Griet Verbeeck
PHL University College, Diepenbeek, Belgium
Werner Carmans
PHL University College, Diepenbeek, Belgium
Veerle Martens
PHL University College, Diepenbeek, Belgium
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/ecp110572080Published in: World Renewable Energy Congress - Sweden; 8-13 May; 2011; Linköping; Sweden
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 57:44, p. 2080-2087
Published: 2011-11-03
ISBN: 978-91-7393-070-3
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
Climate change made governments introduce energy performance regulations like the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and these regulations will be tightened in the future. However; the real performance of current low energy dwellings does not always match the theoretical expected performance and therefore lessons can be learned from the real performance of these houses for future low energy houses.
For four low energy houses; energy consumption and indoor climate have been analyzed through calculations; monitoring and occupant surveys. All houses appeared to be more energy saving in theory and practice than the current Flemish building standard; but with large differences between the houses and with still a large potential for improvement; especially the heating systems. Also the measured CO2 concentrations in winter strongly differed between the houses and the occupants’ perception of indoor air quality did not always match the measured quality. The weakest point according to the surveys was summer comfort; especially in the sleeping rooms; but this was not always confirmed by measurements and calculations. This shows that common comfort theories are not adapted to dwellings and that summer comfort should be evaluated in detail during design. These lessons should be taken into account when designing and evaluating future low energy houses.
Post-occupancy evaluation; Energy; Thermal comfort; Indoor air quality; Occupant behavior
