| 1. |
- Brembilla, Christian, 1983-
(författare)
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Efficiency factors for space heating system in buildings
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis focuses on the efficiency of the space heating system. In particular, the efficiency factors measure the efficiency of thermal zone. The efficiency factors measures how the energy is used in a space heating. Efficiency factors relatively close to one mean that the energy is used "efficiently'', by contrast, efficiency factors close to the zero mean that the majority of the energy is lost to the outdoor environment. This method for the appraisal of space heating performance reads as if it is apparently simple and intuitive. In reality, the efficiency factor method has several pitfalls.The thesis provides tools, insights and remarks on how to apply the efficiency factor method to space heating systems equipped with hydronic panel radiator and floor heating respectively. Models of the latter heaters together with the multilayer wall were developed and validated to understand the reliability of their predictions. The hypothesis is that the heat stored in the building thermal mass and heaters plays a role in defining the building thermal performance and as a result in the appraisal of the efficiency factors. The validation is based on the sensitivity bands of the models' predictions. The heaters were tested in in a thermostatic booth simulator. Benefits and drawbacks of each model were highlighted to increase awareness of their use in the engineering fields. The results showed how the models accounting for the heat stored performed the charging phase. In addition, results of how the multilayer wall delayed and damped down the heat wave coming from the outdoor environment were presented with the appraisal of the decrement factor and time delay of the indoor temperature. The results of the efficiency factors analysis reveal how the weather affects the efficiency of each locality situated in cold climates. Lastly how different control strategies impact on the efficiency factors of space heating and its distribution system. To conclude, this study highlights the paradoxes around the efficiency factor method. The thesis proposes how such factors have to be interpreted by researchers and scientists tackling the lack of information around this topic.
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| 2. |
- Allard Stolterman, Ingrid, 1986-
(författare)
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Regulating energy performance of residential buildings in cold climate : a study of indicators, criteria, and evaluation methods
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Building energy performance has been important in Fennoscandia ever since the early vernacular houses, to combat the cold climate. Due to EU directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD recast), building energy performance has become even more relevant in northern Europe the last decade. Objectives for improving building energy performance may include reducing cost and CO2-emissions, increasing energy independency, and improving the indoor climate. Different indicators, criteria, and evaluations methods may be used to reach these objectives. This dissertation addresses indicators, criteria, and evaluation methods used to regulate energy performance of residential buildings in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. Four research objectives are covered: (RO1) comparing criteria and evaluation methods used to regulate energy performance of residential buildings in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, (RO2) studying the perspective of professionals with experience in building energy performance evaluation on (a) methods for evaluating envelope air leakage of residential buildings in Sweden and Finland and (b) potential energy performance indicators in the Swedish procurement process of multi-family buildings, (RO3) developing an approach for analysing the performance gap between design predictions and measurements that can be used to verify compliance with requirements on building energy use in practice, and (RO4) comparing the stringency of the energy performance criteria for residential buildings between the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Russian national building code. Many differences were found between how energy performance of residential buildings was regulated in the four countries. In Sweden, measurements were used more for evaluating building energy performance than in the other countries. As of 1st January 2020, the Finnish building code was characterized by its focus on the building heat loss and stringent energy performance criteria compared to the other countries. The Norwegian building code was characterized by a relatively narrow system perspective on energy performance, with no regulation of the energy production efficiency or energy source. The Russian building code also had a narrow system perspective but was also characterized by its focus on the form factor – the relationship between building volume and enclosing area. The practitioners wanted to minimize the influence from building operation and user behaviour on energy performance evaluations in the Swedish building procurement process of multi-family buildings. Hence, they preferred component-focused indicators or indicators with a narrow system boundary. An approach has been developed for analyzing the performance gap between design phase predictions and measurements. The approach can be used to verify the finished building’s energy performance, with minimal influence from occupant behavior and building operation.
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| 3. |
- Azizi, Shoaib, 1989-
(författare)
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A multi-method assessment to support energy efficiency decisions in existing residential and academic buildings
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Rapid decarbonization of building stock is essential for the energy transition required to mitigate climate change and limit the global temperature rise below 1.5 °C. The decision-making for the adoption of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) is often complex and involves lasting consequences and risks. The strategy to direct and support the decision makers can significantly increase the adoption rate of EEMs in buildings. This Ph.D. project focuses on facilitating sustainability improvement in buildings by supporting the decision makers who are accountable for the consequences of adopting the EEMs. Energy efficiency improvement is decided and managed differently in various types of buildings and contexts and encounters different challenges and opportunities. Accordingly, it is required to understand the needs to select adequate strategies and to devise effective supporting interventions for energy efficiency improvement.The owners of single-family houses are often the occupants who are in charge of the most decisions to improve energy efficiency in their dwellings. The situation is rather different in multi-family buildings and academic buildings in which organizational management adds more complexity and the decisions affect various stakeholders. The studies in this project are based on qualitative and quantitative data collected from single-family houses, multi-family buildings, and university buildings in northern Sweden. Surveys were used to elicit the decision makers' perceptions of different types of buildings. Moreover, sensor data from university buildings were used in the case studies to develop informative metrics for space use efficiency and to analyze the effect of sensor positioning on monitored data.The initial work involved understanding the opportunities and challenges of improving energy efficiency in buildings and the tradeoffs between the perceived benefits and barriers. This part of the thesis provided the foundation and inspiration for the rest of the project, including investigating how to bundle several measures and use information and communication technologies (ICT) for building sustainability. The findings show lack of information and evidence that could justify the beneficial outcomes of EEMs is a major barrier for effective decision-making. Clear information on potential improvements allows sharing the responsibilities among different stakeholders and increases the management capacity to handle projects and adopt EEMs. Using feedback tools (for example, space use and/or energy use visualizations) might be an effective strategy to influence decision makers.Various studies incorporated in this multidisciplinary Ph.D. thesis develop and investigate strategies to support decision makers to improve energy efficiency in buildings. The findings provide insights to policymakers and businesses to devise intervention strategies for energy efficiency in buildings.
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| 4. |
- Nydahl, Helena, 1990-
(författare)
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Communication of life cycle assessment results : life cycle key performance indicators
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The global warming that we are on track for will result in a severe loss of natural capital leading to significant losses in economic capital when urban infrastructure is destroyed, agricultural productivity declines and poverty spread among other disasters. Climate change due to emissions does not only affect the polluter, the hazardous effects becomes evident on a global level. An essential tool to enable decision‑making with concern to the welfare of the global commons is life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA compile and evaluate the inputs, outputs, and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. The reviewed literature frames a gap regarding interpretation of LCA-results and inquire for guidelines that address a wide range of stakeholders to enable informed decision-making with regard to the welfare of the global commons. Some studies even argue that an apparent weakness of LCA-result communication is the understanding of what the results mean for the economic key performance indicators (KPIs) of the stakeholder. Thus, this thesis aims to contribute to the development of guidelines for interpretation of LCA-results by introducing an approach for communicating LCA-results that is compatible with the economically driven nature of stakeholders. The specific research questions (RQ) of this thesis are: (RQ1) How can well-established economic KPIs be utilised to quantify environmental impact? and (RQ2) How does incorporation of monetary valuation of environmental impacts and related environmental aspects affect the LCA-result and communication of results?These research questions have led to life cycle key performance indicators (LC‑KPIs) that quantify life cycle economic and environmental impacts in a way that take after the traditional economic KPIs of the stakeholders, which is outlined as essential to improve the understanding of LCA-results. The LC‑KPIs utilize the traditional economic KPIs of return on investment (ROI) and annual yield (AY). Additionally, to manage the large amount of non-commensurate units of holistic life cycle sustainability assessment, monetary valuation has been applied. Hence, contributing to the research area of monetary valuation in LCA by introducing and testing new approaches.The introduced LC-KPIs have been specified for building LCA and exemplified by applying them to a number of Swedish case buildings. The result show that the climate-economic assessment of building refurbishment differs compared to the traditional economic assessment when monetary valuation is utilized in LCA with the LC-KPI of ROIEconomy+. However, in the comparative assessment of building refurbishment and new construction, the LCA‑result does not change compared to the traditional economic assessment when monetary valuation is utilized in LCA with the LC-KPI of ELCCA. This is explained by the high costs associated with the investment and energy use of buildings and may not be the case if products with lower investment and energy use costs and high life cycle greenhouse-gas emissions would be studied. Still, if a purely environmental assessment of a product is wished for, the LC-KPI should only include monetary valuation of environmental impact factors and exclude traditional economic performance. Thus, the case study result defines further scope for research on the subject of monetary valuation in LCA and inquire for a wider spectrum of LC-KPIs that utilizes monetary valuation.The introduced approach of this thesis contribute to the development of guidelines for interpretation of LCA-results. Nevertheless, there are still challenges that needs to be addressed in the development of robust LCA-result interpretation. Still, the LC‑KPIs used in this thesis address the “cognitive logics” of a wide range of stakeholders and provide an approach for communication of LCA-results which improve the understanding of LCA-results.
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| 5. |
- Feng, Kailun, et al.
(författare)
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Energy-efficient retrofitting with incomplete building information : a data-driven approach
- 2022
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Ingår i: E3S web of conferences. - : EDP Sciences.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The high-performance insulations and energy-efficient HVAC have been widely employed as energy-efficient retrofitting for building renovation. Building performance simulation (BPS) based on physical models is a popular method to estimate expected energy savings for building retrofitting. However, many buildings, especially the older building constructed several decades ago, do not have full access to complete information for a BPS method. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a data-driven approach to support the decision-making of building retrofitting under incomplete information. The data-driven approach is constructed by integrating backpropagation neural networks (BRBNN), fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM), principal component analysis (PCA), and trimmed scores regression (TSR). It is motivated by the available big data sources from real-life building performance datasets to directly model the retrofitting performances without generally missing information, and simultaneously impute the case-specific incomplete information. This empirical study is conducted on real-life buildings in Sweden. The result indicates that the approach can model the performance ranges of energy-efficient retrofitting for family houses with more than 90% confidence. The developed approach provides a tool to predict the performance of individual buildings from different retrofitting measures, enabling supportive decision-making for building owners with inaccessible complete building information, to compare alternative retrofitting measures.
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| 6. |
- Hu, Siying, et al.
(författare)
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A data-driven exploration of the relations between occupant behaviors and comfort performances of energy-efficient measures
- 2023
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Ingår i: ICCREM 2023. - : American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). - 9780784485217 ; , s. 592-604
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Energy-efficient building retrofitting plays a crucial role in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions within the building sector. Energy-efficient retrofitting brings about changes in the built environment and it could influence the occupant behaviors. Additionally, occupant behaviors, in turn, alter the indoor environment, thereby affecting the comfort performance of the building after retrofitting. To explore this intricate relation between occupant behaviors and comfort performances of energy-efficient measures, this paper employs a data-driven approach to compile a comprehensive dataset encompassing occupant behaviors, energy-efficient measures, and associated indoor comfort of an office building in Umeå University, Sweden. Multiple binary logistic regression is applied to quantify the relationship between occupant behaviors and comfort performances of energy-efficient measures. The findings of this study hold significant value, providing guidance for occupants in adapting to energy-efficient measures while also informing future retrofitting implementation.
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| 7. |
- Liu, Bokai, et al.
(författare)
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Data-driven quantitative analysis of an integrated open digital ecosystems platform for user-centric energy retrofits : A case study in northern Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Technology in society. - : Elsevier. - 0160-791X .- 1879-3274. ; 75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents an open digital ecosystem based on a web-framework with a functional back-end server for user-centric energy retrofits. This data-driven web framework is proposed for building energy renovation benchmarking as part of an energy advisory service development for the Västerbotten region, Sweden. A 4-tier architecture is developed and programmed to achieve users’ interactive design and visualization via a web browser. Six data-driven methods are integrated into this framework as backend server functions. Based on these functions, users can be supported by this decision-making system when they want to know if a renovation is needed or not. Meanwhile, influential factors (input values) from the database that affect energy usage in buildings are to be analyzed via quantitative analysis, i.e., sensitivity analysis. The contributions to this open ecosystem platform in energy renovation are: 1) A systematic framework that can be applied to energy efficiency with data-driven approaches, 2) A user-friendly web-based platform that is easy and flexible to use, and 3) integrated quantitative analysis into the framework to obtain the importance among all the relevant factors. This computational framework is designed for stakeholders who would like to get preliminary information in energy advisory. The improved energy advisor service enabled by the developed platform can significantly reduce the cost of decision-making, enabling decision-makers to participate in such professional knowledge-required decisions in a deliberate and efficient manner. This work is funded by the AURORAL project, which integrates an open and interoperable digital platform, demonstrated through regional large-scale pilots in different countries of Europe by interdisciplinary applications.
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| 8. |
- Liu, Bokai, et al.
(författare)
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Multi-scale modeling in thermal conductivity of polyurethane incorporated with phase change materials using physics-informed neural networks
- 2023
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Ingår i: Renewable energy. - : Elsevier. - 0960-1481 .- 1879-0682. ; 220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polyurethane (PU) possesses excellent thermal properties, making it an ideal material for thermal insulation. Incorporating Phase Change Materials (PCMs) capsules into Polyurethane has proven to be an effective strategy for enhancing building envelopes. This innovative design substantially enhances indoor thermal stability and minimizes fluctuations in indoor air temperature. To investigate the thermal conductivity of the Polyurethane-Phase Change Materials foam composite, we propose a hierarchical multi-scale model utilizing Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs). This model allows accurate prediction and analysis of the material’s thermal conductivity at both the meso-scale and macro-scale. By leveraging the integration of physics-based knowledge and data-driven learning offered by Physics-Informed Neural Networks, we effectively tackle inverse problems and address complex multi-scale phenomena. Furthermore, the obtained thermal conductivity data facilitates the optimization of material design. To fully consider the occupants’ thermal comfort within a building envelope, we conduct a case study evaluating the performance of this optimized material in a detached house. Simultaneously, we predict the energy consumption associated with this scenario. All outcomes demonstrate the promising nature of this design, enabling passive building energy design and significantly improving occupants’ comfort. The successful development of this Physics-Informed Neural Networks-based multi-scale model holds immense potential for advancing our understanding of Polyurethane-Phase Change Material’s thermal properties. It can contribute to the design and optimization of materials for various practical applications, including thermal energy storage systems and insulation design in advanced building envelopes.
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| 9. |
- Liu, Bokai, et al.
(författare)
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Multiscale modeling of Heat transfer in Polyurethane - Phase Change Materials composites
- 2023
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Ingår i: Yound investigators symposium Umeå 2023. - Umeå : Umeå University. ; , s. 29-29
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polyurethane (PU) exhibits exceptional thermal properties, making it an ideal material for thermal insulation. Incorporating Phase Change Materials (PCMs) capsules into Polyurethane (PU) has proven to be highly effective in enhancing building envelopes. This innovative design greatly enhances the stability of indoor thermal environments and reduces fluctuations in indoor air temperature. To investigate the thermal conductivity of this composite material, we have developed a comprehensive multiscale model of a PU-PCM foam composite. By obtaining thermal conductivity data, we can optimize the material's design for maximum effectiveness. To fully assess the thermal comfort of occupants within a building envelope, we have conducted a case study based on the performance of this optimized material. Specifically, we focused on a single room where PU-PCM composites were applied. Simultaneously, we predicted the energy consumption associated with this scenario. The results of our study clearly demonstrate the promising nature of this design, as it enables passive building energy design and significantly improves the comfort experienced by occupants.
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| 10. |
- Liu, Bokai, et al.
(författare)
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Multiscale modeling of thermal properties in Polyurethane incorporated with phase change materials composites : a case study
- 2023
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Ingår i: Healthy buildings Europe 2023. - Red Hook, NY : Curran Associates, Inc.. - 9781713877158 ; , s. 923-929
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polyurethane (PU) is an ideal thermal insulation material due to its excellent thermal properties. The incorporation of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) capsules into Polyurethane (PU) has been shown to be effective in building envelopes. This design can significantly increase the stability of the indoor thermal environment and reduce the fluctuation of indoor air temperature. We develop a multiscale model of a PU-PCM foam composite and study the thermal conductivity of this material. Later, the design of materials can be optimized by obtaining thermal conductivity. We conduct a case study based on the performance of this optimized material to fully consider the thermal comfort of the occupants of a building envelope with the application of PU-PCMs composites in a single room. At the same time, we also predict the energy consumption of this case. All the outcomes show that this design is promising, enabling the passive design of building energy and significantly improving occupants' comfort.
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