The Sapporo Factory is a large-scale commercial building complex in the heart of snowy Hokkaido. The complex has a large barrel-roof glass atrium with a comfortable indoor environment, which is maintained by making the most of cool outdoor air in summer and sunshine in winter. The atrium also provides a bright indoor space, which is never covered with snow, even in winter. Any snow falling on the glass roof is removed using the natural characteristics of snowfall.
Suitable combinations of desiccant and evaporative cooling systems permit air processes alternative to the traditional ones for air conditioning applications. But owing to the high costs of desiccant wheels, we need very strong energy savings in order to demonstrate an economy validity. These savings can be possible today by the last generation of desiccant wheels where the most part of the regeneration heat can be supplied by heat recovery from chillers.
A secondary analysis of the Dutch prevalence study by Zweers et al shows that office buildingswithout artificial cooling and with operable windows have a lower risk for health symptoms andcomfort complaints than office buildings with artificial cooling and sealed windows. Temperature ,simulations of various office buildings show that in the Dutch climate zone thermal comfortduring summer conditions is secured without the use of artificial cooling if a number of essentialdesign criteria are met.
The present energy consumption of European Buildings is higher than necessary, given the developments in control engineering. Optimization and integration of smart control into building systems can save substantial quantities of energy on a European scale while improving the standards for indoor comfort.
In summer, it is possible to achieve a satisfactory comfort in residential buildings with purely passive means as thermal inertia, possibility of cross ventilation and solar protection of the external envelope. These parameters have to be taken into account at the earliest stages of building design.
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