Laura Aelenei

Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia | LNEG

Addressing Europe’s decarbonisation challenge involves widespread deployment of nearly zero-energy buildings, deep energy renovations and renewable energy integration in the building sector. Enhancing energy efficiency in public buildings necessitates tailored solutions and strategic planning involving Local Public Administration. This work focuses...

Contribute to this Special Issue with promising articles on: - Climate Adaptive Building solutions. - Mitigation and adaptation actions at urban scale. - NBS and the water management in the built environment. - Water scarcity and its impact in the building sector. - Predictive and/or operative frameworks for climate resilient cities. Contact us if...

Despite transposing the 2010/31/EU Directive’s requirements creates legal responsibilities at the national level, the nearly Zero energy building (nZEB) principle does not appear to be widely adopted just yet in many nations. Previous studies have shown that the most significant barriers include determining the cost-effective ideal integration of t...

EU and national buildings related regulations are moving towards policies that improve indoor thermal comfort, reduce energy consumption and its environmental impact by establishing very ambitious targets in the emissions reduction in the decades to come. In this context, improving energy efficiency through deep energy renovations is a key action l...

The rise of energy needs in contemporary cities requires considering the energy use and the role of buildings according to a wider scale and perspective, especially in the framework of the current market fluctuation of conventional energy sources. Positive Energy District can be seen as a model for urban energy transition, capable of responding to...

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) constitute an emerging energy transition paradigm, with an ambitious timeline for rapid upscaling to match the urgency of climate mitigation and adaptation. Increasingly networked and coordinated actors aim to realise 100 PEDs across Europe by 2025. This resonates with the mission orientation turn of the European Gr...

The building façade has a crucial role in acting as the interface between the environment and the indoor ambient, and from an engineering and architecture perspective, in the last years, there has been a growing focus on the strategic development of building façades. In this sense, this work aims to present a literature review for the Building Inte...

The development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is arguably the development of an innovation embedded in a community of organisations and individuals (occupants, inhabitants, citizens) who can affect or are affected by the innovation. However, current methods of stakeholder engagement in PED developments do not systematically identify the type...

The development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is arguably the development of an innovation embedded in a community of organisations and individuals (occupants, inhabitants, citizens) who can affect or are affected by the innovation. However, current methods of stakeholder engagement in PED developments do not systematically identify the type...

The 2018 revision of the European Performance Building Directive (EPBD) requires that from the year 2020 onwards, all new buildings will have to be “nearly zero energy buildings”. It also further promotes smart building technologies, raising awareness amongst building owners and occupants of the value behind building automation. The European Commis...

Buildings play an active role in the global energy consumption and are required to not only minimize their energy use, but also generate energy in a sustainable manner. The integration of renewable energies in building elements can improve their overall performance, as they are able to replace common construction materials, while offering both elec...

The experimental investigation of building-integrated photovoltaic thermal (BIPVT) solar systems is essential to characterise the operation of these elements under real conditions of use according to the climate and building type they pertain. BIPVT systems can increase and ensure energy performance and readiness without jeopardising the occupant c...

The need for shifting to urban renewable energy integration and use is critical when the goal is decarbonizing the global energy system. Due to cities’ integrating framework, the energy transition in urban environment towards renewable energy can be achieved in all end-use sectors, not only in power but also in heating, cooling and transport. Solar...

The development of city-driven urban laboratories was considered a priority by the European Commission through Action 3.2 of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan. In this context, positive-energy districts laboratories could take the role of urban drivers toward innovation and sustainability in cities. These urban labs can provide real-life facilit...

This study addresses the thermal and energy performance assessment of a Building Integrated Photovoltaic Thermal (BIPVT) system installed on the façade of a test room in Solar XXI, a Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) located in Lisbon, Portugal. A numerical analysis using the dynamic simulation tool EnergyPlus was carried out for assessing the perfor...

The objectives were: - development of a common terminology, a definition of ‘energy flexibility in buildings’ and a classification method, - investigation of user comfort, motivation and acceptance associated with the introduction of energy flexibility in buildings, - analysis of the energy flexibility potential in different buildings and contexts,...

Energy flexibility of buildings and how to obtain and control this cannot easily be explained, especially as there are a wide range of stakeholders who could be involved, not all of whom will be experienced in the supply and demand of energy in buildings. However, good examples are often much easier to understand than definitions. For this reason,...

With the publication of the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, a large number of buildings are expected to become high energy performance and explore more the availability of renewable energy resources. Such buildings are often described in literature as nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEB). Because renewable energy sources, such as wind...

Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts, the European Façade Network and the European research network COST Action TU1403 “Adaptive Facades Network” have joined forces in the organisation of the FAÇADE 2018 – Adaptive! Conference. This international scientific conference - held on November 26-27, 2018 at the culture and convention centre Luc...

“Case Studies – Adaptive Facade Network” concentrates on the definition and classification of adaptive facades by describing the state-of-the-art of materials, components and systems for adaptive facades, as well as future trends for products and systems. It also provides information about a database that is published on COST TU 1403 website.

Buildings often adopt strategies based on the integration of solutions and technologies in façades capable of changing their behaviour in time to improve energy efficiency and comfort. Considering that the envelope is the main parameter that influences the energy performance of buildings, façade elements with adaptive features can provide the build...

Adaptive façades can improve the building's energy efficiency and economics, through their capability to change their behaviour in real time according to indoor-outdoor parameters, by means of materials, components, and systems. Therefore, adaptive façades can make a significant and viable contribution to meeting the EU´s 2020 targets. Several diff...

Within the scope of this thesis, thirty DuPont Energain R thermal mass boards were tested inside a shipping container located in Oeiras, Portugal. These phase change material (PCM) boards have a 21,7ºC melting point and they were experimented during August (Summer) as internal mass due to a structure specifically designed for this project. Results...

According with the Research and Markets [1] analysis, the growing demand of reliable online learning solutions and technologies is the driving force of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) market. The industry forecast for MOOC market size is to grow from USD 1.83 Billion in 2015 to USD 8.50 Billion by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of...

This study presents some results of an recent closed European Project, RePublic_ZEB [1], where an extensive analysis was conducted for identifying cost-optimal refurbishment solution an sets of solutions applied to exiting public buildings, towards nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) performance. The analysis was applied to 12 reference buildings i...

Retrofit measures for buildings are in general evaluated considering the energy savings and life cycle cost. However, one of the main benefits, the increase of users comfort is very seldom analysed. In this work, two residential households representative of a large share of households in Portugal, were monitored and its thermal behavior was modeled...

Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) are becoming an attractive solution in the context of high penetration of photovoltaics (PV) in buildings caused by the strive to achieve net or nearly zero energy status. Besides retrieving solar radiation to produce electricity, BIPV also offers aesthetical advantages because of its architectural feature....

In this paper, a BIPV/T-PCM installed in an office building façade is investigated to approach the system efficiency optimization using Genetic Algorithm method. Based on an updated mathematical model, theoretical simulation has been conducted for BIPV/T-PCM in this case for the existing system set-up (geometry-air cavity width, ventilation, system...

Current strategies for facades envelopes are determined by a static response defined by a single prescriptive value. This code requirement diminishes the ability of a façade to interact with the environment by constant readjustment of functional performance. This is the knowledge gap between present code compliant facades, based on measures in the...

This technical report gives a review of 30 fully documented net ZEBs case studies that have been identified by the Sub Task C participants. It reports a compilation of all technical and non-technical information of the 30 case studies that formed the foundation on which the analysis of Volume 3 of the Source Book was based. 1.1 Objectives of Sub T...

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 Inte...

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 inte...

In this chapter, the data (buildings and measures) gathered from the Task 40 Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings Research Project is presented with detailed descriptions and summaries. As discussed in Chapter , the thirty case study buildings are partitioned into five groups by Climate and Building type. The measures deployed by these buildings are gro...

In this chapter, Net ZEB design is discussed from an architectural perspective. This can be characterized as bringing some issues traditionally the concern of Building Engineers (predominately energy-based) into the building design domain which has been traditionally dominated by an Architectural view point. Although the word design may have been u...

In this chapter, the methodology for analyzing the zero energy case study buildings is presented. The underlying principles of this methodology are presented in this introductory Section , including the potential ways in which the balance between energy load and generation may be calculated. The methodology itself is presented in Section . A summar...

The aim of this chapter is to examine the lessons learned by the design teams and the users of Net Zero Energy Buildings (Net ZEBs). The chapter presents observations, anecdotes, and experiences gathered from a series of selected face-to-face interviews with the design team, architects, engineers and occupants of Net ZEBs. Seven non-residential bui...

In Section the motivations and reasons for monitoring building energy and comfort are presented from the point of views of building manager and building occupants. The energy performance of the 30 Task 40 Case Study buildings is presented in Section . In Section a detailed description of monitoring Net ZEBs throughout the various phases of a buildi...

In this book, leading international experts explore the emerging concept of the zero energy mass custom home (ZEMCH) – designed to meet the need for social, economic, and environmental sustainability – and provide all of the knowledge required for the delivery of zero energy mass customized housing and community developments in developed and develo...

In the last 50 years a fifth of the planet’s inhabitants had a strong development that deeply changed their habits and their life quality. For this enhancement, the people of the developed areas paid a high price. A large use of energy, produced from non-renewable sources as fossil fuels, increased the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosp...

Adaptive building envelopes can provide improvements in the building energy efficiency and economics, through their capability to change their behaviour in real time according to indoor-outdoor parameters, by means of materials, components and systems. Therefore, adaptive façades can make a significant and viable contribution to meeting the EU's 20...

Today, cities allocate about 50% of world's population, and it is expected that this number will increase up to 80% in the upcoming years. The urban territory is responsible for a high percentage of natural resources consumption and waste generation, and therefore resource efficiency is critical to promote local and global sustainability.

Characterization is defined as the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features. In most solar thermal collecting systems the energy performance characterization is commonly used as the most important criteria by which the system (or component) is represented. Building Integrated Solar Thermal Systems (BISTS) however are typi...

Today’s facades are mostly passive systems and are largely exhausted from an energetic point of view. They can neither adapt to changing environmental conditions related to daily and annual cycles nor to changing user requirements. Multifunctional, adaptive and dynamic facades can be considered the next big milestone in facade technology. Adaptive...

Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEBs) have received increased attention in recent years as a result of constant concerns for energy supply constraints, decreasing energy resources, increasing energy costs and rising impact of greenhouse gases on world climate. The EPBD recast directive [1] requests all new buildings to meet higher levels of performa...

In this paper a review of some initiatives regarding Smart City approach is developed in order to have a more accurate image of this complex concept. In the second part, a recently approved research project “SusCity” project takes an integrated and applicationoriented research approach by focusing on urban interventions in Lisbon city, at the “Parq...

This study presents some preliminary results of an on-going European Project, RePublic_ZEB [1], where an analysis is conducted for identifying the cost optimal levels for the existing buildings, towards nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) performance. The analysis is applied to the reference building for an existing office building in five differen...

Adaptive facades provide opportunities for significant reductions in building energy use and CO2 emissions, while at the same time having a positive impact on the quality of the indoor environment. Many different types of adaptive façade concepts (materials, components and systems) have already been developed, and an increase in emerging, innovativ...

This study presents some preliminary results of an on-going European Project, RePublic_ZEB, where an analysis is conducted for identifying the cost optimal levels for the existing buildings, towards nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) performance. The analysis is applied to the reference building for an existing office building in five different co...

Energy use in buildings represents 40% of the total primary energy used in the EU and therefore developing effective energy alternatives is imperative. Solar thermal systems (STS) will have a main role to play as they contribute directly to the heating and cooling of buildings and the provision of domestic hot water. STS are typically mounted on bu...

Energy use in buildings represents 40% of the total primary energy used in EU and therefore developing effective energy alternatives is imperative. Solar Energy Systems (STS) will have a main role to play as they they contribute directly to heating and cooling of buildings and the provision of domestic hot water. STS are typically mounted on buildi...

The International Energy Agency (IEA), through the Solar Heating and Cooling programme (SHC) Task 40 and the Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems programme (ECBCS, now named EBC) Annex 52, works towards developing a common understanding and setting up the basis for an international definition framework for Net Zero Energy Building...

In this paper, a BIPV-PCM installed in an office building façade is investigated to approach the practical application of PV-PCM. Based on an updated mathematical model, theoretical simulation has been conducted for BIPV-PCM in this case. Furthermore, field testing for this case has also been performed to validate the model, and then the simulated...

Net Zero-Energy Buildings Performance has gained more attention since the publication in 2010 of the EPBD recast [1]. Successful implementation of such an ambitious target depends on a great variety of factors. With a literature full of theoretical advice and a building industry rife with myths about the value of technologies, the present study int...

During the last 20 years the research of Building Integrated Photovoltaic Systems (BIPV) related with different techniques and concepts has been widespread, but rather scattered. In BIPV systems photovoltaic panels functioning as an integral part of the building envelope, therefore, enhances the aesthetic appeal of the building. In addition of prov...

Zero-energy performance buildings have gained significant attention since the publication in 2010 of the recast of the EPBD recast which requires all new buildings to become nearly zero-energy by 2020. Buildings are requested to meet higher levels of energy performance and to explore more the alternative energy supply systems available locally on a...

This study addresses the energetic performance of an attached-sunspace applied to an existing residential building in Portugal. Four configurations (two attached, one integrated and one partially integrated) are studied in six different climatic zones. In addition other key parameters are considered such as ventilation (with or without natural vent...

The International Energy Agency (IEA), through the Solar Heating and Cooling programme (SHC) Task 40 and the Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems programme (ECBCS, now named EBC) Annex 52, works towards developing a common understanding and setting up the basis for an international definition framework for Net Zero Energy Building...

Net zero-energy buildings (Net ZEBs) have been the object of various studies in recent years as various countries have set this performance as long-term goal of their energy policies. Designing successful Net ZEBs represents a challenge since the definitions are yet generic, the assessment method and monitoring approach are under development and th...

The present work shares a numerical investigation results from a simulated BIPV/T and a BIPV/T-PCM system. This simulation is part of a current research project that pretends to investigate advanced technological prefabricated modules integrating PV and PCM for improving the indoor thermal conditions and reducing building energy demand, through dir...

In this paper, a BIPV-PCM installed in an office building façade is investigated to approach the practical application of PV-PCM. Based on an updated mathematical model, theoretical simulation has been conducted for BIPV-PCM in this case. Furthermore, field testing for this case has also been performed to validate the model, and then the simulated...