Abstract
Due to the energy and environmental impacts attributed to the operational phase of the building sector, efforts have been made to improve building energy performance through the implementation of restrictive energy requirements by regulatory bodies. In this context, the primary objective of this paper is to investigate and compare regulations that govern the building envelope energy performance of new residential buildings in cold-climate regions, primarily in Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, China, and Russia. The aim is to identify similarities and dissimilarities among the energy regulations of these countries, as well as potentials for development of more effective building codes. This study verifies that the investigated energy requirements diverge considerably—for instance, the required thermal resistance per unit area of above-grade exterior walls in Sweden is almost two times that of a similar climate zone in Canada. Based on the comparisons and case analyses, recommendations for energy requirements pertinent to building envelope of new residential buildings in cold-climate regions are proposed.
Highlights
The building sector accounts for 30–40% of world primary energy consumption and20–30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1,2,3], yet it has potential for energy performance enhancement through the deployment of cost-effective improvements [4,5,6,7]
Little research has been focused on investigating and comparing regulations of countries in cold climates such as Canada—with the objective of identifying key practices and potentials for development of more effective building codes. To fill this gap, this paper, with focus on the envelope of residential buildings in cold-climate regions, aims to (1) assess and compare energy-efficiency requirements, (2) present guidelines relating to the development and implementation of energy-efficiency requirements and effective approaches to code compliance, and (3) recommend requirements and approaches to be incorporated in future editions of building codes, to enhance residential building energy performance
The trade-off path offers some flexibility in design for above-grade building envelope components, while the performance path allows for total flexibility in design, provided that the simulated energy consumption of a proposed design is equal to or less than that of a design following the prescriptive requirements of the code, which should be proven with an energy simulation software such as CAN-QUEST or
Summary
20–30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1,2,3], yet it has potential for energy performance enhancement through the deployment of cost-effective improvements [4,5,6,7]. Little research has been focused on investigating and comparing regulations of countries in cold climates such as Canada—with the objective of identifying key practices and potentials for development of more effective building codes. To fill this gap, this paper, with focus on the envelope of residential buildings in cold-climate regions, aims to (1) assess and compare energy-efficiency requirements, (2) present guidelines relating to the development and implementation of energy-efficiency requirements and effective approaches to code compliance, and (3) recommend requirements and approaches to be incorporated in future editions of building codes, to enhance residential building energy performance. Sweden has a slightly lower HDD 18 ◦ C of approximately 4517 but is still presented in this paper due to its strict building envelope requirements
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