Webinars

Following the recast of the energy performance of buildings directive published in May 2010, EU countries will have to implement regulations to increase the number of nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB) in the next few years, and to generalize nearly zero energy targets in new buildings and major renovations. In most European countries, building and ductwork leaks have a significant impact on energy performance and indoor climate and therefore merit special attention in the context of this directive.

Ventilative cooling—i.e., the use of natural or mechanical ventilation strategies to cool indoor spaces—can be very effective to reduce the cooling energy demand in buildings in summer or mid-season conditions. This webinar was part of a broader series focusing on ventilative cooling in energy performance, within the context of compliance with building regulations in several countries.

Ventilative cooling –i.e., the use of natural or mechanical ventilation strategies to cool indoor spaces– can be very effective to reduce the cooling energy demand in buildings in summer or mid-season conditions. The principal objective of this webinar series was to give the status, needs, and perspectives on developments to consider ventilative cooling in energy performance assessment methods in several countries. This first webinar will focus on the developments in Austria, Denmark and France.

Building airtightness is a critical factor for Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings and represents a key challenge for the building sector.

The objective of this webinar was to give background information on selected initiatives to improve the quality of the works with respect to building airtightness.

Presentations & Speakers:

There are several initiatives to collect building airtightness data from field measurements whose number increases rapidly with the trend towards low-energy buildings. The objective of this webinar was to give an overview of the needs identified in several countries and reasons behind the development of air leakage databases. This webinar was organised within an AIVC-TightVent project whose aim is to facilitate the development of air leakage databases. 

Programme:

Progressing the scientific basis of indoor environmental quality is essential to understand which aspects can be better optimised to substantially reduce energy use in buildings. In recent years, IEA Energy in Buildings and Communities (EBC) international research projects have been investigating for this purpose both indoor air quality and thermal comfort. The embodied impacts of buildings and their services systems are also a focus of EBC's research.

Setting sustainable urban development goals and developing energy efficient solutions for buildings are crucial elements of climate action. Urban living is introducing new challenges both for architectural design and technical solutions. Ventilation systems have an important impact both on energy use as well as indoor climate and health in buildings. So, how can we develop good home ventilation solutions fit for urban living?

Setting sustainable urban development goals and developing energy efficient solutions for buildings are crucial elements of climate action. Urban living is introducing new challenges both for architectural design and technical solutions. Ventilation systems have an important impact both on energy use as well as indoor climate and health in buildings. So, how can we develop good home ventilation solutions fit for urban living?

The current development in building energy efficiency towards nZEB buildings represents a number of new challenges to design and construction. One of these major challenges is the increased need for cooling in these highly insulated and airtight buildings, which is not only present in the summer period but also in the shoulder seasons and in offices even in midwinter. Ventilative cooling can be an energy efficient solution to address this cooling challenge in buildings.