MODEL FOR A SUSTAINABLE HOUSE THAT INTEGRATES PASSIVE SYSTEMS THROUGH ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

References: 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2017, www.sgem.org, SGEM2017 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7408-13-3 / ISSN 1314-2704, 29 June - 5 July, 2017, Vol. 17, Issue 62, 271-278 pp, DOI: 10.5593/sgem2017/62/S26.035

ABSTRACT

Current research directions in the field of both architecture and constructions are aimed towards satisfying the user’s need in an ever-growing context that is struggling to drastically reduce energy consumption related to buildings. When designing housing units, that are always changing and evolving, it is imperative to consider developing a building envelope which seamlessly adapts to its surrounding climate conditions, so that exploiting and maintenance costs can be reduced according to the user’s financial situation, as these are crucial facts in developing an energy efficient house. This paper presents the way in which elements such as plans and volume of buildings influence the specific annual energy consumption in order to ensure an interior thermal comfort characteristic to housing units. Several building plan configurations are analyzed, determined by using a modular unit, as well as different constructive structures of the envelope’s components and exploitation of solar gains. The paper describes further on the extent to which specific annual energy consumption is influenced by these factors.

Keywords: energy efficiency, solar energy gains, building plans, building envelope.