2016 ASHRAE Winter Conference

The residential building sector is responsible for about 26% of total energy consumption in the European Union and account for 75% of the total building stock. About 64% of the residential buildings were constructed before the 80s and the widespread adoption of energy efficiency regulations. In the framework of a European research project there is an ongoing multinational effort to develop a conceptual framework for monitoring the effectiveness of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) applied in European residential buildings. The conceptual framework is based on national residential building typologies for single- and multi-family houses. The goal is to derive suitable energy performance indicators that will enable stakeholders on different scales to ensure a high quality of energy refurbishment plans, check compliance with regulations, track and steer the refurbishment processes in a cost-effective way and quantify actual energy savings in order to meet regional or national targets. This paper will provide an overview of these efforts and focus on the results from the Hellenic pilot action within EPICOPE.

Advancements in whole building energy modeling have coincided with the demand for improved building energy performance and have become a useful tool in determining optimal configurations of energy saving measures on the path to net zero building. This study presents a multi-objective optimization environment in which passive energy conservations measures of a high performance house in Toronto are evaluated for life cycle cost and performance. The main objective of the study was to identify economically efficient design solutions that may be used to inform future efficient housing design and housing performance standards.

Recently built residential apartment buildings have faced the issue of increased condensation risk caused by highly insulated and airtight building designs used to decrease building energy consumption. In particular, glazing systems have a high risk of condensation on the inside surface of building envelopes. Especially during cold winters in Korea, condensation in residential buildings damages the interior surfaces, leading to mold or mildew problems and causing discomfort of the building occupants. To eliminate condensation risks and secure the well-being of the occupants, the Korean Design Standard for Preventing Condensation was announced in 2014. Nonetheless, current glazing systems in the market cannot fulfill the strengthened design standards. Therefore, a high-performance glazing system that satisfies the new enhanced standard is needed. A brief comparison between the newly developed Korean Design Standard for Preventing Condensation and other international standards was performed.