Zero Energy Buildings in the Mediterranean: Typological Feasibility Analysis towards an Israeli Adaptation

Abstract

Despite the recent pursuit towards Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB), their global adaptation is far from complete, mostly in cooling dominated climates which are still poorly prepared for their integration. This paper reports on a research project aiming to build a road map for the local adaptation of the ZEB concept in Israel. The methodology of this research was based on a statistical top-down feasibility analysis which explored the possibility of 10 different urban typologies to achieve zero energy balance using the Load Match Index as the performance metric. Results demonstrated large potential variations between residential and office uses as well as between different typologies to deliver zero energy balance in the Israeli context. Findings helped generate detailed criteria and four different models for Zero Energy Buildings in Israel towards new policy.

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PLEA 2018 HONG KONG
Smart and Healthy within the 2-degree Limit
1156
Zero Energy Buildings in the Mediterranean:
Typological Feasibility Analysis towards an Israeli Adaptation
JONATHAN NATANIAN1
1Chair of Building Technology and Climate Responsive Design, Technical University of Munich, Germany
ABSTRACT: Despite the recent pursuit towards Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB), their global adaptation is far from complete,
mostly in cooling dominated climates which are still poorly prepared for their integration. This paper reports on a
research project aiming to build a road map for the local adaptation of the ZEB concept in Israel. The methodology of
this research was based on a statistical top-down feasibility analysis which explored the possibility of 10 different urban
typologies to achieve zero energy balance using the Load Match Index as the performance metric. Results demonstrated
large potential variations between residential and office uses as well as between different typologies to deliver zero
energy balance in the Israeli context. Findings helped generate detailed criteria and four different models for Zero
Energy Buildings in Israel towards new policy.
KEYWORDS: Energy Balance, Building Typologies, Zero Energy Buildings, Load Match, Mediterranean Climate
1. INTRODUCTION
In 2010, the European Energy Performance of
Building Directive (EPBD) recast [1], ignited a pursuit
towards nearly Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB). A new goal
was set for new and existing buildings to autonomously
balance either their primary energy consumption or their
carbon emissions using renewable energy, preferably
self-generated on-site. Since then, individual national EU
policies were joined by many other frameworks globally
as the 'zero energy' trend quickly became
internationalized; either voluntarily or as part of binding
building standards [2].
Despite the generic definition, many variations to the
application of ZEB emerged, mostly due to numerous
criteria and sub-criteria which should be addressed in
their realization. Although many studies were dedicated
to the topic, the challenge to define a harmonized
framework for ZEBs still stands, frequently leaving the
application of this standard at a commercial declaration
level. Moreover, many countries, mostly in cooling
dominated climates are still poorly prepared for their
integration [3].
Within the Mediterranean region, Israel's built
environment is a clear example of an unfulfilled
energetic potential; despite high solar availability, highly
technological building industry and ambitious
environmental goals, Israel's built environment is
characterized by low energy efficiency and low
renewable energy generation levels in both building and
urban scales.
This paper reports on a two-year research project
initiated by the Israeli Ministry of Environmental
Protection and conducted by this author, aiming to build
a road map for the local adaptation of the ZEB concept in
Israel. Results from this research project were gathered
into an adaptation road map, composed of policy
guidelines, local ZEB definition proposals and future
research outlooks. Through the following sections, this
paper briefly introduces the feasibility analysis
methodology which was used for this research and
discusses its main findings and implications.
2. METHOD
The feasibility analysis explored the possibility of 10
typical Israeli urban typologies, to balance between PV
energy supply and energy demand in both offices and
residential uses. The yearly Load Match Index was used
as the performance metric, signifying the annual
coverage ratio between energy generation and demand
[4]. The analysis which was based on a statistical top
down approach consisted of four main parts (Fig. 1);
Figure 1: Feasibility analysis milestones
The first phase was dedicated to identifying both
urban and building case studies – The city of Petah Tikva
was chosen along with five residential and five public and
commercial building typologies within it (Fig. 2). The
second phase included a quantitative assessment of the
total operational energy demand in each of the 10
typologies, based on actual consumption data (where
available), or statistical data validated by experts.
Average energy consumption data per household was
extracted from published statistical reports, and used to
a. b. c. d. e.
a) Identifying and
characterizing case
studies
b) Energy
consumption
evaluation
c) Energy
efficiency
evaluation
e) Energy
balance
potential
evaluation
d) Energy
generation
evaluation

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estimate each building's total energy demand according
to its geometrical properties and floor area.
The next phases included a quantitative evaluation of
energy efficiency and PV generation, mostly relying on
the evaluation methods presented by Dolev et al. [5]. The
energy balance evaluation was performed for two
scenarios: moderate, reflecting existing technologies
(20% energy consumption reduction, 15% PV efficiency)
and ambitious, reflecting emerging technologies yielding
higher efficacies (40% energy consumption reduction,
25% PV efficiency). For PV generation evaluation, 30-40%
of rooftop areas and 10-15% of south facing facade areas
were considered for both of the above evaluation
scenarios respectively. The concluding part of the
feasibility study summarized the Load Match results
graphically according to the method offered by
Hermelink et al. in [2], for both operational energy
(excluding user dependent energy consumption) and
total Energy Usage Intensity (EUI). Due to the absence of
primary energy factors for Israel, the feasibility
calculations relied on Site Energy.
Figure 2: 10 different building typologies evaluated in the
feasibility analysis
Figure 3: Load Match evaluation for 10 building typologies for 3
scenarios and 2 energy consumption boundaries.
3. DISCUSSION
Results from the feasibility analysis (Fig. 3)
demonstrate large variations in the potential of different
typologies to deliver zero energy balance in the Israeli
context. In the residential sector, beyond the effect of
building compactness on the energy balance, Load Match
variations also correlate with social aspects; lower
income sectors, despite lower energy consumption, are
restricted in their ability to finance renewable energy
infrastructures without any external funding or subsidy.
The correlation between building typology,
socioeconomic status and energy balance (both
efficiency and production abilities), hence calls for a
differential energy and financial strategies tailored for
different target populations.
Results for the public and commercial sectors
showed that energy intensive buildings (shopping
centers and office buildings), will not be able to reach a
ZEB balance, even in a spread-out configuration (vast
envelope areas), not even in an ambitious energy
efficiency scenario. In contrast, buildings with low
occupancy and energy demand patterns, such as schools
or logistic centres, can relatively easily reach a zero-
energy balance, even under today’s consumption
patterns. These results indicate the potential for an
energetic synergy between building typologies, a synergy
which should be further explored on different occupancy
and energy demand and supply case studies at the
district scale.
4. CONCLUSION
The feasibility analysis proved as an effective
preliminary indicator to evaluate the potential of
integrating zero energy strategy within the diverse Israeli
urban built environment. It turn, findings from this
evaluation helped generate detailed criteria and four
different models for Zero Energy Buildings in Israel. A
future bottom up parametric study is expected to
compliment this analysis with detailed energetic
evaluation of district scale typologies and scenarios.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was funded by the Israeli Ministry of
Environmental Protection (Ref. 145-6-3) and was
conducted under Bezalel Academy for Art and Design.
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Public
1) 50’s semi-detached
2) 60’s block
3) 80’s detached
4) 90’s mid-rise
5) 2000 High-rise
6) Culture hall
7) School Bldg.
8) Office Bldg.
9) Logistic center
10) Shopping Center
Moderate scenario
Ambitious scenario
EUI
Operational energy
Common practice
EUI
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EUI
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Annual Load Match [%] for 10 typologies
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7. 8. 10.
6.
9.
Residential
Commercial

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5. Dolev, S., Segal, N., Paran, Y. C., Rosenthal, G., & Gabay, D.
(2013). Towards a Zero Carbon Israel: A Vision for Israel’s
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