Thermal and Vibration Comfort Analysis of a Nearly Zero-Energy Building in Poland

Małgorzata Fedorczak-Cisak,Filip Pachla,Alicja Kowalska-Koczwara,Krzysztof Stypuła,Marcin Furtak,Jolanta Gintowt,Tadeusz Tatara

doi:10.3390/su10103774

Małgorzata Fedorczak-Cisak, Filip Pachla + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103774

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Oct 18, 2018
Citations: 23	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Cracow University of Technology

Abstract

Placing emphasis exclusively on minimizing energy consumption in low-energy buildings can adversely impact thermal comfort and vibrational comfort. Vibrational comfort is extremely important in building design, especially within mining or seismically active territories, and due to car transportation in city centers. In this article, a new approach to designing passive buildings and nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEBs) in Poland is proposed, which has a strong emphasis on the necessity of providing comfort of use in passive houses and NZEBs. Additionally, vibration comfort provisions in the design process are examined. The research gap that will be addressed by the research presented in this article is to extend the comfort conditions of passive buildings and NZEBs into the area of vibratory comfort. The second goal of the project is to determine the impact of solar control systems on the conditions of thermal comfort. The conclusions from the research will allow for the optimization of design assumptions for passive houses and NZEBs. The conclusions from the tests can serve as the basis for introducing appropriate construction law requirements in Poland. The results of the research, which are presented in the article, indicate that the technical requirements that are applicable in Poland ought to include requirements regarding the use of sun blinds in NZEBs and passive buildings (not only as recommendations). In particular, the use of apertures on the south side ought to be mandated. The article can also be the basis for introducing the requirements of vibration comfort to the PN–EN 15251:2012 “Indoor environmental input parameters for design and assessment of energy performance of buildings addressing indoor air quality, thermal environment, lighting and acoustics” standard, which is the basis for designing the parameters of the internal environment for buildings.

Highlights

In recent years, the construction sector has placed an emphasis on designing and constructing lower energy consumption buildings
Buildings of nearly zero-energy consumption (NZEB) and passive houses can be all placed under the umbrella term of low-energy buildings
Using the example of two rooms, one of which was designed in such a way as to allow fulfilling the requirements for nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEBs) objects, thermal and vibration comfort tests were carried out

Summary

Introduction

The construction sector has placed an emphasis on designing and constructing lower energy consumption buildings. Apart from strength and durability criteria, minimizing energy consumption has become in Poland one of the main design criterions for buildings. More and more stringent requirements for buildings in European countries strive to introduce a standard of buildings with nearly zero energy consumption (NZEB). In addition to minimizing energy consumption in low-energy buildings, it is very important to ensure comfort of use in buildings [1]. Buildings of nearly zero-energy consumption (NZEB) and passive houses can be all placed under the umbrella term of low-energy buildings. NZEB buildings are a construction standard that was introduced by Directive 2010/31/UE [2]. The standard for passive houses is determined by the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt (Germany) [3]

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