By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Wed, 2010-03-10 17:19
In Case Study 6, the investment costs and environmental payoffs of newly built houses were compared. In this case study, the renovation options of a standard house (see Glossary and parameter settings in Appendix) will be compared both in terms of the environmental benefits obtainable with the investment of 1 million Euros in each case.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Wed, 2010-03-10 17:13
In case studies 3-4 the environmental benefits of a Low-Energy House (LEH) were compared to a Passive House (PH) both equipped with the best available technology to suit the house type.
In this case study, the environmental comparison was complemented with an economic assessment of the decision alternatives. This case study can be thought of as a cost-benefit analysis of building a new house with different environmental and economic costs and benefits.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Wed, 2010-03-10 16:58
Low Energy and so-called Passive Houses (LEH and PH, respectively) represent innovative design and technologies implemented in favour of energy efficiency. Compared to a standard house, both of these housing types have increased window surface area facing south, increased insulation on both walls and windows, sand-lime brick replacing the traditional bricks. The general description of the housing types is provided in the Glossary, while the list of parameters defining the houses in the model is provided in Supplement A.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Wed, 2010-03-10 16:51
In this case study, the analysis targets a comparison between heating systems in a low-energy house. The definition of a low-energy house can be found in the Glossary.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Wed, 2010-03-10 15:48
Developing economic well-being and preserving a healthy environment are not opposed forces but do, on the contrary, have a primary relationship and require a similar way of thinking: maximising the efficiency of a product over its life cycle will minimise its total financial cost as well as the total environmental impact over its life cycle.
The case studies below were developed to substantiate this Life-Cycle-Thinking by delivering high-level messages supporting decision making on the sustainable energy arena.
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By Sergio Ferreira / Published on Wed, 2008-12-10 14:03
The 160 million buildings in the European Union account for over 40% of Europe’s primary energy consumption. Hence energy use in buildings represents a major contributor to fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emission.
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By David Chapman / Published on Wed, 2008-04-23 18:45
Homes in the UK are responsible for 27% of carbon emissions so improving their environmental performance is very important. Currently, about 170 000 homes are built each year in the UK – about 0.77% of the existing stock – while the number of households expands at a rate of 240 000 households per annum. Although the very high rate of expansion of households is probably temporary, being due to an ageing population, changes in social structure and population movement from new EU states, it is clear that the replacement rate is very low and homes built today will be in use for a very long time.
Two streams of actions are required, addressing standards for new-build and refurbishment measures for existing stock.
For new build, the UK Government has set building construction standards defining a path towards so-called ‘zero carbon’ or ‘zero energy’ homes by 2016. For the present, the ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’ is voluntary for private builders (~75% of the market) but mandatory for public sector housing, housing associations and for homes built on land released by Government.
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By David Chapman / Published on Tue, 2008-04-22 13:41
A lot of work is being done on setting new energy consumption standards for new build housing – such as the 2016 ‘zero carbon’ target for the UK – but relatively little is being done about the existing stock. Because new build adds much less than 1% to the housing stock each year, the majority of the stock will have been built to much lower construction standards. About 40% of the UK housing stock was built before 1945.
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By David Chapman / Published on Wed, 2008-04-02 14:17
A report by a UK Parliamentary Committee on Communities and Local Government criticises the UK Government’s concentration on improving the energy performance new homes and paying too little attention to existing housing stock.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Wed, 2008-02-13 14:21
Based on a Discussion Webinar, Friday, 18 January 2008
How best to heat a house is a question that is often hotly debated. On one side, it is a purely personal choice affecting our daily life and personal comfort and productivity. But on the other side, given the enormous amount of heating energy the global built environment is consuming, it is also an important topic in the sphere of social responsibility. Residential heating is an area with great potential for carbon emission reductions.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Mon, 2008-01-14 16:53
Summary:
An ecological and economical answer for modern living
Electric heating has always been unbeatable for safety and comfort, but it is expensive, according to conventional wisdom. Today, that image seems more and more undeserved. Both technology and our way of living have changed significantly. In an increasingly urbanized environment with better insulated dwellings, electricity could very well turn out to be one of the most efficient ways of heating. Food for thought.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2007-12-18 08:30
An annual survey
This past year of 2007 was again an eventful one in the world of energy. There were new trends, evolving markets, and important breakthroughs. The following 11 highlights stood out:
1) 4th IPCC Assessment Report
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its 4th Assessment Report. One of its most striking conclusions is that we don’t have to wait for miracles or ingenious new solutions. The technologies, policies, and measures needed to mitigate climate change are known and doable. They just need to be applied.
With this 4th report, the IPCC has confirmed that there is a consensus among experts on what we know about climate change, how serious the earth’s situation may be, and what we can do to mitigate the phenomenon. Its efforts were rewarded with this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, shared with the mediagenic Al Gore.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Sun, 2007-06-03 13:02
... 457 kg
The result of the Ice Challenge was revealed last week. On April 18th, two blocks of ice were placed in a red (normal isolated) and green (super-isolated) envelope. While the ice block in the red envelope melted after 11 days, 457kg of ice remained when the green envelope was removed May 31st.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Sat, 2007-06-02 09:03
This webcast describes a number of considerations about for our energy systems when passive houses become the construction technology of choice in the future.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Thu, 2007-05-10 09:49
On April 18th, the Passiefhuis-Platform put a 1300 kg block of ice in one poorly-insulated envelope and one well-insulated envelope, posing following questions:
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Mon, 2007-03-12 13:43
The term passive house refers to a specific construction standard for residential buildings with good comfort conditions during winter and summer, without traditional heating systems and without active cooling. Typically this includes very good insulation levels, very good airtightness of the building, whilst a good indoor air quality is guaranteed by a mechanical ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery. Thereby the design heat load is limited to the load that can be transported by the minimum required ventilation air.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Mon, 2007-01-08 15:36
What is PEP?
PEP, which stands for ‘Promotion of European Passive Houses’ is a consortium of European partners, supported by the European Commission, Dictorate General for Energy and Transport.
Why Promotion of European Passive Houses?
It is generally recognised that, within the housing sector in Europe, many building activities can be expected over the coming decades. The old building stock will need to be refurbished or, in many cases, even demolished and new buildings erected. The existing housing stock is responsible for a large share of our total energy consumption, and therefore many energy savings can be accomplished in these upcoming reconstruction activities. As previous demonstration projects (such as CEPHEUS) have demonstrated, the reduction of non-renewable energy demand by a factor 4 (compared to contemporary national standards) is not only possible but also realistic. The Passive House concept is a sound and relatively low-cost method to achieve these energy savings. To spread this knowledge throughout the professional building community, beyond the select group of specialists, PEP has set out to spread the experience gained throughout Europe on the Passive House concept.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Sun, 2006-12-17 12:08
Buildings are a composition of various materials and components, and have multiple edges, overlaps, joints, ... These are not always carefully closed. To ensure good airtightness everywhere, a continuous airtight layer needs to be defined and implemented. Typical weak spots are: connections between outside & inside walls, roofs & floors; outside woodwork, rolling shutters, and their connections with outside masonry; the various connections for the sewage and ventilation system; electricity, sanitary and heating tubes; openings to insulated attics or doors to unheated cellars, ...
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Sun, 2006-12-17 09:38
Airtightness is essential for an efficient and rational ventilation. Through pressure differences between the inside and outside environment, leaks and chinks lead to air currents, spreading of smells and pollution, excessive energy use and draught.
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