Currently, the only available methods are based on Time Lag and Decrement Factors. I was wondering if there are any new novel methods for studying the performance of the building envelope which are not based on Time Lag and Decrement Factors?
Yes we call it benchmarking calculate the kWh/m2/year and compare its performance with other buildings in its class we benchmark for approximately 10%!of retail owners in Central Europe
Yes we call it benchmarking calculate the kWh/m2/year and compare its performance with other buildings in its class we benchmark for approximately 10%!of retail owners in Central Europe
Nallaval air-tightness is the biggest problem with facade and envelopes you might like to read our article on air-tightness http://www.solideagroup.eu/buildings-dont-need-to-breathe-only-people-do
The energy meter never lies so in the commercial world this is where we start
Once we identify the benchmark difference we start looking for the defects
EVE stage ONE we deploy building surveyors who understand building performance its critical to understand building management practices for example 1 degree less cooling in summer saves 6% total energy in the average shopping centre. Running the mall at 26% then instead of maintaining the design temperature is what we call energy starvation
We deploy UV meters to test the back ground heat gain and estimate the shadeing savings on average we can save around 20% on City Shopping Centres with large glass canopies you need to build many millions of Euros of PV Farms to offset the energy savings we can achieve simply by temporary shade covering over a glass roof at midday
EVE stage ONE we currently deploy FLIR E50 to look for insulation defects, actually most buildings are over insulated which means finding air-tightness issues easier. Air tightness is far more important than insulation if you know your onions like us you would encourage the removal of much insulation in some climates to save energy.
After defects rectification and prove a point we use Blower Door Test this equipment measure air tightness efficiency we can manage up to 500,000m2 accurately
Moving on to stage TWO we work with building management firms obviously most buildings are already there so we work with what we have rather than the inventors of new products. You can buy a smart meter for less than 100 Euro in China but what is the use unless you have the data centre and brand name to back up
EVE Stage TWO takes at least one year to collect real data and develop energy planning and save much more energy. Stage TWO is critical to multi tennanted buildings like retail shopping centres because they contribute to shared community spaces dropping from HID to LED in future demonstrates 27% less load on the cooling - as retail is almost always non peak traffic this means live loads are HID not people. EVE Stage TWO then is critical because if not everybody changes to LED some will contribute to the heat loads of others and there will be a leased community war. Operators cannot ignore this fact because otherwise retailers will only upgrade flagship stores - it forms a new level of competition one that moves away from design glitz and towards performance and true value
Once Stage ONE and TWO are satisfactory its time to introduce LED and other costs savings, we already demonstrate that throwing a cloth over the skylight save as much as LED thing is that its far less cost.
Our clients rarely get past Stage THREE but we are designing offset for Stage FOUR PV parking roofs and especially waste to energy. But the fact is we can save more for our planet and almost for free than we can make right now with energy devices
We have studied many software and analysis in the past none of which produce results - as a famous French Engineer once wrote - if architects spent more time in their buildings after construction there would be far better buildings, more happy tenants and landlords as well as far more successful architects.
We rolled out EVE for commercial companies, small Island Nations and we hope soon to be appointed at a National level [for a whole Nation] its a simple way of working which everyone can be part of its free!