Evaluating Daylight, Thermal Comfort and Operational Energy Performance of The Living Places: A comparative study between Copenhagen and Kyiv

Abstract

The Energy Performance of Building Directive’s (EPBD) guidelines to reach net zero emissions by 2030 for new constructions encourage energy efficiency amidst the ever-growing global building stocks. A prefabricated modular housing concept that can be optimised according to the climatic conditions that focus on sustainability and energy efficiency could address this situation while achieving high indoor comfort conditions for humans. This thesis is a comparative study of one such concept, The Living Places Copenhagen, to study its adaptability in a different climatic context, promoting visual and thermal comfort and calculating the environmental impact for the operational energy use phase of the building life cycle. This thesis aligns with the ongoing efforts to develop scalable building projects that prioritize occupant health and well-being with a minimal carbon footprint, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Radiance based daylight simulations for Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA300/50%) and Energy-based simulations for annual percentage of adaptive comfort hours and Primary Energy (PE) demand were used as metrics to study the adaptation of the architecture and materials of the existing building in Kyiv. Parametric simulation was performed to assess the impact of parameters such as window sizes, glazing properties and the building orientation on daylight, thermal comfort, and energy demand of the building, to identify optimal cases in Kyiv and compare them with the building in Copenhagen, using the Active House specification developed by the International Active House Alliance. The study showed that window sizes had a positive effect on daylight with bigger window sizes bringing in more daylight indoors but also caused discomfort in both summer and winter due to heat gains and loss. The heat loss through the bigger windows had a higher impact on elevating the heating energy demand during winters. The study also showed that higher glazing transmittance (Tvis) which was also associated with higher solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) had a positive effect on daylight and energy use but conversely caused discomfort due to summer heat gains. Rooms with window openings on single side showed more sensitivity toward orientation change pointing out the advantage of windows in multiple facades for multidirectional daylight. Hence the ideal window setup depends on the desired balance between daylight, thermal comfort, and energy demand.
A weighting method prioritizing, in the order, energy demand, thermal comfort and daylight was followed to compare the simulated cases against the base case. The optimal cases presented in this study all achieve sDA300/50% >70% of the occupied floor area, adaptive thermal comfort hours >95% of the occupied hours and an average annual energy demand of 32.87 kWh/m²/y with a corresponding carbon footprint of 11.22 kgCO2-eq./m²/y for operational energy use phase. For Kyiv that shared a climatic condition characterized by similar overcast sky conditions and daylight hours but higher summer and winter peaks, the building performed well achieving the highest Active House (AH) score for daylight while underperformed for thermal comfort and energy demand. The high energy factor and carbon emission factor for Kyiv associated to the electricity produced mainly from nuclear sources as opposed to hydro and wind sources in Copenhagen resulted in 2.8 times higher carbon footprint for operational energy use phase for the most optimal solutions.

Popular Abstract

The European building sector accounts for a huge share of energy use and related Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. The newly approved European Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD) guidelines aims at zero emission buildings by 2050. The EPBD promotes building projects that are highly energy efficient and have low environmental impact. Yet we should not forget that buildings are built for people. The quality of indoor environments is of utmost importance as we spent 90% of our lives indoors.
The energy and indoor quality challenges must be solved urgently to meet global climate goals. VELUX, in collaboration with Effekt and Artelia group, developed prefabricated modular housing units, called Living Places Copenhagen. Living Places is a good example of high energy efficiency, low carbon footprint, and high-quality indoor climate conditions with possibilities of optimization to fit the needs of the occupant.
Living Places have been designed and developed for Copenhagen, but would the concept work in other areas? And under which conditions? To answer the questions, this study evaluates a residential module of the Living Places for the climate context of Kyiv. The assessment was focused on the daylight performance, indoor thermal comfort, energy use intensity and its corresponding carbon emissions. The comparison was made following the Active House Standard, a voluntary certification scheme.
In the study, daylight performance, measured via spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA300/50%), thermal comfort, measured in percentage of annual comfort hour, and annual energy demand were first studied for the residential module in Copenhagen, followed by a parametric study in Kyiv focused on windows dimensions and properties, as well as building orientation. The parametric study served to identify the adaptability of the module. Similar sky conditions with higher summer and winter peaks in Kyiv, indicated a need for building optimization to address the lower thermal comfort conditions and higher heating energy demand, as well as peak energy use.
Overall, the Living Places project was found adaptable to the Kyiv location, with few modifications. With the limitation of dynamic shading not being considered in the study, window sizes negatively affected the thermal comfort and energy demand in spite of higher daylight performances in the building. Using a weighting method to compare the optimal cases against each other showed that similar window sizes as Copenhagen with higher glazing transmittance and solar heat gain coefficient could help minimize the energy demand while maintaining high level of indoor climate including daylight and thermal comfort conditions in Kyiv. The primary energy performance and the carbon emission for operational energy use phase was significantly higher in Kyiv due to a higher share of non-renewable sources of energy in the Ukrainian Energy mix for electricity production.

• author: Deevatige Sadananda, Adarsh and Khatakho, Aman Raj
• supervisor: Niko Gentile; Jens Christoffersen; Ricardo Forgiarini Rupp
• organization: Department of Building and Environmental Technology; Division of Energy and Building Design
• course: AEBM01 20241
• year: 2024
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: Living Places, Daylight, Adaptive Thermal Comfort, Operational Energy, Carbon Footprint, Active House
• language: English
• id: 9158553
• date added to LUP: 2024-06-10 07:16:07
• date last changed: 2024-06-10 07:16:07