Techno-economic and environmental performances of heating systems for single-family code-compliant and passive houses

Ambrose Dodoo,S.I Tanabe,G Cao,C Inard,M.C Gameiro Da Silva,L Mazzarela,P Wargocki,I Nastase,H Zhang,J Kurnitski

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/201911103039

Abstract

In this study the implications of different energy efficiency requirements and heating solutions for versions of a single-family house in southern Sweden is explored. Final energy use, primary energy use, climate impacts and lifecycle cost of heat supply are analyzed for the building versions designed to meet the current Swedish BBR 2015 building code and heated with district heating or exhaust air heat pump. A case where the building is designed to the Swedish passive house criteria and heated with exhaust air heat pump is also analyzed. The district heating is assumed to be supplied from combined heat and power plants using bio-based fuels. For the heat pump solutions, cases are analyzed where the electricity supply is from coal-fired condensing power plant or fossil gas combined cycle power plant as baseline scenario, and from a combination of improved fossil power plants and non-fossil power plants as long-term scenario. The analysis considers the entire energy chain from natural resources to the final energy services. The results show that the BBR heat pump heated building use the most primary energy compared to the other two alternatives. Lifecycle cost is reduced by about 7-12% when district heating is used instead of heat pump for a BBR code-compliant building. This study shows the importance of lifecycle and system-wide perspectives in analyzing the resource efficiency and climate impacts as well as economic viabilities of heating solutions for houses.

Highlights

The building sector contributes largely to the total primary energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in many countries, and a large part of this energy is used for space conditioning of buildings
The BBR heat pump heated building has greater final energy and lower purchased energy use compared to the district heated alternative
A key goal of this techno-economic and environmental assessment is to understand the relative performance of alternative heating solutions for single-family residential buildings in a Swedish context

Summary

Introduction

The building sector contributes largely to the total primary energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in many countries, and a large part of this energy is used for space conditioning of buildings. Buildings account for 40% of the total energy use in the European Union, [1], and in Sweden the residential and service sectors account for 40% of the total final energy use [2]. The building sector presents a significant opportunity to reduce primary energy use and CO2 emissions in the built environment. The Swedish government’s bill on energy efficiency and smart construction aims to reduce total energy use per heated building floor area by 20% by 2020 and 50% by 2050, using 1995 as reference [4]. Energy efficient buildings are suggested as key part of the overall strategy to break Sweden’s dependence on fossil fuels to achieve a sustainable and a climate neutral society [4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion