A Small Modular House as a Response to the Energy Crisis

Abstract

Energy security is becoming one of the most important issues today. Continuous increases in the prices of fossil fuels, firewood and wood pellets have become commonplace in many countries. One positive effect of this situation is the greater focus on the development of renewable energy technologies and the search for solutions to reduce the heat demands of residential buildings. The purpose of this paper is to present a small modular building that can be a response to the energy crisis and Ukraine’s wave of refugees in Poland. The results of the energy simulations performed in DesignBuilder software showed that this type of house has a primary energy demand of 139.35 kWh/m2. The calculations were performed for the climatic conditions of north-eastern Poland, assuming natural gas as the fuel. The use of a geothermal heat pump reduced this value to 90.14 kWh/m2. In order to achieve a zero primary energy balance, 23.76 m2 of PV panels and 4 m2 of solar thermal collectors should be installed. In addition, the influence of the overhangs and the glazing area on the heat gain from the solar radiation was analyzed. A drop in temperature inside the house in the event of a continuous power failure was also investigated.