Paper Conference

Proceedings of eSim 2018: 10th Conference of IBPSA-Canada

     

The energy efficiency improvement of a building in order to achieve a building with net zero consumption

Alexandra Charles, Wahid Maref, Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon

Abstract: This paper focuses on the retrofit of a building to become a net-zero energy building. It needs less energy and the energy is supplied by a renewable energy production near the building. The studied building is located in Vancouver (BC). The study shows that the airtightness and the insulation of the building envelope are the most important parameters in energy saving. It has been found that with a new air-saving cycle based on the enthalpy of the air makes, we can reduce the energy consumption. All these measures allow a 45% reduction in energy consumption and the remaining energy requirements are met by photovoltaic panels and an air-solar collector. The return on investment (ROI) of such a project is about 14.4 years. The study shows as well that the same energy retrofits in Montreal (QC) is not profitable. This is due in part to lower energy prices in Quebec. Changing gas heating to electric heating is more realistic.
Keywords: Energy Retrofit, Building envelope, Net-Zero, Airtightness, Insulation
Pages: 302 - 311
Paper:
esim2018_1-4-B-4