [16] develop a comprehensive analysis of existing ventilation rules. As a result, southern region of Spain arises among the few ones where heating and cooling demands of nZEB can be covered without resorting to exhaust air heat recovery.…”

Sustainable Residential Energy Supply: A Literature Review-Based Morphological Analysis

“…The voluntary passive house standard even reaches heating energy demands below 15 kWh/(m 2 a) [88]. To reach the low heating demand, the passive house standard requires a ventilation system that includes additional heat recovery, especially for low-temperature countries, such as Germany [89]. The refurbishment of buildings and construction of new buildings with improved insolation can decrease future heating demand [1].…”