renovation

Many post-occupancy comfort studies of energy renovated residential buildings have documented elevated temperatures above comfort levels, not only during the summer period but also during the shoulder months. The main focus in renovation projects is on heat savings while the risk of overheating is not considered.

Buildings constructed before 1979 in Denmark are responsible for 75% of the total energy consumption of the sector. However, many post-occupancy comfort studies of energy renovated dwellings have documented elevated temperatures not only during the summer period but also during the transition months. Ventilative cooling can be an energy-efficient solution to avoid overheating in energy renovated residences.

In many post-occupancy studies of renovated houses elevated temperatures have been documented. This article presents in which situations overheating need to be addressed and which renovation measures are causing this need. The analysis contains representative houses from central and north Europe. Both dynamic and static overheating assessment criteria are used.

RenovActive is a renovation project which took place in Brussels based on the concept of Climate Renovation that implies achieving an excellent indoor climate as well as a high energy performance. The house belongs to a social housing association and is renovated within the financial frame for social housing in Brussels, and renovated using standard solutions and products to facilitate future replications of the result. Seven generic replicable elements were applied; these elements can be used in other renovation projects and are described in the paper.

EU energy policy encourages member states and public authorities to start converting building stock into nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) and adopting exemplary actions. ZEMedS project focuses on the issues related to the refurbishment of schools to nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) in France, Greece, Italy and Spain. Presently, there is a gap in national regulation of Mediterranean countries to embody the 2012/27 EED as far as renovation rates of public buildings are concerned.

Night sky radiative cooling technology using PhotoVoltaic/Thermal panels (PVT) and night time ventilation have been studied both by means of simulations and experiments to evaluate their potential and to validate the created simulation model used to describe it. An experimental setup has been constructed at the Technical University of Denmark, where the outside PVT panels are connected through a storage tank to in-room radiant ceiling panels. The radiant ceiling panels include phase change material (PCM) and embedded pipes for circulating water.

In the “Exemplary Buildings” program of the Brussels Capital Region, building owners and designers are challenged to realise building projects of both high architectural quality and superior environmental performance. After a project competition phase in which the Exemplary Buildings are selected, winning projects are supported by grants and expert guidance throughout further design development and construction. Building envelope airtightness is an important aspect during the follow-up, given its influence on the net energy demand.

The present paper addresses experiences with ventilation and thermal comfort in the Active House concept, based on the Active House Specification and realized Active Houses. The Active House Specification is based on a holistic view on buildings including Comfort, Energy and Environment. It uses functional requirements to indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Experiences from realised Active House projects show that better airtightness than nationally required has been achieved.

The traditional house of Japan, Kominka, is constructed of wooden pillars and beams, and clay walls.The indoor space in the Kominka remains cool in summer because overhanging eaves block solarradiation and the open frame airs out. Technology to make small cracks airtight is undeveloped.Consequently, drafts enter the indoor space and chill occupants during winter. Improvements of indoorclimate have not been realized. This report describes "Yukis house," which is a Kominka built in thelatter 1700s, defined as a residence of the privileged class.

Lighting is a substantial energy consumer, and a major component of the service costs in manybuildings. Lighting renovation was done on the Department of Electrical and CommunicationsEngineering at the Helsinki University of Technology. The lighting in the renovated auditorium wasalmost 40 years old. New lamps with electronic ballast are more energy efficient and the ballast lossesare smaller. Also the optical properties of the new luminiares have been greatly improved. This papershow the results obtained in one auditorium.