Existing net zero-energy buildings

Buildings with a highly reduced energy consumption, i.e., Passive Houses, are a well-developed topic, many times put into practice. Hence, there were many passive houses already built around the world. Nonetheless, the concept of net zero-energy building is slightly newer, thus there are less buildings that can be taken as an example. However, during last years, first test buildings have been built.

According to [29], there are over 40,000 certified Passive Houses in the world, half of them located in Germany. In the case of nZEBs, they are mostly located in Europe. Fig-ure 2.8 shows how the majority of European nZEBs where located in Germany at the end of 2013. The figure shows in red the new buildings, most of them, and in other col-ors the renovated ones.

Figure 2.8. Nearly net zero-energy buildings in Europe. [30]

In this subchapter, several existing buildings will be briefly analyzed. The adopted technologies, which will be explained in following subchapters, will be mentioned as well as the different primary energy consumptions. The chosen examples are mainly in Finland and Spain, locations in the scope of this study, but also in other European coun-tries.

2. Theoretical background 23 The first building analyzed, Kuopas nZEB, is located in Kuopio, Finland, where the annual average temperature is around 3 degrees. The Finnish building is shown in Fig-ure 2.9.

Figure 2.9. Kuopas nZEB, located in Kuopio, Finland. [31]

This building contains apartments for students and has an approximate energy balance of -2300 kWh/a, which means that it buys that small energy from external sources. Due to the size of the building, that negative balance is very close to 0 kWh/m²a. The renew-able energy sources on-site are PV and solar thermal panels and a geothermal heat pump; used for heating and cooling. The building is also relied on the electric grid and a district heating network, based on biomass, for covering the annual demand. On Figure 2.10, it can be seen how the sold energy during spring and summer offsets the energy purchased during the rest of the year.

Figure 2.10. Monthly purchased and sold energy in Kuopas nZEB. (Adapted from [32])

More information about this building, included its online live monitoring, can be found in the website of the project [32].

The next building analyzed is also located in Finland. Lantti zero-energy house is a sin-gle-family house built for the Housing Fair 2012 held in Tampere. As usually, the phi-losophy of this zero-energy building starts by reducing the demand through efficiency measures. As a result, the construction was very delicate. The designers took special care on thermal bridges and the use of natural light. The envelope was carefully isolated and best quality windows were applied.

Building systems were also high technology solutions. Lantti house has a ventilation unit with 80 % efficiency on heat recovering. In addition, it applies home automation technics such as a high automatized room temperature control for lowering the building consume when the house is not occupied. Some of the systems installed in the building can be seen in Figure 2.11.

Figure 2.11. Lantti zero-energy house systems diagram. (Adapted from [33]) The main energy systems applied were district heating, 8 m² of solar collectors and 60 m² of PV-panels. These last two components produced, respectively, half of the an-nually consumed DHW and electricity equivalent to more than half of building’s annual demand. In Figure 2.12, it is shown how, finally, the yearly balance is offset thanks to these two renewable systems, obtaining a final E-rating equal to minus one. [33]

2. Theoretical background 25

Figure 2.12. Lantti zero-energy house energy balance. (Adapted from [33]) The low-energy building prototype called “Building 70 CIEMAT” was constructed in Madrid, Spain, as part of ARFRISOL project [34]. This construction is an example of an excellent combination of active and passive systems for lowering and supplying the demand of a building.

Employed passive techniques rely on an optimal use of solar radiation. As seen in Fig-ure 2.13, by installing parasols on the windows and a big pergola over the roof, design-ers make the most of solar gains during winter and avoid them in summer. In addition, these devices incorporate PV-panels for electricity production. Moreover, each façade has a different design depending on its orientation and they also apply thermal inertia procedures.

Figure 2.13. South façade of Building 70 CIEMAT, in Madrid. [35]

The main active systems included in the building are based on solar resources. Solar collectors and PV-panels are integrated on the building for heating and cooling purpos-es, as the installation includes solar absorption cooling systems. In addition to this, there is a condensing boiler powered by natural gas working as a backup. [36]

The headquarters of ACCIONA Solar in Navarra, Spain, are the first zero-emissions building in Spain. According to the company, this building has a 52 % lower energy consumption than a conventional building and supplies all its demand by renewable sources.

The building has innovative architectonic elements such as its double-skin façade. This greenhouse façade, oriented to the south, preheats the air supplied to the heating sys-tems in winter. Previously, this air is circulated through underground tubes. The geo-thermal energy is exploited during all the year, also precooling the air in summer. In Figure 2.14, the mentioned façade is shown as well as the PV-panels and thermal col-lectors.

Figure 2.14. South façade and roof views of the ACCIONA headquarters in Navarra.

[37]

In order to provide the necessary energy, the building includes solar systems and a backup biodiesel boiler, which only supplies 11 % of the annual demand. The PV-panels, with an installed capacity of 50 kW, are located on the roof and the south fa-çade. Finally, 156 m² of solar collectors are installed on the roof. These collectors cover the heating demand but also the cooling needs, thanks to two solar absorption machines.

Figure 2.15 presents a comparison of this building with a conventional one. Further-more, it is shown how half of demand is saved thanks to efficiency measures. [37] [38]

2. Theoretical background 27

Figure 2.15. Energy comparison between a conventional building and zero-emissions Acciona building. (Adapted from [38])

Other European nearly zero-energy building is Elithis Tower, located in Dijon, France.

This tower is a clear example of the importance of the monitoring process in nZEBs.

Thank for this process, the performance of the building has been improved, after some years optimizing its operation, reaching a primary energy use close 50 kWh/m²a.

As other buildings mentioned before, Elithis Tower applies solar passive shading tech-niques and mechanical ventilation with a high-efficiency heat exchanger. In addition, it implements free cooling through high ventilation during summer nights. Active heating systems are composed by a solar thermal installation combined with a wood boiler, which works as backup. On the other hand, the cooling system consists of two stages.

The first is based on evaporative cooling and the second, used in case of extreme out-side temperatures, is a high-efficiency heat pump. [39]

Other building that worth to be mentioned is the Woods Hole Research Center, located in Falmouth, the United States. This building operated with a ground heat pump, solar collectors and photovoltaic panels. Finally, after a few years, a 100 kW on-site wind turbine was installed inside the building’s footprint. This turbine is currently providing close to the 50 % of the building’s energy needs. [40]

Comparing all the solutions introduced, it can be concluded that every building is fo-cused on reducing its demand as a first goal. Finally, the systems applied will differ depending on the climate, availability and designers’ preferences, although renewable sources will be always present.