Reports

Thesis for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor

The main aim of the work has been to do modeling and calculations of the energy use, embodied emission and the total CO2-emissions for a typical Norwegian office building. The goal is to find the most important parameters in the design of a zero emission office building, according to the current ZEB definition.

The main aim of the work has been to do modeling and calculations of the energy use, embodied emission and the total CO2-emission for a typical Norwegian residential building. By doing this we try to reveal and study the main drivers for the CO2-emission, and also which performance is necessary for components and solutions in a Zero Emission Building according to the current Norwegian ZEBdefinition.

Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) is an important source of renewable energy production for Zero Emission Buildings, even in Norwegian climate. In the planned Powerhouse 1 building at Brattøra in Trondheim the idea to reach a zero emission building level is to use PVs as a roofing material covering the entire roof. Challenges and questions raised in the design process of this building have motivated the work reported here.

Denne rapporten begrenser seg til å presentere en metode for beregning av kuldebroverdier for tilslutningen mellom yttervegg og golv på grunn (ringmursløsninger). I både NS 3031 og NS‐EN ISO 10211 åpnes det for en forenklet beregning av kuldebroverdien etter en annen internasjonal standard; NS‐EN ISO 13370. Denne beskriver en forenklet prosedyre for beregning av U‐verdien til golv mot grunn basert på en korreksjon til U‐verdier beregnet etter NS‐EN ISO 6946.

Innemiljøet på Marienlyst skole i Drammen, Norges første "passivhus-skole", er evaluert gjennom intervju og spørreskjema med brukere. Det er utført tre intervjurunder i løpet av 2011 med totalt 23 informanter; lærere, elever og representanter fra driftspersonalet. I tillegg er det utført en spørreskjemaundersøkelse om inneklimaet i slutten av 2011, for alle elever og ansatte.

This is a report on a study conducted in the spring of 2011 to examine the cultural and social conditions associated with rebound effects on the household level. The goal of the study was to conduct an empirical, qualitative exploration of the conditions that favour rebound effects. In economics, rebound effects are defined to occur when a measure intended to increase energy efficiency actually contributes to an increase of energy consumption. Examples of conditions that favour rebound effects include using heat pumps for cooling, leaving energy‐saving light bulbs on for longer periods or neglecting to shut them off entirely, or…

Bygg tett
Authors: Publication Year: 2012


Rapporten inneholder et forslag til system for klassifisering av byggetekniske løsningers robusthet. Hensikten med et slikt klassifiseringssystem skal gjøre det lettere for aktører i byggenæringen å velge løsninger og materialer tilpasset ønsket kvalitetsnivå, stedlig klima og den utførendes kompetanse. Byggenæringen må i større grad enn tidligere forholde seg til mange produkter med til dels overlappende bruksområde. Det kan være svært vanskelig å få oversikt over forskjeller i teknisk kvalitet og hvilke produkter som er mest hensiktsmessig i det enkelte byggeprosjekt.

Tradisjonelt har norske småhus hatt et kaldt loft med lufteåpninger i takutstikket. Luftingen av loftet skulle både sørge for en kald takflate og hindre fuktskader på undertak og taksperrer. De siste årene har det blitt vanligere at småhus bygges med et uluftet, kaldt loftsrom. I stedet brukes et dampåpent undertak og lufting under taktekkingen. En del slike loftsrom har fått kondens og vekst av muggsopp på undertaket. Denne rapporten viser årsaker og viktige tiltak for å unngå problemet.

Mange fuktproblemer viser at det er viktig å velge veggkonstruksjoner mot terreng med god sikkerhet mot skader. God sikkerhet mot kondensskader får man ved å plassere all isolasjon på utsiden eller inne i veggen. Men i svært mange nye byggeprosjekter i dag blir det benyttet en plass-støpt betongvegg som isoleres utvendig og innvendig. Den innvendige isolasjonen er ofte en bindingsverkvegg. Denne rapporten presenterer resultater fra målinger i et lite forsøkshus med en denne typen yttervegg mot terreng. Huset er bygd ved lokalene til SINTEF Byggforsk i Oslo

Master i energi og miljø

Zero emission building (ZEB) is considered a future-oriented concept for reducing Green house gas emissions in the bulding sector. Which aspects should be considered when designing a zero emission building? The largest potential for decreasing emissions comes from improving energy efficiency, conscious choice of materials and renewable energy supply. The project investigates each aspect providing different design alternatives which give a basis for possible decisions on carbon neutral strategy.

The main direction of the thesis is analyzing the impact on solar access and energy demand of different building mass in linear building forms. The study model of this work is a current ongoing project - a suburb sustainable residential community design project locates in Ådland, Bergen, Norway. The work mainly consists of two parts: theory and project analyses. Both two parts are focusing on reducing environmental impact of suburb sustainable residential communities. More specifically, the theory is aiming on finding out the critical design and energy issues for suburb sustainable residential communities. The project is aiming on using the…

Buildings are responsible for 38 % of energy use in Norway, about 64 % of which is heating energy. Lacking of architectural design at the early design stage has adverse consequences on the climate and environmental efficiency of buildings, which is a burden for reducing the energy consumption of buildings. This research uses Ådland project as a case study in order to investigate how the building morphology which is one aspect of the architectural quality will impact the heating demand of buildings. The research is based on the design which is ongoing in the Research Centre of Zero Emission Buildings…

Solar technologies in the form of photovoltaics and thermal collectors have not been used to the expectation specially in building sector to replace the use of fossil fuels. The main reason for these technologies not being popular in building integration is the lack of good architectural quality rendered not meeting desired design considerations. Hence, the objective of the thesis is to pave possible ways of integrating these technologies into buildings, both on existing and new constructions to add emphasis on the overall architectural expression in addition to producing energy. Basic focus is on the appearance of aesthetics part of integration…

In order to be successful on the market, energy-saving measures for existing buildings need to be promoted with arguments that are directly relevant to the users. Initial marketing for energy retrofitting has been based on monetary profits from future energy savings. However, for most households in Europe, energy bills for the home account for only 3-4 percent of disposable income, hence are not a major concern. As a result of inappropriate promotion of energy savings for existing buildings, less than 1 percent of over 300.000 projects certified by BREEAM are refurbishments. Apparently, the promotion of energy retrofitting needs to be…

The barn at Rotvoll farm has a history of 140 years. The design project aims to prepare it for future use by reusing the old structures as much as possible while ensuring a good energy performance. The future user of the barn is Camphill movement that creates “life-sharing” communities and schools for adults and children with learning disabilities and other special needs providing services and support for work, learning and daily living. Energy performance of the building, on-site energy supply options and embodied emissions of the new added reused materials were estimated as part of the design.

Ventilation is a crucial aspect in super-insulated and airtight buildings. Façade-integrated ventilation systems are a state-of-the-art technology which is considered an energy efficient option. Results of the conducted evaluation in Nordic context show that some aspects need adaption to local requirements. However, good performance can be expected in fields like indoor comfort and user satisfaction. The technology has enormous potential and might be an alternative if there are high expectations on indoor environment but conventional ventilation systems are not applicable. The used tools in this work include ESP-r and Simien for dynamic simulation of building performance.

This thesis investigates whether the use of TMA is suitable for and of benefit to the Norwegian building industry. Power House One plans to use the same heating technology as the Sparebank1 building in Trondheim. This building uses ventilation to distribute thermal energy to the end of activating the thermal mass. The purpose of this thesis was therefore to determine whether it is more efficient to use water rather than air to distribute thermal energy. Water has a higher volumetric heat capacity than air and therefore water-carrying pipes embedded in the thermal mass should be more efficient in distributing thermal…

The comfort and energy demand of a building are influenced significantly by glazed area of the facade. The glazed areas in the building are always challenging. Large glazing allows more daylight to get into the room but at the same time cause more heat gain and heat loss through the building envelop. Shading devices are very suitable elements for installing PV panels. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of different PV shading devices on energy performance and daylight of office buildings in Nordic climate.

Sustainable residential ventilation
Authors: Publication Year: 2012

Global warming due to increased emissions of CO2 has lead to more focus on decreasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by buildings. In Norway balanced ventilation with heat recovery is the most recommended solution for a low-emission building. However, a minority claims that a naturally ventilated house can be equally sustainable. To find out more about which concept is more sustainable, a model building with natural ventilation is compared to the same building with balanced ventilation in several cases. These are calculated in the computer-program SIMIEN, mainly with Oslo-climate. A sensitivity analysis of several parameters is also done.…

The comfort and energy demand of a building are influenced significantly by glazed area of the facade. The glazed areas in the building are always challenging. Large glazing allows more daylight to get into the room but at the same time cause more heat gain and heat loss through the building envelop. Shading devices are very suitable elements for installing PV panels. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of different PV shading devices on energy performance and daylight of office buildings in Nordic climate. This dissertation is based on literature studies of relevant books and…

Pilot projects of sustainable climate-adapted architecture and the national research for carbon neutral buildings

Membrane Based Heat Exchanger
Authors: Publication Year: 2012


Thermal comfort is one of the most important factors for the success of design. Many investigations have been made since people realized the importance of energy conservation in a building. PCM is an example of such innovation in building material that helps to maintain the thermal comfort in building and also lessen the energy demand. PCM works on a principle of latent heat storage in which the material is capable of storing the heat while it reaches melting and later releases this heat in useful form. This thesis looks into the behavior of PCM when applied on different building component…

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