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Energy Storage in Buildings and Building Facilities

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 10101

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Grupo de Ingeniería Térmica, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Departamento de Máquinas y Motores Térmicos, Universidad de Cádiz, 11519 Puerto Real, Spain
Interests: thermal performance of buildings; thermal comfort; natural cooling techniques; energy systems; urban climate; sustainable architecture
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Guest Editor
Grupo de Termotecnia, Departamento de Ingeniería Energética, Escuela Superior de Ingenieros, Universidad de Sevilla, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
Interests: energy efficiency; adaptive comfort; energy rehabilitation; energy certification of buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing concern about climate change and the consequent search for reasons in human activity inevitably leads us to point out, among other things, the current high energy consumption in buildings. In fact, and as it is well known, it is estimated that the energy consumption of buildings in developed countries represents up to 40% of total final energy consumption.

The world of research is also sensitive to this concern, which has led to an approach from many different points of view on how to deal with this problem: how to reduce energy needs in buildings, how to use it efficiently, and how to generate it through renewable sources.

At the same time, the research effort has led, and continues to lead today, more and more, to the development of innovative materials and technologies, more precise calculation methods, better building designs that require less energy use, etc.

Despite all this research effort, though, there are still many problems to be solved, and one of them is the temporary delay between the availability of energy and its need.

To cite some of the many examples in which this occurs, in a building, it is typical that solar gains through its windows are concentrated in a narrow time range, during daytime, which can cause overheating, and therefore, loss of potential use of this free gain. The use of solar radiation for the production of electricity in photovoltaic solar panels or for water heating in thermal solar collectors is also reduced by the disparity between the time when this energy is available and the time when it is needed. The solution goes through energy storage.

Once focused on the problem of energy storage, the approach is multiple, but fundamentally, it is about the efficiency of the processes of energy storage and release and increasing the capacity of such storage in the least possible space and at the lowest cost.

The previous objectives are the same, whether we talk about thermal or electrical energy, and whether the storage is done in the building itself or in its facilities.

Prof. Dr. Francisco José Sanchez de la Flor
Prof. Dr. José Manuel Salmerón Lissén
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • energy and buildings
  • building energy storage
  • thermal inertia
  • electric batteries
  • renewable energy
  • energy efficiency
  • building dynamic simulation

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 4248 KiB  
Article
Optimal Renovation Strategies through Life-Cycle Analysis in a Pilot Building Located in a Mild Mediterranean Climate
by José Manuel Salmerón Lissen, Cristina Isabel Jareño Escudero, Francisco José Sánchez de la Flor, Miriam Navarro Escudero, Theoni Karlessi and Margarita-Niki Assimakopoulos
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1423; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041423 - 4 Feb 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2506
Abstract
The 2030 climate and energy framework includes EU-wide targets and policy objectives for the period 2021–2030 of (1) at least 55% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels); (2) at least 32% share for renewable energy; and (3) at least 32.5% improvement [...] Read more.
The 2030 climate and energy framework includes EU-wide targets and policy objectives for the period 2021–2030 of (1) at least 55% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels); (2) at least 32% share for renewable energy; and (3) at least 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency. In this context, the methodology of the cost-optimal level from the life-cycle cost approach has been applied to calculate the cost of renovating the existing building stock in Europe. The aim of this research is to analyze a pilot building using the cost-optimal methodology to determine the renovation measures that lead to the lowest life-cycle cost during the estimated economic life of the building. The case under study is an apartment building located in a mild Mediterranean climate (Castellon, SP). A package of 12 optimal solutions has been obtained to show the importance of the choice of the elements and systems for renovating building envelopes and how energy and economic aspects influence this choice. Simulations have shown that these packages of optimal solutions (different configurations for the building envelope, thermal bridges, airtightness and ventilation, and domestic hot water production systems) can provide savings in the primary energy consumption of up to 60%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Storage in Buildings and Building Facilities)
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26 pages, 15718 KiB  
Article
Numerical Design and Laboratory Testing of Encapsulated PCM Panels for PCM-Air Heat Exchangers
by Thiago Santos, Luiz C. Wrobel, Nick Hopper and Maria Kolokotroni
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(2), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11020676 - 12 Jan 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1861
Abstract
Heat transfer between encapsulated PCM panels and air plays an important role in PCM-Air heat exchangers. A new design for the encapsulation panel was developed considering practical aspects such as the cost of production and ease of manufacturing, in addition to heat transfer [...] Read more.
Heat transfer between encapsulated PCM panels and air plays an important role in PCM-Air heat exchangers. A new design for the encapsulation panel was developed considering practical aspects such as the cost of production and ease of manufacturing, in addition to heat transfer and pressure drop. A number of encapsulated panel surfaces were first investigated via 3D CFD simulations and compared with an existing panel in use by a commercial PCM-Air heat exchanger manufacturer. After validation, 2D CFD simulations were carried out for 32 different geometries to select the most effective design, which was fabricated and tested in the laboratory. Laboratory parameters tested included heat transfer, pressure drop and melting/solidifying. The laboratory results confirmed the improvements of the new panel in comparison with the existing panel and a flat panel. It was found that the proposed design doubled the heat transfer, holds 13.7% more material and the fan can overcome the increased pressure drop. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Storage in Buildings and Building Facilities)
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16 pages, 22877 KiB  
Article
Energy-Efficient Envelope Design for Apartment Blocks—Case Study of A Residential Building in Spain
by Francisco José Sánchez de la Flor, Enrique Ángel Rodríguez Jara, Álvaro Ruiz Pardo, José Manuel Salmerón Lissén and Maria Kolokotroni
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(1), 433; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010433 - 4 Jan 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2526
Abstract
Buildings are known to be responsible for about a third of energy consumption in developed countries. This situation, together with the fact that the existing building stock is being renovated at a very slow pace, makes it crucial to focus on the energy [...] Read more.
Buildings are known to be responsible for about a third of energy consumption in developed countries. This situation, together with the fact that the existing building stock is being renovated at a very slow pace, makes it crucial to focus on the energy retrofitting of buildings as the only way to reduce their contribution to these energy consumptions and the consequences derived from them in terms of pollution and climate change. The same level of insulation and the same type of windows is usually proposed for all dwellings in a building block. This article shows that since the improvements required by each dwelling in the same block are different, the proposed solution must also be different. The methodology is proposed for a practical case consisting of an apartment block in Cádiz, a demonstration building of the European RECO2ST project. To achieve the optimum solution for each case, a multi-objective optimization problem is solved: to minimize the annual heating demand of the building and the standard deviation of the annual demand of the different dwellings. Thanks to the use of the proposed methodology, it is possible to bring the building to a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) level, while avoiding excessive insulation that causes overheating in summer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Storage in Buildings and Building Facilities)
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20 pages, 6768 KiB  
Article
Demand Control Strategies of a PCM Enhanced Ventilation System for Residential Buildings
by Yue Hu, Per Kvols Heiselberg and Tine Steen Larsen
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(12), 4336; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10124336 - 24 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2354
Abstract
A ventilated window system enhanced by phase change material (PCM) has been developed, and its energy-saving potential examined in previous works. In this paper, the ventilation control strategies are further developed, to improve the energy-saving potential of the PCM energy storage. The influence [...] Read more.
A ventilated window system enhanced by phase change material (PCM) has been developed, and its energy-saving potential examined in previous works. In this paper, the ventilation control strategies are further developed, to improve the energy-saving potential of the PCM energy storage. The influence of ventilation airflow rate on the energy-saving potential of the PCM storage is firstly studied based on an EnergyPlus model of a sustainable low energy house located in New York. It shows that in summer, the optimized ventilation airflow rate is 300 m3/h. The energy-saving of utilizing a ventilated window with PCM energy storage is 10.1% compared to using a stand-alone ventilated window, and 12.0% compared to using a standard window. In winter, the optimized ventilation airflow rate is 102 m3/h. The energy-saving of utilizing a ventilated window with PCM energy storage is 26.6% compared to using a stand-alone ventilated window, and 32.8% compared to using a standard window. Based on the optimized ventilation airflow rate, a demand control ventilation strategy, which personalizes the air supply and heat pump setting based on the demand of each room, is proposed and its energy-saving potential examined. The results show that the energy savings of using demand control compared to a constant ventilation airflow rate in the house is 14.7% in summer and 30.4% in winter. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Storage in Buildings and Building Facilities)
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