ARC 363s

Renewable Energy &

Systems

Lecture 01: Introduction

Introduction
• Mitigation of the environmental damage
imposed by fossil fuels: oil, coal, and natural gas
has become one of the recent major challenges
facing human race. the resulting green-house
gases (GHG) has several negative impacts on
the environment including longer and hotter
droughts, longer wildfire seasons, extreme
conditions of rainfall and the continuous
inundation of low-lying coastal areas, … etc.

• Studies indicate that a direct correlation exists

between trends in population increase together
with both the primary energy use and carbon
dioxide emissions.

• It is predicted for energy consumption and

CO2 gas emissions to increase significantly by
136% and 110% by the year 2040
Net-zero and net-plus energy buildings (NZEBs and NPEBs)
Net-zero and net-plus energy buildings (NZEBs and NPEBs) are thus emerging as a quantifiable design concept and a
promising solution to minimize the impact of buildings on the environment

A net-zero (or net-plus) energy

building refers to a building with
a zero (or positive net) energy
consumption over a typical time
span.

This implies that the energy

demand for heating, cooling,
domestic hot water (DHW),
lighting and electrical power is
reduced, and met on from
renewable-energy supply
systems.

The Energy-Surplus-House “Heliotrope” building inspired by Alpine Buttercup Flower

Net-zero
and net-plus
energy
buildings
(NZEBs and
NPEBs)
the Schlier-berg Solar Estate Large south facing roof overhangs
Net-zero and
net-plus energy
buildings
(NZEBs and
NPEBs)
Building
Requirements
and
Renewable
Strategies
Renewable Strategies addressing Building Requirements
Photovoltaic system
ARC 363s
Renewable Energy &
Systems

Net Zero Energy

Lecture 02:
Buildings (NZEB)
Introduction
In Egypt, according to the directory of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the Arab countries, the final energy
consumption in the residential building sector in 2012 reached above 10,000,000 toe. The building sector was also
responsible for 33% of the total final energy consumption of electrical energy.

*The ton of oil equivalent (toe) represents the quantity of energy contained in a ton of crude oil, that is gigajoules
41.868. This unit is used to express and compare energies of different sources
Introduction
Introduction

Major changes have been recently reforming the building energy design.

These changes are driven by a set of key factors including;

(1) The increasing need to reduce the peak electricity demand and therefore
reducing the need to build new central power plants running by fossil
fuel,

(2) the adoption of net-zero energy as a strategic goal for new buildings by many
countries,

(3) the decreasing cost of energy generation technologies that are becoming
more affordable and competitive in the time where energy from traditional energy
sources such as fossil fuels are becoming very costly.
Net-zero and net-plus energy buildings (NZEBs and NPEBs)
Net-zero and net-plus energy buildings (NZEBs and NPEBs) are thus emerging as a quantifiable design concept and a
promising solution to minimize the impact of buildings on the environment

A net-zero (or net-plus) energy building refers to a building with a zero (or positive net) energy consumption over a
typical time span.

This implies that the energy demand for heating, cooling, domestic hot water (DHW), lighting and electrical power is
reduced, and met on from renewable-energy supply systems.

The renewable systems could either be fitted into the building footprint, or be a part of a community renewable energy
supply system.

It implies also that the building imports electric power from the grid when the amount of generated energy from
renewable supply source is insufficient to meet the demand, and then exports power back when there is excess in the
generated energy.

This two-way energy flow shall result in a net-positive or net- zero energy import and
export to the grid.
The Energy-Surplus-House “Heliotrope” building
The first house in the world to produce more energy than it consumes is “The Heliotrope”; located in Freiburg,
Germany. The building is designed by Rolf Disch in 1994

the idea of the EnergySurplus-House

was inspired by the diurnal movement
of heliotropic plants.

The same as these plants’ blossoms or

leaves turn themselves to track the
movement of the sun, the Heliotrope
building with its cantilever structure
around glue-laminated spruce timber
central pillar can also do the same.

The building is of a cylindrical shape

which is completely glazed on one side
(the building’s front), and heavily The Energy-Surplus-House “Heliotrope” building inspired by Alpine Buttercup
insulated on the other Flower
The Energy-Surplus-House “Heliotrope” building
The first house in the world to produce more energy than it consumes is “The Heliotrope”; located in Freiburg,
Germany. The building is designed by Rolf Disch in 1994

In cold winter days, the open glazed

front of the building is exposed to the
sun to allow the maximum amount of
energy and light to enter into the
house.

This is reversed in the summer as the

house rotates to make its insulated
backside facing the sun, thus keeping
the house comfortably cool.

A large photovoltaic system that can

track the sun is installed on the roof of
the house. The Energy-Surplus-House “Heliotrope” building inspired by Alpine Buttercup
Flower
Rolf Disch wanted to proof that his idea of an Energy-Surplus-House could be put into practice. He decided to work as the
architect and as the entrepreneur of the “Solarsiedlung am Schlierberg” located in Freiburg, Germany (Schlierberg means
“Solar Estate”).

This settlement is part of a larger

urban redevelopment area in the
Vauban district, a former barracks
ground of the French army.

It consists of 60 “Energy-
SurplusHouses” and service block,
called “Sonnenschiff”, that were
built along the main road over a
period of ten years.

the Schlier-berg Solar Estate Large south facing roof overhangs

Rolf Disch wanted to proof that his idea of an Energy-Surplus-House could be put into practice. He decided to work as the
architect and as the entrepreneur of the “Solarsiedlung am Schlierberg” located in Freiburg, Germany (Schlierberg means
“Solar Estate”).

All south facing roofs are covered with

large photovoltaic modules that are
integrated into a plane with an air-gap
of 16 cm above the roof. This energy
production system allows for 2
million kWh annual primary energy
savings. This is the equivalent of
200,000 liter of oil per year.

Rolf Disch thus took a lot of personal

risk to provide the proof with this
privately funded project that today’s
homes can generate more energy than
the Schlier-berg Solar Estate Large south facing roof overhangs
they consume.
 In the broadest sense, a net-zero energy building is a building with
greatly reduced energy needs where a balance between energy
import and energy supply from renewable energy technologies is
achievable

Net-zero energy The word “net” implicitly underlines that the focus is on a building
connected to an energy infrastructure or a gird and not on
buildings autonomous buildings; where a balance exists between energy
imported and supplied back to this grids over a given period of
(NZEBs) time.

To this respect; the term NZEB could then refer to grid-connected

buildings, while the term ZEB is more general and may include
autonomous buildings as well
 Yet this broad definition, gives a room for multiple interpretations
and misunderstandings; as a net ZEB could be defined in several
ways, according to the definition of both:

the boundary and the metric.

Net-zero energy
buildings This could also vary depending on the project goals as well as the
(NZEBs) specific values of the design team, the owner or any other
parties among the stakeholders of NZEBs.

Owners for example, are typically concerned with cost, whereas

national organizations are rather concerned with primary or source
energy as well as emissions reduction and so on.
 To solve this out; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL)* produced two foundational references;

(1) “Zero Energy Buildings: A Critical Look at the Definition”

which provides a set of different definitions to NZEB shown in
Table 1,

Net-zero energy (2) “Zero Energy Buildings: A Classification System Based on

Renewable Energy Supply Options which classifies NZEBs -
buildings from A to D - based on the based on the type the renewable
energy and its location with respect to a building.
(NZEBs) On top of the list, an NZEB:A refers to a footprint renewables
NZEB, whereas , NZEB:D down the list refers to an off-site
purchased renewables

*The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a national laboratory of

the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
Net-zero energy
buildings
(NZEBs)
Net-Zero/Plus Energy Building Design Fundamentals

The building system boundary

Understanding the concept of the system boundary is essential in the context of defining a net-zero/plus energy
building. It is important to have a consistent definition of the system boundary to be able to compare energy flows
and assess the balance between energy generated “onsite” and energy imported form the grid “offsite”.

Defining the border line between on and offsite, the boundary concept is also important to perform reliable
comparisons between different NZEB/NPEB buildings. The concept of the building system boundary extends to
include two types of boundaries;

(1) a physical boundary & (2) an energy balance boundary.

Net-Zero/Plus Energy Building Design Fundamentals

The building system boundary

Physical boundary

The “Physical Boundary” defines the physical borders for the

project that are taken into account in energy balance
consideration. It can encompass only one single building, or it
can also extend to a community scale to include a cluster of
buildings, a neighborhood, or even complete cities (e.g.,
Masdar city in UAE).

It is worth mentioning that extending the physical boundary to

include several buildings implies a synergy between them,
where individual buildings are not all necessarily NZEB or
NPEB, but they are all together considered net-zero or net-
plus energy community as a whole
Net-Zero/Plus Energy Building Design Fundamentals

The building system boundary

Physical boundary

It is useful in differentiating between “on-site” and “off-site”

energy systems; the so-called “on-site” systems are those
located within the physical boundary, whereas “offsite”
systems are those located beyond it.

On-site generation systems could typically include

photovoltaic panels, micro combined heat and power (CHP)
plants or micro wind turbines.

On the other hand, a shared wind turbine is typically an “off-

site” energy generation alternative. It is not common to find a
building site that is suitable for wind energy generation and it
is always more resource efficient to place wind turbines
at rather high wind locations.
Net-Zero/Plus Energy Building Design Fundamentals

The building system boundary

Physical boundary

For example; if the boundary is set to only include the physical footprint of the building, a PV system installed on the nearby
parking lot should then be regarded as an “off-site” energy generation system. Instead, if the boundary is set to include the
property area around the building, then this PV system would be regarded as on-site.
Net-Zero/Plus Energy Building Design Fundamentals

The building system boundary

Physical boundary

In Figure, the five supply options are illustrated

ordered (I-V) according to the location of the energy
supply with respect to the building. Since no
hierarchy has been commonly agreed upon, the order
presented here in the diagram is only based on
geographical parameters; where the center of the
graph represents those options closest to the building
Net-Zero/Plus Energy Building Design Fundamentals

The building system boundary

Balance boundary

These calculations for the above energy flows are considered for the operational phase. Other energy flows related to the
building’s life cycle such as embodied energy (or emissions) in materials and technical installations do not appear in the
annual records for building energy consumptions.

However; including these energy flows into the energy balance broadens the scope of NZEB/NPEBs being more
environmental friendly and sustainable.
The reference building in Figure represents
the performance of any building that might
be meeting the minimum requirements of the
national building code.

Starting from this point, the roadway towards

a NZEB (and consequently a NPEB) is taken
through the balance of:

(1) applying energy efficiency measures to

reduce the demand (x-axis or i.e.
efficiency path); and

(2) applying renewable energy generation

systems to produce enough electricity to
meet the demand (y-axis).

It is worth mentioning that self-consumption of generated energy, being a reduction of the load; could then be regarded as an
efficiency measure. This is visualized by moving the point of weighted demand along the efficiency path closer towards the
origin.