Abstract
In regions with temperate climates, the thermal insulation of buildings is increased to reduce the need for heating. It might significantly reduce human thermal comfort in the summer period. The problem can increase with global warming. The aim of the paper is to analyze the heating and cooling demand, as well as thermal comfort in a single-family house located in Poland for three climate scenarios (typical, real, and future weather data) and for two types of thermal insulation of external walls. In the study, two ways of cooling the building were taken into account: using split air conditioners and using fresh airflow provided through the opening of windows. The open area and the temperatures for opening windows have been optimized using a two-criteria function. The energy simulation was carried out in EnergyPlus 9.4 software. The multi-zone model was validated on the basis of the temperature measurement. The results showed that there will be a problem with ensuring thermal comfort in the future, especially in well-insulated buildings. The energy demand for cooling will be greater than the demand for heating. The use of passive cooling is a good solution for residential buildings in these regions, and the number of discomfort hours is small (max 5%).
Highlights
Increases in global air temperatures and solar radiation due to climate change have intensified the problem of ensuring human thermal comfort in buildings even in regions with currently temperate summers [1,2]
The results showed an increase in annual energy demand ranging from 56% to 112% in the case of the three 2050 cities, but the use of passive strategies reduced the future annual cooling and heating demand by up to 50%
The comparison of annual energy demand and the thermal comfort for the cases considered was the main aim of the analysis (Table 4)
Summary
Increases in global air temperatures and solar radiation due to climate change have intensified the problem of ensuring human thermal comfort in buildings even in regions with currently temperate summers [1,2]. It is commonly considered that in single-family houses located in temperate climates, the most energy is used for heating. For this reason, architects and engineers focus on reducing the heating demand, for example by increasing thermal insulation of external walls of the designed buildings. Architects and engineers focus on reducing the heating demand, for example by increasing thermal insulation of external walls of the designed buildings These operations, apart from the expected reduction in heat demand, have negative effects, for example overheating building in the warm season. Finding the right balance between reducing a building’s energy consumption and ensuring an adequate level of thermal comfort poses a major challenge
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