Abstract
The energy refurbishment of the existing building heritage is one of the pillars of Italian energy policy. Aiming for energy efficiency and energy saving in end uses, there are wide and diversified improvement strategies, which include interventions on the building envelope and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, with the introduction of renewable energy sources. The research aims at evaluating the building energy consumptions and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), varying the airflow rates handled by the HVAC system. A Case Study (the Aula Magna of a university building) is analysed; an in-situ monitoring campaign was carried out to evaluate the trend of some environmental parameters that are considered to be significant when varying the external airflow rates handled by the HVAC system. Additionally, dynamic simulations were carried out, with the aim of evaluating the energy savings coming from the airflow rates reduction. The results of this case study highlight the opportunity to achieve significant energy savings, with only slight variations in IEQ; a 50% reduction in airflow rate would decrease energy consumption by up to 45.2%, while increasing the carbon dioxide concentration from 545 ppm to 655 ppm, while the Particulate Matter and Total Volatile Organic Compounds increase is insignificant.
Highlights
The debate on climate change and the exhaustion of traditional fossil fuels has clarified the need for a sustainable and more efficient energy system to decrease the energy consumption and pollutants in the building sector [1]
The target of this work is the evaluation of building energy consumptions and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), varying the outdoor airflow rates that are handled by the HVAC system
There is no direct measurement of the energy consumption of the Heat Pump (HP) and, it was necessary to carry out targeted comparisons that aimed at assessing electricity consumptions related to measurements with and without the HVAC system
Summary
The debate on climate change and the exhaustion of traditional fossil fuels has clarified the need for a sustainable and more efficient energy system to decrease the energy consumption and pollutants in the building sector [1]. People spend a large part of their time (60–90%) inside buildings [3]; for this reason, the quality of confined spaces is a major concern for healthy indoor environments in Europe [4] and it has a decisive impact on wellbeing of occupants [5] and their productivity [6]. The EE-TC-IAQ (Energy Efficiency-Thermal Comfort-Indoor Air Quality) dilemma represents a significant issue for building design and management [7,8,9]. Examples of an integrated approach are present, such as [11,12,13], in which attention was simultaneously paid to the reduction of energy consumptions in school buildings and ensuring satisfactory internal environmental conditions; in [14,15], where IAQ issues have been considered together with architecture preservation and sustainability concerns when retrofitting a prestigious building
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