Energy-efficient apartments for elderly
(2016) AEBM01 20161Division of Energy and Building Design
- Abstract
- The literature claims that elderly people need warmer indoor temperatures, short overheating periods and more light indoors. The thesis analysed a case study building in order to propose a solution of the façade design in the energy-efficient apartments for elderly people. Due to the simplified approach to the analysis, only specific apartments were chosen and optimized parts of design were shape of the façade, glazing area and shading type. The analysis included heating energy demand, amount of overheating hours, daylight autonomy and view out, and lighting energy demand. The results proved that due to the increased requirements of light, the building will suffer overheating but this can be easily fixed with shading and natural... (More)
- The literature claims that elderly people need warmer indoor temperatures, short overheating periods and more light indoors. The thesis analysed a case study building in order to propose a solution of the façade design in the energy-efficient apartments for elderly people. Due to the simplified approach to the analysis, only specific apartments were chosen and optimized parts of design were shape of the façade, glazing area and shading type. The analysis included heating energy demand, amount of overheating hours, daylight autonomy and view out, and lighting energy demand. The results proved that due to the increased requirements of light, the building will suffer overheating but this can be easily fixed with shading and natural ventilation. It also proved that the initial electric light assumptions were too low due to the increased lighting requirements. Finally it showed that even with increased indoor temperature during heating season, the building fulfills the requirements of an energy efficiency certificate. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- Several years ago buildings’ design process looked like a ladder. First there was an architect with the vision, then the constructor with the materials and technology capabilities and then building services. Nowadays buildings are shaped as an equilibrium between all three parts and the forth part is becoming environmental awareness. All four parties have to cooperate in order to achieve the best result.
For the past century the population of people was rapidly growing from 2,5 billion in 1950s to more than 7 billion in 2015. However in most of well-developed countries, such as Sweden, the societies are getting older. According to EU predictions, the energy consumption will rise by 50% until year 2040. The increasing amount of elderly... (More) - Several years ago buildings’ design process looked like a ladder. First there was an architect with the vision, then the constructor with the materials and technology capabilities and then building services. Nowadays buildings are shaped as an equilibrium between all three parts and the forth part is becoming environmental awareness. All four parties have to cooperate in order to achieve the best result.
For the past century the population of people was rapidly growing from 2,5 billion in 1950s to more than 7 billion in 2015. However in most of well-developed countries, such as Sweden, the societies are getting older. According to EU predictions, the energy consumption will rise by 50% until year 2040. The increasing amount of elderly people and general need to lower the energy consumption and expenditures create the demand for housing for elderly adults that will fulfil the strict requirements of environmental certificates such as BREEAM (international) or Miljobyggnad (specific for Sweden).
General research claims that elderly people need warmer indoor conditions, shorter overheating periods and higher levels of indoor light. The needs of elderly people contradict with the aim of energy reductions i.e. keeping higher indoor temperature in the winter will not save the energy, higher lighting requirements imply higher lighting energy demand. What is more, higher lighting requirements demand more glazed areas, which implies higher solar gains and more visual issues, such as glare. In order to achieve a good result first, it was needed to optimize the shape of the facade and the areas of windows. Large windows look good and deliver fair amount of daylight but also increase the temperature inside the rooms during summer. Together with window size optimization, there was a need to design shading, which would not obstruct the view out from the apartments and decrease the indoor temperature. The last part of the analysis shows the possibilities to design an efficient lighting system that responds to the actual need of lighting.
The results showed that expanding the façade only serves a better view out, while the rest of the factors are worse than in case of usual, flat wall. The analysis also proved that due to the increased requirements of light, the building will suffer overheating but it can be fixed with shading and natural ventilation. It also proved that the electric light assumptions that are commonly used were too low. Finally it showed that even with increased indoor temperature during heating season, the building fulfils the requirements of energy-efficiency certificate.
The analysis gives the architects an insight into what happens in the building if some of the ideas are applied. The whole process of designing should be carried out as a cooperation of engineers and architects in order to achieve the best results. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8886346
- author
- Balcerzak, Antoni LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- AEBM01 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- daylight, thermal comfort, shading, overheating, energy-efficiency, elderly people
- language
- English
- id
- 8886346
- date added to LUP
- 2016-07-04 11:16:39
- date last changed
- 2016-07-04 11:16:39
@misc{8886346,
abstract = {{The literature claims that elderly people need warmer indoor temperatures, short overheating periods and more light indoors. The thesis analysed a case study building in order to propose a solution of the façade design in the energy-efficient apartments for elderly people. Due to the simplified approach to the analysis, only specific apartments were chosen and optimized parts of design were shape of the façade, glazing area and shading type. The analysis included heating energy demand, amount of overheating hours, daylight autonomy and view out, and lighting energy demand. The results proved that due to the increased requirements of light, the building will suffer overheating but this can be easily fixed with shading and natural ventilation. It also proved that the initial electric light assumptions were too low due to the increased lighting requirements. Finally it showed that even with increased indoor temperature during heating season, the building fulfills the requirements of an energy efficiency certificate.}},
author = {{Balcerzak, Antoni}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Energy-efficient apartments for elderly}},
year = {{2016}},
}