The absolute necessity of air renewal to maintain indoor air quality and thermal comfort in buildingsfaces the major issue of energy consumption reduction and optimisation in building sector. Manystudies carried out so far point out the performances improved thanks to the recourse to ventilationstrategies and control algorithms in the aim of optimising the energy consumption of air renewal, butvery few of them could assess the performances in the particular case of large buildings despite thepotential energy gains it represents considering the great volume and huge air flow rates induced.

This paper presents results of an evaluation of workplace occupant satisfaction in 16 state ofthe art office buildings of a variety of sizes and energy concepts in Germany. Some of thebuildings feature very low total energy consumption as well as passive cooling strategies. In thequestionnaire, all relevant aspects concerning occupant satisfaction of indoor environments areaddressed.

Analytic models and static approaches as the case of Fanger, Deval, Sherman, Gagge, and Stolwijkmodels cannot completely predict indoor thermal comfort. Building designers could take advantage of adaptive approach of thermal comfort which can account for the complex interaction betweenoccupants and their environment that could affect their comfort.We had carried a field study in two office buildings on March 2005. It has included physicalmeasurements and questionnaires on thermal perception and appreciation.

Being the largest energy consumer, building sector represents a major stake for the actualenvironmental concerns. So far, building thermal comfort standards are based on static models thatdont account for the interaction between occupants and their living places. The adaptive approach of the thermal comfort has the advantage to be more comprehensive and realistic, and its application would result in energy saving in buildings. Recently, an Adaptive Control Algorithm ACA and an Adaptive Comfort Standard ACS have been developed on the adaptive approach.

The use of variable speed pump allows to save energy. Therefore, the impact of these technologieson the heating system and thermal comfort in buildings is rarely highlighted. The objective of this study is to show the possible impact of variable speed pump control on thermal comfort, energyconsumption and costs in buildings.The paper describes a method to evaluate the performance of a heating system in terms of thermalcomfort and global costs. A simulator has been implemented under Matlab/Simulink using theSIMBAD Toolbox to carry out annual simulations.

In this paper, a model for predicting whole building heat and moisture transfer was presented. Both heat and moisture transfer in the building envelope and indoor air were simultaneously considered; their interactions were modeled.

The cooling loads of an office building vary with the desired indoor thermal climate. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how significantly the various indoor climate criteria affect the overallenvironmental performance of the air-conditioning systems. Here, we analyze the environmentalconsequences of the energy use, as well as the possible modifications of the system design andcorresponding use of materials. The analysis is based on a theoretical case study of an airconditioning system designed for a typical office building situated in Sweden.

The joint IEA research project of ECBCS Annex 43 / SHC Task 34 “Testing and Validation of Building Energy Simulation Tools” contributes to evaluation, diagnosis and improvement of building energy simulation tools. So it carries forward a process that has

French buildings highly contribute to the total national energy consumption. In order to inflect theincreasing tendency, significant efforts have been encouraged by public institutions.Accordingly, the GENHEPI concept, hereunder described, aims at methodically investigate retrofitoperations to ensure an effective renovation of existing buildings. Its first phase consists in preparingand elaborating projects development by a global energy approach. Modelling and sensitivity studiesof various technical solutions permit this analysis.

To gain access to information on energy use in office buildings, the German Federal Ministry forEconomy launched an intensive research and demonstration programme in 1995. In advance of theEU energy performance directive a limited primary energy coefficient of about 100 kWh m-2a-1 as agoal for the complete building services technology was postulated (HVAC + lighting) for alldemonstration buildings. A further condition was that active cooling be avoided.