Low Energy Buildings Research Articles

Research on Green Construction Management Strategy for Low Carbon and Energy Conservation Building Engineering Projects

Research on Green Construction Management Strategy for Low Carbon and Energy Conservation Building Engineering Projects

Research on Architectural Design Innovation from a Low Carbon Perspective

With the improvement of living standards, people's requirements for residential functions are also increasing, that is, residential buildings should not only provide a safe and comfortable living environment for people, but also meet the low-carbon and energy-saving requirements of construction projects. Based on this, the article elaborates on the advantages of architectural design under the low-carbon concept, introduces the current development status of architectural design under the low-carbon concept, and proposes optimization strategies for architectural design under the low-carbon concept. It is necessary to use low-carbon environmental protection energy and building materials, optimize the surrounding environment of buildings, and fully utilize renewable energy, aiming to make strong contributions to the construction of ecological environment in China.

Study on Key Technical Route and Construction Mode of Low-Carbon Park

The potential for energy conservation and emission reduction in parks is enormous, promoting the popularization of low-carbon parks is a necessary means to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of energy consumption and achieve China’s ‘dual carbon’ goals. This article summarizes and extracts four main technical routes for building low-carbon parks through research on low-carbon parks and building cases at home and abroad: energy conservation and low-carbon construction of architectural noumenon, proactive energy conservation and operational carbon reduction, internal development of renewable energy, and external green energy input. Horizontal comparison and qualitative analysis of the four technical routes adopted in each typical case, summarizing and proposing eight models and typical application scenarios for building low-carbon parks, providing a theoretical basis and implementation suggestions for low-carbon development of the park.

The Transition to Integrated Renewable Energy: A Framework for Low Energy Building Design

Following the Paris Agreement in 2015, global attention to global warming countermeasures has intensified, as climate change is a major threat to human societies, fundamentally linked to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Given the huge impact of buildings on energy consumption, changes must take place towards a sustainable energy transition by using renewable energies such as solar energy in order to push buildings to near zero energy consumption. In this context, our work consists of clarifying the nearly zero energy building (NZEB) concept and of reviewing research articles focusing on the use of renewable energy sources (RES) in an efficient way, based on solar energy.

Experimental study on Reconstruction of rural Building Envelope in Hebei

Taking rural buildings in Hebei as an example, the reconstruction experiment was carried out. After a survey on the status quo of buildings in rural areas of Hebei province, it is found that the thermal performance of the envelope structure is poor. Then, an experimental model is established by using DeST software, and relevant parameters are calculated to simulate the contribution rate of energy conservation. It is concluded that the envelope material with superior thermal insulation performance is conducive to promoting the development of rural low-carbon buildings in Hebei Province. According to the above conclusions, the simulation experiment of the rural building envelope is carried out, the method of comparison experiment is used to calculate the relevant parameters, and the thermal performance coefficient of the reconstructed envelope structure is compared with that of the traditional building. It is concluded that the reconstructed building is more in line with the local building energy saving standards, with higher energy saving, and more suitable for extensive application in the rural building renovation.

The greenlight for government buildings: strategies for a low-carbon building portfolio

There is a global focus by governments on retrofitting buildings, as well as incorporating energy efficiency into new construction, as a means to address climate change. Initiatives to reduce energy use, source renewable electricity, and use low-carbon materials are aimed at leading by example, where governments attempt to showcase innovation through green building strategies. Greening government initiatives are promoted to reduce operating costs, improve energy system resilience, grow the “green” economy, support clean energy development, and encourage sustainable building practices. Here, we outline the benefits of greening government initiatives by examining Canada's Greening Government Strategy as a case study approach for transitioning to a low-carbon building portfolio. We focus our review on initiatives that outline how public institutions can transition buildings to reduce their carbon footprint by (1) pairing greening government mandates with adequate support structures for public agencies, (2) using an integrated energy management process for the planning and development of carbon-neutral portfolios, and (3) overcoming barriers to low-carbon project implementation with procurement standards, financial instruments, and staff training. These approaches are defined to offer leadership in the green building industry, strategically identify carbon reduction projects, and reduce barriers to a low-carbon building portfolio.

Research on identifying main factors affecting building carbon reaching the peak based on DEMATEL-ISM method

This paper takes the influencing factors of peaking building carbon dioxide emissions as the research object, finds out 14 factors from 7 main bodies, including material suppliers, design units, owners, construction units, customers, governments and society and then analyzes the influencing factors of achieving the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutralization by using triangular fuzzy number, DEMATEL(Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory)and ISM (Interpreting structural models)methods. The results show that the formulation of relevant policies and regulations is the essential cause of peaking building carbon dioxide emissions; Low-carbon building materials, green logistics, green structure, low carbon energy consumption, low carbon construction party and contractor selection, low carbon operation, and low carbon technology innovation are the surface causes. The three factors that have a great impact on the target are consumer preference, formulation of relevant policies and regulations, and green building indicators. Finally, according to the research results, suggestions are put forward to achieve the goal of peaking building carbon dioxide emissions.

Calculation and evaluation of building thermal energy consumption and carbon emissions based on BIM technology

In order to calculate the carbon emissions in the construction process to achieve low-carbon buildings and low-carbon construction, the author puts forward the calculation and evaluation of building thermal energy consumption and carbon emissions based on building information modeling (BIM) technology. The author first proposed the important value and application of BIM technology in energy consumption evaluation of green buildings, taking a gymnasium as an example, a carbon emission accounting system for building construction and installation process is established based on BIM technology, and the carbon emissions in building construction and installation process are calculated and analyzed. The results show that the carbon emission during the construction and installation of a gymnasium is 766300 tons, of which the carbon emission caused by building materials is 737200 tons, the carbon emission caused by mechanical equipment is 4500 tons, and that caused by office and living is 34500 tons, accounting for 94.90%, 0.59%, and 4.51%, respectively. In conclusion through data analysis, determine the largest carbon emission source in the construction process, and then propose targeted carbon emission reduction measures in the construction process of the construction industry.

Sound absorption performance test of grass compression board to promote resource circulation

Grass resources such as miscanthus sinensis, reeds, and rushes have been used as materials for roofs and floors in Japan since ancient times. These materials are the most eco-friendly and sustainable building materials from the viewpoint of resource recycling, but their use has been declining in modern times due to the spread of high-performance building materials created in the process of modern industrialization. This research is to find a way to utilize such grass resources as sound absorbing materials in interior spaces as one possibility to utilize them again in modern life, and to explore their practical possibilities. As a result of measuring the sound absorption performance of compression-molded boards made from grass resources at different densities and thicknesses, it was confirmed that boards made from Miscanthus sinensis at a density of 0.35 g/cm3 showed a peak sound absorption at around 900 Hz, indicating high sound absorption performance in the sound range of human speech. COVID-19 has caused the problem of noisy talking voices from online meetings in offices, and demand for this material can be expected as one of the means to solve this problem.

A long-term monitoring study on the thermal comfort and durability of a straw bale Passivhaus cottage

The built environment sector accounts for 40% of the UK's total carbon footprint; bio-based construction materials can play an important role in reducing the whole-life carbon of a new build. Straw bale construction is one of the most promising bio-based methods of construction, due to its availability and material properties. Among the declared benefits of straw bale construction are the internal regulation of heat and moisture and the ability of the fabric to dry out. This paper presents a long-term monitoring study aimed at understanding the indoor temperature and moisture balance of a straw bale cottage built in the UK to a near Passivhaus level. The study lasted 6 years, monitoring the temperature and relative humidity of the indoor and outdoor environments, and in ten locations within the straw bale walls. The analysis has shown that the indoor environment achieved thermal comfort throughout the monitoring period, even when the building was used intermittently. Also, an analysis of surface temperatures and a mould growth risk analysis identified very limited mould growth risk within the building fabric. This paper shows the potential of straw bale low-energy construction in providing thermal comfort and a durable building fabric while minimising the whole-life carbon of buildings.

Analysis of the Principles of Marine Green Energy Building Design

The depletion of mineral resources on land, the increasingly bad environmental problems, and the beginning of the marine blue encirclement movement in the early 21st century mean that ocean energy has gradually become the focus of human resources development. To better develop and utilize marine green energy, we study the sea level according to specific sea conditions. A semi-submersible offshore platform is designed to collect and use offshore wind and solar power. In this paper, the semi-submersible platform is introduced from the design concept, initial stability calculation, load calculation and cost calculation. Through the measure of wind load, wave load and stability, the offshore platform can normally work under specific sea conditions. In this paper, it is calculated that the unballast center of gravity of the whole structure is 41.31 meters, the floating center of the system is 9.23 meters, and the center of gravity is under the steady center. The result of the wind load calculation is 21990110.4 N, the total cost of the whole semi-submersible platform is 170340458.14 RMB, and the unit cost is 14195.0381784 RMB/kW. This paper looks forward to designing a semi-submersible platform with solid stability and high efficiency in the collection of wind energy and light energy, and hopes to alleviate the environmental problems and make people pay more attention to the use of marine green energy.

Investigation of thermal performance of newly multilayer wall/roof constructions for low-carbon buildings

Increasing concerns about energy consumption for heating and cooling of buildings have made it necessary to improve the thermal performance of building materials. However, in addition to using materials with high insulation characteristics, an accurate calculation of the capacities of the heating and cooling systems is also an important factor in ensuring high energy efficiency for low-carbon buildings. The devices will not be selected at capacities larger than the capacities that should be on this point and energy wastage will be prevented. To achieve this goal, in this study, investigations are carried out to produce new concrete types with high thermal insulating characteristics. Besides, many new concrete wall and roof samples were produced with different types of aggregates at different volume ratios and their thermophysical characteristics are tested in accordance with ASTM and EN standards. To estimate the thermal performance of produced samples, a periodic solution method, the Complex Finite Fourier Transform technique, is developed by using thermophysical characteristics data of those structures. The results showed that the daily heat gain values were calculated as 65.909 W/m2 for the EPC50 wall and 11.324 W/m2 for the PC40-EPC60 wall with 20 cm thicknesses.

Design process innovation through flexible and circular technological solutions

The goal of optimizing material resources and the polyvalent use of space lead to the development of new technologies within a renewed architectural spatiality, which from the point of view of effectiveness of choices allow for low-carbon buildings. The climate emergency, in fact, asks us today to reinterpret Vitruvius’ concept of Firmitas according to the criteria of durability reliability and resilience associated with widespread usability functionality and circularity (Utilitas) traceable throughout the life cycle a building. The paper illustrates the results of a scientific research project that led to the construction of a prototype of a “minimal” residence, designed and built with the “total low” approach, characterized by regenerative design, economy, lightness, ease of assembly, recyclability, as well as excellent overall performance and high levels of comfort. The idea of a building, easily assembled and disassembled, is a strength of the “Petite-Cabane” design concept: a 3x3 m single-user minimum residential unit made with the Light Gauge Steel Building System (LGS) produced with controlled automatically roll forming machine, for which high technological and energy performance envelope packages. The design of a small house becomes the “mise en forme” of a space in which “essential” equipment, energy performance, architectural qualities, economic and environmental costs are linked to the ease and immediacy of construction but also to the flexibility and circularity of technological choices.

Design process innovation through flexible and circular technological solutions

The goal of optimizing material resources and the polyvalent use of space lead to the development of new technologies within a renewed architectural spatiality, which from the point of view of effectiveness of choices allow for low-carbon buildings. The climate emergency, in fact, asks us today to reinterpret Vitruvius’ concept of Firmitas according to the criteria of durability reliability and resilience associated with widespread usability functionality and circularity (Utilitas) traceable throughout the life cycle a building. The paper illustrates the results of a scientific research project that led to the construction of a prototype of a “minimal” residence, designed and built with the “total low” approach, characterized by regenerative design, economy, lightness, ease of assembly, recyclability, as well as excellent overall performance and high levels of comfort. The idea of a building, easily assembled and disassembled, is a strength of the “Petite-Cabane” design concept: a 3x3 m single-user minimum residential unit made with the Light Gauge Steel Building System (LGS) produced with controlled automatically roll forming machine, for which high technological and energy performance envelope packages. The design of a small house becomes the “mise en forme” of a space in which “essential” equipment, energy performance, architectural qualities, economic and environmental costs are linked to the ease and immediacy of construction but also to the flexibility and circularity of technological choices.

Data-informed building energy management (DiBEM) towards ultra-low energy buildings

To support building operations in reaching ultra-low energy targets, this paper proposes a data-informed building energy management (DiBEM) framework to improve energy efficiency systematically and continuously at the operation stage. Specifically, it has two key features including data-informed energy-saving potential identification and data-driven model-based energy savings evaluation. The paper demonstrates the proposed DiBEM with a detailed case study of an office and living laboratory building located in Cambridge, Massachusetts called HouseZero. It focuses on revealing the performance of the energy-efficient interventions from two-years’ building performance monitoring data, as well as evaluating energy savings from the interventions based on the data-driven approach. With Year 1 as baseline, several interventions are proposed for Year 2 including improvements to controls and operation settings, encouragement of occupants’ behavior for energy savings, and hardware retrofitting. These were deployed to heating/cooling, domestic hot water, lighting, plug and other loads, and photovoltaic (PV) systems. To quantify the impacts of different interventions on energy end uses, several data-driven models are developed. These models utilize linear regression, condition model, and machine learning techniques. Consequently, the heating/cooling energy consumption that was already ultra-low in Year 1 (12.8 kWh/m2) is further reduced to 9.7 kWh/m2 in Year 2, while the indoor thermal environment is well maintained. The domestic hot water energy is reduced from 2.3 kWh/m2 to 1.2 kWh/m2. The lighting energy is only increased from 0.3 kWh/m2 in pandemic operations without occupancy in Year 1 to 0.8 kWh/m2 in partial normal operations in Year 2, while the indoor illuminance level meets occupants’ requirements. Combined with other relatively constant loads and the reduction of plug and other loads due to COVID building operation restrictions, the total energy use intensity is thereby reduced from 54.1 kWh/m2 to 42.8 kWh/m2, where 5.4 kWh/m2 of energy reduction for Year 2 is estimated to be contributed by the energy-efficient interventions. PV generation is 36.1 kWh/m2, with an increase of 1.4 kWh/m2 from a new inverter. In summary, this paper demonstrates the use of DiBEM through a detailed case study and long-term monitoring data as evidence to achieve ultra-low energy operations.

On the Effect of the Time Interval Base and Home Appliance on the Renewable Quota of a Building in an Alpine Location

The European goal of decarbonization drives design toward high-performance buildings that maximize the use of renewable sources. Therefore, the European RED II Directive and Italian law raise the minimum renewable share required for new buildings and major renovations. Currently, the renewable energy ratio (RER) is used for the mandatory verification, obtained with a quasi-steady state calculation on a monthly basis, while much of the scientific literature uses self-consumption factor (SCF) and load coverage factor (LCF) often calculated through dynamic simulation. However, the use of a monthly balance implies the use of the national grid as a virtual battery through the net metering mechanism. The actual share of renewable coverage in the absence of expensive electric storage will necessarily be lower. The link between the different indices, the effect of the time base used in the calculation as well as the actual renewable share achieved by buildings, considering also plug loads not in the regulatory verification framework, are still open issues. This work analyzes the actual renewable share achievable for a new building in a heating-dominated climate, i.e., the mountainous area of the municipality of Trento. The renewable share is evaluated through a coupled dynamic simulation of the building and the energy systems. The results show that the RER decreases by 13% and 15% when switching from monthly to instantaneous balance in the case without and with additional home appliance loads, respectively. Similarly, simulations show how the time interval base affects the difference between the RER index and the LCF of PV energy.

An Effective Metaheuristic Approach for Building Energy Optimization Problems

Mathematical optimization can be a useful strategy for minimizing energy usage while designing low-energy buildings. To handle building energy optimization challenges, this study provides an effective hybrid technique based on the pelican optimization algorithm (POA) and the single candidate optimizer (SCO). The suggested hybrid algorithm (POSCO) benefits from both the robust local search power of the single candidate method and the efficient global search capabilities of the pelican optimization. To conduct the building optimization task, the optimization method was developed and integrated with the EnergyPlus codes. The effectiveness of the proposed POSCO method was verified using mathematical test functions, and the outcomes were contrasted with those of conventional POA and other effective optimization techniques. Application of POSCO for global function optimization reveals that, among the thirteen considered functions, the proposed method was best at finding the global solution for seven functions, while providing superior results for the other functions when compared with competitive techniques. The suggested POSCO is applied for reducing an office buildings’ annual energy use. Comparing POSCO to POA procedures, the building energy usage is reduced. Furthermore, POSCO is compared to simple POA and other algorithms, with the results showing that, at specific temperatures and lighting conditions, the POSCO approach outperforms selected state-of-the-art methods and reduces building energy usage. As a result, all data suggests that POSCO is a very promising, dependable, and feasible optimization strategy for dealing with building energy optimization models. Finally, the building energy optimization findings for various climatic conditions demonstrate that the changes to the weather dataset had limited effect on the efficiency of the optimization procedure.

Feasibility of Planting Trees around Buildings as a Nature-Based Solution of Carbon Sequestration—An LCA Approach Using Two Case Studies

In response to Canada’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to making pathways to achieve carbon neutral buildings, this paper presents two real case studies. The paper first outlines the potential of trees to absorb CO2 emissions through photosynthesis, and the methods used for the estimation of their annual carbon sequestration rates. The net annual carbon sequestration rate of 0.575 kgCO2eq/m2 of tree cover area is considered in our study. Then, this paper presents the carbon life cycle assessment of an all-electric laboratory at Concordia University and of a single-detached house, both located in Montreal. The life cycle assessment (LCA) calculations were performed using two software tools, One Click LCA and Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings. The results in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) over 60 years for the laboratory were found to be 83,521 kgCO2eq using One Click LCA, and 82,666 kgCO2eq using Athena. For the single-detached house that uses natural gas for space heating and domestic hot water, the GWP was found to be 544,907 kgCO2eq using One Click LCA, and 566,856 kgCO2eq using Athena. For the all-electric laboratory, a garden fully covered with representative urban trees could offset around 17% of the total life cycle carbon emissions. For the natural gas-powered single-detached house, the sequestration by trees is around 3% of the total life cycle carbon emission. This paper presents limits for achieving carbon neutral buildings when only the emissions sequestration by trees is applied, and discusses the main findings regarding LCA calculations under different scenarios.

A comprehensive optimization framework for the design of high-performance building systems

Improving the performance of buildings is crucial to achieving the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. Optimization is critical to ensuring that buildings achieve the desired performance. In the literature, a systematic discussion on the interdependences between the objective functions, constraints, and design variables is missing. In this work, we try to fill this research gap by presenting a comprehensive optimization framework for the design of high-performance building systems. This framework provides a systematic and detailed introduction to each step of formulating and solving optimization problems. Two application studies are also presented to demonstrate how this optimization framework can be used in practical applications. The first study demonstrates how to construct cost models and handle optimization problems with economy objective functions, and the second study demonstrates how to solve multi-objective optimization problems with a-posteriori-articulation methods to generate the Pareto optimal set. This paper can serve as a guide for future researchers and designers by providing them with a basic problem-solving procedure and helping them avoid common mistakes.

Acoustical aspects of replacing traditional materials in building elements with renewable and recycled ones

Building elements, especially partitions, floors and external walls significantly affect indoor acoustic comfort. Their ability to reduce noise transmission from neighbouring rooms or from outdoors depends on the element composition and the building materials used. In Central Europe, the heavyweight masonry or concrete walls and slabs are typical elements both for family and residential buildings. However, increasing popularity of lightweight multi-layered structures is noticeable. This creates new opportunities for the gradual replacement of traditional materials with renewable and recycled ones, both for load-bearing components and for fillings and other layers of building elements. This paper introduces such design changes in relation to acoustics, particularly airborne sound insulation. The greatest attention is paid to the replacement of masonry and mineral wool insulation with timber and wood fibres. The overview is supplemented by examples of low-energy house external wall and timber wall with recycled infill whose sound insulation has been determined by measurements in the acoustic laboratory.