The Passivhaus Standard in the Spanish Mediterranean: Evaluation of a House’s Thermal Behaviour of Enclosures and Airtightness

Abstract

Few houses have been built in the Spanish Mediterranean in accordance with the Passivhaus (PH) standard. This standard is adapted to the continental climates of Central Europe and thorough studies are necessary to apply this standard in Spain, especially in the summer. High relative air humidity levels in coastal areas and solar radiation levels of west-facing façades require adapted architectural designs, as well as greater control of air renewal and dehumidification. A priori, energy consumptions undergo big variations. In this study, the construction of a single-family house in the Spanish Levante was analysed. All enclosure layers were monitored using sensors of surface temperature, solar radiation, indoor and outdoor air temperature, relative humidity, and air speed. The thermal behaviour of the façade enclosure and air infiltration through the enclosure were examined using the blower door test and impacts on annual energy demand were quantified. Using simulation tools, improvements are proposed, and the results are compared with examples of PH housing in other geographical areas. The annual energy demand of PH housing was 69.19% below the usual value for buildings in the Mediterranean region. Very thick thermal insulation and low values of airtightness could be applied to the envelope, which would work very well in the winter. These technique solutions could provide optimal comfort conditions with a well-designed air conditioning system in summer and low energy consumption.

Thermal Comfort in NZEB Collective Housing in Northern Spain

“…It is important to emphasise that there is practically no monitoring of collective housing built under the Passivhaus standard in Spain. Only some studies have been carried out on single-family or semi-detached houses [46][47][48]. This results in a very partial bibliography with little relevant data.…”

Influence of the Water Vapour Permeability of Airtight Sheets on the Behaviour of Facade

“…In a case study carried out on a single-family dwelling in Levante, Spain, in which airtight sheets and strips were used, it was concluded that the losses in the dwelling due to air infiltration are very low, 5.4 kWh/m 2 •year, as a value of 0.49 h −1 at n 50 was obtained in the Blower Door test. The value obtained was very low in relation to conventional housing in that area where the ACH is between 5 and 7 times higher [20].…”

Water-Covered Roof Versus Inverted Flat Roof on the Mediterranean Coast: A Comparative Study of Thermal and Energy Behavior

“…Figures 12 and 13 show computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results for the summer conditions of both simulated models. The second and final step was adjusting the values of ventilation or the interior air renewal and air infiltrations throughout the building envelope [71]. This was made possible using the data obtained from the meter on monthly energy consumption throughout 2014.…”