Solution Sets for Net Zero Energy Buildings: Feedback from 30 Buildings Worldwide(Solar Heating and Cooling)

Net Zero-Energy Buildings have been the object of numerous studies in recent years as various countries have set this performance level as a long-term goal of their energy policies. This book presents a unique study of 30 NZEBs that have been constructed and have had their performance measured for at least 12 months. The study is based upon an international collaborative research initiated by the International Energy Agency - the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC). It is the first book to evaluate building strategies in houses, educational buildings and offices that have been demonstrated to work in practice. It examines how the design challenges of climate and building type have been addressed, and to what extent the various design approaches have been successful. This book presents convincing evidence that a careful re-thinking of conventional design norms can achieve a far greater performance benefit than is normally feasible. It identifies `solution sets? that work at the whole building level and at the individual building design challenge level for each climate and building type. In doing so, the book provides guidance as to how to improve the design by learning from these cases. Unusually for a book of this type it has examples of buildings in what are conventionally labeled "hot" and "cold" climates. A simple process is proposed for the reader to commission the analysis of their own climate to assess not only the conventional measure of how hot or cold or humid it is, but also to assess its suitability to support other NZEB technical challenge solutions sets such as Daylight or Natural Ventilation or comfort based climate conditioning.

Table of Contents:
List of Contributors IX About the editors XIII IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme XVII Foreword XIX Acknowledgments XXI 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Why another book on net zero energy buildings? 1 1.2 What is a net zero energy building? 2 1.3 Structure of this book  5 2 Net zero energy building design fundamentals 7 2.1 Net zero energy building definition and classification 7 2.2 Net ZEB case studies: building, climate and measure classifications 14 2.3 Net-zero energy strategies and measures  18 2.4 Summary: solution sets 33 3 Net ZEB case study buildings, measures and solution sets 39 3.1 Introduction  39 3.2 The case study buildings 40 3.3 Net ZEB measures 51 3.4 Net ZEB measures in case study buildings 53 3.5 Net ZEB measure summaries and solution sets 87 4 Net ZEB design opportunities and challenges  103 4.1 Introduction  103 4.2 Architectural design and the net ZEB objective 104 4.3 The integrated design process  113 4.4 The influence of renewable energy systems on building design  117 4.5 New design opportunities and existing barriers 129 4.6 The appearance of future net ZEBs  133 4.7 Concepts for future cities  141 5 Monitoring and post-occupancy evalution of Net ZEBs 153 5.1 Introduction  153 5.2 Why monitor building energy and comfort? 154 5.3 A standard monitoring protocol for Net ZEBs  158 5.4 Building energy monitoring protocols 165 5.5 Indoor environmental quality monitoring and post-occupancy evaluation 170 5.6 Experience from monitoring at 5 Net ZEBs   182 6 Feedback from building designers, engineers and occupants  195 6.1 Introduction  195 6.2 Lessons learned from the design process 195 6.3 Lessons learned from building designers, engineers and occupants   199 6.4 Occupant consideration in the design and operation of Net ZEBs  208 Glossary  217 Index 223

About the Author :
Dr. Francois Garde is Professor at the Department of Sustainable Construction, Faculty of Engineering, University of Reunion, France. Josef Ayoub is Senior Science & Technology Planning Advisor for Natural Resources Canada in Montreal. Dr. Daniel Aelenei is Professor of building physics and building technical services at the Department of Civil Engineering of the ?Universidade Nova? Lisbon, Portugal. Dr. Laura Aelenei is a researcher at the National Energy and Geology Laboratory in Lisbon, Portugal. Dr. Alessandra Scognamiglio is a researcher at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development.