Be sustainable:
move to a low-energy apartment
Dr. Zsuzsa Szalay Vivienne Brophy
University College Dublin
SETAC Europe 17th LCA Case Study Symposium Sustainable Lifestyles
28 February – 1 March 2011
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Energy consumption and buildings
The building sector
- accounts for about 40% of the energy consumption in Europe
- has a great potential for cost-effective energy savings
By 2020 all new buildings shall be nearly-zero energy buildings !
(Recast of the European Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings)
Introduction
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Building standards in Ireland
Introduction
- 40 % TGD 2008
- 20 % planned in 2011
carbon neutral? in the very near future
TGD 2005 (Building Regulation, Technical
Guidance Document Part L: Conservation of
Fuel and Energy)
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‘Passive houses’
Key elements:
- very well insulated building envelope;
- thermal bridge free construction;
- high performing windows with well-insulated frames and glazing;
- high level of airtightness of the envelope;
- optimisation of solar and internal gains;
- and a whole-house
mechanical heat recovery ventilation.
Passive
houses
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Building elements
0.1-0.15 W/m2K
15 kWh/m2a
120 kWh/m2a Space
heating
Primary energy
Passivhaus standard
Passive
houses
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... by creating a
problem Avoid…
…solving a
problem…
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The whole life cycle
A complex environmental evaluation and optimisation should cover the whole life cycle of buildings and look at a range of different environmental impact categories
Introduction
Method of analysis
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Life Cycle Assessment
LCA framework
Goal and scope definition
Inventory analysis
Impact assessment
Inter- pretation
Direct applications:
-
Product development and improvement
-
Strategic planning
-Public policy making
-Marketing
-
Other
Method of
analysis
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Goal and scope definition
- To calculate the life cycle environmental impacts of buildings complying with the
current Irish regulations and the Passivhaus standard
- Six building types using a randomly generated building sample of 1,000 buildings per
category
- Functional unit: a residential building over a 60-year period in Ireland
Method of
analysis
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Building categories
- Six building categories: single and two-storey
detached houses, two-storey semi-detached and terraced houses, low-rise and high-rise apartment buildings
built-in attic unheated loft flat roof
unheated cellar slab-on-ground
Method of
analysis
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Geometric parameters
0.5-0.6 20 - 30
0-30 9- √ AF
5-10 200 -
400
High-rise apartment buildings
0.5-0.6 20 - 30
0-30 8- √ AF
3-4 150 –
400
Low-rise apartment buildings
0.4-0.5 20 - 30
25-60 5- √ AF
2 40 - 60
Terraced, two storeys
0.4-0.5 20 - 30
15 - 35 6- √ AF
2 50 - 80
Semi- detached, two storey
0.4-0.5 20 - 30
6- √ AF 0 2
60 - 140
Detached houses, two storeys
0.4-0.5 20 - 30
6- √ AF 0 1
60 - 140
Detached houses, single storey
Density of part.
(m/m2) Window
ratio of floor area
% Ratio of
adjacent walls % Depth of
euiv.
rectangle (m) No of
store ys, n Net floor
area A
F(m
2)
Method of
analysis
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Inventory analysis
Construction
Maintenance
Operation
Demolition and recycling
Inputs
ENERGY
WATER
MATERIALS
Outputs
WATER
SOLID WASTE
WASTE HEAT
NOISE
EMISSIONS
Method of
analysis
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Calculation method
Tool developed for the environmental calculations Operational energy use:
Validated by
– PhPP Passivhaus Planning Package
– DEAP - Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure:
official methodology in Ireland Life cycle inventory data:
- ecoinvent database adapted to local conditions Impact assessment:
– Non-renewable cumulative energy demand (CED) Method of
analysis
Increasing thermal efficiency
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CED, n.r., SD 2st, total (MJ/m2y)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
TGD 2005
TGD 2008
plus better or.
plus better
ins.
PH PH+ PH++
Env prod+maint Other prod+maint Heating
Ventilation DHW Lighting
Semi-detached house
Results
comfort increase
Different building types
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Insulation requirements for passive houses in Ireland
Average thermal transmittance (U) of the
opaque structures to meet the space heating requirement of the Passivhaus standard:
– single-storey detached: around 0.11 W/m
2K – two-storey detached and terrace houses: 0.15
W/m
2K
– semi-detached houses: 0.19 W/m
2K
– apartment buildings: 0.21 W/m
2K and triple glazed windows or 0.16 W/m
2K and efficient double
windows
Results
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Non-renewable cumulative energy demand (MJ/m 2 y)
Results
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
D1st 2008 D1st PH D2st 2008 D2st PH SD2st 2008 SD2st PH Terr 2st 2008 Terr 2st PH Ap low 2008 Ap low PH Ap high 2008 Ap high PH
Envelope constr+maint Other constr+maint Heating
Ventilation Hot water Lighting
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Non-renewable cumulative energy demand
Results (%)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
D1st 2008 D1st PH D2st 2008 D2st PH SD2st 2008 SD2st PH Terr 2st 2008 Terr 2st PH Ap low 2008 Ap low PH Ap high 2008 Ap high PH
Envelope constr+maint Other constr+maint Heating
Ventilation Hot water Lighting
renewables
materials with a low
embodied
impact
In the future?
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