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Publications (65)
Recently, intensive technological development in the field of energy efficiency of buildings has occurred, which should enable the transition from nearly Zero (nZEB), through net Zero (NZEB) to ultimate Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB). The last stage will also require a transition from the grid to onsite storage of each energy carrier needed for the op...
The object of the research described in this chapter is evaluation of the thermal response of advanced glass façade structures with improved energy performance during cooling of the building. Two types of glazed façade structures were analyzed: a six-pane glazing structure upgraded with a building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system with and with...
This study evaluates the cooling effect of latent heat storage (PCM) on integrated PV cells between two glass layers in a double-glazed ventilated building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade. Transient CFD simulations were performed to investigate the potential of thermal management. The varying parameters were: PCM thickness, PCM thermal conduc...
High energy efficiency, energy autonomy, and improved living conditions are basic requirements of sustainable buildings. Advanced building envelope structures can provide these requirements. In the present paper, multipurpose façade structure designed as semi-transparent modular building-integrated photovoltaic façade with a forced ventilated cavit...
Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is technology that can significantly increase the share of renewable energy in final energy supply and are one of essential technologies for the nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB), new build and refurbished. In the article (a) an experimental semitransparent BIPV glazed façade structure with 60% of PV cell...
Residential sector is the largest energy demand sector in EU with almost 40% share in final energy use. Due to predicted climate changes and increasingly intense of urban heat islands, it is expected that not only energy demand for cooling of the buildings will increased. Even more important is that conditions of indoor comfort will deteriorate at...
Due to energy, environmental, and social benefits, green roofs are recognized as a bioclimatic technology and sustainable construction systems and are becoming a predominant solution in connection with urban planning and building envelope retrofitting. To support design and marketing of Urbanscape® lightweight extensive green roofs a special softwa...
In the paper methods and the development of computer tool for the comprehensive life cycle assessment evaluation of the new or renovated buildings is presented. To support decision making process, computer tool was developed and consists of two computational units: the building description unit (BDU), and the life cycle assessment tool (Etool). BDU...
The paper presents a study on the thermal and hydrological response of lightweight extensive green roofs with lightweight mineral wool growing media in different European climate conditions. The green roof heat and mass transfer model was developed and experimentally validated. It was then integrated into a developed software tool for the whole yea...
![Thermal and radiative properties of advance glazed facade structures [39].](profile/Suzana-Domjan/publication/335315310/figure/tbl1/AS:794516122513408@1566438813244/Thermal-and-radiative-properties-of-advance-glazed-facade-structures-39_Q320.jpg)
The planning process of nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB), as defined in Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), requires that designers check their solutions at all stages of planning. In the initial design phase, methods and tools for which only basic design knowledge of the modelling of energy efficiency indicators is required are of...
This paper presents research on the nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) metrics of an all-glass office building with advanced multi-layer six-pane glass and building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade structures in different climate conditions. The study was carried out in the following steps: i) development of a time series model of dynamic the...
Despite the great progress made in the energy performance of buildings in recent decades, buildings remain significant energy consumers. Many advanced technologies for increase of energy efficiency have been developed, and strong commitments to increasing the energy performance of buildings have been adopted. The most well-known is the Recast of En...
Actions and goals towards sustainable societies should address the design, construction and use of buildings. The building sector has significant impact on the use of natural resources and the quality of the environment. Recent studies shown that half of natural resources used are related to the building sector. At the same time, the construction a...
In addition to the large scale power plants presented in Chap. 2, there are several technologies for dispersed or in situ generation of electricity. In general these technologies use local renewable energy sources in the form of solar and wind energy or biomass. Small scale hydropower plants are a highly efficient technology with high durability an...
Ventilation is the process of the dilution of indoor air pollutants by exchanging the indoor air with the exterior air. This can be done because, in general, outdoor air is less polluted that indoor air. With ventilation, the amount of indoor air pollutants must be lowered to a level that does not affect the perceived quality of the indoor environm...
In this chapter, methods for the experimental determination of thermal properties of building envelopes are presented. These methods are used for commissioning, the process performed by independent experts prior to handling over the building to the customer, in the process of energy labelling of the buildings or to evaluate the most cost effective...
Buildings in northern and continental European climates need to be heated more than the half of the year to maintain required indoor thermal comfort; even in the Mediterranean countries space heating is needed at least occasionally. The energy used for the space heating of residential buildings has the largest share in energy demand for operation o...
The development of societies depends now more than ever on reliable energy supplies. We are in the century in which there will be a transition from the dominance of non-renewable fossil flues to low carbon societies that will be based on the use of renewable energy sources. Nevertheless, it is expected that non-renewable sources will remain signifi...
Domestic hot water (DHW) is needed for personal hygiene and washing. In low-energy and passive buildings, energy consumption for DHW water heating can exceed the amount of energy used for heating the building. DHW systems are included in the energy use assessment of the buildings as one of the so-called EPBD (Energy Performance of Building Directiv...
Building physics study the processes that occurs in the building structures that influence the indoor comfort and safety of inhabitants. A group of building physics professors at European universities, founded by Professor Karl Gertis, defined the following fields of interest: heat transfer in buildings, water and water vapour transfer in building...
Human beings gather more than 80% of their information about their surroundings by visual perception. The information that we receive is influenced by the characteristics of the light source, the optical properties of objects reflecting the incoming light into the surrounding space, and the way we perceive light by sight and visualise “what we see”...
According to official EU data, about 35% of buildings in EU are more than 50 years old and, as a consequence, extremely poorly energy efficient. It is assumed that if the overall energy efficiency of the buildings in EU were to be improved, the final energy consumption could be decreased by as much as 6%, resulting in a 6% decrease of CO2 emissions...
In this chapter, the design and assessment of indoor living comfort conditions are presented from an engineering perspective. This means that perceived physical process that occur in the indoor environment and influence the response of the residents’ bodies and ability to perform work are transferred into several groups of physical indicators and r...
In this chapter, the link between environmental protection and energy policy on future energy supply and demand is shown. The contents of the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) as direct results of global warming mitigation policy is presented. Energy performance indicators of nearly Zero Energy Buildings are presented, as they are def...
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the final energy demand for cooling worldwide will increase from current 4 to 9 EJ per year by the year 2050. There are several reasons for increased energy demand. The contemporary architecture trend of “all-glass” architecture is a significant reason for the increased energy need for cooling of...
In the European Union, heat is dominant form of energy needed in buildings. More than 50% of total final energy demand in EU is in form of heat and more that 80% of heat is needed at temperatures less than 250 °C. In buildings, heat is needed for space heating, domestic hot water heating, and air-conditioning and for space cooling when cold is prod...
This book presents cutting-edge work on the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of buildings, examining EU policies, regulations and technologies for complex systems such as passive buildings, sustainable buildings and, as part of the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD), nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) requirements. I...
Bionic façade presented in the paper is a technological system which mimics functions of vertical greenery systems and, comparatively, enhances cooling potential and reduces of building’s footprint. In the paper, a numerical investigation of the cooling potential of the bionic façade in three different climates in summer conditions is performed. Th...
Green façades or vertical greenery systems (VGSs) are continuously gaining attention among urbanists for improving the living comfort and energy efficiency in urban areas. However, modeling and simulating the thermal response of VGSs remains a research topic. This paper introduces a novel inverse modeling approach for modeling the thermal response...
This paper presents a study of the thermal response of lightweight extensive green roofs with lightweight mineral wool growing media in wintertime in water-freezing conditions. A model of green roof heat and mass transfer was developed, which considers sensible as well as latent heat accumulation in plants and lightweight mineral wool growing media...
For the construction of modern energy-efficient buildings, lightweight construction is becoming very popular among designers. EU legislation encourages such design, especially if wood, as a sustainable material, is used. However, lightweight building envelope construction, in general, exhibits poor dynamic thermal properties, which are particularly...
Well-designed experimental facilities allow research studies with high confidence in results and allow studies at different influential boundary conditions. This paper presents highly sophisticated experimental apparatus for experimental studies of natural and mixed convection which is installed in Lindab IMP Klima, Godovič, Slovenia. Presented are...
Vertical greenery systems (VGSs) are becoming a common architectural element in urban environments. In addition to the aesthetics of VGSs, impacts on building's energy demand and heat island mitigation in cities has been identified. In the present study, experimental results of thermal response and properties of VGSs with vertical leaf area index (...
Building sector uses about 40 % of all primary energy in European Union. This
sector consequentially presents a great potential of improving energy efficiency,
enhanced usage of renewable energy sources and reducing emission of CO2. Beside
other approaches for achieving these goals implementation o1 low-exergy systems
for surface heating and coolin...
Free cooling by enhanced night-time ventilation could be an efficient technique for decreasing the energy demand for the cooling of buildings. Such systems use the ambient cold of surrounding air, which is transported into buildings by mechanical fan-driven ventilation systems. Only carefully designed and operated systems can be efficient enough to...
In energy-efficient, lightweight buildings, a high solar heating fraction can only be achieved if the solar system contains adequate heat storage. In this paper, the design and thermal response modelling of a solar air heating system, which consists of an air vacuum tube solar collector and latent heat storage, is presented. For the system performa...
Building sector in EU shows a significant potential for improving energy efficiency, reducing CO 2 emissions and for expanded use of renewable energy sources. For achieving those goals different concepts and systems can be integrated in the buildings for heating and the cooling. One of available approaches is low-exergy heating and cooling by using...
This paper presents thermal response study of lightweight extensive green roofs with lightweight mineral wool growing media in winter period. Green roof heat and mass transfer model was developed based on short- and long-wave radiation heat exchange, surface convection and vegetation evapotranspiration. The model also considers latent heat accumula...
This paper presents experimental study of supported mixed convection of two-dimensional wall jet over various thermal activation lengths of vertical TABS. It was found out that supported mixed convection upward the jet over vertical TABS is not influenced by thermally inactivated vertical TABS downwards of the wall jet. Practical consequences of th...
Vertical greenery systems (VGS) are proven to decrease energy consumption for cooling of the building due to the evapotranspiration and shading of the building envelope. Despite innovative architectural solutions, there are some drawbacks of VGS that are most commonly related to the maintenance. Alternatively, bionic façade inspired by VGS can be d...
This paper presents the design and modelling of the heat transfer of a solar air heating system, which consists of a vacuum tube air solar collector (SC) and latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES), and a parametric analysis of the performance of this system. LHTES is a form of short-term daily storage that stores the SC heat during the day and...
Vertical greenery systems (VGS) are proven to decrease energy consumption for cooling of the building due to the evapotranspiration and shading of the building envelope. Despite innovative architectural solutions, there are some drawbacks of VGS that are most commonly related to the maintenance. Alternatively, bionic façade inspired by VGS can be d...
Green façades are becoming an important architectural element in an urban environment. Regarding the technology of the installation of green façades, one can distinguish between direct and indirect green façades, living walls and double skin façades with foliage. In addition to aesthetics of green façades, an impact on the outdoor and the indoor co...
Predicted climate changes and the increased intensity of urban heat islands, as well as population aging, will increase the energy demand for the cooling of buildings in the future. However, the energy demand for cooling can be efficiently reduced by low-exergy free-cooling systems, which use natural processes, like evaporative cooling or the envir...
Green façades are becoming an important architectural element in an urban environment. Regarding the technology of the installation of green façades, one can distinguish between direct and indirect green façades, living walls and double skin façades with foliage. In addition to aesthetics of green façades, an impact on the outdoor and the indoor co...
Energy demands for cooling of the buildings will increase in the future due to expected climate changes and increased intensity of the urban islands. Thermo-active building systems show a high potential for reducing energy needs for cooling of the buildings. This article presents an experimental study of natural and mixed convection over thermally...
Green façades are proven to have a significant impact on temperature and air flow conditions at the building boundary especially during the summer. A microclimatic layer caused by a green façade decreases the energy consumption for the cooling and improves indoor climate because of lower building envelope and ventilation air temperatures. Despite i...
This paper presents a study of the thermal characteristics of a concentric-tube heat exchanger that is a key element in local ventilation device. The inner tube of the concentric-tube heat exchanger has a sinusoidal, wavy surface in the longitudinal direction, which enables heat-transfer enhancement. The tube can be stretched to a certain extent an...
microclimatic layer of the green façade is proven to have specific temperature and flow conditions on the building envelope.
Lower temperatures and wind velocities, and higher relative humidity in the microclimatic layer are the characteristics
of vertical greenery systems, which cause lower energy consumption for the cooling and heating of buildin...
The natural cooling of energy-efficient buildings using latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) that is integrated into the building services makes possible energy savings and improved thermal comfort. In this article, studies of the free-cooling potential for different climatic locations are presented. Six cities from around Europe with a wide...
Lightweight building elements (LBEs) with one or two ventilated cavities are multifunctional building-envelope elements that lower the heat transfer to the ambient and enable solar heating. In the case of two ventilated cavities they operate as recuperative heat exchangers in the building's ventilation system. This paper presents the development of...
This article presents a study of the free cooling of a low-energy building using a latent-heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) device integrated into a mechanical ventilation system. The cylindrical LHTES device was filled with spheres of encapsulated RT20 paraffin, a phase-change material (PCM). A numerical model of the LHTES was developed to ident...
The article presents the study Of using free cooling for the low energy building. In the mechanical ventilation system latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is integrated containing spheres encapsulated with commercially available paraffin RT20. Using developed LHTES numerical model temperature response functions in form of Fourier series were...
This article presents the results of an investigation into the free cooling efficiency in a heavyweight and lightweight low energy building using a mechanical ventilation system with two latent heat thermal energy storages (LHTESs), one for cooling the fresh supply air and the other for cooling the re-circulated indoor air. Both LHTESs contain sphe...
With the integration of latent-heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) in building services, solar energy and the coldness of ambient air can be efficiently used to reduce the energy used for heating and cooling and to improve the level of living comfort. For this purpose, a cylindrical LHTES containing spheres filled with paraffin was developed. For t...
Building-integrated unglazed solar collectors are cost effective solar devices that are suitable for various low temperature applications. In this article we present the design and the parametric analyses of the efficiency of a large-panel unglazed roof-integrated liquid solar collector and an economic evaluation of a large-panel solar-heating syst...
In the early eighties more than 20 large-scale solar systems were installed in Slovenia. The majority of then; are used for hot water and swimming pool heating. A lot of systems are in operation for more than 15 years. The overview of the large-scale solar systems in Slovenia is presented. For several systems the configuration, energy gains, diffic...
With the growth of living standards, there is an increasing demand for the cooling of living space. Rational energy use demands the use of alternative ways of cooling because the energy consumption of compressor cooling is high. In this paper a new cheap paperboard compact heat exchanger and indirect evaporative cooling are presented. This cooling...
With the integration of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) in building services, solar energy and the coldness of ambient air can be efficiently used to reduce the energy used for heating and cooling and to improve the level of living comfort. For this purpose, a cylindrical LHTES containing spheres filled with paraffin was developed. For t...
Contemporary buildings with low energy use for heating are built with elements with low thermal transmittance and have increased air-tightness. Therefore such buildings practically do not response to periodic changes of ambient parameters and some kind of cooling must be provided in the summer period to assure living comfort. Energy efficient cooli...
In the article we are presenting the design of latent heat storage with small polyethylene spheres with encapsulated PCM, which forms porous media inside the duct of the building ventilation system. In this study we assumed that ambient air is first heated in solar roof, than passes trough latent heat storage and at the end enters into living space...
Projects
Projects (2)
The VirtualLAB project presents a remote access experimental platform for students as well as wider public. The project promotes low-ex technologies implemented in the Self-sufficient living cell, which is located in the city center of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
http://www.ee.fs.uni-lj.si/VirtualLab/index.html
The platform is developed in collaboration with MakerLAB, Faculty of Electrical Engineering (http://www.maker.si/).
Thermal and hydrological response of lightweight extensive green roofs with lightweight mineral wool growing media