Sustainable Energy for Existing and New Buildings

1
Sustainable Energy for Existing and New Buildings

• Professor J Owen Lewis
• UCD Energy Research Group, and
• Architects Council of Europe
• Sustainable Energy Technologies IET SEI March
  2007

2
Sustainable Building Design

• Sustainable design integrates consideration of
  resource and energy efficiency, healthy buildings
  and materials, ecologically and socially
  sensitive land use and an aesthetic that
  inspires, affirms and enables
• Union Internationale des Architectes Declaration
  of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future,
  Chicago, 1993
• Economic, Social, and Environmental
• pillars of sustainable development

3
Impacts of construction

• /- 50 of all material taken from Earths crust
• /- 35 of all greenhouse gases
• /- 40 of all waste produced (by weight)
• effects on health and productivity of all
• the well-being of largest industrial workforce

4
Opportunities

• Stern Review The scientific evidence is now
  overwhelming climate change is a serious global
  threat. Climate change is the greatest market
  failure the world has ever seen. Tackling climate
  change is the pro-growth strategy for the longer
  term.
• EU announces 9 March decision to reduce GHG
  emissions min. 20 below 1990 levels by 2020,
  and to set binding target for renewables

5
Sustainable building design

• Risks aspirational, vagueness, ambiguity
• Environmental emphasis, plus economic
• New relationship nature architecture
• Spectrum
• Traditional vernacular -sustainability by default
  
• Existing-architecture-made-more-sustainable
• Environmental determinism
• Symbiotic relationship with natural environment
• Towards concern with addressing all dimensions

6
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive EPBD
2002/91/EC

• Calculation Methodology
• must as a minimum take into consideration the
  following
• thermal characteristics of the building,
• heating installation and hot water supply,
  including their insulation characteristics,
• air-conditioning installation,
• ventilation,
• built-in lighting installation,
• position and orientation of buildings
• passive solar systems and solar protection,
• natural ventilation,
• indoor climatic conditions

7
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive EPBD
2002/91/EC

• The Annex also stipulates that the calculation
  methodology must consider the positive
  influences of
• (i) active solar systems and other heating
  and electricity systems based on renewable
  energy
• (ii) electricity produced by CHP
• (iii) district or block heating and cooling
  systems
• (iv) natural lighting

8
Energy and Building

• Engineering systems to heat, cool and light for
  satisfactory indoor conditions
• versus
• Alternative approach integrating users and
  environment in an architecture which seeks to
  utilise ambient energy sources and seasonal and
  diurnal outdoor changes to reduce reliance on
  mechanical and electrical systems

9
Carbon-neutral buildings
Step change
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Sustainable building design

• Seeks an architecture more responsive to climate
  and human needs, seasonal and diurnal change
• Building and site design that responds to
  location and takes optimal advantage of ambient
  energy sources
• Use of building fabric to shade and ventilate, to
  collect, store and distribute solar thermal
  energy and to distribute daylight appropriately
• Healthy indoor environments with high standards
  of thermal and visual comfort
• Smart energy design, and use of materials and
  energy from sustainable sources

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Recent times v Future times after
Leonard Bachman Challenging nature Ecological
sustainability with nature Linear
production Cyclical flows Incremental
shifts Continuous change Product and tradition
oriented Process and discipline oriented Local
effects of action Global effects of
interaction Mechanistic relationships Systemic
relationships Heuristic procedures Cybernetic
integration Mass standardization Mass
customization Lowest price contracts Performanc
e-based awards Hierarchical and linear Holistic
and non-linear Embrace deterministic
simplicity Embrace complexity Intuitive
heuristics of form Self-emergent intelligent
form Innovative individuals Trans-disciplinary
teams Pioneer-as-hero model Designer-as-collabo
rator model Separate design, construction Integ
rate all phases Manual and automatic
control Intelligent automation Transient
static solutions Robust dynamic solutions
CONTEXT
DESIGN
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Sustainable building agenda

• Environmental implications of design,
  construction, operation and demolition of
  buildings
• Materials, components, systems
• Embodied and operating energy
• Water conservation
• Waste minimisation and recycling
• Design and construction process
• Performance in use
• Conservation rehabilitation and reuse of old
  buildings

13
Sustainable Construction Materials

• Sustainable sources
• Extraction, processing, manufacture
• Embodied energy
• Transport, assembly
• Life cycle maintenance
• Emissions
• Recycling, disposal
• NB Composite materials

14
Indoor Environmental Quality

• Comfort Fanger v Adaptive
• Conventional standards seek stasis or optimum
• Change is the natural state of affairs
• People are more forgiving of buildings which
  offer more control
• Dynamic environments stimulate within limits!
• IAQ
• Ventilation
• Air quality
• Pollutants

15
Integrated Design

• Replacing Energy with Ingenuity
• Target setting
• Design team practice
• Design for longevity, flexibility and change
• Commissioning and monitoring and maintenance

16
Environmental Assessment

• Sets standards for environmental impacts
• Establishes a common language and set of
  references for rating
• Recognises achievements in environmental design
  and leadership
• Identifies trends in environmental innovation
• Raises awareness among both the design community
  and the public of good building practice
• Promotes integrated design

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Environmental Rating Methods

• LEED BREEAM GBTool
• Sustainable Sites Energy Site, Project
  Development
• Water Efficiency Transport Resource
  Consumption Energy
• Energy Atmosphere Pollution Environmental
  Loadings
• Materials Resources Materials Resources
  Indoor Environmental Quality
• Indoor Environmental Quality Water
  Efficiency Functionality Building Systems
• Process Design Innovation Land Use Ecology
  Long-Term Performance
• Health Well Being Social Economic
  Aspects
• Other assessment tools include
• Green Star NATHERS (Australia)
• Athena (International)
• EcoEffect (Sweden)
• HQE (France)
• CASBEE (Japan)
• EcoQuantum (The Netherlands)
• Verde (Spain)

18
Urban design and spatial planning

• Transport
• Land use planning
• Energy services
• Community development
• Neighbourhood design
• . . .
• multi-dimensional and
• multi-parametric

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Future Features ?

• Evidence-Based Design
• Pre-acceptance Testing Protocols
• Cx- Continuous Commissioning
• POE- Post Occupancy Evaluation
• BAS- Automation and Intelligent Buildings
• TQM- Total Building Quality Management
• Agile Buildings- flexible, adaptable
• Value Engineering
• Risk Analysis

20
Sustainable Building Priorities

• Architecture
• Highest design standards
• Essential to engage with theory
• Pilot projects and performance monitoring
• Building Science
• Materials and systems
• Heat light and sound
• Indoor environmental quality
• Building Economics
• LCA and benefit/cost analysis
• Social Science
• Environmental sociology
• Post occupancy evaluation

21
European Construction Technology Platform -from
Strategic Research Agenda

• Technologies for healthy, safe, accessible and
  stimulating indoor environments for all
• New technologies, concepts and high-tech
  materials for efficient and clean buildings
• Reduce environmental and man-made impacts of
  built environment and cities
• New integrated processes for the construction
  sector
• High added value construction materials
• Technologies and engineering for innovative
  added-value SME services

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Construction Materials Research

• EC FP7 First Call December 2006
• Building the Europe of Knowledge
• Nano-modified multi-functional fibre composites
• Compact thermo-chemical seasonal heat storage
• Novel materials designed for extreme conditions
  and environments
• NMP theme
• (Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and
  new production technologies)

Industrial Transformation Knowledge-based
construction industries
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E2B selected main deliverables

• New materials, components and systems for energy
  generation and saving
• Reliable simulation tools at various design
  levels
• European guidelines and regulations for optimum
  design in energy efficiency
• Assessment methods to integrate economical,
  social and environmental aspects
• Client oriented new energy services
• Exemplary energy efficient renovated and new
  buildings at reasonable cost

• Drivers
• Core Group of Industry leaders
• Acciona, Arcelor, Bouygues, Dragados, EDF, FCC,
  Hochtief, Keraben, Knauf, Maxit, Mostostal,
  Saint-Gobain, Vinci
• Other research and engineering organizations
• CSTB, D?Appolonia, Labein, VTT

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Industrial Change?

• Fragmented -design /manufacture /supply
  /assembly within profoundly distinct
  organisations
• Most buildings are prototypes
• Expenditure on RD is very low
• Suspicion of innovation and resistance to change
  exists
• Thus, challenge of bringing about change in
  construction industry is not trivial