ROBUSTNESS STUDY OF A FLEXIBLE ZERO-ENERGY HOUSE
MARC DELGHUST1a,2, JELLE LAVERGE1a, ARNOLD JANSSENS1a, MICHEL DE PAEPE1b, STEVEN VAN DESSEL1a
1 Ghent University, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture
1a Department of Architecture & Urban Planning (Research group ‘Building Physics, Construction and Climate Control)
1b Department of Heat, Flow and Combustion Mechanics
2 Ph.D.-fellowship of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) & the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO)
ABSTRACT
The U.S. Department of Energy launched the 5th Solar-Decathlon-competition, defying student teams from all over the world to conceive a house powered exclusively by the sun. Team Belgium, of Ghent University, conceived the E-Cube, a modular and flexible house, that could be adapted depending on the inhabitants, the building site and the climate. This paper focuses on that last aspect: the robustness and flexibility of the energy concept and the design, depending on the climate it is built in. Different climates are selected for the analyses, reaching from climates with extreme winters (Canada: Saskatoon) to arid climates (US: Las Vegas), through milder climates (Belgium: Ukkel and US: Washington D.C.). To cover both locally (Belgian) and internationally used energy-assessment procedures both the Flemish EPB-software as well as the PHPP-software are used. Furthermore, dynamic simulations in Trnsys are carried out to obtain more detailed and accurate feedback on the buildings’ dynamic thermal response. Through simulations with these three calculation methods, energy robustness is tested and alternative solutions for the building envelope are proposed, adapting the building to its boundary conditions. This paper presents the results from this study, analyzing the differences due to the climate, the calculation method and the design options.
