Abstract
In this paper a careful energy audit and an energy restoration of some historical buildings was performed. In particular, three cultural heritages buildings situated in the city of Matera in Southern Italy were analysed. To analyse these buildings, an integrated approach based on measurements in situ and on dynamic energy simulations was used. Then, some energy efficiency actions were performed, safeguarding the authenticity value of these structures. The thermal conductance, the indoor temperature and the energy consumption were measured in situ and then the numerical virtual model was created by the Energy Plus code (Energy Plus is free, open-source, and cross-platform developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s and Building Technologies Office) (U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO), Washington, DC, USA). The numerical model was validated by using the Inequality Coefficient (IC) and then different parametric energy analyses were performed. The paper analysed different energy improvements and a techno-economic feasibility study was performed for each improvement. This analysis was conducted in dynamic regime by using the Energy-Plus code. In these buildings the thermal system improvements have a better payback time than envelope improvements. Two different thermal system improvements were analysed: the absorption heat pump with thermostatic valves and the compression heat pump with fan coil unit. Moreover, the replacement of present lighting with LED technologies has a payback time near one year.
Highlights
The building sector is responsible for 40% of overall EU energy consumption
Thermal and energy performance of three case studies were analysed with the dynamic method based on Energy Plus Code [15]
We report the primary energy consumption calculated using the conversion factor of energy vectors defined in Italian Decree Attachment 1 [21]: the electricity grid conversion factor is 1.95, in terms of non-renewable primary energy, while the natural gas conversion factor is
Summary
The building sector is responsible for 40% of overall EU energy consumption. The building stock is continuing to expand and this is increasing energy consumption. Energy consumption reduction and the use of renewable energy sources in the building sector are important needed actions to decrease the EU's energy dependency and greenhouse gas emissions. In the Italian building stock 78% of the buildings were constructed before 1977, the year the first energy Italian law was passed [1]. The percentage of ancient Italian building stock is 89% considering the latest energy Law. 10/’91 [2]. Law 10/’91 defines envelope limits; these limits were modified by Legislative Decree
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