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Assessing the Performance of Passive Houses in Mediterranean Climate Regions
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Assessing the Performance of Passive Houses in Mediterranean Climate Regions

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 28789

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vincenzo Costanzo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAR), University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95125 Catania, Italy
Interests: building physics; energy efficiency; thermal comfort; renewable energy; daylighting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the birth of the Passivhaus standard in the early 1990s, many authors have reported on the very low energy consumption and excellent indoor environmental conditions achieved during the operation of these passive dwellings.

Despite the fact that the design suggestions were initially thought to satisfy the needs of cold climates, the standard proved to be flexible in its application, and guidelines have been released for the design of buildings located in warm and humid climates as well. However, the implementation of such measures has sometimes not proved to be adequate to guarantee the achievement of the standard design goals.

This Special Issue aims to explore how and to what extent the implementation of both passive strategies (such as the application of reflective coatings, shading devices, heat storage technologies) and active strategies (hybrid ventilation, absorption and ground source heat pumps, other low-energy systems) can help solving the cooling issues typical in Mediterranean climates, including not only countries facing the Mediterranean Sea but also areas such as coastal California, central Chile, the south-western coast of Australia and some parts of New Zealand.

The discussion of case studies, as well as of simulation works, is encouraged.

Dr. Vincenzo Costanzo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Passive house 
  • Thermal comfort 
  • Overheating risk 
  • Ventilation strategies 
  • Indoor environmental quality 
  • Energy consumption 
  • Renewable energy integration 
  • Case studies

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 10620 KiB  
Article
Multisensor IoT Platform for Optimising IAQ Levels in Buildings through a Smart Ventilation System
by Giacomo Chiesa, Silvia Cesari, Miguel Garcia, Mohammad Issa and Shuyang Li
Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5777; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11205777 - 18 Oct 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5697
Abstract
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) issues have a direct impact on the health and comfort of building occupants. In this paper, an experimental low-cost system has been developed to address IAQ issues by using a distributed internet of things platform to control and monitor [...] Read more.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) issues have a direct impact on the health and comfort of building occupants. In this paper, an experimental low-cost system has been developed to address IAQ issues by using a distributed internet of things platform to control and monitor the indoor environment in building spaces while adopting a data-driven approach. The system is based on several real-time sensor data to model the indoor air quality and accurately control the ventilation system through algorithms to maintain a comfortable level of IAQ by balancing indoor and outdoor pollutant concentrations using the Indoor Air Quality Index approach. This paper describes hardware and software details of the system as well as the algorithms, models, and control strategies of the proposed solution which can be integrated in detached ventilation systems. Furthermore, a mobile app has been developed to inform, in real time, different-expertise-user profiles showing indoor and outdoor IAQ conditions. The system is implemented in a small prototype box and early-validated with different test cases considering various pollutant concentrations, reaching a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 3–4. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessing the Performance of Passive Houses in Mediterranean Climate Regions)
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22 pages, 10618 KiB  
Article
Passive Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Different Spanish Climate Zones
by Maria-Mar Fernandez-Antolin, José Manuel del Río, Vincenzo Costanzo, Francesco Nocera and Roberto-Alonso Gonzalez-Lezcano
Sustainability 2019, 11(18), 4816; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11184816 - 04 Sep 2019
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 8136
Abstract
The Passive House (PH) concept is considered an efficient strategy to reduce energy consumption in the building sector, where most of the energy is used for heating and cooling applications. For this reason, energy efficiency measures are increasingly implemented in the residential sector, [...] Read more.
The Passive House (PH) concept is considered an efficient strategy to reduce energy consumption in the building sector, where most of the energy is used for heating and cooling applications. For this reason, energy efficiency measures are increasingly implemented in the residential sector, which is the main responsible for such a consumption. The need for professionals dealing with energy issues, and particularly for architects during the early stages of their architectural design, is crucial when considering energy efficient buildings. Therefore, architects involved in the design and construction stages have key roles in the process of enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. This research work explores the energy efficiency and optimized architectural design for residential buildings located in different climate zones in Spain, with an emphasis on Building Performance Simulation (BPS) as the key tool for architects and other professionals. According to a parametric analysis performed using Design Builder, the following optimal configurations are found for typical residential building projects: North-to-South orientation in all the five climate zones, a maximum shape factor of 0.48, external walls complying with the maximum U-value prescribed by Spanish Building Technical Code (0.35 Wm−2K−1) and a Window-to-Wall Ratio of no more than 20%. In terms of solar reflectance, it is found that the use of light colors is better in hotter climate zones A4, B4, and C4, whereas the best option is using darker colors in the colder climate zones D3 and E1. These measures help reaching the energy demand thresholds set by the Passivhaus Standard in all climate zones except for those located in climates C4, D3 and E1, for which further passive design measures are needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessing the Performance of Passive Houses in Mediterranean Climate Regions)
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25 pages, 5459 KiB  
Article
The Passivhaus Standard in the Spanish Mediterranean: Evaluation of a House’s Thermal Behaviour of Enclosures and Airtightness
by Víctor Echarri-Iribarren, Cristina Sotos-Solano, Almudena Espinosa-Fernández and Raúl Prado-Govea
Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3732; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11133732 - 08 Jul 2019
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4580
Abstract
Few houses have been built in the Spanish Mediterranean in accordance with the Passivhaus (PH) standard. This standard is adapted to the continental climates of Central Europe and thorough studies are necessary to apply this standard in Spain, especially in the summer. High [...] Read more.
Few houses have been built in the Spanish Mediterranean in accordance with the Passivhaus (PH) standard. This standard is adapted to the continental climates of Central Europe and thorough studies are necessary to apply this standard in Spain, especially in the summer. High relative air humidity levels in coastal areas and solar radiation levels of west-facing façades require adapted architectural designs, as well as greater control of air renewal and dehumidification. A priori, energy consumptions undergo big variations. In this study, the construction of a single-family house in the Spanish Levante was analysed. All enclosure layers were monitored using sensors of surface temperature, solar radiation, indoor and outdoor air temperature, relative humidity, and air speed. The thermal behaviour of the façade enclosure and air infiltration through the enclosure were examined using the blower door test and impacts on annual energy demand were quantified. Using simulation tools, improvements are proposed, and the results are compared with examples of PH housing in other geographical areas. The annual energy demand of PH housing was 69.19% below the usual value for buildings in the Mediterranean region. Very thick thermal insulation and low values of airtightness could be applied to the envelope, which would work very well in the winter. These technique solutions could provide optimal comfort conditions with a well-designed air conditioning system in summer and low energy consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessing the Performance of Passive Houses in Mediterranean Climate Regions)
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30 pages, 12822 KiB  
Article
Parametric Optimization of Window-to-Wall Ratio for Passive Buildings Adopting A Scripting Methodology to Dynamic-Energy Simulation
by Giacomo Chiesa, Andrea Acquaviva, Mario Grosso, Lorenzo Bottaccioli, Maurizio Floridia, Edoardo Pristeri and Edoardo Maria Sanna
Sustainability 2019, 11(11), 3078; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11113078 - 31 May 2019
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 4332
Abstract
Counterbalancing climate change is one of the biggest challenges for engineers around the world. One of the areas in which optimization techniques can be used to reduce energy needs, and with that the pollution derived from its production, is building design. With this [...] Read more.
Counterbalancing climate change is one of the biggest challenges for engineers around the world. One of the areas in which optimization techniques can be used to reduce energy needs, and with that the pollution derived from its production, is building design. With this study of a generic office located both in a northern country and in a temperate/Mediterranean site, we want to introduce a coding approach to dynamic energy simulation, able to suggest, from the early-design phases when the main building forms are defined, optimal configurations considering the energy needs for heating, cooling and lighting. Generally, early-design considerations of energy need reduction focus on the winter season only, in line with the current regulations; nevertheless a more holistic approach is needed to include other high consumption voices, e.g., for space cooling and lighting. The main considered design parameter is the WWR (window-to-wall ratio), even if further variables are considered in a set of parallel analyses (level of insulation, orientation, activation of low-cooling strategies including shading devices and ventilative cooling). Finally, the effect of different levels of occupancy was included in the analysis to regress results and compare the WWR with corresponding heating and cooling needs. This approach is adapted to Passivhaus design optimization, working on energy need minimisation acting on envelope design choices. The results demonstrate that it is essential to include, from the early-design configurations, a larger set of variables in order to optimize the expected energy needs on the basis of different aspects (cooling, heating, lighting, design choices). Coding is performed using Python scripting, while dynamic energy simulations are based on EnergyPlus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessing the Performance of Passive Houses in Mediterranean Climate Regions)
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19 pages, 11370 KiB  
Article
The Evaluation of Single-Family Detached Housing Units in terms of Integrated Photovoltaic Shading Devices: The Case of Northern Cyprus
by John Emmanuel Ogbeba and Ercan Hoskara
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 593; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11030593 - 23 Jan 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4921
Abstract
In this paper, we evaluate passive and active strategies that can be used in solving the heating problems in the residential sector of Northern Cyprus. In doing so, we propose the use of photovoltaics as a shading device (PVSD). PVSD is known to [...] Read more.
In this paper, we evaluate passive and active strategies that can be used in solving the heating problems in the residential sector of Northern Cyprus. In doing so, we propose the use of photovoltaics as a shading device (PVSD). PVSD is known to produce clean energy from solar radiation and it also reduces the energy consumed for cooling. We use an empirical method to evaluate the performance of a typical family detached dwelling in Famagusta, Cyprus. The simulation result derived from the study indicates that the strategic use of PVSDs for openings oriented towards the east, west, and south can reduce its energy consumption by almost 50% in three months of the year and cut down up to 400 kWh of energy consumption through the year, thus raising the comfort level of the building by about 20%. It will also generate nearly 2800 W that can provide up to 50% of the electricity demand. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessing the Performance of Passive Houses in Mediterranean Climate Regions)
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