In the frame of the IEA Future Buildings Forum, a workshop was held January 15 -17 2003 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The goal of the proposed workshop was to discuss and to decide upon an international collaboration to promote a program for advanced retrofit of existing buildings and community systems.
The proposed topics dealing with energy conservation and renewable energy use in retrofit buildings were:
The objective of the BRITA in PuBS proposal on Ecobuildings is an increasing of the market penetration of innovative and effective retrofit solutions to improve energy efficiency and implement renewables, with moderate additional costs.
The IEA ECBCS Annex 36 deals with the energy retrofit of educational buildings. Researchers from 10 participating countries from Europe and the US are collecting information on retrofit measures and case studies and are developing an energy concept adviser for technical retrofit measures. This internet-based computer tool for decision-makers is the main outcome of the annex. One of the most important inputs to the tool is the collection and assessment of case studies, which is also presented in a specific report.
This paper presents a number of advantages (both practical and thermodynamic) of ceiling heating systems compared to under-floor heating. It is estimated that the heat flux from ceiling heating is approximately the same as under-floor heating: the larger exposed surface of the ceiling, and the lower thermal resistance between the water in the pipes and the ceiling surface, compensate for the lower convective heat flux from the ceiling. Using the same water temperature in the pipes, the total heat flux from ceiling heating will be similar to that of under-floor heating.
A methodology for assessing the potential for a CO2 retrofit on an existing building is presented in this paper. A case study is described, the subject building is an Energy Star rated building that has a Direct Digital Control (DDC) system. The complexity of a CO2 ventilation control retrofit is related to the type of building control system currently in place. Significant energy savings are possible through the application of a well-conceived executed ventilation control strategy.
Energy conservation represents a main concern for the environmental, economical and social problems. In this field, educational buildings are large consumer of energy and in many countries need retrofits. In this paper, we propose an energy certification procedure for educational buildings which aims to improve learning and teaching environment while reducing energy consumption. The developed procedure is composed of different levels including a phase of diagnosis and then a phase of calculation of the energy consumption and the energy conservation possibilities.
Short analysis of possible retrofitting operations on the building envelope and on the heating system to save energy. An analysis of residential buildings in various parts of Italy has been performed using the Italian national calculation procedures (UNI) for the evaluation of winter energy need. A more detailed analysis in envisaged to extend the data obtained, using more sophisticated codes in order to calculate the annual energy consumption of the building. This would define normalised energy indices to ensure a more energy aware design.