Energy and Climate Change


Book Description

For more information on this title, including student exercises, please visit, http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/DAColey/ Energy and Climate Change: Creating a Sustainable Future provides an up-to-date introduction to the subject examining the relationship between energy and our global environment. The book covers the fundamentals of the subject, discussing what energy is, why it is important, as well as the detrimental effect on the environment following our use of energy. Energy is placed at the front of a discussion of geo-systems, living systems, technological development and the global environment, enabling the reader to develop a deeper understanding of magnitudes. Learning is re-enforced, and the relevance of the topic broadened, through the use of several conceptual veins running through the book. One of these is an attempt to demonstrate how systems are related to each other through energy and energy flows. Examples being wind-power, and bio-mass which are really solar power via another route; how the energy used to evaporate sea water must be related to the potential for hydropower; and where a volcano’s energy really comes from. With fermi-like problems and student exercises incorporated throughout every chapter, this text provides the perfect companion to the growing number of students taking an interest in the subject.




Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB)


Book Description

Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB): Concepts, Frameworks and Roadmap for Project Analysis and Implementation provides readers with the elements they need to understand, combine and contextualize design decisions on Net Zero Energy Buildings. The book is based on learned lessons from NZEB design, construction, operation that are integrated to bring the most relevant topics, such as multidisciplinarity, climate sensitivity, comfort requirements, carbon footprints, construction quality and evidence-based design. Chapters introduce the context of high performance buildings, present overviews of NZEB, cover the performance thresholds for efficient buildings, cover materials, micro-grid and smart grids, construction quality, performance monitoring, post occupancy evaluation, and more. - Offers a roadmap for engaging in energy efficiency in high performance buildings projects - Combines solid grounding in core concepts, such as energy efficiency, with a wider context that includes the technical, socio-cultural and environmental dimensions - Covers key areas for decision-making - Provides a logical framework to analyze projects in the context of environmental change - Presents worldwide examples and cases for different climates and societies




Energy Positive Neighborhoods and Smart Energy Districts


Book Description

Energy Positive Neighborhoods and Smart Energy Districts: Methods, Tools, and Experiences from the Field is a comprehensive guide to this highly interdisciplinary topic. Monti et. al's combined experience make them the most qualified team of editors to explore the processes and tools involved in creating Energy Positive Neighborhoods and Smart Energy Districts in an urban setting. Tools include: - A complete simulation library to quickly support the implementation of a model of the scenario - A set of possible approaches to neighborhood energy optimization - An open, extensible information model for neighbourhood asset description The structure of this book offers different reading paths to appeal to the very varied audience it addresses. It describes the process of adaption and the challenges faced by the decision makers, and also how simulation, optimisation, ICT approaches and business models are combined in a holistic and pragmatic way. It also offers possible business models and a means to quantify them to complete the development process. This book is suitable for students on muti-disciplinary energy engineering courses, energy practitioners, ICT vendors aiming to develop new services to target the building industry, and decision makers aiming to structure an urban renovation program. - Delivers a significant amount of exclusive knowledge on the topics of energy positive neighborhoods and smart energy districts - Allows readers to grasp the complexity of this interdisciplinary topic by providing access to well-structured processes and tools - Includes real life examples of the transformation of two demonstration sites that illustrate the concepts discussed to add context and value to their implementation




Net zero energy buildings


Book Description

"Net zero energy buildings, equilibrium buildings or carbon neutral cities – depending on location and the reasons for making the calculation, the numbers are run differently. The variety of terms in use indicates that a scientific method is still lacking – which is a problem not just in regard to international communication, but also with respect to planning processes as a response to energy challenges. The clarification and meaning of the most important terms in use is extremely important for their implementation. Since October 2008, a panel of experts from an international energy agency has concerned itself with these topics as part of a project entitled “Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings”. The objective is to analyse exemplary buildings that are near a zero-energy balance in order to develop methods and tools for the planning, design and operation of such buildings. The results are documented in this publication: In addition to the presentation of selected projects, it is not just architectural showcase projects that are shown – the focus is on relaying knowledge and experience gained by planners and builders. Even if many questions remain unanswered: Project examples that have already been implemented prove on a practical basis that the objective of a zero energy balance is already possible today."




Solution Sets for Net Zero Energy Buildings


Book Description

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.




Cost-Effective Energy Efficient Building Retrofitting


Book Description

Cost-Effective Energy Efficient Building Retrofitting:Materials, Technologies, Optimization and Case Studies provides essential knowledge for civil engineers, architects, and other professionals working in the field of cost-effective energy efficient building retrofitting. The building sector is responsible for high energy consumption and its global demand is expected to grow as each day there are approximately 200,000 new inhabitants on planet Earth. The majority of electric energy will continue to be generated from the combustion of fossil fuels releasing not only carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxide. Energy efficiency measures are therefore crucial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the building sector. Energy efficient building retrofitting needs to not only be technically feasible, but also economically viable. New building materials and advanced technologies already exist, but the knowledge to integrate all active components is still scarce and far from being widespread among building industry stakeholders. - Emphasizes cost-effective methods for the refurbishment of existing buildings, presenting state-of-the-art technologies - Includes detailed case studies that explain various methods and Net Zero Energy - Explains optimal analysis and prioritization of cost effective strategies




Handbook of Energy Efficiency in Buildings


Book Description

Handbook of Energy Efficiency in Buildings: A Life Cycle Approach offers a comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the subject with a further focus on the Life Cycle. The editors, renowned academics, invited a diverse group of researchers to develop original chapters for the book and managed to well integrate all contributions in a consistent volume. Sections cover the role of the building sector on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, international technical standards, laws and regulations, building energy efficiency and zero energy consumption buildings, the life cycle assessment of buildings, from construction to decommissioning, and other timely topics. The multidisciplinary approach to the subject makes it valuable for researchers and industry based Civil, Construction, and Architectural Engineers. Researchers in related fields as built environment, energy and sustainability at an urban scale will also benefit from the books integrated perspective. - Presents a complete and thorough coverage of energy efficiency in buildings - Provides an integrated approach to all the different elements that impact energy efficiency - Contains coverage of worldwide regulation




Energy Policy Design in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin


Book Description

This book explores energy consumption and thermal comfort in the social housing sector in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. This book presents a novel methodological framework for the optimisation of post-war social housing developments in the Eastern Mediterranean climate. The authors draw on semi-structured interviews to present evidence on in situ thermal sensation and provide the results of walk-through and walk-in thermographic surveys to highlight building-fabric performance and highlight anomalies in the building envelopes. The authors go on to show how this data-informed retrofit design solution can be applied to reduce household energy consumption, increase awareness of domestic energy use and inform effective policymaking decisions in energy use in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, including the development of Energy Performance Certificate schemes. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy policy, energy efficiency and planning. It will also assist architects, building engineers and other practitioners in closing the gap between the current understanding and the actual performance of existing residential building stocks in the Eastern Mediterranean basin.




Active House: Smart Nearly Zero Energy Buildings


Book Description

The book provides an overview of the Active House (AH) vision, intended as a building design method “beyond” the passive approach for buildings of the future that will be more and more connected, smart and innovative. It offers a novel philosophical design approach in which buildings, new or renovated, are in balance with natural, renewable energies and become “concentrators-distributors” of energies instead of being consumers of resources. The book is composed of five chapters, providing information on fundamental aspects of innovations toward resource-efficient buildings, as well as case studies presenting the concept in practice. It demonstrates that a completely new design approach is possible, and that a turning point has been reached. Lastly, it shows how the AH Alliance, along with designers, institutions, industries and academies, is bringing a breath of fresh air to the world of construction.




Open Data and Energy Analytics


Book Description

Open data and policy implications coming from data-aware planning entail collection and pre- and postprocessing as operations of primary interest. Before these steps, making data available to people and their decision-makers is a crucial point. Referring to the relationship between data and energy, public administrations, governments, and research bodies are promoting the construction of reliable and robust datasets to pursue policies coherent with the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as to allow citizens to make informed choices. Energy engineers and planners must provide the simplest and most robust tools to collect, process, and analyze data in order to offer solid data-based evidence for future projections in building, district, and regional systems planning. This Special Issue aims at providing the state-of-the-art on open-energy data analytics; its availability in the different contexts, i.e., country peculiarities; and its availability at different scales, i.e., building, district, and regional for data-aware planning and policy-making. For all the aforementioned reasons, we encourage researchers to share their original works on the field of open data and energy analytics. Topics of primary interest include but are not limited to the following: 1. Open data and energy sustainability; 2. Open data science and energy planning; 3. Open science and open governance for sustainable development goals; 4. Key performance indicators of data-aware energy modelling, planning, and policy; 5. Energy, water, and sustainability database for building, district, and regional systems; 6. Best practices and case studies.