comfort

Deep Energy renovation (DER) adopts a whole building approach and achieves much larger energy savings than shallow energy renovations that typically only included a small number (one or two) of upgrade measures. DER includes the installation of high levels of insulation, uses renewable energy technologies and minimises uncontrolled air leakage by achieving air permeability levels no greater than 5 m3/h.m2 to achieve building energy ratings (BER) of at least A3.

Schools had covered special attention in the last year, due to their importance to organize daily work as well as since most of the children were still not vaccinated. Under this circumstance, the importance of air renewal to reduce the probability of COVID-19 contagion inside buildings was highlighted. 

The serious social and health crisis faced as a result of the spread of SARS-Cov 2 has highlighted the weaknesses of human beings but has mainly highlighted the inadequate static response of existing buildings; all those confined spaces characterised by the simultaneous presence of a large number of people, such as classrooms, have shown, over the past two years, how unhealthy are because of the high possibility of contraction of the virus inside them.

Many European programs offer eco-conditioned financial aid to support public policies for the decarbonization of buildings. This is the case, for example, of the 2017-2022 ERDF Operational Program, which financially assists social project management for energy efficient refurbishment operations of its building stock. The eligibility conditions for financial aids concern the energy consumption, the thermal insulation performance of the building envelope and the energy efficiency of heating, cooling and ventilation systems.

By 2050, the entire built environment must be climate neutral. Before that final date, we have to find an alternative to the use of fossil energy in the built environment. The switch to a climate neutral built environment requires an integrated approach, focusing on switching to alternative, non-fossil fuels and on reducing the energy demand by taking energy efficiency measures.

For several years indoor comfort is measured in halls of hospitals by architecture students from the Delft University of Technology. Questionnaires and interviews have shows that patients and visitors have very few complaints about the indoor comfort in hospital halls.  

Aeroseal technology utilizes air laden with fine aerosol particles (2-20 μm) to pressurize a duct system, resulting in deposition of those particles at the leaks within that duct system. By reducing leakages of duct systems by 90% in average Aeroseal sealing technology allows reducing leakages to a standard better as air tightness class D or ATC 1 for a complete system. Aeroseal technology can be applied in new constructions as well as in existing systems to improve energy efficiency, cleanliness of ventilation systems, IAQ and comfort.