Strategies of energy refurbishment on the basis of energy simulation focused on the zero net energy buildings. Study case of a single-family house in Spain

Abstract

The need to refurbish the housing stock with energy efficiency criteria is aligned with the European Union target in order to reduce the CO2 emissions. This is very important for Spain, because the greater part of the existing housing, even the most recent, were built under codes from 1979 in the best-case scenario. This is because of the European Energy Performance in Buildings Directive from 2002 was not transposed until 2006. In addition to this, numerical limits for energy demands, energy consumptions and CO2 emissions for projecting new or refurbished buildings with Zero Net Energy Building (ZNEB) criteria are not established in Spanish codes. They only require the compliance of these current codes. Therefore, it is important using energy simulation tools when assessing a refurbishment, both to know the energy performance of each building and to evaluate different energy refurbishment strategies. Simplified studies based on standard solutions which are supposed to be appropriated for all cases should be avoided, because they limit the energy improvement targets, and sometimes, are not based on technical criteria. Accordingly, a study case of a single-family house built in the outskirts of Burgos (Spain) in the year 2005 is presented. It has been energy simulated with the software Herramienta Unificada LIDER-CALENER (HULC) in its current state, and with five improving proposals for different parts of the building which could be developed simultaneously. A comparative study is presented. All of them are according both to the current Spanish energy codes and to the requirements of the homeowner, but are below international passive buildings standards, like EnerPHit of Passivhaus. © ECOS 2019 - Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems. All rights reserved.