Energy Efficient Buildings Codes

Energy efficient Buildings codes

UK Standard of Buildings fabrics

Dr Sultan Sanat Alotaibi

Outlines

• Energy efficient buildings

• Buildings Energy Efficiency Standards –UK

• Standards of Buildings Fabrics • Building Regulations.

• Code of Sustainable Homes

• Passivhaus

• Summary

• World concerns about energy demand

and carbon emission

• 32% of final total energy is consumed by

residential and commercial buildings,

and 25% of total energy- related CO2.

• Residential space heating accounts for

roughly 25% of all energy consumption

in the building sector

25%

11%

5% 3% 10%

10%

10%

5%

7%

14%

Global Energy Consumption in Buildings Sector

residentional space heating

residentioanl water heating

residentional cooling and ventilation

residentional lighting

residentional cooking

residentional appliances and other

services space heating

services water heating

services cooling and ventilation

services lighting and other

introduction

Energy efficient buildings

• An energy efficient building is a structure that successfully

incorporates into its design the environmentally responsible and

energy preserving elements.

• Energy efficient buildings usually have relatively high level of

performance when it comes to the areas of environment, the

economy, and the engineering concepts (Chlela, Husaunndee et al.

2009, Samer 2013).

Energy efficient Buildings elements

• There is no widely accepted, all-encompassing list of elements that

comprise a typical energy efficient building. However, there are a

number of common elements that are considered by the majority of

scholars

Energy efficient Buildings elements

• One classification is provided in below figure and includes six major

elements: building design, high efficient fabrics, ventilation system eco

equipment, renewable energy and air tightness.

Buildings Energy Efficiency Standards -UK

• In recent years, many developed countries have introduced

programmes directed at decreasing energy consumption and

improving carbon performance of buildings.

• In the UK which is our case study in this presentation, energy efficiency

standards for buildings were first introduced by the 1965 Building

Regulations.

Buildings regulations-UK

• The Regulations established the maximum amount of energy loss

available for new house fabrics.

• The first standard was based on U-value measurement and was set

equivalent to 1.33 W/m2K or lower.

• Several revisions of the standards have been applied, mostly directed

at reducing the required U-value.


• The most aggressive changes towards tightening of the energy

efficiency requirements came in 2006.

• they were mostly related to the new energy policy aiming at

substantial reductions in energy use and emissions in buildings: by

60% before 2050 and by 80% before 2100


Building

Element

Standard U-Values

in 1965 (W/m2K)

Standard U-Values

in 1995 (W/m2K)

Standard U-Values

in 2006 (W/m2K)

Standard U-Values

in 2014* (W/m2K)

Wall 1.7 0.45 0.35 0.3

Roof 1.4 0.25 0.25 0.2

Floor - 0.45 0.25 0.25

Window - 3.3 2.0 2.0

Code of Sustainable Homes (CSH)

• Besides the compulsory prescriptions by the Building Regulations,

several voluntary standards for buildings are applied in the UK. The

Code for Sustainable Homes 2006 is the primary recommending

framework for environmental and energy sustainability of buildings.


• The Code includes nine areas where corresponding practices can be carried out:

• Energy and CO2: the required operating energy and the level of emissions;

• Water: saving measures for both internal and external water sources;

• Surface water run-off: management of possible water runoffs and flood risks;

• Materials: the presence of eco-friendly and sustainable materials in home

construction;

• Waste: recyclable waste storage;


• Pollution: the contribution of heating or cooling systems and insulation materials

to global warming;

• Ecology: effect on ecologic conditions of the area where building is constructed;

• Health: contribution to wellbeing of the tenants, including provision of good

quality daylight, audio insulation, sufficient private space, ease of accessibility

and adaptability;

• Management: security and maintenance of the building to avoid possible risks.

• In general, both prescriptive and voluntary standards for buildings in the UK

dictate the development of higher standards for thermal insulation and,

consequently, search for novel ways to reduce energy consumption in

buildings.

• Notably, while the CSH was initially developed as a non-mandatory set of

rules, its certain provisions are finding way into the obligatory legislation.

• Figure below shows how certain provisions for energy efficiency and CO2

emissions in the Code are becoming mandatory over time.

As the Figure demonstrates, the government’s goal is to implement Level 6 as a mandatory

practice for all new buildings in 2016. This compulsory heat loss parameter standard is

quite high, which places a lot of burden and expectation demands on the building

envelope in the form of insulation as well as glazing and shading.

Level 3

Example of buildings applying Level6 of CSH

Passivhaus

• The Code for Sustainable Homes is closely related to another informal initiative

for energy savings in buildings, which is known as PassivHaus.

• PassivHaus is a set of prescriptive non-mandatory regulations for buildings in

terms of emissions and energy consumption.

• The concept was proposed by a Swedish-German duo of scientists Bo Adamson

and Wolfgang Heist with the first projects emerging in the 1990s.

Passivhaus

• A typical PassivHaus project considers such factors as passive solar design

and landscape, super-insulation, advanced window technology, airtightness,

state-of-the-art ventilation systems, novel space heating and lighting and

electrical appliances.

• buildings constructed under PassivHaus standards are estimated at 8-10%

more expensive than regular homes, although these costs are easily covered

in the long term due to energy savings.

• Thermogramme of a PassiveHaus building in comparison to a regular

buildings to show the differences in heat losses. In the UK,

Passivhaus

CSH VS Passivhaus Building element CSH level 1/2 CSH level 3 CSH level4 CSH level 5/6 Passivhaus

External wall, U-value (W/m2K) 0.3 0.26 0.2 0.1 ≤0.15

Floor, U-value (W/m2K) 0.22 0.19 0.14 0.1 ≤0.15

Roof, U-value (W/m2K) 0.22 0.19 0.14 0.1 ≤0.15

Windows, glazed doors, U-value

(W/m2K)

2 1.6 1.2 0.8 ≤0.8

Air permeability at test pressure

difference at 50Pa, m3/(m2h)

3 1 ≤0.6

Summary • This presentation mentioned to the low energy buildings and energy efficiency

standards in UK. Building envelope (fabrics) plays an important role to control

indoor environments, which will reduce the energy consumption and improve the

level of comfort for its users.

• Improving performance buildings fabrics is the first step to meet the regulations

and standards of efficient buildings.

• Reducing the heat loss through fabrics by using high performance of insulation

materials will have a direct effect on energy usage in a building. 35 % of heat

escapes through walls.

Thank you

Energy Efficient Buildings Codes

Engineering