Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Glasgow School of Art
Design issues for Net Zero-energy Buildings
The article appears in a special issue of Open House guest edited by Noguchi on the notion of mass customisation. This issue was developed in collaboration with ZEMCH Network and IEA SHC/ECBCS Task 40/Annex 52 international experts with the aim to solidify today's diverse expertise in the realm as elicited research paradigms for further exploration and delivery of the homes that meet the wants and needs of individuals and society. Noguchi also contributed to another article in the same collection, Measured Home Environment and Energy Consumption Compared to Accepted Standards‚ with Altan et al.
In the submitted article, Noguchi and his collaborators discuss how Net Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs) have received increased attention in recent years as a result of constant concerns about energy supply constraints, decreasing energy resources, increasing energy costs and the rising impact of greenhouse gases on world climate. They discuss the European political strategy following the publication of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive recast in May 2010 by the European Parliament and Council and warn that designing successful NZEBs represents a challenge because the definitions are generic while assessment methods and monitoring approaches remain under development. The literature is relatively scarce about the best sets of solutions for different typologies and climates likely to deliver an actual and reliable performance in terms of energy balance (consumed vs generated) on a cost-effective basis. The authors of this paper, who are participants in the IEA SHC Task 40-ECBCS Annex 52, "Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings", share insights from research work on best practice leading NZEB residential buildings. They suggest that it is possible to achieve zero-energy performance using well-known strategies adjusted so as to balance climate driven demand for space heating/cooling, lighting, ventilation and other energy uses with climate-driven supply from renewable energy resources.
