Abstract
The Passive House (PH) concept is considered an efficient strategy to reduce energy consumption in the building sector, where most of the energy is used for heating and cooling applications. For this reason, energy efficiency measures are increasingly implemented in the residential sector, which is the main responsible for such a consumption. The need for professionals dealing with energy issues, and particularly for architects during the early stages of their architectural design, is crucial when considering energy efficient buildings. Therefore, architects involved in the design and construction stages have key roles in the process of enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. This research work explores the energy efficiency and optimized architectural design for residential buildings located in different climate zones in Spain, with an emphasis on Building Performance Simulation (BPS) as the key tool for architects and other professionals. According to a parametric analysis performed using Design Builder, the following optimal configurations are found for typical residential building projects: North-to-South orientation in all the five climate zones, a maximum shape factor of 0.48, external walls complying with the maximum U-value prescribed by Spanish Building Technical Code (0.35 Wm−2K−1) and a Window-to-Wall Ratio of no more than 20%. In terms of solar reflectance, it is found that the use of light colors is better in hotter climate zones A4, B4, and C4, whereas the best option is using darker colors in the colder climate zones D3 and E1. These measures help reaching the energy demand thresholds set by the Passivhaus Standard in all climate zones except for those located in climates C4, D3 and E1, for which further passive design measures are needed.
Highlights
Nowadays, a wide consensus has been achieved upon the importance of good architectural design and its relationship with energy consumption [1]
It is estimated that energy savings up to 27% will be achieved in residential buildings by 2020 as per Directive 2012/27/EU and Directive 2018/844/UE [3,4]
As a measure of quality control of the simulations outcomes, the results of this research have been preliminary checked against the values established by the Spanish Institute of Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), which has determined the energy consumption and costs of the Spanish households thanks to in situ measurements of about 600 households in different climate zone of Spain
Summary
A wide consensus has been achieved upon the importance of good architectural design and its relationship with energy consumption [1]. The impact of buildings is significant, and amounts to approximately 40% of global energy consumption and one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [5] When it comes to the construction of dwellings in the Spanish Mediterranean area, what is found is a general and widespread lower energy efficiency than other countries within the European Union facing the Mediterranean basin [6]. To help architects and designers reduce the operational energy consumption of buildings, the Spanish Technical Building Code (CTE) recommends the application of a tool called LIDER-CALENER GT (HULC) [8,9] Such a tool is used to verify the compliance of the project with the prescriptions set by CTE’s basic document DB-HE, as well as for evaluating the energy demand with respect to the DB-HE1’s requirements (item 2.2.1) regarding the limitation of the energy demand in residential buildings
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