Final Report Summary - HERB (Holistic energy-efficient retrofitting of residential buildings)
Executive Summary:
The overall objective of the Herb project is to develop energy efficient technologies and holistic solutions for retrofitting residential buildings and to demonstrate how existing residential buildings can be refurbished up to at least the latest national standards for new residential buildings.
The specific objectives for the first Reporting Period are as follows:
1. Develop computer models for optimisation of components for each technology and solution and optimise each and combination of different technologies and solutions for retrofitting different types of residential building.
2. Develop a computer model for dynamic simulation of energy demand and supply of residential buildings.
3. Develop a computer model for simulation of the indoor environment in residential buildings.
4. Develop a control strategy for optimum operation of technologies and solutions.
5. Model the socio-economic aspects of retrofitting of residential buildings.
6. Develop technologies for energy efficient envelope retrofitting such as aerogel, starch microporous insulation, and vacuum insulated panels, phase change materials, multi-functional facades, integrated heat recovery panels, smart windows and surface coatings.
7. Develop solutions for energy efficient lighting such as LED and light pipes.
8. Develop solutions for energy efficient HVAC including natural ventilation, passive heating/cooling and heat pump integrated with heat recovery and thermal storage.
9. Develop strategies for optimum integration of renewable energy systems from solar thermal, photovoltaics to ground source heat pumps.
10. Test the performance of the technologies and solutions under laboratory controlled conditions.
11. Measure building energy use before retrofitting.
Project Context and Objectives:
The HERB project was established on the basis of two main aims. Firstly, to develop and apply a new methodological approach to retrofit of domestic buildings based on acquisition, assessment, and utilisation of physical data monitored from buildings to identify the most suitable solution. These aims were postulated on the basis of key challenges facing the EU housing stock. Although building new homes to the demanding energy efficiency regulations in Europe is clearly essential for reducing energy consumption and hence global warming, the benefits will accrue slowly as several decades will be required before such houses form a significant proportion of the housing stock. The major technical challenge is retrofitting existing, energy-inefficient homes, to meet 21st century standards within the constraints enforced by structures built in the 19th and 20th centuries. Homes must be created that people want to live in and can afford, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Key to achieving this goal is understanding how best to select and integrate various technologies from the many available, to optimise performance for different building types, climates and socio-economic conditions. On this basis, a truly holistic approach was to be developed over the 3.5 year period via utilisation of the extensive range of expertise and interests of the consortium members assembled.
The project involved the development and demonstration of energy efficient innovative technologies and holistic solutions for retrofitting and performance monitoring of residential buildings. Solutions chosen for development and retrofitting included technologies such as:
1. Various types of insulation material for envelope such as Aerobel/aerogel, starch micro-porous insulation, vacuum insulated panels, phase change materials, multi-functional facades, integrated heat recovery panel system, smart windows and surface coatings;
2. High performance lighting systems such as LED and light pipes;
3. Energy efficient HVAC systems such as natural ventilation, passive heating/cooling and heat pump integrated with heat recovery and thermal storage; and
4. Building integrated renewable energy systems from solar thermal, photovoltaics to ground source heat pumps.
The impact of the solutions was to be demonstrated through performance monitoring of a number of retrofitted residential buildings in several EU countries. The types of building chosen included detached or terraced buildings, and flats; these were to represent the different ages and types of inefficient construction in terms of energy demand. Features of these included: solid walls, single glazing and poorly insulated roofs and floors, inefficient lighting, heating/cooling and ventilation systems.
Examination of the holistic approached was analyzed in relation to its impact in delivering: deep cuts in energy use and carbon emissions, high levels of comfort, and attractive costs. Rather than using individual technologies, each integrated whole dwelling solution was optimized to address all the aspects of the dwelling that could be used to reduce the heat losses through the building envelope, and minimize energy use for artificial lighting and fresh air supply. The buildings were retrofitted to at least the latest national building standards aiming to reduce energy use for space heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting by 75% or 100% (zero energy building) where feasible. The type and number of technology and solutions deployed was optimised using a life cycle energy analysis for each type of building. Overall, it was estimated that the combination of the above innovations would lead to the following (for poorly insulated existing buildings with most cost-effective solutions):
• A cumulative annual energy savings of at least 80% measured against building performance before retrofit;
• At least a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions;
• A global energy consumption (excluding appliances) of 50 kWh/m²/year while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofit;
• At least 80% energy saving for lighting over the average consumption of the installed base;
• User acceptability and long term continued efficient operation;
• A pay-back period of between two and five years compared to current state of the art, depending on the type of technology and solution.
To achieve the aims given the project set out specific scientific and technical objectives, these including development of:
1. Computer models for optimisation of components for each technology and solution in retrofitting different types of residential building;
2. Computer models for dynamic simulation of energy demand and supply of residential buildings;
3. Simulation models for the indoor environment in residential buildings;
4. A control strategy for optimum operation of technologies and solutions;
5. Models for the socio-economic aspects of retrofitting of residential buildings.
6. Solutions for building envelope retrofitting including: aerogel, starch micro-porous insulation, vacuum insulated panels, phase change materials, multi-functional facades, integrated heat recovery panels, smart windows and surface coatings;
7. Solutions for energy efficient lighting such as LED and light pipes;
8. Solutions for energy efficient HVAC including natural ventilation, passive heating/cooling and heat pump integrated with heat recovery, and thermal storage;
9. Strategies for optimum integration of renewable energy systems from solar- thermal or photovoltaics, and ground source heat pumps;
10. Tests for the performance of the technologies and solutions under laboratory controlled conditions;
11. Methodologies for building energy use monitoring prior retrofitting;
12. Methodologies for monitoring the performance of each technology-solution independently and holistically when combined with other solutions in terms of building energy use and occupant comfort for 12 months post retrofit;
13. Methodologies for the coordination research activities from scientific/technological, financial and any related administrative aspects;
14. Plans for the running of public engagement events to demonstrate the technologies, solutions and retrofitted buildings; and
15. Plans for dissemination and exploitation of research results.
Project Results:
Description of main S & T results/foregrounds
Work Package 1 - Computer modelling of the performance of technologies, solutions and buildings as well as socio-economic analysis
This phase involved development of computer models for optimisation of components for each innovation investigated, together with economic analysis for optimisation of different combinations technologies in retrofitting various domestic building types. The innovations chosen included: Super-insulation technologies, Phase change material energy storage, multi-functional facades, smart windows, integrated heat recovery systems, LED light pipes incorporating natural ventilation, heat pump heat recovery and storage systems, solar thermal and photovoltaics combinations, and ground source heat pumps.
Various building types for retrofit were assessed including houses and flats of different ages. Dynamic condition simulations analysing energy demand and indoor environment conditions in residential buildings were developed. Additionally a control strategy together was developed in order to optimise the operation of the technologies and solutions for the buildings. Digital social, environmental and economic tools were built to assess the performance of the technologies when holistically retrofitted into buildings, these providing indices describing energy performance and socio-economic impacts.
Completion of these objectives was achieved via a set of tasks and associated deliverable. These are listed as follows with descriptions on the project output results for each partner associated.
Task 1.1 - Development of computer models for optimisation of components for the innovations and optimisation.
Each innovation was dealt with by one or more participants who had expertise in the related field. These were designed to be installed in various types of residential building during retrofit, including: detached or terraced houses, and flats of different ages. The properties of these were to be used in the design-development process, as they included different types of inefficient construction such as solid walls, single glazing and poorly insulated roofs and basement floors, inefficient lighting, heating/cooling and ventilation. The models incorporated life cycle analysis for optimisation. The first project deliverables would then be completed via completion of this task by each partner, these being: D1.1 - Computer models of various elements for technologies, solutions and buildings; and, D1.2 - Results of technology/solution optimisation.
Each partner was responsible for sub-tasks and corresponding contributions to this deliverable. Descriptions of these are as follows:
UNOTT
UNOTT was to develop models for optimisation of super insulation innovations in aerogel and vacuum insulated panel technologies. These were to be analysed for three modes of heat transfer, i.e. conduction, convection and radiation. This was achieved for both super insulation types, most notably in relation to VIPs, where models were developed for optimisation of both wrapping film and core components. Contributions were made to D1.1 based on these outputs and a series of publications have been planned with the industrial partner Kingspan Insulation (KIN).
UNIBO
UNIBO was to develop a model for innovative heat pumps with thermal storage and GSHP. The model, was to evaluate the long term performance of the system (up to 50 years) and take into account the effects of the thermal interference between ground heat exchangers, of groundwater movement, of the convection, radiation and evaporation heat transfer above ground, and of the energy transfer within the system from the heat source to sink.
Two MATLAB simulation codes for air-to-water heat pumps with thermal storage have been developed: one for winter operation, and one for summer operation with recovery of condensation heat. The code for winter operation has been applied to analyse the effects of the heat-pump sizing, of the thermal storage volume and of the inverter on the seasonal COP. Both codes have been applied to determine the optimal sizing of the air-to-water heat pump to be installed in the Italian HERB building and to determine the yearly use of electric energy for heating, cooling, dehumidifying and DHW production. Analytical expressions of g-functions, suitable for long-term hourly simulations of ground-coupled heat pump systems, have been determined. A complete hourly simulation code for ground-coupled heat pump systems has been developed and has been recently applied to analyse the effects of the total length of the ground heat exchangers and of the inverter on the mean seasonal COP and on the mean seasonal EER.
SUAS
SUAS was to develop a model for optimisation of building integrated renewable (solar) energy systems, i.e. solar thermal and PV. The model was to not only involve heat transfer through the components but also through the systems. The characteristics of the PV cells were to be modelled using parameters including solar light intensity and wind speed.
The by SUAS in D 1.1 presented simulation approach is used to explain the performance behaviour of solar thermal and PV systems as well as auxiliary heating under real conditions. The developed models were used for energetic analysis of HERB Demo-buildings and finally should help designers as well as researchers to predict the operation characteristics of solar based renewable energy systems in retrofitting scenarios. The developed integration simulation model can be used as a tool in order to deal with the multivariable interacting processes (electricity generation, heat generation, heat storage and distribution), multiple conflicting objectives and constrains which are the main problem related to efficient process control in case of renewable technologies and system design. The modular approach enables the further integration of mathematical models which can be used for model based optimisation of control strategies on an extended level. The work carried out by SUAS in WP 1 can be subdivided in two sections.
Thermal models: In Task 1.1 SUAS developed a number of mathematical models for heat supply for buildings, such as thermal solar collector, biomass furnace, stratified heat store and heat sink and combined the other ways isolated models in a system integration interface. The implementation was done in Insel, a simulation platform developed at the University of Applied Science-Stuttgart, SUAS. In order to make the mathematical models available to the other HERB-Partners these models are also implemented in MatLab-Simulink for integration in other simulation Software such as e.g. TRNSYS.
Photovoltaic Models: In WP 1.1 SUAS developed an improved PV-model and extended the model by the introduction of further application fields. Whereas the basic model covers free standing PV-fields with ambient temperature on the surface and on the backside of the panels regarded to be the same, the extended PV model also covers façade integrated PV-systems with ambient wind speed at the surface, air flow at the backside either generated by natural or forced convection and considering backside temperatures differing from ambient temperature. The PV-models were implemented in analogy to the thermal systems in the overall energy supply interface described above and connected to electricity demand results from EnergyPlus for a given building in order to e.g. define the ratio between self-use of produced electricity and electricity fed to the grid.
UOA
UOA was to develop a model for optimisation energy efficient lighting design. This was to take into account not only solar radiation and light transmission but also convection and evaporation heat transfer for light pipes, with their integration with ventilation, evaporative cooling or artificial lighting (LED). This was achieved and the artificial lighting was finally chosen as the additional operation, as this would make the technology an independent lighting system, that could provide low energy lighting, under any exterior conditions.
After extensive testing of the state of the art scientific methodologies and various simulation algorithms, the final model developed by UoA was able to optimise and calculate the performance of a lighting system, including light pipe and artificial lighting (LED), controlled by smart controls. The inputs that are required are related to the room layout and material properties (width, length, reflectances, etc), the type and the number of the light pipes used (reflectance of tube, diameter, etc), the natural lighting sources (existence of windows) and the location of the room/ building (exterior illuminance/ radiation).The outputs are the average illuminance on the working plane and the wattage of the required LEDs, in order to achieve the desired lighting levels. The model was developed as a simple Excel file, so that it could easily be used by all interested parties (engineers, property owners, developers, etc). The model also enables the calculation of the energy savings achieved by the use of the proposed lighting system, compared to more conventional ones. All related information can be found in WP1 deliverables.
HEIG
HEIG were to develop models for optimisation of: smart window technology and self-cleaning external wall surface coatings. These were to incorporate: heat transfer, light transmission, and photocatalytic processes. Computational fluid dynamics was to be used to simulate the air/rainwater flow over the wall surfaces, with this forming part of a model to predict the photochemical processes and cleaning efficiency of the photocatalytic reaction. They would combine a number of sub-models dealing with material, air, mass and radiation balances, these including: (a) a light absorption and scattering model; (b) a fluid-dynamic model; (c) adsorption and diffusion models for the substrates involved; and (d) a kinetic model of the photocatalytic process. Variables for optimisation were to include those that affect the photochemical processes such as thermal radiation intensity, coating thickness, methods of coating. Additionally analysis into the influence the effective contact between the pollutants and the photo-chemically active surface was to be done. For the smart window technology HEIG developed a computer model in COMSOL Multiphysics finite element method (FEM) software in order to optimize the vacuum tube geometry of the window. The model calculates the thermal resistance thus giving the U-value of the window. The better performing single tube structure was chosen to a further study in WP2.
For the self-cleaning external wall coatings a heat and moisture modeling (HAM) was made with WUFI software in order to predict the water runoff layer thickness and the film velocity on a porous wall surface as a function of the rainfall. The effect of the thickness of the self-cleaning coating was also included in the model. In addition, a MATLAB runoff model for a non-porous glass surface was developed. In addition, the dust particle-wall interaction was analysed and particle detachment model was established. At the microscale, our simulation results demonstrate that under high relative humidity (>50%), the deposited dust at different sizes on the superhydrophilic wall surface can be easily detached by the runoff during rain with the assumption of very low friction coefficient. Therefore, the self-cleaning effect is not efficient for sticky dust particles.
ONYX
ONYX was to develop a model for optimisation of transparent multifunctional facade technology. The model was to include all modes of heat transfer, fluid flow and light transmission. In order to achieve it, several output parameters that influence building thermal behaviour were analyzed as a function of input parameters: façade dimensions, external temperature, radiation level and PV glass transparency. For this purpose, Fluent software was used.
In addition, optical properties of transparent PV façade combined with other glazing envelopes are of interest since luminance and internal heating point of view. For this purpose, a model to calculate final optical properties was implemented in excel in order to get parameters like light transparency, solar transparency, reflectance, g-value or shading coefficient
ITS
ITS was to develop models for optimisation of integrated heat recovery panels and energy efficient HVAC. These were to include all air flow and heat transfer and exchange in the channels within the panel and its surroundings.
PPL
PPL were to develop a model for optimisation of the structure and composite of a Phase Change Material, these including not only the basic heat transfer modes between the material and surroundings, but also solidification and melting processes for different properties of PCM material and thermal conducting structure.
The model that was developed for the HERB project with respect to heat transfer inside PCMs has been presented and demonstrated within the Task 1.1 report. The heat transfer modes that will be relevant to all applications were incorporated into this model. Overall, it has been shown that in order for the PCM to be effective, a number of items should be emphasized as PCMs naturally have very low thermal conductivities. Firstly, the temperature difference between the transfer medium and the PCM should be as high as possible. Secondly the rate of flow over the PCM should be controlled to optimise the heat transfer rate. Finally the area over which heat transfer occurs in the given system should be maximised. Overall the model was successful in analysing heat transfer in PCMs under the stipulations specified in the project document.
KIN
KIN were to develop a model for optimisation of the starch micro-porous insulation material for a composite VIP/PCM design. The model for the fabrication process was to include not only the basic heat transfer modes but also crystallisation/melting, taking account of relevant properties of microporous polysaccharide, notably pore size distribution and thermal conductivity for both simple and composite structures. Also a model for composite walls were to be developed, these including: composites of PCM and VIPs.
Task 1.2: Development of a computer model for dynamic simulation of energy demand and supply of residential buildings
Computer modelling was carried out to quantify the energy demand and supply for the demonstration buildings identified. Results were then used in the determination of technologies and solutions for retrofitting, and the design of operating control and the development of a control strategy for optimum operation in work package 3.
The industrial partner TNO was tasked with the design of the overall system of analysis used, in consultation with the partners planning demonstration house retrofits in work package 3, including: UNOTT, HEIG, UNIBO, ONYX, SUAS, and UOA. An overall strategy was devised post a consultation period, this implemented for a series of test cases in the delivery of the associated deliverable: D1.3 - Results of dynamic simulation of building energy demand. The designed methodology acted as a central base that contributions from other deliverables including D1.1 and D1.4 (See below) could be drawn from. Additionally the software used for energy analysis was not dependent on the use of one specified piece of simulation software. Partners across the consortium thus used their preferred software packages when implementing the D1.3 methodology in retrofit planning phase in work package 3; examples including: DesignBuilder, TRNSYS, EDSL TAS, and IES VE.
Task 1.3: Development of a computer model for simulation of the indoor environment in residential buildings
An indoor environmental quality modelling methodology was designed by UNOTT for a building pre- and post-retrofit, with this based on climatic and occupancy conditions from D1.3 outputs. Results were to be compared with occupants’ pre- and post-retrofit satisfaction surveys to supplement the assessment process in work package 7, this methodology being designed via consultation of UNOTT with LV. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, FLUENT, was used to investigate air flow, heat, and contaminant movement in buildings. Additionally, building daylight quality conditions were investigated. On completion the model was to be implemented in the planning phase in work package 3 using boundary conditions unique with the project case studies. The output from this task was then used to complete the deliverable: D1.4 - Results of microclimate modelling.
The approached UNOTT undertook in completion of this deliverable was based on comparison of outputs from a simplified model (implemented using an integrated CFD tool in the DesignBuilder building simulation software) with a more complex model based on models designed in fluent. Comparison of outputs from these models had variable results and it was deemed more time would be required to develop the models to a sufficient level of detail. The labour and skill investment required to achieve this was deemed impractical in relation to its integration into the envisioned holistic modelling system, as designed by TNO in D1.3. Comparison with monitored data from work package 4 would validate any models done, and at the time of submission of D1.4 the process designed was still in its development phase. A publication comparing the outputs from the models with the monitored internal environmental data measured in the HERB demonstration buildings is planned post completion of the project, with contributions from the other partners planned, these including: LHA, TNO, HEIG, UNIBO, ONYX, SUAS, and UOA.
Task 1.4: Development of a control strategy
A generic control strategy was developed via collaboration of TNO and COMPX optimising the operation of the technologies, solutions and building performance, with smart metering used to measure and minimise energy consumption. The implementation of this strategy was done via assessment of the outputs from the building simulation models completed for D1.3 for all demonstration houses; this being in collaboration with: LHA, HEIG, UNIBO, ONYX, SUAS, and UOA. An innovation was then to be designed and built around this strategy by TNO in work package 2. Completion of this tasks was used for the submission used for the deliverable D1.5 - A control strategy for optimum operation of technologies and solutions.
The advantages that implementation of the strategy had on energy consumption were dependant on the type of building and technologies used in its retrofit. In some cases this proved to be minor, and existing commercially available systems were advised for install over the HERB innovation, these including: the UK, Portugal, Italy, and Greece. Others incorporated more ambitious system designs that were deemed to be suitable test bases for implementation, these including: The Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain. Publication and dissemination of this strategy was done by TNO at an international conference organised by partners of UNOTT.
Task 1.5: Modelling and analysis of the socio-economic aspects of retrofitting of residential buildings
An Excel based tool for analysing the social, environmental and economic benefits of retrofitting using the innovative solutions was developed by LV, via collaboration with partners: UNOTT, UNIBO, UOA, HEIG, ONYX and TNO. The model was designed to be used to assess the overall performance of the technologies, solutions and retrofitted buildings. Its outputs included indices describing energy performance balanced against investment, this data being used to calculate the payback periods, life cycle cost, etc., taking into account forecasted inflation and discount rates and energy prices. The potential reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in implementing proposed retrofit strategies was calculated. Additionally, a methodology for assessment of qualitative social acceptability of the retrofit strategies was done via development of surveys to be used in questionnaires and interviews with the building occupants.
LV was to develop a computer model for analysing the social, environmental and economic benefits of retrofitting using the innovative technologies and solutions. The model was then to be used by participants involved in monitoring the performance of retrofitted buildings. This was achieved by the development of the HERB Toolkit: Socio-Economic Modelling and Analysis, which is a socio-economic model primarily targeted at measuring the economic efficiency of residential buildings retrofitting using HERB innovative technologies and solutions. The socio-economic model was built on a life cycle cost basis and structured to answer the questions of what type and quantity of technology will be deployed, what is the respective amount of energy and CO2 savings, which investments are required and how cost-effective they are. The model calculates the payback period, life cycle cost, and takes into account inflation and discount rates and energy prices. The model was used by the relevant participants involved in the retrofitted dwellings monitoring.
The completion of this tool was done and provided for the consortiums submission for the deliverable D1.18 - Results of socio-economic investigation. Its structure was built via the inclusion of proven calculation methodologies that were provided variables from data bases, these built using contributions from HERB partners tasked with development of technologies in D1.1 and those tasked with the retrofit of the twelve demonstration buildings in work package 3. Example data contributions included: national average costs of energy provided, technology installation costs, details relating to subsidies provided for technologies (i.e. energy feed-in tariffs, etc.), and outputs from building simulation models. The utilisation of the calculation model formed the basis of the retrofit economic assessment used in deliverable submissions in work package 3. Joint publications relating to the holistic assessment of the demonstration houses are planned post completion of the HERB project, once all post-retrofit monitoring data has been acquired. These will be done via the HERB academic partners: UNOTT, HEIG, UNIBO, and UOA.
Work Package 2 - Development and testing of technologies and solutions for retrofitting
This phase involved the physical construction of the technologies optimised for retrofitting in work package 1, with the purpose of testing under controlled conditions prior retrofit installation in work package 3.
Tasks: 2.1 - Development of innovative technologies and solutions; and, 2.2 - Testing of innovative technologies and solutions
The components and technologies were constructed and optimised through laboratory testing in this task, for retrofitting of different types of building in work package 3. The development was undertaken by consortium participants tasked with developing the associated models in work package 1. Where suitable this involved collaboration between participants, with outputs from this process used as the basis to produce the deliverable documents for D2.7 - Technologies and solutions developed for retrofitting; D2.8 - Results of laboratory testing of technologies and solutions; and, D2.9 - Technologies and solutions ready for retrofitting.
Each partner was responsible for sub-tasks and corresponding contributions to this deliverable. Descriptions of these are as follows:
UNOTT and KIN
UNOTT set out to develop a series of novel super insulation materials via collaboration with the manufacturing partner KIN. The first was based on the use of a recently developed nano-organic material to be used to form a new type of aerogel material. The purpose of this being the resolution of manufacturing weaknesses that lead to the high cost of commercially available nano-inorganic aerogels. This was then tested as a core material substitute in vacuum insulated panel technology to assess its impact. In addition processes to cover/coat the new aerogel with a polymer elastomers were assessed; this being done to maintain the advantages of aerogel while avoiding known drawbacks in terms of: handling, dust and safety. The manufacture of VIPs using a “chemical getter” was also investigated by UNOTT and KIN on the basis of chemically bolstering the imposed vacuum in manufacture. A concept of stainless steel coated VIPs capable of withstanding high external pressures was also investigated, on the basis of protection against the technologies inherent fragility. Finally, the combination of phase change material (PCM) technology with VIPs was investigated, with respect to their potential impact in controlling overheating in internal insulation applications.
The university successfully achieved the development of the nano-organic aerogel material via use of prescription grade cellulose. This involved chemically treating the material through an acid hydrolysis process, and separation of the particles via centrifugation chamber. This produced a raw-form powder which was then compressed into a rigid aerogel panel. Under thermal testing the panel exhibited a steady state thermal conductivity between 35 and 40 mW/m.K this comparable to conventional commercial insulations’ performance. Considering the costs of manufacture exceeded those of commercial insulations by a factor of fifteen, this was not a favourable outcome; however, there were potential at additional reduction, should further research be undertaken. Additionally, reductions in the thermal conductivity could be possible, considering the manufacture process was relatively crude. It is expected the recorded conductivity was caused by compression of the nano-structures in the insulation’s physical structure.
More favourable results were recorded when the nano-cellulose was substituted for fumed silica in the core material of commercial VIPs. The recorded thermal conductivity of tests of these panels was recorded at 10.4 mW/m.K – this being below the 14mW/m.K target. The current manufacture cost for the material is ~£150 / m2, using the technique employed in the HERB project. Research identified methods to reduce this value down to ~£85 / m2; however, in order for the material to be commercially viable the cost must not exceed £50 / m2. KIN and UNOTT are currently in discussions on identifying methods to achieve this and related IP sharing, and based on the outcomes of the HERB work future industry collaboration projects will occur. Additionally, a series of articles will be published in conjunction with this work, these being delayed at this time based on the sensitivity of the content.
The remaining concepts including: aerogel coating, stainless steel protection coating for VIPs, and installation of surface based PCMs on VIPs were tested to a satisfactory level. In all cases the benefits achieved were not favourable compared to the investment required for development. At this time recommendations have been made on what steps are required for this, however, it is unlikely that these technologies will not exceed the research curiosity stage. Data acquired in the testing of these systems will be used in future publications planned by UNOTT.
UNIBO and COBO
UNIBO were to develop heat pump innovations most notably with respect to ground source, via research that optimised the efficiency through integration with thermal storage. The initial concept was to make use of a stable ground thermal source using waste heat from exhaust air or waste water. This was to be coupled with low heating sink systems such as underfloor heating and / or high cooling sink systems such as chilled ceiling.
UNIBO and Galletti SpA, an Italian company producing heat pumps and hydronic terminals, optimized and tested the new air-to-water heat pump GALLETTI Hiwarm HWMC010, to be applied to the energy retrofitting of the HERB building in Bologna. The heat pump provides both heating/cooling/dehumidifying and DHW. The optimal sizing of the heat pump, with respect to the energy needs of the building, was performed by employing a MATLAB simulation code developed by UNIBO in the framework of WP1. A second MATLAB code, developed to simulate the summer operation with recovery of condensation heat for DHW, was then employed to determine the heat pump use of electric energy during the cooling season. In order to couple the heat pump to the building, an innovative hydronic terminal was developed, in cooperation with GALLETTI SpA. This was obtained as enhancement of the 2x1 fan coil system produced by GALLETTI, which, in heating mode, can work both in forced and in natural convection. The existing fan coil was endowed with a new, high efficient, electric motor and with an enhanced finned heat exchanger for free-convection heating. Experimental tests performed in cooperation with Galletti showed a 30% increase of the heating power in free convection mode. The new electric motor has a very low use of electricity and is very silent. The new 2x1 fan coil system developed seems suitable to be employed in connection with air-to-water or ground-coupled heat pumps for the energy retrofitting of residential buildings previously heated by gas boilers and radiators. In fact, the replacement of traditional radiators with other efficient hydronic terminals, such as floor or ceiling radiant panels, would be too expensive.
SUAS
SUAS were to develop novel solar thermal and PV systems for building integration. Advanced evacuated tube solar collectors were investigated where the absorber was to be treated with a selective TiO2 coating. This action would maximise the solar energy absorbed and minimise heat loss through radiation. Novel solar collectors based as components of roofing and facade structures were also to be developed for heating hot water, with these providing a heat source for heat recovery or solar powered ejector cooling. Research was done to combine solar collectors with heat pumps as a retrofit solution with these integrating a thin high performance PV film manufactured with triple-junction laminates.
The PV panels were to be spray coated with a carefully formulated solution containing nano-monodispersed fluorinated TiO2-SiO2. This was done via the aerosol assisted vapour deposition (AAVD) method to produce a continuous coating of uniform thickness in a single step at low processing temperature, with deposition efficiency above 90%. The coated PV modules were then to be tested under UV.
In Task 2.1 and 2.2 SUAS in order to achieve the highest solar performance improvement effect, focused on the further development of PVT-Technology for retrofitting scenarios. In WP2 according to the task description of the work plan SUAS had to define and develop an innovative high performance solar system, which is suitable for building integration. As especially in refurbishment scenarios space restraints for solar applications are common, within the project it became clear, that focus has to be put on solar PV and thermal solutions which generate higher energy outputs per m2 than side by side PV and solar thermal vacuum tube installations. Further on multi-functionality at potentially lower production and installation costs needed to be considered. In order to meet decentralized refurbishment integration requirements SUAS investigated and further developed their hybrid PV-Thermal (PVT) collector system, which provides energy outputs per m2 up to 30% higher than conventional PV- vacuum tube side by side installations within the HERB activities, rather than optimising components for the side by side solutions.
Further on system integration strategies and for retrofitting applications adopted hydraulic integration solutions were elaborated, resulting in two adoptable general approaches. First a hydraulic system design for centralised applications (adopted and realised for the Almada HERB Demo-building in Portugal) and second a façade integrated hydraulic system approach for decentralised flat wise retrofitting, which resulted in a novel, standardised “PVT-installation kit”, described in D 2.9 were elaborated.
The chosen and optimised PVT-Collectors where analysed under lab and outdoor conditions, single step spray coated with a nano TiO2 layer on the SiO2–surface (described in D 2.8) and a performance improvement of 3 % due to minimization of reflection losses by the coating measures could be achieved.
UOA
UOA were to develop energy efficient lighting technology using LED lamps and light pipes. These were to maintain a stable lighting output through inclusion of smart controls that enabled LEDs to follow daylight changes, these incorporated within the double-skin diffuser light pipes. The developed energy efficient lighting system includes a light pipe, LED lamps, attached to the light pipe body and supported by a custom designed metal construction, and daylight linked controls, which enable the lighting levels to be stable on a working surface. The model developed by UoA in Work Package 1 enables the optimisation of the system, depending on the specific application. The light pipe diameter and length, as well as the number and power of the LEDs can be adjusted, depending on application and on the lighting needs of the users. The daylight sensor, which is attached to the room ceiling, can also trace presence, in order to maximise energy savings. An optional element is the shading device, which is placed inside the tube and enables its shading. A real size system was tested in a test room, at the University of Athens premises.
The analysis of the results from the testing showed that the developed lighting system is able to provide adequate natural and combination of natural and artificial lighting to relatively small (domestic-size) rooms. The distribution of the light on the reference plane is satisfactory for residential spaces and the system provides glare free lighting. Additionally, the distribution has the same pattern, both with natural and with the combination of natural and artificial lighting, which is a positive fact, especially for houses were changes in the environment are not desired.
The experimental data also proved that the daylight sensor is able to keep the interior illuminance levels stable, by dimming the LEDs depending on the daylight availability, despite the fact that the indication of each separate sensor might change significantly. This fact is extremely important, as that was one of the two main requirements of the project from the developed lighting system: to achieve stable interior lighting levels.
The other requirement has been the achievement of significant energy savings for lighting. The energy recordings revealed the fact that in Greece, during the monitoring period, the energy savings could reach 85%, compared to a conventional system (artificial lighting with incandescent lamps) and 19.5% compared to an installation with the same power of LEDs, but with no daylight sensing. Details on the development and assessment of the energy efficient lighting system can be found in WP2 deliverables.
HEIG
HEIG were to develop smart window technology incorporating coating technology, these having a U-value below 0.7 W/m2.K. In addition to creating the casing vacuum using conventional practice, innovative low cost manufacturing methods and filling types were investigated including: micro glass balls, and micro capsules with PCM (these providing: light transmission, insulation and thermal storage).
For the smart window technology, the better performing, from D1.1 single-tube geometry was chosen to be studied experimentally as well as by simulations. Experimentally a real-size (tube length of 1m) vacuum tube U-value was measured in a test bench constructed for this purpose. In the experiments, the vacuum tube was mounted vertically between cold air and hot air channels with a controlled vertical air velocities and initial temperatures. High-precision thermocouples measured the temperature distribution on the tube surface. In addition, the surface thermal flux was measured on the cold side on the tube. The air pressure (‘vacuum’) inside the tube was controlled down to 10 µbar with a vacuum pump. The experiments showed that the tube air pressure has very little effect on the tube U-value: The heat conduction along the glass tube surface dominates over the convection inside the tube. These findings were confirmed by a 3D COMSOL model where heat transfer and fluid dynamics were coupled in order to simulate the convective cells inside the tube.
The effect of the self-cleaning coating was measured on photovoltaic (PV) panels. Four PV panels were mounted side by side outside in natural conditions. On the surface of two panels a nano-TiO2 coating was applied while two were not coated. The spectrometric analysis on the transmittance of the nano-TiO2 coating was conducted in Stuttgart, Germany, by the partner SUSA. The spectrometric analysis showed that the coating does not decrease the light transmittance of the panel surface, thus not compromising the PV efficiency. However, the light reflection was decreased by the coating. At the wavelength of about 500 nm the coating decreased the light reflection by 40% (since the transmittance did not change this means that the coating absorbs part of the radiation). This is a first positive result of this experiment since the reflections have, especially in an urban environment, a negative visual impact. The panel performance was directly measured, by the generated electric power, for a period of more than two weeks. At the end of the test period the panels were sprayed with a water contaminated by wood ashes in order to simulate extremely dirty outside conditions (‘extremity test’), such as panels close to highway, airport or in the city centre. The measurements showed that the coated panels generated 6% more electricity with respect to the non-coated panels in normal condition. In the dirty condition, extremity test, the coated panels performed 8% better than the non-coated ones.
ONYX
ONYX were to develop a transparent multifunctional facade technology for providing a building solar generated electricity, daylighting, insulation and heat recovery. The initial plans were for this system to form a double skin facade integrated with a transparent photovoltaic device, with an energy recovery mechanism for preheating/cooling of supply air and/or facilitating natural ventilation. –
During this WP, PV façades were developed in order to be used in the retrofit of the Spanish house. Main characteristics and details of the innovative solution were included in D2.7. This document explains the innovation achieved considering several configurations of multifunctional façades, the methodology defined taking into account the simulation results coming from previous tasks of the project and the main conclusions obtained in terms of potential applications as a retrofit energy efficiency measurement.
Then, the PV photovoltaic façade was tested under controlled conditions before being installed in buildings. The tests were conducted in laboratories to simulate different climatic and operating conditions. In this case, two PV glasses with different optical properties, integrated in a solution of façade, were evaluated since an architectural point of view, considering both passive and active properties of solutions. Specifically, amorphous silicon PV glasses with 20% transparency and opaque were used to build two façade prototypes in a Paslink test cell. This analysis provided information of temperatures in the different layers of the wall, characterization of the air behaviour within the façade air chamber, heat generated in façade air chamber and electrical production of PV façade. Results coming from this stage were used to compare with simulation results previously carried out with the main objective of adjusting the simulation models. Specifically, the key properties of heat recovery and energy production were studied. This comparison allows concluding that behaviour of prototype is coincident since qualitative point of view for temperature prediction of insulation temperature, air temperature increase, air velocity within air chamber and heat recovery ratio, considering radiation level as most important dependent parameter. Quantitative behaviour, in general, has differed from results. This can be due to specific geometric characteristics of the prototype together with the presence of elements (structure, wires, etc) and external influences like wind speed. As many elements can affect final quantitative result, simulations were done mainly to get qualitative information and have a better idea of how façade parameters interact with its final properties. In this sense, qualitative coincidence of results is considered as an important result. It will allow Onyx to have a better understanding of passive façade behaviour, being able to design better PV façades according to required properties of each architectural project.
On the other hand, an analysis of thermal behaviour of transparent PV façade was done for Madrid and London climates, comparing results with a bare wall and bare wall with insulation. This was a dynamic analysis during a year. Final results showed an important decrease in heat gain during summer, mainly for Madrid climate. Thermal losses did not decrease as expected. A possible reason to explain this result could be that façade was open i.e. there were gaps between glasses. In this sense, a better winter performance could be obtained for closed façades.
Once the results of the test were analyzed, the retrofit case was defined through different simulations combining Design Builder Software, the models developed in WP1 coming from the technology providers and other commercial software while as the base case was defined taking into account the current condition of the building through simulations by Design Builder Software, the analysis of the historic energy consumptions by existing invoices and the information collected at survey phase. Results of the simulations show that PV ventilated façade included in the proposed holistic energy-efficient retrofit strategy helps to reduces energy consumption in current house configuration and fulfils HERB objectives. It was estimated that the integration in PV North facade would contribute to generate 365kWh per year. Energy generated is a small part of the current demand for housing, but when other interventions are integrated, lower overall energy demand to 8,870 kwh/year and the facade would cover the 7.6% of total fuel saving and 7.9 CO2 emissions reduction including PV electricity generation. Finally, once analyzed the passive behaviour of multifunctional façade directly regarding the benefits of thermal envelope, it is needed to highlight around 5% of energy savings coming from ventilated façade.
ITS
ITS were to develop integrated heat recovery panels and energy efficient HVAC systems, using heat recovery panels insulated with rigid materials including polystyrene. These would be fitted within the roof providing insulation, ventilation and heat recovery. Research was conducted to optimise the design of the panels and determine the efficiency of heat recovery under various climatic and operating conditions. The system was also to be integrated with PV thermal panels to generate electricity as well as its primary function. Different strategies were assessed including: natural ventilation, hybrid ventilation or mechanical ventilation for heat recovery, passive heating and cooling of buildings.
PPL
PPL were to develop the PCM technology for integration into the other HERB innovations where relevant. These were to be combined with fire retardants to avoid fire/flammability of PCM wax based materials. Different types of PCM board made from natural non-flammable materials including PCM plaster board, and PCM clay board were to be tested under desired temperature ranges for applications. To enhance heat transfer with the PCM bed, a novel type of PCM board using heat conductive honeycomb structure within the panel was also to be developed.
Three innovations have been investigated, these relating to research into: (a) PCM technology for integration into the new multi-functional façade and /or composite walls; (b) PCM board innovations with incorporated fire retardant technology; and, (c) PCM with heat transfer enhancement through integration of conductive honeycomb structure.
The type of PCM, organic, which was incorporated into these technologies was the same for each, therefore the costing information provided in the D2.9 report relates to the processing of this in house by PPL. The base material was the fire-retardant PCM, this then being incorporated into the multi multi-functional façade and the composite walls via integration into the honeycomb technology or integration onto the surface of Vacuum Insulated Panels by Kingspan (KIN). A number of methods for fire retardation were investigated, including mineral based and nitrogen based fire retardant material which act by different mechanisms. Integration of the fire retardant material proved successful by preventing the organic PCM from auto-ignition. In some cases, only slight charring was observed when attempting to ignite the PCM.
Innovation Product Installed cost (€/m2)
1 Integration into the ventilated multifunctional façade
Not Analysed
2
Integration into PCM plasterboard innovation
€76.80 – 119.40
3
Integration into VIP-PCM innovation
€195
Table 1 – Final Innovation complete installation costs + Optim-R comparison
As detailed in the D2.9 Technologies and solutions ready for retrofitting report, it was established that due to the shear expensive of the developed technologies they would not be included in demonstration house testing. The thermal energy storage capacity of the PCM innovations was determined to be significantly less than that of a pure PCM due to the addition of fire retardant material, and integration with building materials. It was calculated at a best case scenario that repayment through energy savings per annum would take a minimum of 10 years for the PCM innovations. However, in reality this would be 30+ years as the model does not take into account yearly seasonal and diurnal changes and other factors affecting climate.
TNO and COMPX
Investigation of control system components was to be done via collaboration with TNO and COMPX. TNO were to optimise the control system developed by COMPLX for operating different technologies and solutions for retrofitting. Components of the control system and smart metering were to be determined and tested by COMPX to ensure they functioned as designed.
TNO designed a holistic control system. The holistic controller optimizes the indoor comfort and the energy consumption by driving the central heating, automatic window openers, powered shades, and ventilators. Using several sensors (temperature, CO2, humidity, presence, door/window status, solar intensity) as well as detailed wheather predictions the most efficient strategy for optimizing the indoor climate is calculated. TNO implemented its control system on commercially available subsystems that are compatible with the ZWAVE standard.
Work Package 3 - Retrofitting buildings
After adequate progress had been made in work packages 1 and 2, a planning phase was then implemented, with the intension of installing the technologies developed in the retrofit of demonstration buildings in different EU locations. This was to be done with minimum disruption to the occupants’ normal activities and the buildings. This section details the process related to this for the various locations, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 3.1: Planning of retrofitting technologies and solutions in buildings; and, Task 3.2: Retrofitting of innovative technologies and solutions in buildings in different EU countries; with associated deliverables: D3.11 - Detailed plan of solution/technology retrofitting; and, D3.12 - Buildings retrofitted.
The UK demonstration buildings
During the planning phase in the UK six locations were identified for retrofit for the project, these being, two city centre based terrace houses and four town based semi-detached houses. The basis of selection for these buildings was guided by the use of national statistics publications, in respect to the internal floor areas and proportional representation of the buildings within the UK housing stock. UK terrace housing represents one third of the housing stock, with and average floor area of ~65m2; the two case studies chosen had values of 58.46m2 and 69.43m2 respectively. UK semi-detached housing represents another one third of the housing stock, with and average floor area of ~80m2; the four case studies chosen had values of 77.62m2 82.78m2 77.72m2 and 77.04m2 respectively.
Within the planning phase it was found that over 60% of savings in each case were to be made from the application of insulation and increasing air tightness of the building’s external elements, these including the: roofs, ground floors and external walls. This phenomenon is ubiquitous in UK buildings with the solid wall construction practice that was common in the building industry pre-1960. Although straight forward in theory, there were many practical challenges in achieving this, due to the limited space available in UK buildings and their neighbouring structures. This provided opportunity to implement the super insulation innovations developed in the project, with these planned for installation in three of the buildings (the two terraces, and one of the semi-detached cases).
The remaining HERB objectives savings were achieved via the installation of other measures including: solar PV, LED light pipes, heating controls, and boiler replacements. Due to the climate of the UK being on a high longitudinal position there were limitations on what impacts these measures installed would have (with the exception of insulation application); however, UK solid wall construction during the period pre-1919 was very different to modern construction in relation to the management of internal humidity. Therefore an extensive monitoring programme was designed (See WP4) that would be an integral extension of installation process, with this providing data for over a year post retrofit (post project completion).
On completion of the planning phase, all of the cases were (theoretically) within range of the saving targets of annual energy consumption (i.e. 50 kWh/m2.year) values being: 61.17 55.17 46.57 72.25 56.69 and 59.85 kWh/m2.year respectively. Payback periods for the buildings (in theory) was: 16, 15, 27, 16, 12, and 18 years respectively with provision of government sponsored subsidies.
Post submission and validation of D3.11 - Detailed plan of solution/technology retrofitting, the initial plans for implementation of the installation was in the summer of 2014. However, in June 2014 the UK government published its summer budget with this including changes to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) policy. These changes included an extension to the remuneration period for energy companies to provide on installation of energy reduction measures across all relevant sectors from one to three years. This change was implemented to provide the energy companies flexibility in obligations, most notably in maintaining low price of energy to consumers. Unfortunately, this change had radical impacts on the industry established to install energy reduction measures in both residential and commercial sectors. Most companies within this industry had based their business models on the provision of the one year subsidy, with respect to the provision of their services to clients, and post-publication of the policy these models became unworkable. This required restructuring of many companies to adapt to the changes, and led many to eventually declare bankruptcy.
One victim of the events described was the HERB UK installation partner MARK. Initially, it was believed the changes were unlikely to cause major disruption, and the remaining UK HERB partners (LHA, KIN, and UNOTT) were informed a delay of three months was required. However, as the impacts to the industry became evident towards the winter of 2014/15, the delay to the planned works was extended. These eventually started in the summer of 2015 (August); however, in October 2015 notice was given to the partners that MARK had declared bankruptcy. By this time approximately 60% of the works had been completed and a new consortium partner was sourced to complete those remaining, this being Future Homes UK ltd (FUTURE).
The time that MARK failed was not fortuitous, as it was at the end of the installation season where external environmental conditions are suitable for completion of works. Additionally, a period was required to get the new partner (FUTURE) established within the existing partners’ working procedures. This led to a further delay of three months with works starting early February 2016. Completion was achieved by April 2016 shortly prior the project’s close. In total the delay was 21 months in period, with extrinsic circumstances being the main cause.
The Italian demonstration building
The Italian house chosen for retrofitting is located in an area very close to the center of Bologna, main city of the region Emilia-Romagna, North-Center Italy. It is a detached house, composed of three floors with 2 apartments each, an unheated attic, and an unheated basement which contains the boiler room. The first floor is larger than the second and the third, which are identical. The house was selected because representative of typical small detached houses of North-Center Italy, without thermal insulation and heated by a gas boiler. A retrofit solution suitable to match the HERB requirements was designed. These requirements are at least 80% reduction of the annual use of primary energy, at least 60% reduction of the annual emission of CO2, annual use of primary energy after retrofitting lower than 50 kWh/m2, for heating, cooling-dehumidifying, DHW and lighting. The designed solution included: thermal insulation of the external vertical wall by Multipor (calcium silicate hydrates), horizontal thermal insulation by mineral wool, replacement of the existing gas boiler and of the single-apartment DHW heaters by a multifunction heat pump, installation of new distribution systems for heating/cooling/dehumidifying and for DHW, installation of a new electric system, installation of a PV system on the roof, installation of a monitoring system.
The installed solution corresponds to the designed one, without changes. The annual saving of primary energy and the annual reduction of CO2 emission have been determined by hourly simulations of the building and of the plant. The estimated reductions are about 86%, both for the use of primary energy and for the CO2 emission. The results of simulations will be validated by the post-retrofit monitoring of the building, to be performed during the next months. The retrofitting will also improve the thermal comfort of the building, both during winter and during summer.
The Portuguese demonstration building
The demonstration building selected for the HERB project is located in Almada the parish of Caparica. It is included in a large social housing area (361 ha and 13500 inhabitants). The buildings in the area are mainly managed by the National Housing Institute although some are a property and managed by the Municipality of Almada as the one chosen for the HERB project, which is located in Rua dos Três Vales, nº 50, Almada, Setúbal, Portugal It is one of the buildings of an L-shaped block of similar buildings in a total 5 buildings. The total floor area of the building is 1296 m2 and a conditioned floor area of 804 m2. The selected building is placed in between other similar buildings that were built in the mid 90’s. It is a 4 storey building and ground floor in a total of 10 apartments (2 apartments for each level). Each apartment consists of one kitchen, one living room, three bedrooms and two bathrooms (except for two apartments - one located in the ground floor and the other on the 1st floor – that have only two bedrooms). The audit to the building prior to retrofit revealed low energy performance index of the envelope. The building is representative of the most important stock of multi apartment buildings in cities in Portugal and therefore with a high replication potential.
The general framework for intervention took into account the model results adapted to the local characteristics as well as the deep work on engaging with the inhabitants and relevant stakeholders and manage their constraints. Also the approach included some basic improvements, in a tier approach, to the building’s envelope that would compromise the evaluation of the innovation technologies, if not undertaken. The final plan included:
1. Upgrade and repair of loft insulation (ISOROOF system);
2. Installation of external or internal wall insulation, with commercial products (polyisocyanurate foam - ETICS) taking preference over innovations (aerogel / VIPs);
3. Basement thermal insulation with commercial products (Gypsum board with mineral wool) taking preference over innovations (aerogel / VIPs);
4. Replacement of existing single glazed windows, with commercial (double) units taking preference over innovations (smart windows);
5. Replacement of gas water heater
6. Replacement of existing lighting systems with LED lamps.
7. Installation of PVT system for water heating and electric production with surface coating
8. Installation of heat pumps, with preference in the order of: air-source, then solar, and finally ground.
During this period, all the technical documents to inform the procurement procedures were finalized and the project outline and implementation was developed. Every technical solution was specifically detailed for inclusion in the public procurement procedures and the execution project was developed. The municipality of Almada was responsible of ensuring the applicability of the solutions, adapting to constraints (legal, arquitetonic and feasibility under the municipalities duties). It has also ensured the coordination between all the relevant stakeholders: departments within the city council (Sustainable Environmental Management and Planning Department, Financial Department, Maintenance and Logistics Department, Housing Division, etc.); residents; experts on energy refurbishing.
Another main role of the municipality was producing all formal documents that need to be built upon the technical characteristics to ensure the strict enforcement of all legal provisions. All technical work and support to decision was made in close cooperation with Lasting Values in order to ensure that the intervention followed the depicted plan.
The delay in implementation for the Portuguese houses is mainly related with previous tasks, especially within WP3. The Portuguese procurement rules have became much tighter in the last years following strict public expenditure constraints, something not envisaged during the proposal submission. This has increased the amount of bureaucratically procedures especially in a large scale project such as the one involved within the HERB project. Furthermore, the specific HERB technologies, with little implementation or development on current market, especially in Portugal, implied special procedures for which the regular financial procedures are not adapted. Specific and advanced technologies also tend to have a lower rate of stock and availability in the market which can delay its implementation. There was an additional risk in the case of Portugal since the main innovative technologies must be imported as there is no development of the technologies within the Portuguese partners, unlike other countries.
To minimize this impact and still being able to comply with the procurement rules, the intervention was planned on several stages which meant some smaller interventions could be introduced earlier (windows and lighting).
The intervention on windows and lighting systems have been finished prior to the end of the project (march 16). The envelope improvement and solar PVT installation was not fully developed within the project framework with some tasks only finished in may/june 2016.
The Greek demonstration building
The retrofit was implemented in a seven story building, built in the early 70’s by the Ministry of Social Services, in order to house refugees of Greek nationality. The building is located in the Municipality of Peristeri, a densely built urban area, approximately 7km from the centre of Athens. It consists of two identical semi-detached, 7 storey apartment buildings, one of which has been selected for retrofit in the framework of the HERB project. The building under study has a total area of 1,160 square meters and has 15 apartments. Each apartment has an area of 69 square meters approximately and consists of four main rooms -living room, kitchen and two bedrooms. The building was chosen as it is a typical example of a low-income residential building in Greece, built before the laws for the minimum insulating requirements were put into force.
In order to design an optimal solution for the retrofit a holistic analysis has been performed that includes: Dynamic energy modelling (TRNSYS ), comfort modelling (PMV-PPD) (TRNSYS ), Carbon emissions savings calculations, application of economic calculation theory to analyse the financial feasibility of the solutions, other analyses for assesing HERB innovative technologies (e.g. PV modeling (PVGIS), custom model for energy efficient lighting). An iterative process involing a number of simulations was performed for the social housing building in order to evaluate the pre-retrofit situation and to identify the retrofit measures that would lead to maximum energy savings and that would improve the interior environmental conditions. The interventions that were chosen, are:
• envelope insulation: exterior insulation of walls (with 8cm thick rockwool panels) and roof (with a flat Inverted roof material, comprised extruded polyethylene of 5cm and topped with coated ceramic tiles with cool properties),
• efficient windows with double glazing and thermal stops,
• ceiling fans,
• night ventilation,
• smart (Photocatalytic) coating (self-cleaning photo-catalytic nanotechnology plaster, with a thickness of about 1.5mm appropriate for use on top of the exterior thermal insulation system),
• exterior shading of the SW windows (awnings),
• photovoltaic panels (10kWp ofpolycrystalline cells),
• LED lighting (replacement of all conventional – incandescent and CFL lamps)
• Energy efficient lighting system developed by UoA in WP2.
According to the simulations, the building before the retrofit was estimated to consume 154.5 kwh/m2/y while the total primary energy for the retrofit case was 30.5 kwh/m2/y, with the energy savings being 80.3%. The CO2 emissions savings between the existing and the retrofit case was estimated to be 80.3%, which fulfils and exceeds the 60% saving target which was set by the project. The payback period of the retrofit (including all technologies) was calculated to be 9.5 years, approximately.
Post submission and validation of D3.11 - Detailed plan of solution/technology retrofitting, the initial plans for implementation of the installation was in the summer of 2014. However, due to administrative delays and mainly due to the capital controls imposed to the Greek banks, the retrofit was significantly delayed. Also, the fact that a smaller building was programmed to be retrofitted during the project proposal phase, made the realization of the retrofit particularly difficult, especially since the budget was not sufficient. This obstacle was overcome with donations by insulating material manufacturers.
The retrofit was concluded in March 2016, without any further deviations from the DoW. All the systems and technologies were installed according to the specifications described in D3.11. More specifically, the energy efficient lighting system developed by UoA in WP2 was installed on the roof of the stairs leading from the seventh floor to the roof. This space was picked because the stairs leading from the seventh floor to the roof receive no daylight, as there is no opening and because the works that would be performed for the system’s installation would require the penetration of only one slab and would have the minimum impact on the comfort of the tenants during the installation works.The light pipe has a diameter of 0.30m and the tube has a height of 0.60m. The system hosts eight GU10 LED lamps of 5W each that are dimmed according to the daylight coming from the light pipe. Daylight is sensed by a daylight sensor, programmed to regulate the light flow so as to provide approximately 50lux on the first step of the stairs. Details on all the retrofit works can be found in D3.12.
The success of the retrofit in terms of improving indoor environmental conditions and reducing energy consumption has been verified by the monitoring activities carried out in WP4 and the tenants are particularly satisfied with the retrofit as they have noticed reduction in their energy bills, but also they have experienced significant improvement of the indoor environmental conditions.
The Swiss demonstration building
The first planning period of HEIG was completed in 2014 for the Swiss house located in Buchillon, Switzerland as given in D3.11 of HEIG. However, the works on this house could not begin due raisons given in the Justification Report, December 2014.
After this let-down we contacted the main newspaper of the French speaking part of Switzerland (24 Heures) and they made an article about the HERB project and about the need of a suitable house. Immediately after the article was published, in December 2014, we got many candidates willing to have their house as the Swiss demo building. We also contacted the company AEDIFICIA SA, specialized in the construction and house renovation. Finally, the house in Vevey, Vaud Canton, was chosen for the Swiss house due to its ideal characteristics. The house was built in 1943, it was almost in its original condition, the conditioned surface area was 165 m2, and the owner was committed to make the retrofit and already decided to renovate the roof. The retrofit planning of the new house was based on the air tightness measurement, which confirmed the need for the roof renovation, and, specially, on the energy simulations with DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus (DB/EP) software. In addition, the Swiss Engineering and Architect association (SIA) tool SIA 2040 was used. At this stage VIP panels were planned to be used as the external wall insulation. The DB/EP simulations showed that the HERB global objectives (80% energy savings and 60% reduction in CO2 emissions) were impossible to meet without installing a heat pump.
The original external walls had as insulation a 3 cm thick air gap between two 12.5 cm thick brick layers. This solution was widely used in older houses and it has relatively good thermal performance (U=1.6 Wm-2K-1) for the time. However this structure offers the possibility to fill the air gap with insulating material in the form of flakes in order to increase the insulation and mitigate the risk of condensation. Therefore, the airgap was planned to be filled with rockwool flakes, a cost-effective solution which decreased the wall U-value considerably from 1.6 Wm-2K-1 down to 0.88 Wm-2K-1. Therefore, the potential improvement of using VIP insulation was reduced. In addition, the installation of VIPs would have required workers from UK to come in place with the need of working permits etc. Therefore, the external wall insulation was completed with aerogel panels which are available locally. The final wall U-value is U= 0.5 Wm-2K-1. The roof insulation is modern with two different insulating layers, rockwool and wool fibre, with a waterproofing film. Also the old skylights were replaced. The roof U-value dropped from the original U=2.4 Wm-2K-1 to 0.14 Wm-2K-1. In addition, a deep (210m depth) geothermal heat pump was chosen assisted with solar thermal panels (4m2). In addition 21 m2 of photovoltaic panels were installed. In order to guarantee good internal air quality in the winter while managing the thermal performance, a mechanical ventilation with heat recuperation was installed. Two windows on the windy Noth-West façade were replaced with triple glazing units. The basement roof insulation, with mineral wool panels, was made by the owner himself. Finally, the water tightness of below ground level basement walls was realised with polymer film.
Due to the let-down with the Buchillon house, the Swiss house is somewhat behind the schedule However, the main works have terminated in June 2016. The roof is ready, the heat pump is installed and tested and the solar panels are working and connected.
The smart control system, developed by COMPX, for the heating has been installed. The central unit and the slaves in each radiator are communicating and working as planned.
The Spanish Demonstration building
The objective of this WP was the full retrofit of the different houses. ONYX did a deeply retrofit plan of the Gotarrendura´s house and then the retrofit was successfully completed. According to tasks 3.1 and 3.2 ONYX has achieved the objectives included in WP3 description.
The retrofit plan (included in Deliverable 3.11) was defined taking into account the goals established in the DoW for the development and demonstration of energy efficient technologies and solutions for retrofitting applications. Considering the condition of Spain House (280 sqm) at project proposal phase, a tentative technology retrofit plan was defined. In this sense, the following technologies were included in DOW document: Multi-functional Façade, Energy Efficient Lighting, Natural Ventilation and/or Passive heating/cooling or heat pumps, Solar Thermal and/or PV panels.
However, this retrofitting had to be applied from holistic point of view taking into account the HERB project structure. In this sense, Onyx Solar as main responsible of Spain house retrofitting defined a modelling methodology based on holistic approach able to achieve the goals of HERB project in terms of cumulative energy savings, efficient lighting, reduction of CO2 emissions and reduction of global energy demand.
It is needed to emphasize that in comparison with DOW document several modifications were produced in relation to the house surface (206 sqm instead of 280 sqm) or the preselected technologies predefined at project proposal stage. In fact, the main reasons were subjected on the one hand to the final decision of the Spain House between different building possibilities and on the other hand once carried out the analysis of the results achieved at modelling/simulation phase in terms of operation and coexistence of technologies involved in the building. Nevertheless, these minor deviations have no impact or influence on the achievement of the objectives and main goals of HERB project
The retrofit plan verified whether the theoretical model proposed for energy reduction fulfills the final objectives set in HERB guidelines document thanks to an analysis including simulations from Design Builder software. Full retrofit scenario comprised the final retrofit measures selected: a LED energy efficient lighting installation, thermal insulation, improvement of envelope and fenestration, an air solar thermal system with PV glass in south façade for house heating, a PV glass ventilated façade oriented north, replacement of poor efficient electric heaters for a high energy efficient biomass boiler and finally, a solar thermal module in the roof for DHW production.
It seemed that the most effective way to reduce house carbon footprint was to replace heating and DHW fuel. Finally, overall fuel consumption in full retrofit scenario decreased 86.7% considering PV and solar thermal on-site energy generation and CO2 emissions decreased 94.9% in comparison with base-case scenario. Therefore, the proposed holistic energy-efficient retrofit strategy reduced considerably energy consumption in current house configuration and fulfilled HERB objectives.
The Retrofit of the Spanish house was detailed in D3.12 including a short summary of the technologies selected and the energetic analysis conclusions from D.3.11 pictures describing how those solutions were implemented week after week and the deviations from the first design. The program of works followed and the economical budget were also presented in this report, as well as a list of applicable regulations. The program of works and the economical budget were in accordance with those proposed in the Retrofit Plan. Some minor changes were produced but they were not relevant.
Whole house retrofit will save energy while improving inner comfort, but also user behaviour has to be taken into account on the success of the strategy. In this sense, D3.12 also included how the service and maintenance plan of the systems installed should be followed, and guidelines about a reasonable use of energy in houses to be presented to the owners and users of the house.
On the other hand, an economic assessment model to estimate the cost effectiveness of residential buildings retrofitting using HERB innovative technologies and solutions was developed by Lasting Values partner and it was included in D3.11. In this sense, ONYX estimated the main benefits from socio-economic point of view taking into account this HERB toolkit. This analysis considered investments such as technology installation costs and technology acquisitions costs. Other costs like personnel investments were not included. Furthermore, statutory and legislation requirements, a preliminary working plan and other considerations beyond the retrofit were established.
The Dutch Demonstration building
The dwelling is located in Driebergen–Rijsenburg and is based on a three-storeys semi-detached design. The dwelling was constructed between in 1972, and contains a household of two people. The retrofit in the Dutch dwelling is shown below:
The retrofit consisted of the following items:
1. A holistic controller, integrating the automatic control of heating, ventilation (either via ventilator of via automatic window openers), and shading (via automatic sun shields)
2. Floor insulation
3. Wall insulation, including VIP panels on the first floor.
4. Roof insulation
5. Air tightness improvement
6. Automated sunshades
7. Automated window opener
8. Demand driven ventilation units, integrated with
9. Low temperature radiators
10. Air based heat pump for heating
11. Air based heat pump / boiler for domestic hot water
12. Solar PV panels
Aerogel or starch micro-porous materials for insulation of building fabric and surface coating of exterior were not considered appropriate for the retrofit. The exterior façade of the Dutch dwellings are not allowed to be altered, therefore No surface coating of the exterior has been applied.
Solar thermal panels have not been applied. The energy needed for space heating and domestic hot water is delivered by a combination of a heat pump and photovoltaic panels.
The holistic controller was implemented on a small pc-board, which could communicate with the different devices via the Z-Wave protocol. Adaptions tot he radiators and shades needed to be realized for making these devices compatible with the communication protocol. The interaction between user and controller was implemented via a web-interface that could controlled via a tablet.
After retrofit, the house contained two heat pumps. One for domestic hot water, and one for additional heating. The main heating supply was generated via a wood-burning-boiler. The size of the accumulator tank (placed below the house) was 1000L. The wood-burning-boiler was primarily used for heating the house, but could also be used for heating up the heat-pump- boiler and as such assist in generating DHW.
Work Package 4 - Monitoring of the performance of the technologies/solutions and buildings
As mentioned a key objective of the HERB project was the monitoring of energy the buildings consumption pre- and post-retrofit, this being done to quantify the actual savings achieved through the application of the design solutions and how these compare with the predictions (as modelled in the planning phase of WP3). Ideally, this would have been done for twelve month periods either side of the retrofit works, however due to time limitations a six month period pre-retrofit, and a twelve month period post-retrofit was planned. Additionally, air tightness testing and thermal scanning was planned in the pre- and post-periods to assess the other physical impacts the works were to have. This would enable identification of weak points of the building fabric and, together with optimisation, the most appropriate and measures for rectification. The leakage testing was to be done with a novel pulse testing device, in addition to conventional steady-state measures.
This section details the process related to this for the various locations, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 4.1: Measurement of energy consumption patterns of the buildings before retrofitting; Task 4.2: Monitoring of the performance of the technologies, solutions and retrofitted buildings at different sites in Europe; and, Task 4.3: Economic analysis of retrofitting of residential buildings; with associated deliverables: D4.13 - Measured energy use before retrofitting; and, D4.14 - Measured results and analysis for the technologies, solutions and buildings.
The UK demonstration buildings
On identification of the UK houses (as described in the previous section), the installation partner MARK and UNOTT identified suitable monitoring devices to use for acquisition of temperature and humidity data, these being accessed via broadband connection. One of the suppliers to the company was the Owl controller, and post a demonstration of the device a selection of units were ordered and installed in the winter of 2013-14. Energy consumption data was then to be collected via the collection of utility bills provided by the tenant to the housing provider (LHA).
With the delays described in WP3 internal condition data was collected for 6-12 months in all houses monitored. A series of problems in collection of energy data were experienced due to a variety of reasons, including: loss of data by the tenant and the Energy Company, breakdown in communication with the housing provider, change in tenancy due to change of circumstances of the tenant, and loss of data caused due to changes in the partner’s circumstances. In total 12 months of data was collected for two of the six houses in the baseline period.
These delays resulted in an insufficient amount of time to collect post retrofit results. A number of alterations were made to the monitoring strategy as a result of the lessons learnt from the baseline monitoring period. The difficulty in the collection of bills has led to gas monitoring being installed in the houses which will be active from July 2016 for a minimum of 12 months. In addition to this, heat flow meters have been installed in a number of the properties to determine the proportion of gas consumption used for space heating and hot water respectively. A number of the tenants now have a broadband connection and so an internet connected open-source monitoring system was installed in these houses. Only one house remained without internet connection and so this house a commercial GSM based monitoring system (Eltek) was installed.
Full post retrofit data was only available for one house from the collection of bills. This showed a substantial reduction in energy consumption for both gas (an energy saving of over 50%) and electricity (energy saving of 18%). Total primary energy savings for the property were 29% compared to the baseline period.
The payback period for the retrofit for at this property was 24 years (18 years with incentives) and as such was deemed as not cost effective. It is expected that given similar energy savings, the other UK demonstration houses will prove to be more cost effective with regards to payback period as they had a lower capital cost. However, the retrofit was deemed as cost effective based on the cost-saved energy, as the saved energy costs are substantially lower than the average end-user energy costs (0.087 EUR compared to 0.13 EUR). It is expected that the other UK demonstration houses will also be cost effective with regards to saved energy costs.
The Italian demonstration building
The pre-retrofit monitoring of the house was performed during the period July 1st 2013 – June 30th 2014. The pre-retrofit monitoring system allowed measurements of temperature and relative humidity in two rooms per apartment (all apartments, except one, have two rooms and a bathroom), measurement of electricity use in each apartment, measurement of the gas used by the central boiler, measurement of the gas used by single apartments. The gas used by the central boiler was determined by periodic readings of the existing gas meter. Then, during March and April 2015, the existing gas boiler was calibrated by comparison with a high-precision TERZ 94 DN 25 electronic turbine meter, installed in March 2015. The calibration allowed to determine the correction coefficient 1.0358 to be applied to the readings of the existing gas meter. The pre-retrofit monitoring included an infrared thermography of the building, blower-door tests, new air-tightness tests, and in situ measurements of the thermal conductivity of the external vertical wall. The pre-retrofit monitoring allowed to calibrate the pre-retrofit simulation code implemented in TRNSYS. For the calibration, the real climatic data, taken from the Bologna Urbana Weather Station, which is rather close to the building, were employed. Moreover, the thermal bridges of the building were carefully calculated by finite element simulations. The calibration of the simulation code was performed by comparing the experimental energy signature of the building with the simulated one. As excellent agreement was found: the curves are graphically indistinguishable.
A post-retrofit monitoring system has been installed recently. The most important difference between this system and the previous one is that the new system allows online data transmission. The new system, moreover, allows the monitoring of the thermal power supplied and of the electric power absorbed by the heat pump. The post-retrofit system has been checked by some preliminary measurements. However, the post-retrofit monitoring will begin as soon as the retrofitting works are completed.
The annual saving of primary energy and the annual money saving for building operation in a typical meteorological year have been determined through dynamic simulations of the building and of the plant. This analysis has allowed determining the economic assessment of the retrofitting.
The total annual use of primary energy of the building after retrofitting will be 12630 kWh, which corresponds to 44.8 kWh/m2 and yields 86.5 % reduction of the use of primary energy. The annual use of thermal energy will decrease from 78752 kWh to 415 kWh, and the annual use of electric energy will decrease from 6890 kWh to 5619 kWh. The foreseen payback time, taking into account state incentives and an interest rate 2%, is 15.5 years, rather high but acceptable if one considers that the house has undergone an important renovation, which includes structural reinforcements and replacement of the distribution networks. The cost of the saved primary energy is 0.073 €/kWh, and is lower than the cost of each kWh of primary energy before retrofitting, namely 0.094 €/kWh. Therefore, the retrofitting can be considered as cost effective.
The Portuguese demonstration building
Almada demonstration site is a multi-storey building with 5 floors, two dwellings per floor, basement and a void loft. Three dwellings (the first, second and fourth floor) were chosen for the purpose of obtaining a representative sample of the whole of the building, taking also in consideration tenant’s availability. The 1st floor was the nearest apartment available to the implementation terrain but also possessed a different configuration from the rest (only 2 bedrooms). The second floor and fourth floor were chosen due to their relative height in the building, corresponding, respectively, to the middle and top floor.
At Almada site, air temperature and relative humidity sensors and energy consumption monitors were installed in the 3 apartments, along with a data collection system. During this assessment the internal air temperature, relative humidity, the use of electricity and natural gas were evaluated. Outside meteorological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation where also obtained from two local weather stations. Thermal imaging was also performed and the pulse leakage test that was used to determine the apartments’ leakage rate. Data was collected from September 2014 to May of 2015, respecting the DoW condition of having at least 6 months of pre-retrofit monitoring.
However, as mentioned in WP3 section, the retrofit of the Almada building has suffered important delays and has just been completed in June 2016. Therefore, the post-retrofit monitoring has only started in mid-June 2016, disallowing conclusions based in real measurements. Given this fact, building dynamical simulation modelling (not calibrated by real data) has been used to estimate the results and to assess if the retrofitted building had achieved the HERB project main targets.
The analysis of the simulation model results has shown that the technologies and solutions installed in the building have lead to an important decrease in its global energy consumption. Further, the thermal comfort conditions inside the apartments have been largely improved and the percentage of time under discomfort conditions has greatly decreased. The simulation model developed for the Almada building, has indicated that the global energy saving might reach around 80% when compared with the pre-retrofit scenario, and that a specific consumption value of 22 kWh/m2.year has been obtained at the end of the retrofit implementation. The related carbon emission should have decreased by around 81%. The implemented retrofit solution, however, is not cost-effective as payback period is longer than the technology lifetime and saved energy costs (0.160EUR/kWh avoided) is slightly higher than the average end-user energy cost in the baseline (0.114EUR/kWh).
These results have shown that the Almada building retrofit has reached an important reduction of the building primary energy use and CO2 emissions, and has accomplished most of the main goals of the project HERB.
By March 2017, the data collected will represent a summer and a winter seasons, and a new and final version of this deliverable shall be available by the end of the 1st semester 2017.
The Greek demonstration building
UOA has monitored the performance of the Greek demonstration building pre and post retrofit. Once the Greek building was identified different types of sensors were installed in most apartments of the 7 story social housing building in order to monitor different rooms and parameters. More specifically, the energy use has been measured by installing smart meters (Energy Management Modules by Ether) that record the energy consumption (electricity) and gather the data in a portal for remote access. In addition electricity bills have been collected for comparison with monitored data. Building environmental parameters including thermal comfort conditions have been measured by installed sensors (air temperature & relative humidity by TinyTag data loggers and mean radiant temperature and air velocity by portable instrumentation). Indoor air quality measurements were also carried out (CO2 and VOCs measured by installed IAQ kits in the apartments). Infrared thermography has been used to detect potential problems on the building envelope. The air tightness of the building has been determined by using the novel pulse leakage technique and the blower door method and ventilation measurements were conducted using tracer gas techniques. Lighting measurements were carried out to evaluate the lighting environment (artificial and natural lighting) in the building. Meteorological parameters have been recorded. A total of 12 months of pre retrofit monitoring data has been collected, analysed and reported in D4.13: Measured energy use before retrofitting. The results indicated that it is a building with significant heat losses/ gains and air leakage problems during both summer and winter due to the lack of envelope insulation, old single glazing wooden frame windows & insufficient shading. Significant thermal discomfort problems have been recorded and poor indoor environmental conditions. The energy consumption, although it is not very high due to the lack of central heating and cooling systems, when the outside temperature drops in winter to e.g. 10°C it doubles and the same applies for summer conditions indicating the low efficiency of the building.
Post retrofit monitoring included the same monitoring activities described in the previous paragraph plus specific methodologies to monitor the performance of the installed technologies and solutions. A total of 5 months (instead of the 12 described in the DoW) of post retrofit data have been collected including the heating season allowing performance assessment of the technologies, solutions and buildings under real operating and climatic conditions and providing data to assess the effectiveness of retrofit. The reason for this reduced post retrofit monitoring period is the delays in the completion of the retrofit works described in WP3. Measurements will continue until Dec. 2016 in order to have a full set of 12 months. The analysis of the monitoring data has demonstrated that the technologies and solutions installed in the retrofitted building have contributed to a significant decrease in the energy consumption of the building. Furthermore, the thermal comfort conditions inside the apartments have been improved after the retrofit. The air tightness of the building has significantly improved (for a representative apartment the ACH@4Pa measured in the pre retrofit stage (2.02 h-1) is almost 3.4 times higher than the post-retrofit (0.6 h-1). The energy efficient lighting technology that was developed by UOA in the framework of the HERB project was found to improve the lighting conditions in the installed space and to contribute to the energy savings for lighting of the building.
Building simulation techniques have been used for the estimation of global energy savings in order to avoid differences in the boundary conditions (climatic conditions, user behaviour) between the pre and post retrofit case. The building simulation models developed were properly calibrated and validated using the measured data collected during the pre and post retrofit monitoring periods and were found to meet the requirements in the defined methodology. The cumulative annual energy saving (target 80%) in the building reaches 81%. The energy saving for lighting (target 80%) reaches the value of 88.6% of reduction. The global energy consumption excluding appliances while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofitting (target 50 kWh/sqm•year) reaches 45.4 kWh/sqm•year in primary energy. Finally, 81% reduction of CO2 emissions was achieved (target 60%).
The socioeconomic analysis of the retrofit showed a significant user acceptability of the retrofit as been recorded through questionnaires and interviews by the occupants. The estimated payback period of the HERB retrofit solution was found to be 2.9 years* compared with the payback of the investment on state-of-the-art energy efficient technologies that could be adopted rather than HERB technologies. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the implemented retrofit solution is cost effective as saved energy costs (0.14EUR/kWh avoided) are lower than the average end-user energy cost in the baseline (pre retrofit).
It is evident that the objectives of the HERB projects regarding the retrofit have been successfully achieved for the Greek retrofit case. In this sense, the results show the effectiveness of innovative technologies and soutions implemented in the Greek building. All the results are included in D4.14 Measured results and analysis for the technologies, solutions and buildings.
* The final figures regarding global energy consumption are very close to the ones estimated in D3.11 except for the payback period that was initially calculated to be 9years. The main reason for this apart from small adjustments in the energy and retrofit cost data is the input value for the cost of electricity. In the current analyis the value of 0.179Eur/kWh is used. This value is obtained by Eurostat for 2014 and includes taxes, levies and value added tax (VAT) for household consumers which is more appropriate for the calculations. Initially a much lower value was considered not taking into account taxes etc.
The Swiss demonstration building
The monitoring equipment of the house constitutes of three inside temperature, humidity, and CO2 sensors, 18 temperature sensors, and the outside weather station in the house south side garden. The energy consumption is taken from the energy bills: Gas and electricity before the retrofit and electricity only after the retrofit.
The pre-retrofit monitoring took place in February – April 2015, thus covering the coldest season when most of the energy is consumed. Since there is no air conditioning in summer time the energy consumption is low. The monitoring revealed that in all the conditioned rooms the temperature was slightly below the comfort level, the measured average value being 19 oC. However, the non-conditioned basement was in the temperature of about 10 oC creating a thermal loss across the non-insulated basement roof. The CO2 levels in all three measured rooms (1st floor lounge and the two bedrooms in the second floor) were above the comfort level of 600 ppm. In the lounge the average CO2 concentration 900 ppm. With peaks up to 1600 ppm. In Bedroom 1 the behaviour was worse with the mean value of about 1000 ppm and peaks up to 1500 ppm – 1600 ppm. In Bedroom 2 the peaks reached up to 2000 ppm. Therefore, the mechanical ventilation is well justified. The RH monitoring showed that in the non-conditioned basement the relative humidity is about between 45 % and 55 % except in the wine cellar (71 %) which has an earthen floor. In the conditioned rooms RH = 38 % - 42 %, in the 1st floor bathroom slightly higher with RH=51 %. The air-tightness test showed that the house is very leaky with the measured value at 50 bar of n50st = 5 1/h. The infrared thermography revealed thermal bridges in the kitchen and lounge South-West walls. Also, bridges were observed around the entrance door. Poor insulation was observed on the 2nd floor facades close to the external roof. Also, the roof itself showed poorly insulated regions.
Since the retrofit is only about to finish in July 2016 the post-retrofit monitoring will take place in winter 2016-2017. The same equipment as with the pre-retrofit monitoring will be used. Therefore, at present only the simulation results are available for the energy consumption. However, the simulated energy consumption is very low with the reduction of 87 % in annual energy consumption and 92% reduction in the CO2 emissions, with respect to the pre-retrofitted house.
The payback period is about 77 years. However, this long payback period should be relativized because the house has benefitted very little maintenance work during last 73 years. Normally, one should count 0.5 % - 1 % of the property’s value as an annual investment for such maintenance. On the other hand, the energy price is very low in Switzerland and the cost of work is high. In addition the Swiss climate is moderate with no long cold periods in the winter and no need for air-conditioning in the summer time. Consequently, the payback period can become long if the increased value of the property is not taken into account.
The optimization of the smart system operation will be made during the heating period in winter 2016-2017.
The Spanish Demonstration building
All the work related to Task 4.1 was included in Deliverable 4.13. The main objective of this report was to obtain real data of the energetic behaviour of the house before the retrofitting works, thanks to monitoring and data collection: infrared thermographs, air-tightness & ventilation rates testing, meteorological parameters, building environmental parameters and final energy use.
The document introduced both a summary and a brief analysis of the monitored data for seven months, and the description of the instrumental. Deliverable 4.13 was re-organized and a common methodology for all the partners based on key performance indicators (KPI’s) estimations of the building was developed. The KPI’s estimated are: number of degrees day, total radiation, air-tightness, specific energy consumption, energy signature and thermal comfort.
Useful information from analytical measures was obtained. Air-tightness testing showed a leak level of the house too high, and the thermography analysis the poor quality of the thermal sealing of the house. The experiment allowed identifying the main zones of the house where air leaked and infiltrations occurred. The humidity values recorded in the house were generally below the recommended range established by the regulations. Similarly to the temperature analysis, the upstairs corridor was one of the most humid areas of the house.
The total electrical energy registered data, showed consumption less appliances of 4562 kWh (74% of heating, 5% of lighting, and 21% of DHW). The consumption of heating represented more than 90% of the electricity invoice in some cold months.
The results of the monitoring and the analysis allowed establishing adequate retrofit measures for the Spanish house.
The deliverable 4.14 was the result of the activity done in the framework of task 4.2.The Spanish retrofitted house was equipped with measuring and data logging facilities and was monitored approximately 12 months (depending on the technology) in the post-retrofit stage. The following subtasks were developed:
• Both materials and methods description for monitoring the Spanish demonstrator applied after retrofitting of the house which were new or different from those used in the pre-retrofit monitoring period.
• Monitoring results and discussion, highlighting the differences with the results from the pre-retrofit monitoring period presented in the D4.13.
• Key performance indicator (KPI) estimations for the post-retrofit period as well as the discussion between indicators estimated within the pre-retrofit and post-retrofit period.
• Methodology description for assessing the effectiveness of the innovative technologies.
• The estimation of the global energy saving
Thanks to the post-monitoring result, it was found that the airtightness of the house was significantly improved. When comparing KPI, it was proven that the energy consumption was drastically reduced thanks to the energy efficiency measures implemented in the house.
To calculate the Global energy savings, dynamic simulation models, of before and after retrofit works were developed. So that, it was possible to calculate estimated lighting, heating, and DHW demand of the house before and after the refurbishment. An established methodology was followed to achieve objective results and conclusions. The purpose was to demonstrate the compliance with the values defined in the DoW:
• Cumulative annual energy savings of at least 80% measured against building performance before retrofitting.
• At least a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions.
• Global energy consumption (excluding appliances) of 50 kWh/sqm·year while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofitting.
• At least 80% energy saving for lighting over the average consumption of the installed base.
Therefore, both simulation models and estimation tools were properly validated by meeting the requirements defined in the methodology and it was demonstrated that the objectives of the HERB were successfully achieved:
• The cumulative annual energy saving (target 80%) reached 84% in final energy, and 93% in primary energy.
• The energy saving for lighting (target 80%) reached 85% of reduction.
• The global energy consumption excluding appliances while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofitting (target 50 kWh/sqm·year) reached 42.17 kWh/sqm·year in final energy and 45.88 kWh/sqm·year in primary energy.
• Finally, 99% reduction of CO2 emissions was achieved (target 60%).
A cost-effectiveness analysis after retrofit was also developed. Expected costs and energy savings data were similar to the final results, however there were some deviations in the estimated energy production. The payback value changed from 13 to 11 years, higher than the payback period between two and five years established in the DOW. This may be because some of the retrofit technologies implemented are still in the developmental phase and this fact makes the products more expensive and less competitive than most of standard products currently available on the market. Another reason could be also the lack of precision of the used data in the calculations.
The Dutch Demonstration building
The energy reduction in the Dutch demonstration building is quite impressive: 82%. This is quite a lot because no measures were taken to reduce house hold appliances. This is thanks to the insulation, heat pump and holistic controller including demand control ventilation. The CO2 reduction calculated is 92%. This is also because the solar panels produced more electricity than was used by the building.
Unfortunately, the target for the payback period was not reached. The calculated payback period sums to 54 years, which is far too high.
The Holistic controller in combination with automatic shading and window airing performed well. Summer comfort improved, although insulation level increased. Average CO2 level increased and relative humidity reduced after retrofitting, which is quite logical due to lower average air flow due to demand control. There are still peaks above the CO2 limit of 1200 ppm. Possible this is due to curtains hanging over the sensor. This can be a point of improvement. Another point for improvement is that the inhabitants found it intrusive that the blinds went down when they were enjoying the morning sun. It was quite logical to prevent overheating but some work has to be done to improve the user interaction. A possible strategy is to control the system in such a way to prevent noise or visual discomfort when people are present in the room.
WORK Package 5 - Financial and administrative management; and Work Package 6 - Coordination
This section covers the process related to work packages 5 and 6, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 5.1: Financial Management; Task 5.2: Consortium Agreement (CA); and, Task 6.1: Monitoring Progress and Change management (Project Steering Committee); with associated deliverables: D5.15 - First Report to the Commission; D5.16 - Second Report to the Commission; D5.17 - Final Report to the Commission; D6.18 - Technology Implementation Plan 1; and, D6.19 - Technology Implementation Plan 2.
All reports for work packages have been submitted, in relation to finance and technology implementation. See below for further details on technology related information in regards to exploitation.
Work Package 7 - Dissemination and exploitation
The dissemination and exploitation activities were undertaken during the progression of the project, and a large quantity of data has been collated that will be used post completion. This section details the process related to this for the various locations, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 7.1: Dissemination of research results; and, Task 7.2: Exploitation of research results; with associated deliverables: D7.20 - Dissemination Plan; D7.21 - Exploitation Plan; D7.22 - Survey data of occupants’ satisfaction; D7.23 - Project website with regular updating; D7.24 - Handbook of guidelines and best practice for retrofitting of residential buildings; and, D7.25 - Report on case studies of retrofitted buildings.
Both Dissemination and exploitation plans were completed 12 months into the project in October 2013. The actions outlined in these plans were followed where applicable and further development is expected post project completion. The technological exploitation was covered in the previous section relating to work package 2. Many academic and industrial based publications were released during the project and further work is planned post project completion.
A website was created and used to disseminate information to the general public and others outside the consortium and EU commission. www.euroretrofit.com In addition, we set up a drop-box system where confidential information was distributed between partners, such as minutes of meetings, presentations and progress reports. These will be used to coordinate future legacy dissemination activities.
In overall dissemination the consortium has been very active in promoting results from the research and development emerging from the project. Many discoveries have been covered as a result of the project and this report highlights these. The following section lists the activities undertaken by each consortium member, but many of the activities were either engaged in jointly with other members, or materials and content were shared between members. We report a range of journal papers, conference proceedings and industrial dissemination related activities.
Potential Impact:
Expected impacts with respect to the original work programme
The programme ‘EeB.NMP.2012-2 - Systemic Approach for retrofitting existing buildings, including envelope upgrading, high performance lighting systems, energy-efficient HVAC systems and renewable energy generation systems’ was chosen for this project, with its overall aim being the development of a refurbishment system using a systemic approach using integrated concepts consisting of building technologies for renovation of the existing buildings stock to drastically improve energy efficiency. Innovative systems were to be introduced into the buildings using this systemic approach with respect to improving comfort in the indoor environment conditions, these making optimal use of local energy opportunities and boundary conditions. This approach was to consider the large diversity of the European existing building stock that presented a lot of technical challenges. The optimisation of the refurbishment process was to integrate various technological solutions (envelope, systems, renewable energy sources, thermal storage, natural ventilation, etc.) which were to interact with each other and with existing systems to optimise overall performance. Non technological barriers, such as aesthetical aspects, social acceptance, economic and environmental impact, related to the technologies were also to be considered.
The impacts listed were to be achieved through optimising, developing and demonstrating various technologies and solutions for retrofitting buildings together, with consideration of non-technical aspects of retrofitting. Optimisation of the technologies through life energy and service cycle analysis for different types of building and climate was to ensure the solutions would be economically feasible, and easy for installation / maintenance. Careful planning and deployment of the technologies and solutions would ensure maximum re-use and/or recycling of building blocks and components removed during the retrofitting process and minimum impact on the occupants and users. The project was to increase the energy efficiency and performance of existing buildings higher than requirements for new buildings in existing EU regulations (e.g. EPBD, Energy Policy for Europe). Guidelines resulting from the project completion were to establish standardisation for retrofitting in such aspects as technology deployment, installation and maintenance.
The original estimation for the application of the HERB innovations and process when applied to aged existing buildings would lead to the following:
• A cumulative annual energy savings of at least 80% measured against building performance before retrofit;
• At least a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions;
• An annual energy consumption (excluding appliances) of 50 kWh/m²/year while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofit;
• At least 80% energy saving for lighting over the average consumption of the installed base;
• User acceptability and long term continued efficient operation;
• A pay-back period of between two and five years compared to current state of the art, depending on the type of technology and solution.
The payback period was expected to depend on the type of technology and solution deployed. For example, certain technologies such as PV were known to be expensive when compared with conventional electricity generation but the initial cost was expected to decrease considerably as seen from rapid decrease in PV module price in recent years. Also with national government incentives such as feed-in-tariff and low running cost, the payback period was expected to drop considerably from previous estimations. The life cycle cost analysis used to optimise the combination of the technologies deployed. The impacts achieved through implementation of the project were varied and dependant on location; these can be reviewed in further detail in the previous section relating to the WP£ and WP4 outputs for each European location.
The innovations and process were to be developed to cater for requirements of various building types, so they could be integrated into similar houses within a district which was a target of the programme named the ‘global strategy’. This concept was to provide an area with a more appealing appearance, using a holistic approach over using a single technology or design. Additionally incorporation of system controls and sensors would ensure the acquisition of measurement data for analysis tools for existing and future energy performance assessment. The innovations assigned to each demonstration building were based on the conditions of the climate and the inherent condition of the buildings, these can be reviewed in further detail in the previous sections relating work packages 3 and 4.
The project was to provide the consortium with opportunities to collaborate, to enable long-term collaborative relationships for research and development. This would encourage knowledge transfer between academia and industries in terms of future development of the energy efficient technologies and solutions for retrofitting of buildings. Moreover, it would allow establishment joint ventures between stakeholders, this benefiting participants in terms of the potential annual incomes and increasing commercial opportunities. Compared with the initial investment in R&D (€5.8 million from EU and €2.6 million from participants themselves), the return rate would be expected to be significantly higher. The new technologies and solutions will therefore greatly increase the competitiveness of the venture within the EU and worldwide in terms of the market share, turn-over, interest volume, technical initiatives as well as sustainability. At the time of project completion a series of patents and future projects for further development of the innovations have been planned. A review of the previous section relating to the outputs of work package 2 should be done for future details on this.
Refurbishment of existing housing stock is a huge business, with an estimated market worth of £26.5 billion per year in the UK alone. The project was to contribute to growth of the EU economy through internal application and export of expertise and technology to other countries, such as EU, USA and Far East. The innovations are expected to have a large potential global market, and therefore contribute to EU’s economy in terms of increased volume and opportunity of employment. Based on the output of the HERB project alone, sales of products of certain innovations have been made across the glbe, and plans for future collaborations with new partners have been planned and are bein implemented. A review of the previous section relating to the outputs of work package 2 should be done for future details on this. The innovations and holistic process were designed to provide existing buildings with energy efficiency and indoor comfort, and were expected to contribute to European excellence in terms of improved quality of life. The outputs of work package 7 in relation to a review of feedback from visitors of the properties and the home users revieled positive results for this action, see below for further details.
Overall the innovative nature of the project in terms of innovative technology application provided: good indoor environmental quality with minimum energy use; an holistic approach from technical, market deployment to socio-economic analysis; a multidisciplinary and transnational Consortium and the use of advanced communication equipment for system operation, performance monitoring. In addition, dissemination activities completed were done aimed at:
• Aiding large scale market deployment in retrofitting of buildings.
• Accelerating the retrofitting uptake of low efficient building stock.
• Demonstrating cost effective highly energy efficient retrofitting practices.
• Creating best practice refurbishment examples for the building sector based on innovation and competitiveness, with benefits for the citizens and the environment.
• Contributing to raise the performance standards and regulations on European, national and local level, in the building sector.
The EU economy’s single market operates with each member of state holding its own unique strengths, and this requires close collaboration among the EU nations to enable development of technologies, and commercial opportunities to be used to achieve the targeted reductinos ibn carbon emissions. The research done in the HERB project required advanced knowledge of hardware and software for refurbishment, design and testing sites taking account of climatic variations, and other multi-disciplinay work in applcation of solutions for retrofitting scattered across various members of state, opposed to gathering in a single nation. No single participant in the Consortium had the full knowledge or facilities required to undertake the project, and were not enabled to establish an equally competent Consortium within their own countries. To achieve the outcomes of the project, it was necessary to bring together these from different EU nations. This was done successfully in the HERB project via the collaboration with the 17 partners. Evidently thuis will provide further future opportunities for research and product development, and a review of previous sections detailing the variuos work packages in each location will reviel details on these.
External factors that affected realisation of the expected impacts of the project
There will be four potential factors that were anticipated to affect realisation of the project impacts, namely: technical risk, commercial risk, environmental risk and political influence.
Technical risk. The HERB innovations required development and optimisation through: the expert consortium participants involved, a strong consortium structure, and combination of the extensive research experience of all the participants. Skills were based in computer modelling, sustainable energy technologies, renewable energy systems, planning and design of buildings, building services and refurbishment, as well as management of (EU) research projects, and these were to be used to minimise the technical risk involved. This was done successfully, albeit some of the technical risks rendered technologies not suitable for integration into the demonstration buildings, review previous section on work package 2 for further information on this.
Commercial risk. This concerned the issue of budget overruns, emergence of similar products in the market, and overestimation of market potential. Close budget management mitigated the problem of the budget overrun during the project, where control was imposed by the project coordinator and each participant. Within each participant, any purchase or expense was compared against the financial plan, and it was agreed that any overspend on individual items was met by the relevant participant rather than EU. Budget expense was monthly reviewed in the participant organisation and an annual financial reports were delivered to the coordinator’s organisation (UNOTT) for overall inspection. Financial reports were delivered to EU annually by UNOTT. A review of previous section detailing the completion of work package 3 is advised with respect to this, as delays were experienced in most cases due to restrictions in budget due to cuts in funding. The prevention of similar products in possession of the market was addressed in an early exploitation action. After assessing the results from testing of any technology or solution, negotiation were done between the relevant participants to reach a licensing agreements and raise any joint patents. At project completion, it was intended that the technologies and solutions were to be manufactured and marketed by the industrial participants and explored by GREEN, with the support from other participants as the stakeholders.
Environmental risk. No adverse environmental impacts arose from the project. The technologies and solutions were developed from sustainable and environmentally friendly materials, as did the reuse and recycling of materials removed from buildings during retrofitting.
Political influence. At the start of the project this was seen as positive. The EU government encouraged energy efficiency in existing buildings through retrofitting and during operation. And the project complied with the governments’ policy and therefore, no political risk was envisioned within the project. During the period the project the project was implemented, many political challenges and subsequent changes occurred with the EU. These caused unforeseen political impacts to the project, mainly in respect to the removal or radical overhaul of national funding mechanisms supporting housing development across the EU. In most HERB locations, including: Greece, Italy, Portugal, and the UK, these changes caused significant delays to the completion of the retrofit works, and by extension the project objectives. A review of previous section detailing the completion of work package 3 is advised with respect to this.
Dissemination of project results, and management of intellectual property
The HERB innovations could be used in new as well as existing buildings, and as large stocks of buildings for retrofitting annually in the EU and worldwide was expected to generate a high demand for the proposed technologies and solutions. The key target group for dissemination was therefore: manufactures of building materials, building designers, planners, environmental and services engineers, and owners-users of residential buildings. The Consortium aimed to publicize the project and products in order to facilitate future marketing.
In order to protect the commercial interests of the industrial participants facing strong competitive pressures from the US and Far East, publication of materials was selective, except for submission of contractually required reports and information to the Commission. The Exploitation Manager had a key role in establishing which information was to be protected by patents, copyright or trade secrets and which information was suitable for dissemination. The latter included the objectives of the project, general know-how obtained during the project and results of the research, development and demonstration. The methods and media for dissemination included:
• The internal dissemination of results by publishing and circulating technical documents and memoranda which were treated as confidential if any commercially sensitive information was included.
• Dissemination to the Commission by regular reports at 6-monthly intervals.
• Dissemination to the industrial, academic and public community.
Dissemination to the industrial, academic and public community was done through public demonstration, seminars and workshops, journal publications, conferences, exhibitions, website, newsletters, and media. The original plan dissemination is detailed as follows:
• Public demonstration – the innovations and demonstration buildings were demonstrated to the public at seven countries relevant (i.e. in the UK, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Spain and Netherlands). The buildings were open to the public during this organised time. Target audiences included: schools, general public and business (policy makers, architects, building services engineers, renewable/sustainable energy system manufacturers, building industry, and owners and users of residential buildings). Each demonstration was intended to have an audience of 30 or more. A questionnaire was also to be used to obtain feedback from the audience on the value of the visit. Survey of occupants’ acceptance was done in addition to this. These actions were successfully completed in all HERB locations in which demonstration buildings were retrofitted.
• Workshops – Seven workshops were organised towards the end of the project (month 42) by UNOTT in collaboration with GREEN, UNIBO, EVALUE, UOA, HEIG, ONYX and TNO in the seven countries where participants involved with building retrofit (UNOTT, UNIBO, EVALUE, UOA, HEIG, ONYX and TNO), publicised the research achievements and demonstrated the operation of the buildings post retrofit to audiences including: policy makers, architects, building services engineers, renewable/sustainable energy system manufacturers, building industry and public.. These actions were successfully completed in all HERB locations in which demonstration buildings were retrofitted.
• Paper publications – During the project, the acadmic participants were to publish at least 20 papers (4 for each academic participant) in relevant journals (e.g. Building and Environment, Energy and Buildings, Applied Thermal Engineering, Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, Low Carbon Technologies), with one paper each year in each acadmic participant in collaboration with non-academic participants. These actions were achieved, review the subsequent section for further details on this.
• Handbooks - A handbook was to be developed as a further deliverable for the public containing guidelines and best practice for retrofitting of residential buildings. Another book was also to be developed containing case studies resulting from all the demonstration buildings retrofitted. It was to include details of all relevant parameters analysed during the project (such as energy consumption, components and solutions, financial costs and payback periods, users behaviour and perception) and related improvements achieved through retrofitting. This action was completed and submitted with the final deliverable documents of the project
• Conferences and Exhibitions - The Consortium members presented their reseach findings over four international conferences (e.g. Renewable Energy Congress, Sustainable Energy Technologies, IBPSA Building Simulation conference). These actions were achieved, review the subsequent section for further details on this.
• Website – A specific project website will be developed at UNOTT from the start date of the project to report the latest reseach activities and major findings. The website will be regularly updated. All participants will be permitted to access this website to update information and latest developments related to their work. These actions was achieved, review the subsequent section for further details on this.
• Media (TV or newspaper) reporting – UNOTT was to organise a news report to be publicised in a EU media, e.g. TV or newspaper, at month 42 of the project, which was expected to reach over 500,000 non-professionals within the EU and worldwide. This action is ongoing as delays to work package 3
Exploitation and commercialising of the project results was done according to the guidelines of the Commission. The participants worked closely and hold regular meetings to ensure successful exploitation of the results. A key objective of the project was to accelerate market deployment of the technologies and solutions for existing buildings within Europe by further collaboration with European manufacturers, building designers and owners. The extensive experience of the participating companies in this area was considered a valuable resource when taking the technologies and solutions to the market place. The HERB industrial participants are leading companies in the design of sustainable buildings and the development and market deployment of sustainable materials and energy systems, and have excellent track records in taking new technologies and solutions into the market. This, combined with the technical expertise of the university participants, enabled successful exploitation of the technologies and solutions by the Consortium. In addition, meetings were arranged between the academic and industrial participants and representatives from other relevant companies and manufacturers to discuss strategies to develop the technologies and solutions further. A review of innovation outputs as given in the section on work package 2 should be reviewed in relation to the success of the actions detailed. The level of development of each innovation varied in each case and future developments are planned or advised in each case.
Other deliverables suitable for exploitation included computer models used as tools for optimising technologies and solutions for retrofitting of buildings, analysing building energy demand and supply, predicting the indoor environment of residential buildings, and social economic analysis. The computer models are valuable to the industrial participants as tools to assist their design work. On the validation of the tools, solutions and technologies, an Exploitation Steering Committee was formed to decide for the exploitation policy of the project results. This was formulated among the participants and its composition was collectively decided and elected; every participant was represented by a delegate. The Exploitation Committee was operated under the leadership of the Exploitation Manager who was assisted by the project Coordinator. The duties of the committee were to:
• Decide which type of information could have public dissemination, which to remain reserved, and what should be patented. Patent and licensing policies were to be covered by a specific Consortium Agreement that was to be signed within the first six months of the project following the kick-off meeting, by all participants. Use of existing patents as well as confidential information by the other participants of the project was to be secured within the Consortium agreement. The Consortium will also to protect any commercially significant innovations through taking out patent applications.
• Continuously monitor specialised press, dedicated web sites, etc., to understand in real time the actual state-of-the-art of the technologies and solutions to face with the research work addressed by project.
• Continuously check any patent literature to verify which patentable results could be hindered by issued patents.
• Continuously assess the market demand relative to the developed HERB innovations.
The exploitation manager coordinated all the aspects having an influence on the exploitation of the results, coordinated all exploitation related issues within the Consortium (patents, licenses, diffusion activities, etc.), and was in charge of coordinating possible negotiations concerning exploitation issues between the Consortium and external parties. The original plan for carrying out exploitation related issues is detailed as follows:
• Patents – Several patent cases on the technologies and solutions were to be filed at month 24 of the project progress, with all participants as the joint inventors.
• Licensing agreement – A licensing agreement between the participants was to be drawn up and signed at month 24 of the project, clarifying the proportion each participant would take for the patented technologies and solutions, as well as its stake-holding position in the future business.
• Joint venture (or independent business) – A discussion was to be undertaken at month 24 to consider the possibility of setting up the joint venture, or transferring the technologies and solutions to enterprises inside or outside the Consortium, after completing the project. For a joint venture, the role and stock-share of the each participant as well as structure and operating scheme of venture was to be detailed. For independent businesses, issues related to technology transfer such as licensing fees, share of the commercial margins as well as proportion of each participant would take in the business would be clarified in the plan.
• Technology implementation/development plan - Technology implementation/development plan was formulated at Month 30 and also at the end of the project at Month 42. This detailed the routines to convert the concerned technologies and solutions into commercial products, ways of improving/enhancing the quality of the products, as well as methods for further developing the products in foreseeable future. The plan incorporated major technical results derived from the research such as design standard, manufacturing standard, performance evaluation standard.
• Commercial plan – The Commercial plan was to be an issue related to operation of a joint venture or an independent business. This was to detail the routines of marketing/commercialisation of the technologies and solutions in the initial three years after starting-up the business, including plans for advertising, marketing, commercial activities such as visiting, exhibition, open day, bidding as well as external relations.
• Financial plan – The Financial plan refers to issues related to investment for the technologies and solutions. This addressed the financial budget of starting-up the businesses and agreed contribution by each participant. It was likely that the industrial participants will invest on the technologies and solutions by raising funds, setting-up production lines and workshops; whereas the Universities would provide technical supports, laboratory testing and personnel training across the whole process.
Dr Ioannis Pappas, was nominated as the Exploitation Manager for the project to coordinate all aspects that had influence on the exploitation of the results. To this end, the Exploitation Manager cooperated with the technical and commercial staff of all participants, coordinated all exploitation related issues within the Consortium (patents, licenses, diffusion activities, etc.), and was in charge of coordinating possible negotiations concerning exploitation issues between the Consortium and external parties.
The project was conducted as a collaboration between the companies and the Univesities, and intellectual property rights arising from the research were to be a joint issue of these organisations. In these cases, the companies and the Universities would hold meetings during the second half of the project to negotiate an appropriate revenue sharing arrangement, which would be based on the contribution of each group to the project. A Consortium agreement would be signed between the participants indicating the share of the technologies and solutions and ownership of IPs. Use of existing patents by the participants in the project was to be secured within the Consortium Agreement.
The generation of at least one patent for each innovation was expected, with matters relating raised at the Consortium meeting held at month 24, with members clarifying the relevant matters such as the named inventors, revenue share, application fee-paying, action plan as well as technical contexts on the basis of the individual cases. The named lead inventor was to file the patent case through the organisation where he/she was based with support of the co-inventors. The maintenance of the patents was to be monitored by the lead inventor.
If a patent or intellectual property were transferred to a joint venture or an independent business (either internally or externally), the project coordinator was to call up a meeting with all the Consortium members and the user of the intellectual property to discuss the matters related to license transfer, including fees charged initially and during the business development, stock share of the technology and solution within the business, as well as financial share among the participants. This would then generate a licensing agreement addressing the matters concerned.
Where required, Confidentiality Agreements were signed and comprehensive Cooperation Agreements were put in place in order to protect the background Intellectual Property of each participant. It was envisaged that these agreements would be discussed and signed by all participants.
List of Websites:
www.euroretrofit.com
The overall objective of the Herb project is to develop energy efficient technologies and holistic solutions for retrofitting residential buildings and to demonstrate how existing residential buildings can be refurbished up to at least the latest national standards for new residential buildings.
The specific objectives for the first Reporting Period are as follows:
1. Develop computer models for optimisation of components for each technology and solution and optimise each and combination of different technologies and solutions for retrofitting different types of residential building.
2. Develop a computer model for dynamic simulation of energy demand and supply of residential buildings.
3. Develop a computer model for simulation of the indoor environment in residential buildings.
4. Develop a control strategy for optimum operation of technologies and solutions.
5. Model the socio-economic aspects of retrofitting of residential buildings.
6. Develop technologies for energy efficient envelope retrofitting such as aerogel, starch microporous insulation, and vacuum insulated panels, phase change materials, multi-functional facades, integrated heat recovery panels, smart windows and surface coatings.
7. Develop solutions for energy efficient lighting such as LED and light pipes.
8. Develop solutions for energy efficient HVAC including natural ventilation, passive heating/cooling and heat pump integrated with heat recovery and thermal storage.
9. Develop strategies for optimum integration of renewable energy systems from solar thermal, photovoltaics to ground source heat pumps.
10. Test the performance of the technologies and solutions under laboratory controlled conditions.
11. Measure building energy use before retrofitting.
Project Context and Objectives:
The HERB project was established on the basis of two main aims. Firstly, to develop and apply a new methodological approach to retrofit of domestic buildings based on acquisition, assessment, and utilisation of physical data monitored from buildings to identify the most suitable solution. These aims were postulated on the basis of key challenges facing the EU housing stock. Although building new homes to the demanding energy efficiency regulations in Europe is clearly essential for reducing energy consumption and hence global warming, the benefits will accrue slowly as several decades will be required before such houses form a significant proportion of the housing stock. The major technical challenge is retrofitting existing, energy-inefficient homes, to meet 21st century standards within the constraints enforced by structures built in the 19th and 20th centuries. Homes must be created that people want to live in and can afford, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Key to achieving this goal is understanding how best to select and integrate various technologies from the many available, to optimise performance for different building types, climates and socio-economic conditions. On this basis, a truly holistic approach was to be developed over the 3.5 year period via utilisation of the extensive range of expertise and interests of the consortium members assembled.
The project involved the development and demonstration of energy efficient innovative technologies and holistic solutions for retrofitting and performance monitoring of residential buildings. Solutions chosen for development and retrofitting included technologies such as:
1. Various types of insulation material for envelope such as Aerobel/aerogel, starch micro-porous insulation, vacuum insulated panels, phase change materials, multi-functional facades, integrated heat recovery panel system, smart windows and surface coatings;
2. High performance lighting systems such as LED and light pipes;
3. Energy efficient HVAC systems such as natural ventilation, passive heating/cooling and heat pump integrated with heat recovery and thermal storage; and
4. Building integrated renewable energy systems from solar thermal, photovoltaics to ground source heat pumps.
The impact of the solutions was to be demonstrated through performance monitoring of a number of retrofitted residential buildings in several EU countries. The types of building chosen included detached or terraced buildings, and flats; these were to represent the different ages and types of inefficient construction in terms of energy demand. Features of these included: solid walls, single glazing and poorly insulated roofs and floors, inefficient lighting, heating/cooling and ventilation systems.
Examination of the holistic approached was analyzed in relation to its impact in delivering: deep cuts in energy use and carbon emissions, high levels of comfort, and attractive costs. Rather than using individual technologies, each integrated whole dwelling solution was optimized to address all the aspects of the dwelling that could be used to reduce the heat losses through the building envelope, and minimize energy use for artificial lighting and fresh air supply. The buildings were retrofitted to at least the latest national building standards aiming to reduce energy use for space heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting by 75% or 100% (zero energy building) where feasible. The type and number of technology and solutions deployed was optimised using a life cycle energy analysis for each type of building. Overall, it was estimated that the combination of the above innovations would lead to the following (for poorly insulated existing buildings with most cost-effective solutions):
• A cumulative annual energy savings of at least 80% measured against building performance before retrofit;
• At least a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions;
• A global energy consumption (excluding appliances) of 50 kWh/m²/year while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofit;
• At least 80% energy saving for lighting over the average consumption of the installed base;
• User acceptability and long term continued efficient operation;
• A pay-back period of between two and five years compared to current state of the art, depending on the type of technology and solution.
To achieve the aims given the project set out specific scientific and technical objectives, these including development of:
1. Computer models for optimisation of components for each technology and solution in retrofitting different types of residential building;
2. Computer models for dynamic simulation of energy demand and supply of residential buildings;
3. Simulation models for the indoor environment in residential buildings;
4. A control strategy for optimum operation of technologies and solutions;
5. Models for the socio-economic aspects of retrofitting of residential buildings.
6. Solutions for building envelope retrofitting including: aerogel, starch micro-porous insulation, vacuum insulated panels, phase change materials, multi-functional facades, integrated heat recovery panels, smart windows and surface coatings;
7. Solutions for energy efficient lighting such as LED and light pipes;
8. Solutions for energy efficient HVAC including natural ventilation, passive heating/cooling and heat pump integrated with heat recovery, and thermal storage;
9. Strategies for optimum integration of renewable energy systems from solar- thermal or photovoltaics, and ground source heat pumps;
10. Tests for the performance of the technologies and solutions under laboratory controlled conditions;
11. Methodologies for building energy use monitoring prior retrofitting;
12. Methodologies for monitoring the performance of each technology-solution independently and holistically when combined with other solutions in terms of building energy use and occupant comfort for 12 months post retrofit;
13. Methodologies for the coordination research activities from scientific/technological, financial and any related administrative aspects;
14. Plans for the running of public engagement events to demonstrate the technologies, solutions and retrofitted buildings; and
15. Plans for dissemination and exploitation of research results.
Project Results:
Description of main S & T results/foregrounds
Work Package 1 - Computer modelling of the performance of technologies, solutions and buildings as well as socio-economic analysis
This phase involved development of computer models for optimisation of components for each innovation investigated, together with economic analysis for optimisation of different combinations technologies in retrofitting various domestic building types. The innovations chosen included: Super-insulation technologies, Phase change material energy storage, multi-functional facades, smart windows, integrated heat recovery systems, LED light pipes incorporating natural ventilation, heat pump heat recovery and storage systems, solar thermal and photovoltaics combinations, and ground source heat pumps.
Various building types for retrofit were assessed including houses and flats of different ages. Dynamic condition simulations analysing energy demand and indoor environment conditions in residential buildings were developed. Additionally a control strategy together was developed in order to optimise the operation of the technologies and solutions for the buildings. Digital social, environmental and economic tools were built to assess the performance of the technologies when holistically retrofitted into buildings, these providing indices describing energy performance and socio-economic impacts.
Completion of these objectives was achieved via a set of tasks and associated deliverable. These are listed as follows with descriptions on the project output results for each partner associated.
Task 1.1 - Development of computer models for optimisation of components for the innovations and optimisation.
Each innovation was dealt with by one or more participants who had expertise in the related field. These were designed to be installed in various types of residential building during retrofit, including: detached or terraced houses, and flats of different ages. The properties of these were to be used in the design-development process, as they included different types of inefficient construction such as solid walls, single glazing and poorly insulated roofs and basement floors, inefficient lighting, heating/cooling and ventilation. The models incorporated life cycle analysis for optimisation. The first project deliverables would then be completed via completion of this task by each partner, these being: D1.1 - Computer models of various elements for technologies, solutions and buildings; and, D1.2 - Results of technology/solution optimisation.
Each partner was responsible for sub-tasks and corresponding contributions to this deliverable. Descriptions of these are as follows:
UNOTT
UNOTT was to develop models for optimisation of super insulation innovations in aerogel and vacuum insulated panel technologies. These were to be analysed for three modes of heat transfer, i.e. conduction, convection and radiation. This was achieved for both super insulation types, most notably in relation to VIPs, where models were developed for optimisation of both wrapping film and core components. Contributions were made to D1.1 based on these outputs and a series of publications have been planned with the industrial partner Kingspan Insulation (KIN).
UNIBO
UNIBO was to develop a model for innovative heat pumps with thermal storage and GSHP. The model, was to evaluate the long term performance of the system (up to 50 years) and take into account the effects of the thermal interference between ground heat exchangers, of groundwater movement, of the convection, radiation and evaporation heat transfer above ground, and of the energy transfer within the system from the heat source to sink.
Two MATLAB simulation codes for air-to-water heat pumps with thermal storage have been developed: one for winter operation, and one for summer operation with recovery of condensation heat. The code for winter operation has been applied to analyse the effects of the heat-pump sizing, of the thermal storage volume and of the inverter on the seasonal COP. Both codes have been applied to determine the optimal sizing of the air-to-water heat pump to be installed in the Italian HERB building and to determine the yearly use of electric energy for heating, cooling, dehumidifying and DHW production. Analytical expressions of g-functions, suitable for long-term hourly simulations of ground-coupled heat pump systems, have been determined. A complete hourly simulation code for ground-coupled heat pump systems has been developed and has been recently applied to analyse the effects of the total length of the ground heat exchangers and of the inverter on the mean seasonal COP and on the mean seasonal EER.
SUAS
SUAS was to develop a model for optimisation of building integrated renewable (solar) energy systems, i.e. solar thermal and PV. The model was to not only involve heat transfer through the components but also through the systems. The characteristics of the PV cells were to be modelled using parameters including solar light intensity and wind speed.
The by SUAS in D 1.1 presented simulation approach is used to explain the performance behaviour of solar thermal and PV systems as well as auxiliary heating under real conditions. The developed models were used for energetic analysis of HERB Demo-buildings and finally should help designers as well as researchers to predict the operation characteristics of solar based renewable energy systems in retrofitting scenarios. The developed integration simulation model can be used as a tool in order to deal with the multivariable interacting processes (electricity generation, heat generation, heat storage and distribution), multiple conflicting objectives and constrains which are the main problem related to efficient process control in case of renewable technologies and system design. The modular approach enables the further integration of mathematical models which can be used for model based optimisation of control strategies on an extended level. The work carried out by SUAS in WP 1 can be subdivided in two sections.
Thermal models: In Task 1.1 SUAS developed a number of mathematical models for heat supply for buildings, such as thermal solar collector, biomass furnace, stratified heat store and heat sink and combined the other ways isolated models in a system integration interface. The implementation was done in Insel, a simulation platform developed at the University of Applied Science-Stuttgart, SUAS. In order to make the mathematical models available to the other HERB-Partners these models are also implemented in MatLab-Simulink for integration in other simulation Software such as e.g. TRNSYS.
Photovoltaic Models: In WP 1.1 SUAS developed an improved PV-model and extended the model by the introduction of further application fields. Whereas the basic model covers free standing PV-fields with ambient temperature on the surface and on the backside of the panels regarded to be the same, the extended PV model also covers façade integrated PV-systems with ambient wind speed at the surface, air flow at the backside either generated by natural or forced convection and considering backside temperatures differing from ambient temperature. The PV-models were implemented in analogy to the thermal systems in the overall energy supply interface described above and connected to electricity demand results from EnergyPlus for a given building in order to e.g. define the ratio between self-use of produced electricity and electricity fed to the grid.
UOA
UOA was to develop a model for optimisation energy efficient lighting design. This was to take into account not only solar radiation and light transmission but also convection and evaporation heat transfer for light pipes, with their integration with ventilation, evaporative cooling or artificial lighting (LED). This was achieved and the artificial lighting was finally chosen as the additional operation, as this would make the technology an independent lighting system, that could provide low energy lighting, under any exterior conditions.
After extensive testing of the state of the art scientific methodologies and various simulation algorithms, the final model developed by UoA was able to optimise and calculate the performance of a lighting system, including light pipe and artificial lighting (LED), controlled by smart controls. The inputs that are required are related to the room layout and material properties (width, length, reflectances, etc), the type and the number of the light pipes used (reflectance of tube, diameter, etc), the natural lighting sources (existence of windows) and the location of the room/ building (exterior illuminance/ radiation).The outputs are the average illuminance on the working plane and the wattage of the required LEDs, in order to achieve the desired lighting levels. The model was developed as a simple Excel file, so that it could easily be used by all interested parties (engineers, property owners, developers, etc). The model also enables the calculation of the energy savings achieved by the use of the proposed lighting system, compared to more conventional ones. All related information can be found in WP1 deliverables.
HEIG
HEIG were to develop models for optimisation of: smart window technology and self-cleaning external wall surface coatings. These were to incorporate: heat transfer, light transmission, and photocatalytic processes. Computational fluid dynamics was to be used to simulate the air/rainwater flow over the wall surfaces, with this forming part of a model to predict the photochemical processes and cleaning efficiency of the photocatalytic reaction. They would combine a number of sub-models dealing with material, air, mass and radiation balances, these including: (a) a light absorption and scattering model; (b) a fluid-dynamic model; (c) adsorption and diffusion models for the substrates involved; and (d) a kinetic model of the photocatalytic process. Variables for optimisation were to include those that affect the photochemical processes such as thermal radiation intensity, coating thickness, methods of coating. Additionally analysis into the influence the effective contact between the pollutants and the photo-chemically active surface was to be done. For the smart window technology HEIG developed a computer model in COMSOL Multiphysics finite element method (FEM) software in order to optimize the vacuum tube geometry of the window. The model calculates the thermal resistance thus giving the U-value of the window. The better performing single tube structure was chosen to a further study in WP2.
For the self-cleaning external wall coatings a heat and moisture modeling (HAM) was made with WUFI software in order to predict the water runoff layer thickness and the film velocity on a porous wall surface as a function of the rainfall. The effect of the thickness of the self-cleaning coating was also included in the model. In addition, a MATLAB runoff model for a non-porous glass surface was developed. In addition, the dust particle-wall interaction was analysed and particle detachment model was established. At the microscale, our simulation results demonstrate that under high relative humidity (>50%), the deposited dust at different sizes on the superhydrophilic wall surface can be easily detached by the runoff during rain with the assumption of very low friction coefficient. Therefore, the self-cleaning effect is not efficient for sticky dust particles.
ONYX
ONYX was to develop a model for optimisation of transparent multifunctional facade technology. The model was to include all modes of heat transfer, fluid flow and light transmission. In order to achieve it, several output parameters that influence building thermal behaviour were analyzed as a function of input parameters: façade dimensions, external temperature, radiation level and PV glass transparency. For this purpose, Fluent software was used.
In addition, optical properties of transparent PV façade combined with other glazing envelopes are of interest since luminance and internal heating point of view. For this purpose, a model to calculate final optical properties was implemented in excel in order to get parameters like light transparency, solar transparency, reflectance, g-value or shading coefficient
ITS
ITS was to develop models for optimisation of integrated heat recovery panels and energy efficient HVAC. These were to include all air flow and heat transfer and exchange in the channels within the panel and its surroundings.
PPL
PPL were to develop a model for optimisation of the structure and composite of a Phase Change Material, these including not only the basic heat transfer modes between the material and surroundings, but also solidification and melting processes for different properties of PCM material and thermal conducting structure.
The model that was developed for the HERB project with respect to heat transfer inside PCMs has been presented and demonstrated within the Task 1.1 report. The heat transfer modes that will be relevant to all applications were incorporated into this model. Overall, it has been shown that in order for the PCM to be effective, a number of items should be emphasized as PCMs naturally have very low thermal conductivities. Firstly, the temperature difference between the transfer medium and the PCM should be as high as possible. Secondly the rate of flow over the PCM should be controlled to optimise the heat transfer rate. Finally the area over which heat transfer occurs in the given system should be maximised. Overall the model was successful in analysing heat transfer in PCMs under the stipulations specified in the project document.
KIN
KIN were to develop a model for optimisation of the starch micro-porous insulation material for a composite VIP/PCM design. The model for the fabrication process was to include not only the basic heat transfer modes but also crystallisation/melting, taking account of relevant properties of microporous polysaccharide, notably pore size distribution and thermal conductivity for both simple and composite structures. Also a model for composite walls were to be developed, these including: composites of PCM and VIPs.
Task 1.2: Development of a computer model for dynamic simulation of energy demand and supply of residential buildings
Computer modelling was carried out to quantify the energy demand and supply for the demonstration buildings identified. Results were then used in the determination of technologies and solutions for retrofitting, and the design of operating control and the development of a control strategy for optimum operation in work package 3.
The industrial partner TNO was tasked with the design of the overall system of analysis used, in consultation with the partners planning demonstration house retrofits in work package 3, including: UNOTT, HEIG, UNIBO, ONYX, SUAS, and UOA. An overall strategy was devised post a consultation period, this implemented for a series of test cases in the delivery of the associated deliverable: D1.3 - Results of dynamic simulation of building energy demand. The designed methodology acted as a central base that contributions from other deliverables including D1.1 and D1.4 (See below) could be drawn from. Additionally the software used for energy analysis was not dependent on the use of one specified piece of simulation software. Partners across the consortium thus used their preferred software packages when implementing the D1.3 methodology in retrofit planning phase in work package 3; examples including: DesignBuilder, TRNSYS, EDSL TAS, and IES VE.
Task 1.3: Development of a computer model for simulation of the indoor environment in residential buildings
An indoor environmental quality modelling methodology was designed by UNOTT for a building pre- and post-retrofit, with this based on climatic and occupancy conditions from D1.3 outputs. Results were to be compared with occupants’ pre- and post-retrofit satisfaction surveys to supplement the assessment process in work package 7, this methodology being designed via consultation of UNOTT with LV. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, FLUENT, was used to investigate air flow, heat, and contaminant movement in buildings. Additionally, building daylight quality conditions were investigated. On completion the model was to be implemented in the planning phase in work package 3 using boundary conditions unique with the project case studies. The output from this task was then used to complete the deliverable: D1.4 - Results of microclimate modelling.
The approached UNOTT undertook in completion of this deliverable was based on comparison of outputs from a simplified model (implemented using an integrated CFD tool in the DesignBuilder building simulation software) with a more complex model based on models designed in fluent. Comparison of outputs from these models had variable results and it was deemed more time would be required to develop the models to a sufficient level of detail. The labour and skill investment required to achieve this was deemed impractical in relation to its integration into the envisioned holistic modelling system, as designed by TNO in D1.3. Comparison with monitored data from work package 4 would validate any models done, and at the time of submission of D1.4 the process designed was still in its development phase. A publication comparing the outputs from the models with the monitored internal environmental data measured in the HERB demonstration buildings is planned post completion of the project, with contributions from the other partners planned, these including: LHA, TNO, HEIG, UNIBO, ONYX, SUAS, and UOA.
Task 1.4: Development of a control strategy
A generic control strategy was developed via collaboration of TNO and COMPX optimising the operation of the technologies, solutions and building performance, with smart metering used to measure and minimise energy consumption. The implementation of this strategy was done via assessment of the outputs from the building simulation models completed for D1.3 for all demonstration houses; this being in collaboration with: LHA, HEIG, UNIBO, ONYX, SUAS, and UOA. An innovation was then to be designed and built around this strategy by TNO in work package 2. Completion of this tasks was used for the submission used for the deliverable D1.5 - A control strategy for optimum operation of technologies and solutions.
The advantages that implementation of the strategy had on energy consumption were dependant on the type of building and technologies used in its retrofit. In some cases this proved to be minor, and existing commercially available systems were advised for install over the HERB innovation, these including: the UK, Portugal, Italy, and Greece. Others incorporated more ambitious system designs that were deemed to be suitable test bases for implementation, these including: The Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain. Publication and dissemination of this strategy was done by TNO at an international conference organised by partners of UNOTT.
Task 1.5: Modelling and analysis of the socio-economic aspects of retrofitting of residential buildings
An Excel based tool for analysing the social, environmental and economic benefits of retrofitting using the innovative solutions was developed by LV, via collaboration with partners: UNOTT, UNIBO, UOA, HEIG, ONYX and TNO. The model was designed to be used to assess the overall performance of the technologies, solutions and retrofitted buildings. Its outputs included indices describing energy performance balanced against investment, this data being used to calculate the payback periods, life cycle cost, etc., taking into account forecasted inflation and discount rates and energy prices. The potential reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in implementing proposed retrofit strategies was calculated. Additionally, a methodology for assessment of qualitative social acceptability of the retrofit strategies was done via development of surveys to be used in questionnaires and interviews with the building occupants.
LV was to develop a computer model for analysing the social, environmental and economic benefits of retrofitting using the innovative technologies and solutions. The model was then to be used by participants involved in monitoring the performance of retrofitted buildings. This was achieved by the development of the HERB Toolkit: Socio-Economic Modelling and Analysis, which is a socio-economic model primarily targeted at measuring the economic efficiency of residential buildings retrofitting using HERB innovative technologies and solutions. The socio-economic model was built on a life cycle cost basis and structured to answer the questions of what type and quantity of technology will be deployed, what is the respective amount of energy and CO2 savings, which investments are required and how cost-effective they are. The model calculates the payback period, life cycle cost, and takes into account inflation and discount rates and energy prices. The model was used by the relevant participants involved in the retrofitted dwellings monitoring.
The completion of this tool was done and provided for the consortiums submission for the deliverable D1.18 - Results of socio-economic investigation. Its structure was built via the inclusion of proven calculation methodologies that were provided variables from data bases, these built using contributions from HERB partners tasked with development of technologies in D1.1 and those tasked with the retrofit of the twelve demonstration buildings in work package 3. Example data contributions included: national average costs of energy provided, technology installation costs, details relating to subsidies provided for technologies (i.e. energy feed-in tariffs, etc.), and outputs from building simulation models. The utilisation of the calculation model formed the basis of the retrofit economic assessment used in deliverable submissions in work package 3. Joint publications relating to the holistic assessment of the demonstration houses are planned post completion of the HERB project, once all post-retrofit monitoring data has been acquired. These will be done via the HERB academic partners: UNOTT, HEIG, UNIBO, and UOA.
Work Package 2 - Development and testing of technologies and solutions for retrofitting
This phase involved the physical construction of the technologies optimised for retrofitting in work package 1, with the purpose of testing under controlled conditions prior retrofit installation in work package 3.
Tasks: 2.1 - Development of innovative technologies and solutions; and, 2.2 - Testing of innovative technologies and solutions
The components and technologies were constructed and optimised through laboratory testing in this task, for retrofitting of different types of building in work package 3. The development was undertaken by consortium participants tasked with developing the associated models in work package 1. Where suitable this involved collaboration between participants, with outputs from this process used as the basis to produce the deliverable documents for D2.7 - Technologies and solutions developed for retrofitting; D2.8 - Results of laboratory testing of technologies and solutions; and, D2.9 - Technologies and solutions ready for retrofitting.
Each partner was responsible for sub-tasks and corresponding contributions to this deliverable. Descriptions of these are as follows:
UNOTT and KIN
UNOTT set out to develop a series of novel super insulation materials via collaboration with the manufacturing partner KIN. The first was based on the use of a recently developed nano-organic material to be used to form a new type of aerogel material. The purpose of this being the resolution of manufacturing weaknesses that lead to the high cost of commercially available nano-inorganic aerogels. This was then tested as a core material substitute in vacuum insulated panel technology to assess its impact. In addition processes to cover/coat the new aerogel with a polymer elastomers were assessed; this being done to maintain the advantages of aerogel while avoiding known drawbacks in terms of: handling, dust and safety. The manufacture of VIPs using a “chemical getter” was also investigated by UNOTT and KIN on the basis of chemically bolstering the imposed vacuum in manufacture. A concept of stainless steel coated VIPs capable of withstanding high external pressures was also investigated, on the basis of protection against the technologies inherent fragility. Finally, the combination of phase change material (PCM) technology with VIPs was investigated, with respect to their potential impact in controlling overheating in internal insulation applications.
The university successfully achieved the development of the nano-organic aerogel material via use of prescription grade cellulose. This involved chemically treating the material through an acid hydrolysis process, and separation of the particles via centrifugation chamber. This produced a raw-form powder which was then compressed into a rigid aerogel panel. Under thermal testing the panel exhibited a steady state thermal conductivity between 35 and 40 mW/m.K this comparable to conventional commercial insulations’ performance. Considering the costs of manufacture exceeded those of commercial insulations by a factor of fifteen, this was not a favourable outcome; however, there were potential at additional reduction, should further research be undertaken. Additionally, reductions in the thermal conductivity could be possible, considering the manufacture process was relatively crude. It is expected the recorded conductivity was caused by compression of the nano-structures in the insulation’s physical structure.
More favourable results were recorded when the nano-cellulose was substituted for fumed silica in the core material of commercial VIPs. The recorded thermal conductivity of tests of these panels was recorded at 10.4 mW/m.K – this being below the 14mW/m.K target. The current manufacture cost for the material is ~£150 / m2, using the technique employed in the HERB project. Research identified methods to reduce this value down to ~£85 / m2; however, in order for the material to be commercially viable the cost must not exceed £50 / m2. KIN and UNOTT are currently in discussions on identifying methods to achieve this and related IP sharing, and based on the outcomes of the HERB work future industry collaboration projects will occur. Additionally, a series of articles will be published in conjunction with this work, these being delayed at this time based on the sensitivity of the content.
The remaining concepts including: aerogel coating, stainless steel protection coating for VIPs, and installation of surface based PCMs on VIPs were tested to a satisfactory level. In all cases the benefits achieved were not favourable compared to the investment required for development. At this time recommendations have been made on what steps are required for this, however, it is unlikely that these technologies will not exceed the research curiosity stage. Data acquired in the testing of these systems will be used in future publications planned by UNOTT.
UNIBO and COBO
UNIBO were to develop heat pump innovations most notably with respect to ground source, via research that optimised the efficiency through integration with thermal storage. The initial concept was to make use of a stable ground thermal source using waste heat from exhaust air or waste water. This was to be coupled with low heating sink systems such as underfloor heating and / or high cooling sink systems such as chilled ceiling.
UNIBO and Galletti SpA, an Italian company producing heat pumps and hydronic terminals, optimized and tested the new air-to-water heat pump GALLETTI Hiwarm HWMC010, to be applied to the energy retrofitting of the HERB building in Bologna. The heat pump provides both heating/cooling/dehumidifying and DHW. The optimal sizing of the heat pump, with respect to the energy needs of the building, was performed by employing a MATLAB simulation code developed by UNIBO in the framework of WP1. A second MATLAB code, developed to simulate the summer operation with recovery of condensation heat for DHW, was then employed to determine the heat pump use of electric energy during the cooling season. In order to couple the heat pump to the building, an innovative hydronic terminal was developed, in cooperation with GALLETTI SpA. This was obtained as enhancement of the 2x1 fan coil system produced by GALLETTI, which, in heating mode, can work both in forced and in natural convection. The existing fan coil was endowed with a new, high efficient, electric motor and with an enhanced finned heat exchanger for free-convection heating. Experimental tests performed in cooperation with Galletti showed a 30% increase of the heating power in free convection mode. The new electric motor has a very low use of electricity and is very silent. The new 2x1 fan coil system developed seems suitable to be employed in connection with air-to-water or ground-coupled heat pumps for the energy retrofitting of residential buildings previously heated by gas boilers and radiators. In fact, the replacement of traditional radiators with other efficient hydronic terminals, such as floor or ceiling radiant panels, would be too expensive.
SUAS
SUAS were to develop novel solar thermal and PV systems for building integration. Advanced evacuated tube solar collectors were investigated where the absorber was to be treated with a selective TiO2 coating. This action would maximise the solar energy absorbed and minimise heat loss through radiation. Novel solar collectors based as components of roofing and facade structures were also to be developed for heating hot water, with these providing a heat source for heat recovery or solar powered ejector cooling. Research was done to combine solar collectors with heat pumps as a retrofit solution with these integrating a thin high performance PV film manufactured with triple-junction laminates.
The PV panels were to be spray coated with a carefully formulated solution containing nano-monodispersed fluorinated TiO2-SiO2. This was done via the aerosol assisted vapour deposition (AAVD) method to produce a continuous coating of uniform thickness in a single step at low processing temperature, with deposition efficiency above 90%. The coated PV modules were then to be tested under UV.
In Task 2.1 and 2.2 SUAS in order to achieve the highest solar performance improvement effect, focused on the further development of PVT-Technology for retrofitting scenarios. In WP2 according to the task description of the work plan SUAS had to define and develop an innovative high performance solar system, which is suitable for building integration. As especially in refurbishment scenarios space restraints for solar applications are common, within the project it became clear, that focus has to be put on solar PV and thermal solutions which generate higher energy outputs per m2 than side by side PV and solar thermal vacuum tube installations. Further on multi-functionality at potentially lower production and installation costs needed to be considered. In order to meet decentralized refurbishment integration requirements SUAS investigated and further developed their hybrid PV-Thermal (PVT) collector system, which provides energy outputs per m2 up to 30% higher than conventional PV- vacuum tube side by side installations within the HERB activities, rather than optimising components for the side by side solutions.
Further on system integration strategies and for retrofitting applications adopted hydraulic integration solutions were elaborated, resulting in two adoptable general approaches. First a hydraulic system design for centralised applications (adopted and realised for the Almada HERB Demo-building in Portugal) and second a façade integrated hydraulic system approach for decentralised flat wise retrofitting, which resulted in a novel, standardised “PVT-installation kit”, described in D 2.9 were elaborated.
The chosen and optimised PVT-Collectors where analysed under lab and outdoor conditions, single step spray coated with a nano TiO2 layer on the SiO2–surface (described in D 2.8) and a performance improvement of 3 % due to minimization of reflection losses by the coating measures could be achieved.
UOA
UOA were to develop energy efficient lighting technology using LED lamps and light pipes. These were to maintain a stable lighting output through inclusion of smart controls that enabled LEDs to follow daylight changes, these incorporated within the double-skin diffuser light pipes. The developed energy efficient lighting system includes a light pipe, LED lamps, attached to the light pipe body and supported by a custom designed metal construction, and daylight linked controls, which enable the lighting levels to be stable on a working surface. The model developed by UoA in Work Package 1 enables the optimisation of the system, depending on the specific application. The light pipe diameter and length, as well as the number and power of the LEDs can be adjusted, depending on application and on the lighting needs of the users. The daylight sensor, which is attached to the room ceiling, can also trace presence, in order to maximise energy savings. An optional element is the shading device, which is placed inside the tube and enables its shading. A real size system was tested in a test room, at the University of Athens premises.
The analysis of the results from the testing showed that the developed lighting system is able to provide adequate natural and combination of natural and artificial lighting to relatively small (domestic-size) rooms. The distribution of the light on the reference plane is satisfactory for residential spaces and the system provides glare free lighting. Additionally, the distribution has the same pattern, both with natural and with the combination of natural and artificial lighting, which is a positive fact, especially for houses were changes in the environment are not desired.
The experimental data also proved that the daylight sensor is able to keep the interior illuminance levels stable, by dimming the LEDs depending on the daylight availability, despite the fact that the indication of each separate sensor might change significantly. This fact is extremely important, as that was one of the two main requirements of the project from the developed lighting system: to achieve stable interior lighting levels.
The other requirement has been the achievement of significant energy savings for lighting. The energy recordings revealed the fact that in Greece, during the monitoring period, the energy savings could reach 85%, compared to a conventional system (artificial lighting with incandescent lamps) and 19.5% compared to an installation with the same power of LEDs, but with no daylight sensing. Details on the development and assessment of the energy efficient lighting system can be found in WP2 deliverables.
HEIG
HEIG were to develop smart window technology incorporating coating technology, these having a U-value below 0.7 W/m2.K. In addition to creating the casing vacuum using conventional practice, innovative low cost manufacturing methods and filling types were investigated including: micro glass balls, and micro capsules with PCM (these providing: light transmission, insulation and thermal storage).
For the smart window technology, the better performing, from D1.1 single-tube geometry was chosen to be studied experimentally as well as by simulations. Experimentally a real-size (tube length of 1m) vacuum tube U-value was measured in a test bench constructed for this purpose. In the experiments, the vacuum tube was mounted vertically between cold air and hot air channels with a controlled vertical air velocities and initial temperatures. High-precision thermocouples measured the temperature distribution on the tube surface. In addition, the surface thermal flux was measured on the cold side on the tube. The air pressure (‘vacuum’) inside the tube was controlled down to 10 µbar with a vacuum pump. The experiments showed that the tube air pressure has very little effect on the tube U-value: The heat conduction along the glass tube surface dominates over the convection inside the tube. These findings were confirmed by a 3D COMSOL model where heat transfer and fluid dynamics were coupled in order to simulate the convective cells inside the tube.
The effect of the self-cleaning coating was measured on photovoltaic (PV) panels. Four PV panels were mounted side by side outside in natural conditions. On the surface of two panels a nano-TiO2 coating was applied while two were not coated. The spectrometric analysis on the transmittance of the nano-TiO2 coating was conducted in Stuttgart, Germany, by the partner SUSA. The spectrometric analysis showed that the coating does not decrease the light transmittance of the panel surface, thus not compromising the PV efficiency. However, the light reflection was decreased by the coating. At the wavelength of about 500 nm the coating decreased the light reflection by 40% (since the transmittance did not change this means that the coating absorbs part of the radiation). This is a first positive result of this experiment since the reflections have, especially in an urban environment, a negative visual impact. The panel performance was directly measured, by the generated electric power, for a period of more than two weeks. At the end of the test period the panels were sprayed with a water contaminated by wood ashes in order to simulate extremely dirty outside conditions (‘extremity test’), such as panels close to highway, airport or in the city centre. The measurements showed that the coated panels generated 6% more electricity with respect to the non-coated panels in normal condition. In the dirty condition, extremity test, the coated panels performed 8% better than the non-coated ones.
ONYX
ONYX were to develop a transparent multifunctional facade technology for providing a building solar generated electricity, daylighting, insulation and heat recovery. The initial plans were for this system to form a double skin facade integrated with a transparent photovoltaic device, with an energy recovery mechanism for preheating/cooling of supply air and/or facilitating natural ventilation. –
During this WP, PV façades were developed in order to be used in the retrofit of the Spanish house. Main characteristics and details of the innovative solution were included in D2.7. This document explains the innovation achieved considering several configurations of multifunctional façades, the methodology defined taking into account the simulation results coming from previous tasks of the project and the main conclusions obtained in terms of potential applications as a retrofit energy efficiency measurement.
Then, the PV photovoltaic façade was tested under controlled conditions before being installed in buildings. The tests were conducted in laboratories to simulate different climatic and operating conditions. In this case, two PV glasses with different optical properties, integrated in a solution of façade, were evaluated since an architectural point of view, considering both passive and active properties of solutions. Specifically, amorphous silicon PV glasses with 20% transparency and opaque were used to build two façade prototypes in a Paslink test cell. This analysis provided information of temperatures in the different layers of the wall, characterization of the air behaviour within the façade air chamber, heat generated in façade air chamber and electrical production of PV façade. Results coming from this stage were used to compare with simulation results previously carried out with the main objective of adjusting the simulation models. Specifically, the key properties of heat recovery and energy production were studied. This comparison allows concluding that behaviour of prototype is coincident since qualitative point of view for temperature prediction of insulation temperature, air temperature increase, air velocity within air chamber and heat recovery ratio, considering radiation level as most important dependent parameter. Quantitative behaviour, in general, has differed from results. This can be due to specific geometric characteristics of the prototype together with the presence of elements (structure, wires, etc) and external influences like wind speed. As many elements can affect final quantitative result, simulations were done mainly to get qualitative information and have a better idea of how façade parameters interact with its final properties. In this sense, qualitative coincidence of results is considered as an important result. It will allow Onyx to have a better understanding of passive façade behaviour, being able to design better PV façades according to required properties of each architectural project.
On the other hand, an analysis of thermal behaviour of transparent PV façade was done for Madrid and London climates, comparing results with a bare wall and bare wall with insulation. This was a dynamic analysis during a year. Final results showed an important decrease in heat gain during summer, mainly for Madrid climate. Thermal losses did not decrease as expected. A possible reason to explain this result could be that façade was open i.e. there were gaps between glasses. In this sense, a better winter performance could be obtained for closed façades.
Once the results of the test were analyzed, the retrofit case was defined through different simulations combining Design Builder Software, the models developed in WP1 coming from the technology providers and other commercial software while as the base case was defined taking into account the current condition of the building through simulations by Design Builder Software, the analysis of the historic energy consumptions by existing invoices and the information collected at survey phase. Results of the simulations show that PV ventilated façade included in the proposed holistic energy-efficient retrofit strategy helps to reduces energy consumption in current house configuration and fulfils HERB objectives. It was estimated that the integration in PV North facade would contribute to generate 365kWh per year. Energy generated is a small part of the current demand for housing, but when other interventions are integrated, lower overall energy demand to 8,870 kwh/year and the facade would cover the 7.6% of total fuel saving and 7.9 CO2 emissions reduction including PV electricity generation. Finally, once analyzed the passive behaviour of multifunctional façade directly regarding the benefits of thermal envelope, it is needed to highlight around 5% of energy savings coming from ventilated façade.
ITS
ITS were to develop integrated heat recovery panels and energy efficient HVAC systems, using heat recovery panels insulated with rigid materials including polystyrene. These would be fitted within the roof providing insulation, ventilation and heat recovery. Research was conducted to optimise the design of the panels and determine the efficiency of heat recovery under various climatic and operating conditions. The system was also to be integrated with PV thermal panels to generate electricity as well as its primary function. Different strategies were assessed including: natural ventilation, hybrid ventilation or mechanical ventilation for heat recovery, passive heating and cooling of buildings.
PPL
PPL were to develop the PCM technology for integration into the other HERB innovations where relevant. These were to be combined with fire retardants to avoid fire/flammability of PCM wax based materials. Different types of PCM board made from natural non-flammable materials including PCM plaster board, and PCM clay board were to be tested under desired temperature ranges for applications. To enhance heat transfer with the PCM bed, a novel type of PCM board using heat conductive honeycomb structure within the panel was also to be developed.
Three innovations have been investigated, these relating to research into: (a) PCM technology for integration into the new multi-functional façade and /or composite walls; (b) PCM board innovations with incorporated fire retardant technology; and, (c) PCM with heat transfer enhancement through integration of conductive honeycomb structure.
The type of PCM, organic, which was incorporated into these technologies was the same for each, therefore the costing information provided in the D2.9 report relates to the processing of this in house by PPL. The base material was the fire-retardant PCM, this then being incorporated into the multi multi-functional façade and the composite walls via integration into the honeycomb technology or integration onto the surface of Vacuum Insulated Panels by Kingspan (KIN). A number of methods for fire retardation were investigated, including mineral based and nitrogen based fire retardant material which act by different mechanisms. Integration of the fire retardant material proved successful by preventing the organic PCM from auto-ignition. In some cases, only slight charring was observed when attempting to ignite the PCM.
Innovation Product Installed cost (€/m2)
1 Integration into the ventilated multifunctional façade
Not Analysed
2
Integration into PCM plasterboard innovation
€76.80 – 119.40
3
Integration into VIP-PCM innovation
€195
Table 1 – Final Innovation complete installation costs + Optim-R comparison
As detailed in the D2.9 Technologies and solutions ready for retrofitting report, it was established that due to the shear expensive of the developed technologies they would not be included in demonstration house testing. The thermal energy storage capacity of the PCM innovations was determined to be significantly less than that of a pure PCM due to the addition of fire retardant material, and integration with building materials. It was calculated at a best case scenario that repayment through energy savings per annum would take a minimum of 10 years for the PCM innovations. However, in reality this would be 30+ years as the model does not take into account yearly seasonal and diurnal changes and other factors affecting climate.
TNO and COMPX
Investigation of control system components was to be done via collaboration with TNO and COMPX. TNO were to optimise the control system developed by COMPLX for operating different technologies and solutions for retrofitting. Components of the control system and smart metering were to be determined and tested by COMPX to ensure they functioned as designed.
TNO designed a holistic control system. The holistic controller optimizes the indoor comfort and the energy consumption by driving the central heating, automatic window openers, powered shades, and ventilators. Using several sensors (temperature, CO2, humidity, presence, door/window status, solar intensity) as well as detailed wheather predictions the most efficient strategy for optimizing the indoor climate is calculated. TNO implemented its control system on commercially available subsystems that are compatible with the ZWAVE standard.
Work Package 3 - Retrofitting buildings
After adequate progress had been made in work packages 1 and 2, a planning phase was then implemented, with the intension of installing the technologies developed in the retrofit of demonstration buildings in different EU locations. This was to be done with minimum disruption to the occupants’ normal activities and the buildings. This section details the process related to this for the various locations, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 3.1: Planning of retrofitting technologies and solutions in buildings; and, Task 3.2: Retrofitting of innovative technologies and solutions in buildings in different EU countries; with associated deliverables: D3.11 - Detailed plan of solution/technology retrofitting; and, D3.12 - Buildings retrofitted.
The UK demonstration buildings
During the planning phase in the UK six locations were identified for retrofit for the project, these being, two city centre based terrace houses and four town based semi-detached houses. The basis of selection for these buildings was guided by the use of national statistics publications, in respect to the internal floor areas and proportional representation of the buildings within the UK housing stock. UK terrace housing represents one third of the housing stock, with and average floor area of ~65m2; the two case studies chosen had values of 58.46m2 and 69.43m2 respectively. UK semi-detached housing represents another one third of the housing stock, with and average floor area of ~80m2; the four case studies chosen had values of 77.62m2 82.78m2 77.72m2 and 77.04m2 respectively.
Within the planning phase it was found that over 60% of savings in each case were to be made from the application of insulation and increasing air tightness of the building’s external elements, these including the: roofs, ground floors and external walls. This phenomenon is ubiquitous in UK buildings with the solid wall construction practice that was common in the building industry pre-1960. Although straight forward in theory, there were many practical challenges in achieving this, due to the limited space available in UK buildings and their neighbouring structures. This provided opportunity to implement the super insulation innovations developed in the project, with these planned for installation in three of the buildings (the two terraces, and one of the semi-detached cases).
The remaining HERB objectives savings were achieved via the installation of other measures including: solar PV, LED light pipes, heating controls, and boiler replacements. Due to the climate of the UK being on a high longitudinal position there were limitations on what impacts these measures installed would have (with the exception of insulation application); however, UK solid wall construction during the period pre-1919 was very different to modern construction in relation to the management of internal humidity. Therefore an extensive monitoring programme was designed (See WP4) that would be an integral extension of installation process, with this providing data for over a year post retrofit (post project completion).
On completion of the planning phase, all of the cases were (theoretically) within range of the saving targets of annual energy consumption (i.e. 50 kWh/m2.year) values being: 61.17 55.17 46.57 72.25 56.69 and 59.85 kWh/m2.year respectively. Payback periods for the buildings (in theory) was: 16, 15, 27, 16, 12, and 18 years respectively with provision of government sponsored subsidies.
Post submission and validation of D3.11 - Detailed plan of solution/technology retrofitting, the initial plans for implementation of the installation was in the summer of 2014. However, in June 2014 the UK government published its summer budget with this including changes to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) policy. These changes included an extension to the remuneration period for energy companies to provide on installation of energy reduction measures across all relevant sectors from one to three years. This change was implemented to provide the energy companies flexibility in obligations, most notably in maintaining low price of energy to consumers. Unfortunately, this change had radical impacts on the industry established to install energy reduction measures in both residential and commercial sectors. Most companies within this industry had based their business models on the provision of the one year subsidy, with respect to the provision of their services to clients, and post-publication of the policy these models became unworkable. This required restructuring of many companies to adapt to the changes, and led many to eventually declare bankruptcy.
One victim of the events described was the HERB UK installation partner MARK. Initially, it was believed the changes were unlikely to cause major disruption, and the remaining UK HERB partners (LHA, KIN, and UNOTT) were informed a delay of three months was required. However, as the impacts to the industry became evident towards the winter of 2014/15, the delay to the planned works was extended. These eventually started in the summer of 2015 (August); however, in October 2015 notice was given to the partners that MARK had declared bankruptcy. By this time approximately 60% of the works had been completed and a new consortium partner was sourced to complete those remaining, this being Future Homes UK ltd (FUTURE).
The time that MARK failed was not fortuitous, as it was at the end of the installation season where external environmental conditions are suitable for completion of works. Additionally, a period was required to get the new partner (FUTURE) established within the existing partners’ working procedures. This led to a further delay of three months with works starting early February 2016. Completion was achieved by April 2016 shortly prior the project’s close. In total the delay was 21 months in period, with extrinsic circumstances being the main cause.
The Italian demonstration building
The Italian house chosen for retrofitting is located in an area very close to the center of Bologna, main city of the region Emilia-Romagna, North-Center Italy. It is a detached house, composed of three floors with 2 apartments each, an unheated attic, and an unheated basement which contains the boiler room. The first floor is larger than the second and the third, which are identical. The house was selected because representative of typical small detached houses of North-Center Italy, without thermal insulation and heated by a gas boiler. A retrofit solution suitable to match the HERB requirements was designed. These requirements are at least 80% reduction of the annual use of primary energy, at least 60% reduction of the annual emission of CO2, annual use of primary energy after retrofitting lower than 50 kWh/m2, for heating, cooling-dehumidifying, DHW and lighting. The designed solution included: thermal insulation of the external vertical wall by Multipor (calcium silicate hydrates), horizontal thermal insulation by mineral wool, replacement of the existing gas boiler and of the single-apartment DHW heaters by a multifunction heat pump, installation of new distribution systems for heating/cooling/dehumidifying and for DHW, installation of a new electric system, installation of a PV system on the roof, installation of a monitoring system.
The installed solution corresponds to the designed one, without changes. The annual saving of primary energy and the annual reduction of CO2 emission have been determined by hourly simulations of the building and of the plant. The estimated reductions are about 86%, both for the use of primary energy and for the CO2 emission. The results of simulations will be validated by the post-retrofit monitoring of the building, to be performed during the next months. The retrofitting will also improve the thermal comfort of the building, both during winter and during summer.
The Portuguese demonstration building
The demonstration building selected for the HERB project is located in Almada the parish of Caparica. It is included in a large social housing area (361 ha and 13500 inhabitants). The buildings in the area are mainly managed by the National Housing Institute although some are a property and managed by the Municipality of Almada as the one chosen for the HERB project, which is located in Rua dos Três Vales, nº 50, Almada, Setúbal, Portugal It is one of the buildings of an L-shaped block of similar buildings in a total 5 buildings. The total floor area of the building is 1296 m2 and a conditioned floor area of 804 m2. The selected building is placed in between other similar buildings that were built in the mid 90’s. It is a 4 storey building and ground floor in a total of 10 apartments (2 apartments for each level). Each apartment consists of one kitchen, one living room, three bedrooms and two bathrooms (except for two apartments - one located in the ground floor and the other on the 1st floor – that have only two bedrooms). The audit to the building prior to retrofit revealed low energy performance index of the envelope. The building is representative of the most important stock of multi apartment buildings in cities in Portugal and therefore with a high replication potential.
The general framework for intervention took into account the model results adapted to the local characteristics as well as the deep work on engaging with the inhabitants and relevant stakeholders and manage their constraints. Also the approach included some basic improvements, in a tier approach, to the building’s envelope that would compromise the evaluation of the innovation technologies, if not undertaken. The final plan included:
1. Upgrade and repair of loft insulation (ISOROOF system);
2. Installation of external or internal wall insulation, with commercial products (polyisocyanurate foam - ETICS) taking preference over innovations (aerogel / VIPs);
3. Basement thermal insulation with commercial products (Gypsum board with mineral wool) taking preference over innovations (aerogel / VIPs);
4. Replacement of existing single glazed windows, with commercial (double) units taking preference over innovations (smart windows);
5. Replacement of gas water heater
6. Replacement of existing lighting systems with LED lamps.
7. Installation of PVT system for water heating and electric production with surface coating
8. Installation of heat pumps, with preference in the order of: air-source, then solar, and finally ground.
During this period, all the technical documents to inform the procurement procedures were finalized and the project outline and implementation was developed. Every technical solution was specifically detailed for inclusion in the public procurement procedures and the execution project was developed. The municipality of Almada was responsible of ensuring the applicability of the solutions, adapting to constraints (legal, arquitetonic and feasibility under the municipalities duties). It has also ensured the coordination between all the relevant stakeholders: departments within the city council (Sustainable Environmental Management and Planning Department, Financial Department, Maintenance and Logistics Department, Housing Division, etc.); residents; experts on energy refurbishing.
Another main role of the municipality was producing all formal documents that need to be built upon the technical characteristics to ensure the strict enforcement of all legal provisions. All technical work and support to decision was made in close cooperation with Lasting Values in order to ensure that the intervention followed the depicted plan.
The delay in implementation for the Portuguese houses is mainly related with previous tasks, especially within WP3. The Portuguese procurement rules have became much tighter in the last years following strict public expenditure constraints, something not envisaged during the proposal submission. This has increased the amount of bureaucratically procedures especially in a large scale project such as the one involved within the HERB project. Furthermore, the specific HERB technologies, with little implementation or development on current market, especially in Portugal, implied special procedures for which the regular financial procedures are not adapted. Specific and advanced technologies also tend to have a lower rate of stock and availability in the market which can delay its implementation. There was an additional risk in the case of Portugal since the main innovative technologies must be imported as there is no development of the technologies within the Portuguese partners, unlike other countries.
To minimize this impact and still being able to comply with the procurement rules, the intervention was planned on several stages which meant some smaller interventions could be introduced earlier (windows and lighting).
The intervention on windows and lighting systems have been finished prior to the end of the project (march 16). The envelope improvement and solar PVT installation was not fully developed within the project framework with some tasks only finished in may/june 2016.
The Greek demonstration building
The retrofit was implemented in a seven story building, built in the early 70’s by the Ministry of Social Services, in order to house refugees of Greek nationality. The building is located in the Municipality of Peristeri, a densely built urban area, approximately 7km from the centre of Athens. It consists of two identical semi-detached, 7 storey apartment buildings, one of which has been selected for retrofit in the framework of the HERB project. The building under study has a total area of 1,160 square meters and has 15 apartments. Each apartment has an area of 69 square meters approximately and consists of four main rooms -living room, kitchen and two bedrooms. The building was chosen as it is a typical example of a low-income residential building in Greece, built before the laws for the minimum insulating requirements were put into force.
In order to design an optimal solution for the retrofit a holistic analysis has been performed that includes: Dynamic energy modelling (TRNSYS ), comfort modelling (PMV-PPD) (TRNSYS ), Carbon emissions savings calculations, application of economic calculation theory to analyse the financial feasibility of the solutions, other analyses for assesing HERB innovative technologies (e.g. PV modeling (PVGIS), custom model for energy efficient lighting). An iterative process involing a number of simulations was performed for the social housing building in order to evaluate the pre-retrofit situation and to identify the retrofit measures that would lead to maximum energy savings and that would improve the interior environmental conditions. The interventions that were chosen, are:
• envelope insulation: exterior insulation of walls (with 8cm thick rockwool panels) and roof (with a flat Inverted roof material, comprised extruded polyethylene of 5cm and topped with coated ceramic tiles with cool properties),
• efficient windows with double glazing and thermal stops,
• ceiling fans,
• night ventilation,
• smart (Photocatalytic) coating (self-cleaning photo-catalytic nanotechnology plaster, with a thickness of about 1.5mm appropriate for use on top of the exterior thermal insulation system),
• exterior shading of the SW windows (awnings),
• photovoltaic panels (10kWp ofpolycrystalline cells),
• LED lighting (replacement of all conventional – incandescent and CFL lamps)
• Energy efficient lighting system developed by UoA in WP2.
According to the simulations, the building before the retrofit was estimated to consume 154.5 kwh/m2/y while the total primary energy for the retrofit case was 30.5 kwh/m2/y, with the energy savings being 80.3%. The CO2 emissions savings between the existing and the retrofit case was estimated to be 80.3%, which fulfils and exceeds the 60% saving target which was set by the project. The payback period of the retrofit (including all technologies) was calculated to be 9.5 years, approximately.
Post submission and validation of D3.11 - Detailed plan of solution/technology retrofitting, the initial plans for implementation of the installation was in the summer of 2014. However, due to administrative delays and mainly due to the capital controls imposed to the Greek banks, the retrofit was significantly delayed. Also, the fact that a smaller building was programmed to be retrofitted during the project proposal phase, made the realization of the retrofit particularly difficult, especially since the budget was not sufficient. This obstacle was overcome with donations by insulating material manufacturers.
The retrofit was concluded in March 2016, without any further deviations from the DoW. All the systems and technologies were installed according to the specifications described in D3.11. More specifically, the energy efficient lighting system developed by UoA in WP2 was installed on the roof of the stairs leading from the seventh floor to the roof. This space was picked because the stairs leading from the seventh floor to the roof receive no daylight, as there is no opening and because the works that would be performed for the system’s installation would require the penetration of only one slab and would have the minimum impact on the comfort of the tenants during the installation works.The light pipe has a diameter of 0.30m and the tube has a height of 0.60m. The system hosts eight GU10 LED lamps of 5W each that are dimmed according to the daylight coming from the light pipe. Daylight is sensed by a daylight sensor, programmed to regulate the light flow so as to provide approximately 50lux on the first step of the stairs. Details on all the retrofit works can be found in D3.12.
The success of the retrofit in terms of improving indoor environmental conditions and reducing energy consumption has been verified by the monitoring activities carried out in WP4 and the tenants are particularly satisfied with the retrofit as they have noticed reduction in their energy bills, but also they have experienced significant improvement of the indoor environmental conditions.
The Swiss demonstration building
The first planning period of HEIG was completed in 2014 for the Swiss house located in Buchillon, Switzerland as given in D3.11 of HEIG. However, the works on this house could not begin due raisons given in the Justification Report, December 2014.
After this let-down we contacted the main newspaper of the French speaking part of Switzerland (24 Heures) and they made an article about the HERB project and about the need of a suitable house. Immediately after the article was published, in December 2014, we got many candidates willing to have their house as the Swiss demo building. We also contacted the company AEDIFICIA SA, specialized in the construction and house renovation. Finally, the house in Vevey, Vaud Canton, was chosen for the Swiss house due to its ideal characteristics. The house was built in 1943, it was almost in its original condition, the conditioned surface area was 165 m2, and the owner was committed to make the retrofit and already decided to renovate the roof. The retrofit planning of the new house was based on the air tightness measurement, which confirmed the need for the roof renovation, and, specially, on the energy simulations with DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus (DB/EP) software. In addition, the Swiss Engineering and Architect association (SIA) tool SIA 2040 was used. At this stage VIP panels were planned to be used as the external wall insulation. The DB/EP simulations showed that the HERB global objectives (80% energy savings and 60% reduction in CO2 emissions) were impossible to meet without installing a heat pump.
The original external walls had as insulation a 3 cm thick air gap between two 12.5 cm thick brick layers. This solution was widely used in older houses and it has relatively good thermal performance (U=1.6 Wm-2K-1) for the time. However this structure offers the possibility to fill the air gap with insulating material in the form of flakes in order to increase the insulation and mitigate the risk of condensation. Therefore, the airgap was planned to be filled with rockwool flakes, a cost-effective solution which decreased the wall U-value considerably from 1.6 Wm-2K-1 down to 0.88 Wm-2K-1. Therefore, the potential improvement of using VIP insulation was reduced. In addition, the installation of VIPs would have required workers from UK to come in place with the need of working permits etc. Therefore, the external wall insulation was completed with aerogel panels which are available locally. The final wall U-value is U= 0.5 Wm-2K-1. The roof insulation is modern with two different insulating layers, rockwool and wool fibre, with a waterproofing film. Also the old skylights were replaced. The roof U-value dropped from the original U=2.4 Wm-2K-1 to 0.14 Wm-2K-1. In addition, a deep (210m depth) geothermal heat pump was chosen assisted with solar thermal panels (4m2). In addition 21 m2 of photovoltaic panels were installed. In order to guarantee good internal air quality in the winter while managing the thermal performance, a mechanical ventilation with heat recuperation was installed. Two windows on the windy Noth-West façade were replaced with triple glazing units. The basement roof insulation, with mineral wool panels, was made by the owner himself. Finally, the water tightness of below ground level basement walls was realised with polymer film.
Due to the let-down with the Buchillon house, the Swiss house is somewhat behind the schedule However, the main works have terminated in June 2016. The roof is ready, the heat pump is installed and tested and the solar panels are working and connected.
The smart control system, developed by COMPX, for the heating has been installed. The central unit and the slaves in each radiator are communicating and working as planned.
The Spanish Demonstration building
The objective of this WP was the full retrofit of the different houses. ONYX did a deeply retrofit plan of the Gotarrendura´s house and then the retrofit was successfully completed. According to tasks 3.1 and 3.2 ONYX has achieved the objectives included in WP3 description.
The retrofit plan (included in Deliverable 3.11) was defined taking into account the goals established in the DoW for the development and demonstration of energy efficient technologies and solutions for retrofitting applications. Considering the condition of Spain House (280 sqm) at project proposal phase, a tentative technology retrofit plan was defined. In this sense, the following technologies were included in DOW document: Multi-functional Façade, Energy Efficient Lighting, Natural Ventilation and/or Passive heating/cooling or heat pumps, Solar Thermal and/or PV panels.
However, this retrofitting had to be applied from holistic point of view taking into account the HERB project structure. In this sense, Onyx Solar as main responsible of Spain house retrofitting defined a modelling methodology based on holistic approach able to achieve the goals of HERB project in terms of cumulative energy savings, efficient lighting, reduction of CO2 emissions and reduction of global energy demand.
It is needed to emphasize that in comparison with DOW document several modifications were produced in relation to the house surface (206 sqm instead of 280 sqm) or the preselected technologies predefined at project proposal stage. In fact, the main reasons were subjected on the one hand to the final decision of the Spain House between different building possibilities and on the other hand once carried out the analysis of the results achieved at modelling/simulation phase in terms of operation and coexistence of technologies involved in the building. Nevertheless, these minor deviations have no impact or influence on the achievement of the objectives and main goals of HERB project
The retrofit plan verified whether the theoretical model proposed for energy reduction fulfills the final objectives set in HERB guidelines document thanks to an analysis including simulations from Design Builder software. Full retrofit scenario comprised the final retrofit measures selected: a LED energy efficient lighting installation, thermal insulation, improvement of envelope and fenestration, an air solar thermal system with PV glass in south façade for house heating, a PV glass ventilated façade oriented north, replacement of poor efficient electric heaters for a high energy efficient biomass boiler and finally, a solar thermal module in the roof for DHW production.
It seemed that the most effective way to reduce house carbon footprint was to replace heating and DHW fuel. Finally, overall fuel consumption in full retrofit scenario decreased 86.7% considering PV and solar thermal on-site energy generation and CO2 emissions decreased 94.9% in comparison with base-case scenario. Therefore, the proposed holistic energy-efficient retrofit strategy reduced considerably energy consumption in current house configuration and fulfilled HERB objectives.
The Retrofit of the Spanish house was detailed in D3.12 including a short summary of the technologies selected and the energetic analysis conclusions from D.3.11 pictures describing how those solutions were implemented week after week and the deviations from the first design. The program of works followed and the economical budget were also presented in this report, as well as a list of applicable regulations. The program of works and the economical budget were in accordance with those proposed in the Retrofit Plan. Some minor changes were produced but they were not relevant.
Whole house retrofit will save energy while improving inner comfort, but also user behaviour has to be taken into account on the success of the strategy. In this sense, D3.12 also included how the service and maintenance plan of the systems installed should be followed, and guidelines about a reasonable use of energy in houses to be presented to the owners and users of the house.
On the other hand, an economic assessment model to estimate the cost effectiveness of residential buildings retrofitting using HERB innovative technologies and solutions was developed by Lasting Values partner and it was included in D3.11. In this sense, ONYX estimated the main benefits from socio-economic point of view taking into account this HERB toolkit. This analysis considered investments such as technology installation costs and technology acquisitions costs. Other costs like personnel investments were not included. Furthermore, statutory and legislation requirements, a preliminary working plan and other considerations beyond the retrofit were established.
The Dutch Demonstration building
The dwelling is located in Driebergen–Rijsenburg and is based on a three-storeys semi-detached design. The dwelling was constructed between in 1972, and contains a household of two people. The retrofit in the Dutch dwelling is shown below:
The retrofit consisted of the following items:
1. A holistic controller, integrating the automatic control of heating, ventilation (either via ventilator of via automatic window openers), and shading (via automatic sun shields)
2. Floor insulation
3. Wall insulation, including VIP panels on the first floor.
4. Roof insulation
5. Air tightness improvement
6. Automated sunshades
7. Automated window opener
8. Demand driven ventilation units, integrated with
9. Low temperature radiators
10. Air based heat pump for heating
11. Air based heat pump / boiler for domestic hot water
12. Solar PV panels
Aerogel or starch micro-porous materials for insulation of building fabric and surface coating of exterior were not considered appropriate for the retrofit. The exterior façade of the Dutch dwellings are not allowed to be altered, therefore No surface coating of the exterior has been applied.
Solar thermal panels have not been applied. The energy needed for space heating and domestic hot water is delivered by a combination of a heat pump and photovoltaic panels.
The holistic controller was implemented on a small pc-board, which could communicate with the different devices via the Z-Wave protocol. Adaptions tot he radiators and shades needed to be realized for making these devices compatible with the communication protocol. The interaction between user and controller was implemented via a web-interface that could controlled via a tablet.
After retrofit, the house contained two heat pumps. One for domestic hot water, and one for additional heating. The main heating supply was generated via a wood-burning-boiler. The size of the accumulator tank (placed below the house) was 1000L. The wood-burning-boiler was primarily used for heating the house, but could also be used for heating up the heat-pump- boiler and as such assist in generating DHW.
Work Package 4 - Monitoring of the performance of the technologies/solutions and buildings
As mentioned a key objective of the HERB project was the monitoring of energy the buildings consumption pre- and post-retrofit, this being done to quantify the actual savings achieved through the application of the design solutions and how these compare with the predictions (as modelled in the planning phase of WP3). Ideally, this would have been done for twelve month periods either side of the retrofit works, however due to time limitations a six month period pre-retrofit, and a twelve month period post-retrofit was planned. Additionally, air tightness testing and thermal scanning was planned in the pre- and post-periods to assess the other physical impacts the works were to have. This would enable identification of weak points of the building fabric and, together with optimisation, the most appropriate and measures for rectification. The leakage testing was to be done with a novel pulse testing device, in addition to conventional steady-state measures.
This section details the process related to this for the various locations, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 4.1: Measurement of energy consumption patterns of the buildings before retrofitting; Task 4.2: Monitoring of the performance of the technologies, solutions and retrofitted buildings at different sites in Europe; and, Task 4.3: Economic analysis of retrofitting of residential buildings; with associated deliverables: D4.13 - Measured energy use before retrofitting; and, D4.14 - Measured results and analysis for the technologies, solutions and buildings.
The UK demonstration buildings
On identification of the UK houses (as described in the previous section), the installation partner MARK and UNOTT identified suitable monitoring devices to use for acquisition of temperature and humidity data, these being accessed via broadband connection. One of the suppliers to the company was the Owl controller, and post a demonstration of the device a selection of units were ordered and installed in the winter of 2013-14. Energy consumption data was then to be collected via the collection of utility bills provided by the tenant to the housing provider (LHA).
With the delays described in WP3 internal condition data was collected for 6-12 months in all houses monitored. A series of problems in collection of energy data were experienced due to a variety of reasons, including: loss of data by the tenant and the Energy Company, breakdown in communication with the housing provider, change in tenancy due to change of circumstances of the tenant, and loss of data caused due to changes in the partner’s circumstances. In total 12 months of data was collected for two of the six houses in the baseline period.
These delays resulted in an insufficient amount of time to collect post retrofit results. A number of alterations were made to the monitoring strategy as a result of the lessons learnt from the baseline monitoring period. The difficulty in the collection of bills has led to gas monitoring being installed in the houses which will be active from July 2016 for a minimum of 12 months. In addition to this, heat flow meters have been installed in a number of the properties to determine the proportion of gas consumption used for space heating and hot water respectively. A number of the tenants now have a broadband connection and so an internet connected open-source monitoring system was installed in these houses. Only one house remained without internet connection and so this house a commercial GSM based monitoring system (Eltek) was installed.
Full post retrofit data was only available for one house from the collection of bills. This showed a substantial reduction in energy consumption for both gas (an energy saving of over 50%) and electricity (energy saving of 18%). Total primary energy savings for the property were 29% compared to the baseline period.
The payback period for the retrofit for at this property was 24 years (18 years with incentives) and as such was deemed as not cost effective. It is expected that given similar energy savings, the other UK demonstration houses will prove to be more cost effective with regards to payback period as they had a lower capital cost. However, the retrofit was deemed as cost effective based on the cost-saved energy, as the saved energy costs are substantially lower than the average end-user energy costs (0.087 EUR compared to 0.13 EUR). It is expected that the other UK demonstration houses will also be cost effective with regards to saved energy costs.
The Italian demonstration building
The pre-retrofit monitoring of the house was performed during the period July 1st 2013 – June 30th 2014. The pre-retrofit monitoring system allowed measurements of temperature and relative humidity in two rooms per apartment (all apartments, except one, have two rooms and a bathroom), measurement of electricity use in each apartment, measurement of the gas used by the central boiler, measurement of the gas used by single apartments. The gas used by the central boiler was determined by periodic readings of the existing gas meter. Then, during March and April 2015, the existing gas boiler was calibrated by comparison with a high-precision TERZ 94 DN 25 electronic turbine meter, installed in March 2015. The calibration allowed to determine the correction coefficient 1.0358 to be applied to the readings of the existing gas meter. The pre-retrofit monitoring included an infrared thermography of the building, blower-door tests, new air-tightness tests, and in situ measurements of the thermal conductivity of the external vertical wall. The pre-retrofit monitoring allowed to calibrate the pre-retrofit simulation code implemented in TRNSYS. For the calibration, the real climatic data, taken from the Bologna Urbana Weather Station, which is rather close to the building, were employed. Moreover, the thermal bridges of the building were carefully calculated by finite element simulations. The calibration of the simulation code was performed by comparing the experimental energy signature of the building with the simulated one. As excellent agreement was found: the curves are graphically indistinguishable.
A post-retrofit monitoring system has been installed recently. The most important difference between this system and the previous one is that the new system allows online data transmission. The new system, moreover, allows the monitoring of the thermal power supplied and of the electric power absorbed by the heat pump. The post-retrofit system has been checked by some preliminary measurements. However, the post-retrofit monitoring will begin as soon as the retrofitting works are completed.
The annual saving of primary energy and the annual money saving for building operation in a typical meteorological year have been determined through dynamic simulations of the building and of the plant. This analysis has allowed determining the economic assessment of the retrofitting.
The total annual use of primary energy of the building after retrofitting will be 12630 kWh, which corresponds to 44.8 kWh/m2 and yields 86.5 % reduction of the use of primary energy. The annual use of thermal energy will decrease from 78752 kWh to 415 kWh, and the annual use of electric energy will decrease from 6890 kWh to 5619 kWh. The foreseen payback time, taking into account state incentives and an interest rate 2%, is 15.5 years, rather high but acceptable if one considers that the house has undergone an important renovation, which includes structural reinforcements and replacement of the distribution networks. The cost of the saved primary energy is 0.073 €/kWh, and is lower than the cost of each kWh of primary energy before retrofitting, namely 0.094 €/kWh. Therefore, the retrofitting can be considered as cost effective.
The Portuguese demonstration building
Almada demonstration site is a multi-storey building with 5 floors, two dwellings per floor, basement and a void loft. Three dwellings (the first, second and fourth floor) were chosen for the purpose of obtaining a representative sample of the whole of the building, taking also in consideration tenant’s availability. The 1st floor was the nearest apartment available to the implementation terrain but also possessed a different configuration from the rest (only 2 bedrooms). The second floor and fourth floor were chosen due to their relative height in the building, corresponding, respectively, to the middle and top floor.
At Almada site, air temperature and relative humidity sensors and energy consumption monitors were installed in the 3 apartments, along with a data collection system. During this assessment the internal air temperature, relative humidity, the use of electricity and natural gas were evaluated. Outside meteorological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation where also obtained from two local weather stations. Thermal imaging was also performed and the pulse leakage test that was used to determine the apartments’ leakage rate. Data was collected from September 2014 to May of 2015, respecting the DoW condition of having at least 6 months of pre-retrofit monitoring.
However, as mentioned in WP3 section, the retrofit of the Almada building has suffered important delays and has just been completed in June 2016. Therefore, the post-retrofit monitoring has only started in mid-June 2016, disallowing conclusions based in real measurements. Given this fact, building dynamical simulation modelling (not calibrated by real data) has been used to estimate the results and to assess if the retrofitted building had achieved the HERB project main targets.
The analysis of the simulation model results has shown that the technologies and solutions installed in the building have lead to an important decrease in its global energy consumption. Further, the thermal comfort conditions inside the apartments have been largely improved and the percentage of time under discomfort conditions has greatly decreased. The simulation model developed for the Almada building, has indicated that the global energy saving might reach around 80% when compared with the pre-retrofit scenario, and that a specific consumption value of 22 kWh/m2.year has been obtained at the end of the retrofit implementation. The related carbon emission should have decreased by around 81%. The implemented retrofit solution, however, is not cost-effective as payback period is longer than the technology lifetime and saved energy costs (0.160EUR/kWh avoided) is slightly higher than the average end-user energy cost in the baseline (0.114EUR/kWh).
These results have shown that the Almada building retrofit has reached an important reduction of the building primary energy use and CO2 emissions, and has accomplished most of the main goals of the project HERB.
By March 2017, the data collected will represent a summer and a winter seasons, and a new and final version of this deliverable shall be available by the end of the 1st semester 2017.
The Greek demonstration building
UOA has monitored the performance of the Greek demonstration building pre and post retrofit. Once the Greek building was identified different types of sensors were installed in most apartments of the 7 story social housing building in order to monitor different rooms and parameters. More specifically, the energy use has been measured by installing smart meters (Energy Management Modules by Ether) that record the energy consumption (electricity) and gather the data in a portal for remote access. In addition electricity bills have been collected for comparison with monitored data. Building environmental parameters including thermal comfort conditions have been measured by installed sensors (air temperature & relative humidity by TinyTag data loggers and mean radiant temperature and air velocity by portable instrumentation). Indoor air quality measurements were also carried out (CO2 and VOCs measured by installed IAQ kits in the apartments). Infrared thermography has been used to detect potential problems on the building envelope. The air tightness of the building has been determined by using the novel pulse leakage technique and the blower door method and ventilation measurements were conducted using tracer gas techniques. Lighting measurements were carried out to evaluate the lighting environment (artificial and natural lighting) in the building. Meteorological parameters have been recorded. A total of 12 months of pre retrofit monitoring data has been collected, analysed and reported in D4.13: Measured energy use before retrofitting. The results indicated that it is a building with significant heat losses/ gains and air leakage problems during both summer and winter due to the lack of envelope insulation, old single glazing wooden frame windows & insufficient shading. Significant thermal discomfort problems have been recorded and poor indoor environmental conditions. The energy consumption, although it is not very high due to the lack of central heating and cooling systems, when the outside temperature drops in winter to e.g. 10°C it doubles and the same applies for summer conditions indicating the low efficiency of the building.
Post retrofit monitoring included the same monitoring activities described in the previous paragraph plus specific methodologies to monitor the performance of the installed technologies and solutions. A total of 5 months (instead of the 12 described in the DoW) of post retrofit data have been collected including the heating season allowing performance assessment of the technologies, solutions and buildings under real operating and climatic conditions and providing data to assess the effectiveness of retrofit. The reason for this reduced post retrofit monitoring period is the delays in the completion of the retrofit works described in WP3. Measurements will continue until Dec. 2016 in order to have a full set of 12 months. The analysis of the monitoring data has demonstrated that the technologies and solutions installed in the retrofitted building have contributed to a significant decrease in the energy consumption of the building. Furthermore, the thermal comfort conditions inside the apartments have been improved after the retrofit. The air tightness of the building has significantly improved (for a representative apartment the ACH@4Pa measured in the pre retrofit stage (2.02 h-1) is almost 3.4 times higher than the post-retrofit (0.6 h-1). The energy efficient lighting technology that was developed by UOA in the framework of the HERB project was found to improve the lighting conditions in the installed space and to contribute to the energy savings for lighting of the building.
Building simulation techniques have been used for the estimation of global energy savings in order to avoid differences in the boundary conditions (climatic conditions, user behaviour) between the pre and post retrofit case. The building simulation models developed were properly calibrated and validated using the measured data collected during the pre and post retrofit monitoring periods and were found to meet the requirements in the defined methodology. The cumulative annual energy saving (target 80%) in the building reaches 81%. The energy saving for lighting (target 80%) reaches the value of 88.6% of reduction. The global energy consumption excluding appliances while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofitting (target 50 kWh/sqm•year) reaches 45.4 kWh/sqm•year in primary energy. Finally, 81% reduction of CO2 emissions was achieved (target 60%).
The socioeconomic analysis of the retrofit showed a significant user acceptability of the retrofit as been recorded through questionnaires and interviews by the occupants. The estimated payback period of the HERB retrofit solution was found to be 2.9 years* compared with the payback of the investment on state-of-the-art energy efficient technologies that could be adopted rather than HERB technologies. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the implemented retrofit solution is cost effective as saved energy costs (0.14EUR/kWh avoided) are lower than the average end-user energy cost in the baseline (pre retrofit).
It is evident that the objectives of the HERB projects regarding the retrofit have been successfully achieved for the Greek retrofit case. In this sense, the results show the effectiveness of innovative technologies and soutions implemented in the Greek building. All the results are included in D4.14 Measured results and analysis for the technologies, solutions and buildings.
* The final figures regarding global energy consumption are very close to the ones estimated in D3.11 except for the payback period that was initially calculated to be 9years. The main reason for this apart from small adjustments in the energy and retrofit cost data is the input value for the cost of electricity. In the current analyis the value of 0.179Eur/kWh is used. This value is obtained by Eurostat for 2014 and includes taxes, levies and value added tax (VAT) for household consumers which is more appropriate for the calculations. Initially a much lower value was considered not taking into account taxes etc.
The Swiss demonstration building
The monitoring equipment of the house constitutes of three inside temperature, humidity, and CO2 sensors, 18 temperature sensors, and the outside weather station in the house south side garden. The energy consumption is taken from the energy bills: Gas and electricity before the retrofit and electricity only after the retrofit.
The pre-retrofit monitoring took place in February – April 2015, thus covering the coldest season when most of the energy is consumed. Since there is no air conditioning in summer time the energy consumption is low. The monitoring revealed that in all the conditioned rooms the temperature was slightly below the comfort level, the measured average value being 19 oC. However, the non-conditioned basement was in the temperature of about 10 oC creating a thermal loss across the non-insulated basement roof. The CO2 levels in all three measured rooms (1st floor lounge and the two bedrooms in the second floor) were above the comfort level of 600 ppm. In the lounge the average CO2 concentration 900 ppm. With peaks up to 1600 ppm. In Bedroom 1 the behaviour was worse with the mean value of about 1000 ppm and peaks up to 1500 ppm – 1600 ppm. In Bedroom 2 the peaks reached up to 2000 ppm. Therefore, the mechanical ventilation is well justified. The RH monitoring showed that in the non-conditioned basement the relative humidity is about between 45 % and 55 % except in the wine cellar (71 %) which has an earthen floor. In the conditioned rooms RH = 38 % - 42 %, in the 1st floor bathroom slightly higher with RH=51 %. The air-tightness test showed that the house is very leaky with the measured value at 50 bar of n50st = 5 1/h. The infrared thermography revealed thermal bridges in the kitchen and lounge South-West walls. Also, bridges were observed around the entrance door. Poor insulation was observed on the 2nd floor facades close to the external roof. Also, the roof itself showed poorly insulated regions.
Since the retrofit is only about to finish in July 2016 the post-retrofit monitoring will take place in winter 2016-2017. The same equipment as with the pre-retrofit monitoring will be used. Therefore, at present only the simulation results are available for the energy consumption. However, the simulated energy consumption is very low with the reduction of 87 % in annual energy consumption and 92% reduction in the CO2 emissions, with respect to the pre-retrofitted house.
The payback period is about 77 years. However, this long payback period should be relativized because the house has benefitted very little maintenance work during last 73 years. Normally, one should count 0.5 % - 1 % of the property’s value as an annual investment for such maintenance. On the other hand, the energy price is very low in Switzerland and the cost of work is high. In addition the Swiss climate is moderate with no long cold periods in the winter and no need for air-conditioning in the summer time. Consequently, the payback period can become long if the increased value of the property is not taken into account.
The optimization of the smart system operation will be made during the heating period in winter 2016-2017.
The Spanish Demonstration building
All the work related to Task 4.1 was included in Deliverable 4.13. The main objective of this report was to obtain real data of the energetic behaviour of the house before the retrofitting works, thanks to monitoring and data collection: infrared thermographs, air-tightness & ventilation rates testing, meteorological parameters, building environmental parameters and final energy use.
The document introduced both a summary and a brief analysis of the monitored data for seven months, and the description of the instrumental. Deliverable 4.13 was re-organized and a common methodology for all the partners based on key performance indicators (KPI’s) estimations of the building was developed. The KPI’s estimated are: number of degrees day, total radiation, air-tightness, specific energy consumption, energy signature and thermal comfort.
Useful information from analytical measures was obtained. Air-tightness testing showed a leak level of the house too high, and the thermography analysis the poor quality of the thermal sealing of the house. The experiment allowed identifying the main zones of the house where air leaked and infiltrations occurred. The humidity values recorded in the house were generally below the recommended range established by the regulations. Similarly to the temperature analysis, the upstairs corridor was one of the most humid areas of the house.
The total electrical energy registered data, showed consumption less appliances of 4562 kWh (74% of heating, 5% of lighting, and 21% of DHW). The consumption of heating represented more than 90% of the electricity invoice in some cold months.
The results of the monitoring and the analysis allowed establishing adequate retrofit measures for the Spanish house.
The deliverable 4.14 was the result of the activity done in the framework of task 4.2.The Spanish retrofitted house was equipped with measuring and data logging facilities and was monitored approximately 12 months (depending on the technology) in the post-retrofit stage. The following subtasks were developed:
• Both materials and methods description for monitoring the Spanish demonstrator applied after retrofitting of the house which were new or different from those used in the pre-retrofit monitoring period.
• Monitoring results and discussion, highlighting the differences with the results from the pre-retrofit monitoring period presented in the D4.13.
• Key performance indicator (KPI) estimations for the post-retrofit period as well as the discussion between indicators estimated within the pre-retrofit and post-retrofit period.
• Methodology description for assessing the effectiveness of the innovative technologies.
• The estimation of the global energy saving
Thanks to the post-monitoring result, it was found that the airtightness of the house was significantly improved. When comparing KPI, it was proven that the energy consumption was drastically reduced thanks to the energy efficiency measures implemented in the house.
To calculate the Global energy savings, dynamic simulation models, of before and after retrofit works were developed. So that, it was possible to calculate estimated lighting, heating, and DHW demand of the house before and after the refurbishment. An established methodology was followed to achieve objective results and conclusions. The purpose was to demonstrate the compliance with the values defined in the DoW:
• Cumulative annual energy savings of at least 80% measured against building performance before retrofitting.
• At least a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions.
• Global energy consumption (excluding appliances) of 50 kWh/sqm·year while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofitting.
• At least 80% energy saving for lighting over the average consumption of the installed base.
Therefore, both simulation models and estimation tools were properly validated by meeting the requirements defined in the methodology and it was demonstrated that the objectives of the HERB were successfully achieved:
• The cumulative annual energy saving (target 80%) reached 84% in final energy, and 93% in primary energy.
• The energy saving for lighting (target 80%) reached 85% of reduction.
• The global energy consumption excluding appliances while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofitting (target 50 kWh/sqm·year) reached 42.17 kWh/sqm·year in final energy and 45.88 kWh/sqm·year in primary energy.
• Finally, 99% reduction of CO2 emissions was achieved (target 60%).
A cost-effectiveness analysis after retrofit was also developed. Expected costs and energy savings data were similar to the final results, however there were some deviations in the estimated energy production. The payback value changed from 13 to 11 years, higher than the payback period between two and five years established in the DOW. This may be because some of the retrofit technologies implemented are still in the developmental phase and this fact makes the products more expensive and less competitive than most of standard products currently available on the market. Another reason could be also the lack of precision of the used data in the calculations.
The Dutch Demonstration building
The energy reduction in the Dutch demonstration building is quite impressive: 82%. This is quite a lot because no measures were taken to reduce house hold appliances. This is thanks to the insulation, heat pump and holistic controller including demand control ventilation. The CO2 reduction calculated is 92%. This is also because the solar panels produced more electricity than was used by the building.
Unfortunately, the target for the payback period was not reached. The calculated payback period sums to 54 years, which is far too high.
The Holistic controller in combination with automatic shading and window airing performed well. Summer comfort improved, although insulation level increased. Average CO2 level increased and relative humidity reduced after retrofitting, which is quite logical due to lower average air flow due to demand control. There are still peaks above the CO2 limit of 1200 ppm. Possible this is due to curtains hanging over the sensor. This can be a point of improvement. Another point for improvement is that the inhabitants found it intrusive that the blinds went down when they were enjoying the morning sun. It was quite logical to prevent overheating but some work has to be done to improve the user interaction. A possible strategy is to control the system in such a way to prevent noise or visual discomfort when people are present in the room.
WORK Package 5 - Financial and administrative management; and Work Package 6 - Coordination
This section covers the process related to work packages 5 and 6, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 5.1: Financial Management; Task 5.2: Consortium Agreement (CA); and, Task 6.1: Monitoring Progress and Change management (Project Steering Committee); with associated deliverables: D5.15 - First Report to the Commission; D5.16 - Second Report to the Commission; D5.17 - Final Report to the Commission; D6.18 - Technology Implementation Plan 1; and, D6.19 - Technology Implementation Plan 2.
All reports for work packages have been submitted, in relation to finance and technology implementation. See below for further details on technology related information in regards to exploitation.
Work Package 7 - Dissemination and exploitation
The dissemination and exploitation activities were undertaken during the progression of the project, and a large quantity of data has been collated that will be used post completion. This section details the process related to this for the various locations, with the outputs of this used to complete: Task 7.1: Dissemination of research results; and, Task 7.2: Exploitation of research results; with associated deliverables: D7.20 - Dissemination Plan; D7.21 - Exploitation Plan; D7.22 - Survey data of occupants’ satisfaction; D7.23 - Project website with regular updating; D7.24 - Handbook of guidelines and best practice for retrofitting of residential buildings; and, D7.25 - Report on case studies of retrofitted buildings.
Both Dissemination and exploitation plans were completed 12 months into the project in October 2013. The actions outlined in these plans were followed where applicable and further development is expected post project completion. The technological exploitation was covered in the previous section relating to work package 2. Many academic and industrial based publications were released during the project and further work is planned post project completion.
A website was created and used to disseminate information to the general public and others outside the consortium and EU commission. www.euroretrofit.com In addition, we set up a drop-box system where confidential information was distributed between partners, such as minutes of meetings, presentations and progress reports. These will be used to coordinate future legacy dissemination activities.
In overall dissemination the consortium has been very active in promoting results from the research and development emerging from the project. Many discoveries have been covered as a result of the project and this report highlights these. The following section lists the activities undertaken by each consortium member, but many of the activities were either engaged in jointly with other members, or materials and content were shared between members. We report a range of journal papers, conference proceedings and industrial dissemination related activities.
Potential Impact:
Expected impacts with respect to the original work programme
The programme ‘EeB.NMP.2012-2 - Systemic Approach for retrofitting existing buildings, including envelope upgrading, high performance lighting systems, energy-efficient HVAC systems and renewable energy generation systems’ was chosen for this project, with its overall aim being the development of a refurbishment system using a systemic approach using integrated concepts consisting of building technologies for renovation of the existing buildings stock to drastically improve energy efficiency. Innovative systems were to be introduced into the buildings using this systemic approach with respect to improving comfort in the indoor environment conditions, these making optimal use of local energy opportunities and boundary conditions. This approach was to consider the large diversity of the European existing building stock that presented a lot of technical challenges. The optimisation of the refurbishment process was to integrate various technological solutions (envelope, systems, renewable energy sources, thermal storage, natural ventilation, etc.) which were to interact with each other and with existing systems to optimise overall performance. Non technological barriers, such as aesthetical aspects, social acceptance, economic and environmental impact, related to the technologies were also to be considered.
The impacts listed were to be achieved through optimising, developing and demonstrating various technologies and solutions for retrofitting buildings together, with consideration of non-technical aspects of retrofitting. Optimisation of the technologies through life energy and service cycle analysis for different types of building and climate was to ensure the solutions would be economically feasible, and easy for installation / maintenance. Careful planning and deployment of the technologies and solutions would ensure maximum re-use and/or recycling of building blocks and components removed during the retrofitting process and minimum impact on the occupants and users. The project was to increase the energy efficiency and performance of existing buildings higher than requirements for new buildings in existing EU regulations (e.g. EPBD, Energy Policy for Europe). Guidelines resulting from the project completion were to establish standardisation for retrofitting in such aspects as technology deployment, installation and maintenance.
The original estimation for the application of the HERB innovations and process when applied to aged existing buildings would lead to the following:
• A cumulative annual energy savings of at least 80% measured against building performance before retrofit;
• At least a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions;
• An annual energy consumption (excluding appliances) of 50 kWh/m²/year while reducing peak loads against the values measured before retrofit;
• At least 80% energy saving for lighting over the average consumption of the installed base;
• User acceptability and long term continued efficient operation;
• A pay-back period of between two and five years compared to current state of the art, depending on the type of technology and solution.
The payback period was expected to depend on the type of technology and solution deployed. For example, certain technologies such as PV were known to be expensive when compared with conventional electricity generation but the initial cost was expected to decrease considerably as seen from rapid decrease in PV module price in recent years. Also with national government incentives such as feed-in-tariff and low running cost, the payback period was expected to drop considerably from previous estimations. The life cycle cost analysis used to optimise the combination of the technologies deployed. The impacts achieved through implementation of the project were varied and dependant on location; these can be reviewed in further detail in the previous section relating to the WP£ and WP4 outputs for each European location.
The innovations and process were to be developed to cater for requirements of various building types, so they could be integrated into similar houses within a district which was a target of the programme named the ‘global strategy’. This concept was to provide an area with a more appealing appearance, using a holistic approach over using a single technology or design. Additionally incorporation of system controls and sensors would ensure the acquisition of measurement data for analysis tools for existing and future energy performance assessment. The innovations assigned to each demonstration building were based on the conditions of the climate and the inherent condition of the buildings, these can be reviewed in further detail in the previous sections relating work packages 3 and 4.
The project was to provide the consortium with opportunities to collaborate, to enable long-term collaborative relationships for research and development. This would encourage knowledge transfer between academia and industries in terms of future development of the energy efficient technologies and solutions for retrofitting of buildings. Moreover, it would allow establishment joint ventures between stakeholders, this benefiting participants in terms of the potential annual incomes and increasing commercial opportunities. Compared with the initial investment in R&D (€5.8 million from EU and €2.6 million from participants themselves), the return rate would be expected to be significantly higher. The new technologies and solutions will therefore greatly increase the competitiveness of the venture within the EU and worldwide in terms of the market share, turn-over, interest volume, technical initiatives as well as sustainability. At the time of project completion a series of patents and future projects for further development of the innovations have been planned. A review of the previous section relating to the outputs of work package 2 should be done for future details on this.
Refurbishment of existing housing stock is a huge business, with an estimated market worth of £26.5 billion per year in the UK alone. The project was to contribute to growth of the EU economy through internal application and export of expertise and technology to other countries, such as EU, USA and Far East. The innovations are expected to have a large potential global market, and therefore contribute to EU’s economy in terms of increased volume and opportunity of employment. Based on the output of the HERB project alone, sales of products of certain innovations have been made across the glbe, and plans for future collaborations with new partners have been planned and are bein implemented. A review of the previous section relating to the outputs of work package 2 should be done for future details on this. The innovations and holistic process were designed to provide existing buildings with energy efficiency and indoor comfort, and were expected to contribute to European excellence in terms of improved quality of life. The outputs of work package 7 in relation to a review of feedback from visitors of the properties and the home users revieled positive results for this action, see below for further details.
Overall the innovative nature of the project in terms of innovative technology application provided: good indoor environmental quality with minimum energy use; an holistic approach from technical, market deployment to socio-economic analysis; a multidisciplinary and transnational Consortium and the use of advanced communication equipment for system operation, performance monitoring. In addition, dissemination activities completed were done aimed at:
• Aiding large scale market deployment in retrofitting of buildings.
• Accelerating the retrofitting uptake of low efficient building stock.
• Demonstrating cost effective highly energy efficient retrofitting practices.
• Creating best practice refurbishment examples for the building sector based on innovation and competitiveness, with benefits for the citizens and the environment.
• Contributing to raise the performance standards and regulations on European, national and local level, in the building sector.
The EU economy’s single market operates with each member of state holding its own unique strengths, and this requires close collaboration among the EU nations to enable development of technologies, and commercial opportunities to be used to achieve the targeted reductinos ibn carbon emissions. The research done in the HERB project required advanced knowledge of hardware and software for refurbishment, design and testing sites taking account of climatic variations, and other multi-disciplinay work in applcation of solutions for retrofitting scattered across various members of state, opposed to gathering in a single nation. No single participant in the Consortium had the full knowledge or facilities required to undertake the project, and were not enabled to establish an equally competent Consortium within their own countries. To achieve the outcomes of the project, it was necessary to bring together these from different EU nations. This was done successfully in the HERB project via the collaboration with the 17 partners. Evidently thuis will provide further future opportunities for research and product development, and a review of previous sections detailing the variuos work packages in each location will reviel details on these.
External factors that affected realisation of the expected impacts of the project
There will be four potential factors that were anticipated to affect realisation of the project impacts, namely: technical risk, commercial risk, environmental risk and political influence.
Technical risk. The HERB innovations required development and optimisation through: the expert consortium participants involved, a strong consortium structure, and combination of the extensive research experience of all the participants. Skills were based in computer modelling, sustainable energy technologies, renewable energy systems, planning and design of buildings, building services and refurbishment, as well as management of (EU) research projects, and these were to be used to minimise the technical risk involved. This was done successfully, albeit some of the technical risks rendered technologies not suitable for integration into the demonstration buildings, review previous section on work package 2 for further information on this.
Commercial risk. This concerned the issue of budget overruns, emergence of similar products in the market, and overestimation of market potential. Close budget management mitigated the problem of the budget overrun during the project, where control was imposed by the project coordinator and each participant. Within each participant, any purchase or expense was compared against the financial plan, and it was agreed that any overspend on individual items was met by the relevant participant rather than EU. Budget expense was monthly reviewed in the participant organisation and an annual financial reports were delivered to the coordinator’s organisation (UNOTT) for overall inspection. Financial reports were delivered to EU annually by UNOTT. A review of previous section detailing the completion of work package 3 is advised with respect to this, as delays were experienced in most cases due to restrictions in budget due to cuts in funding. The prevention of similar products in possession of the market was addressed in an early exploitation action. After assessing the results from testing of any technology or solution, negotiation were done between the relevant participants to reach a licensing agreements and raise any joint patents. At project completion, it was intended that the technologies and solutions were to be manufactured and marketed by the industrial participants and explored by GREEN, with the support from other participants as the stakeholders.
Environmental risk. No adverse environmental impacts arose from the project. The technologies and solutions were developed from sustainable and environmentally friendly materials, as did the reuse and recycling of materials removed from buildings during retrofitting.
Political influence. At the start of the project this was seen as positive. The EU government encouraged energy efficiency in existing buildings through retrofitting and during operation. And the project complied with the governments’ policy and therefore, no political risk was envisioned within the project. During the period the project the project was implemented, many political challenges and subsequent changes occurred with the EU. These caused unforeseen political impacts to the project, mainly in respect to the removal or radical overhaul of national funding mechanisms supporting housing development across the EU. In most HERB locations, including: Greece, Italy, Portugal, and the UK, these changes caused significant delays to the completion of the retrofit works, and by extension the project objectives. A review of previous section detailing the completion of work package 3 is advised with respect to this.
Dissemination of project results, and management of intellectual property
The HERB innovations could be used in new as well as existing buildings, and as large stocks of buildings for retrofitting annually in the EU and worldwide was expected to generate a high demand for the proposed technologies and solutions. The key target group for dissemination was therefore: manufactures of building materials, building designers, planners, environmental and services engineers, and owners-users of residential buildings. The Consortium aimed to publicize the project and products in order to facilitate future marketing.
In order to protect the commercial interests of the industrial participants facing strong competitive pressures from the US and Far East, publication of materials was selective, except for submission of contractually required reports and information to the Commission. The Exploitation Manager had a key role in establishing which information was to be protected by patents, copyright or trade secrets and which information was suitable for dissemination. The latter included the objectives of the project, general know-how obtained during the project and results of the research, development and demonstration. The methods and media for dissemination included:
• The internal dissemination of results by publishing and circulating technical documents and memoranda which were treated as confidential if any commercially sensitive information was included.
• Dissemination to the Commission by regular reports at 6-monthly intervals.
• Dissemination to the industrial, academic and public community.
Dissemination to the industrial, academic and public community was done through public demonstration, seminars and workshops, journal publications, conferences, exhibitions, website, newsletters, and media. The original plan dissemination is detailed as follows:
• Public demonstration – the innovations and demonstration buildings were demonstrated to the public at seven countries relevant (i.e. in the UK, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Spain and Netherlands). The buildings were open to the public during this organised time. Target audiences included: schools, general public and business (policy makers, architects, building services engineers, renewable/sustainable energy system manufacturers, building industry, and owners and users of residential buildings). Each demonstration was intended to have an audience of 30 or more. A questionnaire was also to be used to obtain feedback from the audience on the value of the visit. Survey of occupants’ acceptance was done in addition to this. These actions were successfully completed in all HERB locations in which demonstration buildings were retrofitted.
• Workshops – Seven workshops were organised towards the end of the project (month 42) by UNOTT in collaboration with GREEN, UNIBO, EVALUE, UOA, HEIG, ONYX and TNO in the seven countries where participants involved with building retrofit (UNOTT, UNIBO, EVALUE, UOA, HEIG, ONYX and TNO), publicised the research achievements and demonstrated the operation of the buildings post retrofit to audiences including: policy makers, architects, building services engineers, renewable/sustainable energy system manufacturers, building industry and public.. These actions were successfully completed in all HERB locations in which demonstration buildings were retrofitted.
• Paper publications – During the project, the acadmic participants were to publish at least 20 papers (4 for each academic participant) in relevant journals (e.g. Building and Environment, Energy and Buildings, Applied Thermal Engineering, Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, Low Carbon Technologies), with one paper each year in each acadmic participant in collaboration with non-academic participants. These actions were achieved, review the subsequent section for further details on this.
• Handbooks - A handbook was to be developed as a further deliverable for the public containing guidelines and best practice for retrofitting of residential buildings. Another book was also to be developed containing case studies resulting from all the demonstration buildings retrofitted. It was to include details of all relevant parameters analysed during the project (such as energy consumption, components and solutions, financial costs and payback periods, users behaviour and perception) and related improvements achieved through retrofitting. This action was completed and submitted with the final deliverable documents of the project
• Conferences and Exhibitions - The Consortium members presented their reseach findings over four international conferences (e.g. Renewable Energy Congress, Sustainable Energy Technologies, IBPSA Building Simulation conference). These actions were achieved, review the subsequent section for further details on this.
• Website – A specific project website will be developed at UNOTT from the start date of the project to report the latest reseach activities and major findings. The website will be regularly updated. All participants will be permitted to access this website to update information and latest developments related to their work. These actions was achieved, review the subsequent section for further details on this.
• Media (TV or newspaper) reporting – UNOTT was to organise a news report to be publicised in a EU media, e.g. TV or newspaper, at month 42 of the project, which was expected to reach over 500,000 non-professionals within the EU and worldwide. This action is ongoing as delays to work package 3
Exploitation and commercialising of the project results was done according to the guidelines of the Commission. The participants worked closely and hold regular meetings to ensure successful exploitation of the results. A key objective of the project was to accelerate market deployment of the technologies and solutions for existing buildings within Europe by further collaboration with European manufacturers, building designers and owners. The extensive experience of the participating companies in this area was considered a valuable resource when taking the technologies and solutions to the market place. The HERB industrial participants are leading companies in the design of sustainable buildings and the development and market deployment of sustainable materials and energy systems, and have excellent track records in taking new technologies and solutions into the market. This, combined with the technical expertise of the university participants, enabled successful exploitation of the technologies and solutions by the Consortium. In addition, meetings were arranged between the academic and industrial participants and representatives from other relevant companies and manufacturers to discuss strategies to develop the technologies and solutions further. A review of innovation outputs as given in the section on work package 2 should be reviewed in relation to the success of the actions detailed. The level of development of each innovation varied in each case and future developments are planned or advised in each case.
Other deliverables suitable for exploitation included computer models used as tools for optimising technologies and solutions for retrofitting of buildings, analysing building energy demand and supply, predicting the indoor environment of residential buildings, and social economic analysis. The computer models are valuable to the industrial participants as tools to assist their design work. On the validation of the tools, solutions and technologies, an Exploitation Steering Committee was formed to decide for the exploitation policy of the project results. This was formulated among the participants and its composition was collectively decided and elected; every participant was represented by a delegate. The Exploitation Committee was operated under the leadership of the Exploitation Manager who was assisted by the project Coordinator. The duties of the committee were to:
• Decide which type of information could have public dissemination, which to remain reserved, and what should be patented. Patent and licensing policies were to be covered by a specific Consortium Agreement that was to be signed within the first six months of the project following the kick-off meeting, by all participants. Use of existing patents as well as confidential information by the other participants of the project was to be secured within the Consortium agreement. The Consortium will also to protect any commercially significant innovations through taking out patent applications.
• Continuously monitor specialised press, dedicated web sites, etc., to understand in real time the actual state-of-the-art of the technologies and solutions to face with the research work addressed by project.
• Continuously check any patent literature to verify which patentable results could be hindered by issued patents.
• Continuously assess the market demand relative to the developed HERB innovations.
The exploitation manager coordinated all the aspects having an influence on the exploitation of the results, coordinated all exploitation related issues within the Consortium (patents, licenses, diffusion activities, etc.), and was in charge of coordinating possible negotiations concerning exploitation issues between the Consortium and external parties. The original plan for carrying out exploitation related issues is detailed as follows:
• Patents – Several patent cases on the technologies and solutions were to be filed at month 24 of the project progress, with all participants as the joint inventors.
• Licensing agreement – A licensing agreement between the participants was to be drawn up and signed at month 24 of the project, clarifying the proportion each participant would take for the patented technologies and solutions, as well as its stake-holding position in the future business.
• Joint venture (or independent business) – A discussion was to be undertaken at month 24 to consider the possibility of setting up the joint venture, or transferring the technologies and solutions to enterprises inside or outside the Consortium, after completing the project. For a joint venture, the role and stock-share of the each participant as well as structure and operating scheme of venture was to be detailed. For independent businesses, issues related to technology transfer such as licensing fees, share of the commercial margins as well as proportion of each participant would take in the business would be clarified in the plan.
• Technology implementation/development plan - Technology implementation/development plan was formulated at Month 30 and also at the end of the project at Month 42. This detailed the routines to convert the concerned technologies and solutions into commercial products, ways of improving/enhancing the quality of the products, as well as methods for further developing the products in foreseeable future. The plan incorporated major technical results derived from the research such as design standard, manufacturing standard, performance evaluation standard.
• Commercial plan – The Commercial plan was to be an issue related to operation of a joint venture or an independent business. This was to detail the routines of marketing/commercialisation of the technologies and solutions in the initial three years after starting-up the business, including plans for advertising, marketing, commercial activities such as visiting, exhibition, open day, bidding as well as external relations.
• Financial plan – The Financial plan refers to issues related to investment for the technologies and solutions. This addressed the financial budget of starting-up the businesses and agreed contribution by each participant. It was likely that the industrial participants will invest on the technologies and solutions by raising funds, setting-up production lines and workshops; whereas the Universities would provide technical supports, laboratory testing and personnel training across the whole process.
Dr Ioannis Pappas, was nominated as the Exploitation Manager for the project to coordinate all aspects that had influence on the exploitation of the results. To this end, the Exploitation Manager cooperated with the technical and commercial staff of all participants, coordinated all exploitation related issues within the Consortium (patents, licenses, diffusion activities, etc.), and was in charge of coordinating possible negotiations concerning exploitation issues between the Consortium and external parties.
The project was conducted as a collaboration between the companies and the Univesities, and intellectual property rights arising from the research were to be a joint issue of these organisations. In these cases, the companies and the Universities would hold meetings during the second half of the project to negotiate an appropriate revenue sharing arrangement, which would be based on the contribution of each group to the project. A Consortium agreement would be signed between the participants indicating the share of the technologies and solutions and ownership of IPs. Use of existing patents by the participants in the project was to be secured within the Consortium Agreement.
The generation of at least one patent for each innovation was expected, with matters relating raised at the Consortium meeting held at month 24, with members clarifying the relevant matters such as the named inventors, revenue share, application fee-paying, action plan as well as technical contexts on the basis of the individual cases. The named lead inventor was to file the patent case through the organisation where he/she was based with support of the co-inventors. The maintenance of the patents was to be monitored by the lead inventor.
If a patent or intellectual property were transferred to a joint venture or an independent business (either internally or externally), the project coordinator was to call up a meeting with all the Consortium members and the user of the intellectual property to discuss the matters related to license transfer, including fees charged initially and during the business development, stock share of the technology and solution within the business, as well as financial share among the participants. This would then generate a licensing agreement addressing the matters concerned.
Where required, Confidentiality Agreements were signed and comprehensive Cooperation Agreements were put in place in order to protect the background Intellectual Property of each participant. It was envisaged that these agreements would be discussed and signed by all participants.
List of Websites:
www.euroretrofit.com