Abstract
Under the pressure to achieve the goals set by the “20-20-20 target”, European countries must find efficient ways to cut down energy consumption in all sectors of society. The building industry accounts for over 40% of the total EU energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions and therefore it is an area of great potential.
Initiatives like the EPBD recast oblige member states to push towards making new and existing constructions net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs). Annex 59 of the ECBCS arises from the need to investigate HVAC solutions for high performing buildings. Itsgoal is to analyse the impact of high temperature cooling and low temperature heatingon energy consumption.
The investigation process in this thesis involved the modelling and modifying of a stateof-the-art Canadian NZEB with DesignBuilder. Changing the dwelling’s HVAC system, and taking into account a recently developed concept called ‘entrasy’, it was possible to demonstrate that high temperature heating and low temperature cooling HVAC systems decrease energy consumption considerably.
