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ZEB
annual report 2015
buildings. Steinar Grynning defended his PhD
thesis in 2015, and the topic was “Transparent
facades in low energy office buildings.
Numerical simulations and experimental
studies”.
To verify the indoor climate a questionnaire
survey in pilot building Powerhouse
Kjørbo has been done, and indoor climate
measurements have been started. The
results indicate satisfactory indoor air quality,
although the displacement ventilation does
not succeed in distributing air equally well to
all parts of the office landscape. Models for
heat and air distribution through doorways
have been tested by full scale measurements
both in laboratory and field. These models
are useful for correct simulation of simplified
heating and ventilation systems where the
heat source is placed centrally in the flat
or in the corridor if it is an office or school
building. A new type of a static heat recovery
exchanger for ventilation air is under
development. Static exchangers eliminate
the air leakages from used to fresh air. This
new exchanger type uses a membrane for
heat and mass transfer that reduce problems
with frosting. Laboratory measurements on
a prototype have proven that it works well;
effectiveness is higher than expected, but the
pressure drop with the chosen configuration
is somewhat too high and need further
development.
With the completion of the ZEB Living
Laboratory, a unique tool for analysis of
user-technology-interaction in residential
buildings has become available. Experiments
started in the autumn 2015. Six groups of
people will live in the ZEB Living Laboratory
for 25 days each, and the experiments will
continue until April 2016. It is still too early
to conclude on the outcome. In addition, a
lot of work has gone into the planning and
evaluation of the completed demonstration
projects both on design and construction
processes and for end-users. A number of
reports and articles will be published in 2016.
With regard to WP4’s activities on energy
efficient use and operation, one of the most
important outcomes was the large number of
guided tours and media interviews conducted
about the Living Lab. This provided ample
opportunity to involve the public in ZEB Centre
research.
Continuing the development of state-of-the-art
laboratories has been an important activity
for the ZEB Centre. The ZEB Test Cells
Laboratory and the ZEB Living Laboratory
were completed in 2015 and are described in
more detail later in this report. Furthermore,
The Research Council of Norway decided to
fund the development and construction of a
ZEB Flexible Laboratory. This facility will be an
1800 m
2
living laboratory facility for testing of
full-scale integrated systems for zero emission
commercial and public buildings in a Nordic
climate. This laboratory is also described
elsewhere in this report.
We have now entered 2016, which is the
final full year where the ZEB Centre has FME
status (Forskningssentre for miljøvennlig
energy – Centres for Environment-friendly
Energy Research), appointed by the Research
Council of Norway. An important activity in the
second half of 2015 was therefore applying
for a new FME, the
FME Centre on Zero
Emission Neighbourhoods in Smart Cities
.
This is a field where we see the next logical
step for the development of a sustainable
built environment. Even if the ZEB Centre
has proven that zero emission buildings can
be built, a lot of work still remains to improve
the environmental performance of the built
environment as a whole. The vision of the new
centre will be: Sustainable neighbourhoods
with zero greenhouse gas emissions. The
Centre aims to speed up decarbonisation of
the building stock (existing and new), use
more renewable energy sources, and create
positive synergies between the building
stock, energy, ICT and mobility systems,
and citizens. The Centre will work with new
and existing neighbourhoods in cities and
communities with different building typologies,
infrastructures, mobility, and users. The new
centre will deliver added value for Norwegian
and international society through it’s new,
strategic cooperation between the building
and energy sectors and will advance the state
of the art in areas needed to accelerate the
transition to a low carbon society The duration
of the centre, if funded, will be 2016 to 2023.
In addition, the ZEB Centre Board has initiated
a discussion about the future form of the ZEB
Centre and how it may continue its work.
The ZEB Centre research period might soon
be over (as an FME, funded by the Research
Council of Norway), but the results, including
research results, materials, products and real
full scale buildings, will forever be available as
visible functioning proof of the zero emission
building concept. Research and development
activities will continue.