Olivia Guerra Santin

Uniresearch.nl

This research intended to understand the effect of renovation solutions on occupants’ behaviour, and the effects of the behaviour on the indoor environmental quality of the buildings. The investigation is based on the findings from a short, in-depth monitoring campaign in four apartments in the Netherlands. The results showed that the households st...

People with dementia sometimes show changed behaviours such as agitation, hallucination, and wandering during the moderate and severe dementia stages. In addition to individual health factors, contextual factors, such as indoor environment conditions, spatial layout, and human activities, may trigger or influence these behaviours, but there is a la...

The indoor environment quality in care facilities impacts residents’ daily lives. Sensor technology has been proven useful in evaluating the indoor environment of buildings, but the process of using this information to improve residents’ comfort, specifically in the context of nursing homes, is still underdeveloped. Thus, this study focuses on moni...

Renovation projects in social housing tend to focus on diminishing the costs of the renovation. An affordable solution is sought for an average household, thus assumptions are made about the residents’ behaviour when calculating the energy performance of the dwellings. However, households have different needs and preferences, and therefore the actu...

As the goal-setting in the European Green Deal is to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, great efforts have been put to improve the energy efficiency in residential buildings. As residential buildings are towards high energy efficiency, building envelopes are becoming better thermally insulated and systems are becoming more energy-efficient. Therefore...

This research explores current strategies and approaches directed to integrate innovative technologies in the home modification process to support independent living and ageing in place. The systematic review considered studies conducted from the perspective of architecture, smart technology, and gerontology. Scientific databases of related discipl...

Dementia is a syndrome that progressively affects cognitive, behavioural and psychological functions. People with dementia may have difficulties in sensing and expressing indoor environmental changes. Sensor technologies, such as environmental sensors, can be used to evaluate indoor environmental quality by accurately detecting the indicators, incl...

The architectural form of the façade determines its identity as well as interactions with micro-climate forces of the ambient environment, such as solar radiation. The dynamic nature of daylight and occupants' positions can cause some issues such as heat gains and visual discomfort, which need to be controlled in real-time operation. Improving dayl...

The dynamic nature of daylight and occupant's position can cause some issues such as heat gains and visual discomfort, which need to be controlled in real-time operation. Responsive facades have been pervasively used for preventing daylight glare and meeting daylight performance requirements. However, some passive strategies such as the colored gla...

This paper focuses on exploring methods for reducing the gap between the expected and actual building energy performance by using simulation tools. The study has two purposes. The first is to quantify the relative effect of the different building parameters measured on the energy heating and cooling consumption compared with standard parameters thr...

Prediction of the energy performance of buildings helps designers with decision-making during the design process in new construction, as well as in renovation projects. Simulation software is used as a prediction tool to calculate the energy performance of buildings. However, numerous studies question its reliability due to the existing discrepancy...

A number of facade solutions have been developed in recent years to solve the problem of large-scale renovation of housing. In the Netherlands, housing associations have the ambition to achieve an energy-neutral renovation approach, and so, some aim at energy neutrality. However, few address the complexity of multi-family rental dwellings and more...

The energy and building research community acknowledges the importance of including occupants' wellbeing in the evaluation of building energy performance. Particularly in office buildings, occupants' comfort assessment is not yet a common practice, partially due to the shortcomings of the comfort assessment activities. Contextual factors such as th...

Para determinar el comportamiento energético de los edificios los programas de simulación dinámica son utilizados como métodos de cálculo. Sin embargo, numerosos estudios han mostrado que existen diferencias notables entre el comportamiento esperado y real de los edificios. Uno de los factores identificados como fuente de incertidumbre en la simula...

Building regulations have been updated to improve the energy performance of buildings. However, research has shown large differences between expected and actual energy performance of buildings. The differences have been attributed partially to occupant behaviour. Occupants have a large influence on the actual performance of buildings, creating unce...

The ambition to renovate the postwar building stock to an energy-neutral quality is getting a lot of attention from social housing corporations and other institutional owners, financial organizations, and users. An effective renovation plan must significantly improve the current energy performance of a target building towards nearly zero-energy lev...

Large differences between the expected and actual energy consumption have been found in energy efficient dwellings. Research has shown that these differences are partially caused by occupant behaviour. The financing and payback periods of low carbon technologies are often uncertain because of the impact of the occupants on building performance. Thi...

The ambition to renovate the postwar building stock to an energy-neutral quality is getting a lot of attention in social housing association and other institutional owners, financial institutions and users. An effective renovation plan has to be long-term, target the deep transformation of the existing building stock, and to significantly improve i...

Research has shown the large effect that occupants have on buildings' performance. Uncertainties related to the actual energy consumption of buildings increase the risks for the investments in low carbon technologies. Monitoring building occupancy can potentially decrease these uncertainties by providing more information about the occupants and the...

Large differences between the expected and actual energy consumption have been found in energy efficient dwellings. Research has shown that these differences are partially caused by occupant behaviour. The financing and payback periods of low carbon technologies are often uncertain because of the impact of the occupant on building performance. This...

This paper proposes an approach to monitor buildings that will undergo a renovation process. The objective is to inform the design process regarding energy and indoor conditions requirements of different households for building simulation and energy calculations. This approach is intended to be part of a renovation strategy in the Netherlands. The...

The post-war apartments in the Netherlands account for 1/3 of the residential stock. To increase the renovation rate, the product-/service propositions have to change radically. This paper presents the 2ndSkin refurbishment concept – a business opportunity driven research and development projects – that results in zero energy use of dwellings, whil...

Building simulations are often used to predict energy demand and to determine the financial feasibility of the low-carbon projects. However, recent research has documented large differences between actual and predicted energy consumption. In retrofit projects, this difference creates uncertainty about the payback periods and, as a consequence, owne...

Improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings is of great importance, given the large percentage of energy consumed in the sector. Energy consumption in commercial buildings account for 30-40% of the primary energy consumption in developed countries. The implementation of low carbon technologies in buildings can potentially decrease energy co...

Although refurbishment is a necessary step to reach the ambitious energy and decarbonisation targets for 2020 and 2050, which require an eventual reduction up to 90% in CO2 emissions, the rate of renovation is still relatively low. There is an increasing demand to upgrade both the physical condition and the performance of the building, with the min...

Recent research has shown large differences between the expected and the actual energy consumption in buildings. The differences have been attributed partially, to the assumptions made during the design phase of buildings when simulation methods are employed. More accurate occupancy profiles on building operation could help to carry out more precis...

A number of second skin solutions have been developed in recent years to solve the problem of large scale renovation of housing. The 2ndSkin approach presented in this paper is currently under development by a consortium of academic and industry partners in the Netherlands. The objective of the 2ndSkin project is to develop a strategy for an integr...

A great number of low carbon technologies have been developed in the last decades. The use of such technologies promises good indoor environment for the building's occupants, lower energy consumption and carbon emissions. However, there are uncertainties related to payback periods and usability constraints of low carbon technologies. In addition, p...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the usability of design reviews to inform designers about low carbon technologies and building performance. The design review of three domestic and two non-domestic case studies are evaluated. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection and analysis methods include interviews and meetings with...

Recent studies show a mismatch between expected and actual performance in low energy buildings. The differences have been attributed to occupant behaviour and poor quality of the construction. Monitoring building performance during and after construction can ensure that systems and fabric perform as designed. This study sought to evaluate the deliv...

Governments have developed energy performance regulations in order to lower energy consumption in the housing stock. Most of these regulations are based on the thermal quality of the buildings. In the Netherlands, the energy efficiency for new buildings is expressed as the EPC (energy performance coefficient). Studies have indicated that energy reg...

The energy required for space heating has been significantly reduced in recent decades by making use of insulation and more efficient heating and ventilation systems. Even so, wide variations in energy consumption are still observed between similar dwellings and between actual and predicted levels. It is thought that these variations stem from diff...

The difference between the actual and predicted energy consumption for heating in housing is thought to be partly attributable to the use of HVAC systems. More reliable data on energy consumption could help in determining the actual energy performance of dwellings and in the search for the most adequate design for housing and home amenities. Furthe...

What are the key determinants and effects of occupants' behaviour on energy use for space heating? Statistical analyses were carried out on energy use and self-reported behaviour data from a household survey in the Netherlands. Results showed that the number of usage hours for the heating system have a stronger effect on energy consumption than tem...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the environmental performance of construction trends in houses in central Mexico by assessing the type and quantity of material used in construction elements. Design/methodology/approach Three reference Mexican houses are used for the analysis: a traditional house, a house with mostly masonry eleme...

As a consequence of the improved quality of thermal properties of buildings due to energy regulations, overall energy use associated with building characteristics is decreasing, making the role of the occupant more important. Studies have shown that occupant behaviour might play a prominent role in the variation in energy consumption in different h...

Since a few years the attention for building regulatory systems and enforcement procedures is growing. Various developments in society, politics and the construction industry have influenced changes in the systems of building control in the last 20 years. The influence of climate change and the related demands on buildings will have a very strong i...

SUMMARY The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relevance of household characteristics on exposure time to CO2 in houses with balanced ventilation. Statistical tests were conducted to measure the significance of household differences on time indoors. Household scenarios and ventilation scenarios were constructed to determine the level of CO2 i...

In the Netherlands the energy consumption of new buildings is subject to performance based legislation, based on the Energy Performance Coefficient (EPC). The norm has been compulsory for almost 15 years, but only three surveys, one of them by the authors, were conducted to assess its effectiveness to reduce the actual energy use. The research desc...

Door de introductie van de EPC-regelgeving, de verbetering van constructiemethoden en van installatierendementen, wordt verwacht dat de verwarmingsenergie in woningen afneemt. Daardoor zou de invloed van bewonersgedrag op het energiegebruik steeds belangrijker worden. Dit artikel gaat in op de resultaten van statistische onderzoeken.

This research had the purpose of providing more information about possible approaches and indicators to measure indoor health in relation to housing. In researches related with health and some Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) databases, the model used for health assessment is the Impact Pathway Analysis adopted from Risk Assessment. It has the objective...

Buildings consume resources and produces emissions to the environment during their life cycle. They consume materials during their construction, maintenance and renovation activities, consume energy and water during their use, and produce waste at the end of their useful life. There are several sustainable building methods for environmental assessm...