INTRODUCTION In 2010,Rural Development,Inc.(RDI)completed construction of Wisdom Way Solar Village(WWSV),a community of 20 homes(ten duplexes)in Greenfield,MA.RDI was committed to very low energy use and sustainable b...INTRODUCTION In 2010,Rural Development,Inc.(RDI)completed construction of Wisdom Way Solar Village(WWSV),a community of 20 homes(ten duplexes)in Greenfield,MA.RDI was committed to very low energy use and sustainable building practices from the outset as they assembled a committed design and construction team.The team worked together closely to optimize site planning,home design and envelope systems,IEQ strategies,sustainable materials,and HVAC and solar systems.Most of the homes were reserved for low-and moderate-income buyers,and most of the buyers were first-time homeowners.RDI coordinated outreach and training for buyers about the homes’design and advanced systems.The homes’design,orientation,and excellent building envelope allowed for very simple HVAC systems-saving RDI$4,000 or more per home when compared to their standard HVAC systems.All of these building systems-combined with active solar electric and thermal systems-resulted in average gas and electric bills of less than$350 per year(14%of the regional average,EIA).The homes also achieved LEED for Homes certification at the Platinum level.The author(an engineer with Steven Winter Associates,SWA)worked with RDI through the design and construction process and conducted evaluations of several building systems before and during occupancy.展开更多
Fuel poverty is one of the global concerns affecting not only users’financial capacity or affordability for maintaining housing operation but also the occupants’health and wellbeing.Space heating and cooling require...Fuel poverty is one of the global concerns affecting not only users’financial capacity or affordability for maintaining housing operation but also the occupants’health and wellbeing.Space heating and cooling require a relatively large amount of domestic energy use in housing.Therefore,this study was formed with the aim to propose an innovative approach to utilising free,clean renewable sources of energy applicable to the space heating and cooling of housing in both cold and hot regions.Accordingly,housing test facilities based in Melbourne,Australia,and Kuching,Malaysia,were selected and used for this study that examined the thermal performance of a proposed‘hydronic radiator’(HR)system through simulation and onsite measurements.The geothermal heat capacity of a‘vertical ground heat exchanger’(VGHE)installed in the house in Melbourne was examined previously by the authors and the VGHE measured data was also applied to this HR performance simulation.The water that circulates through the HRs is heated by sunlight and VGHE or cooled by night sky radiation.This study drew conclusions that the sole utilisation of renewable sources through these proposed HR space heating and cooling systems can provide thermally accessible or comfortable indoor living environments in both heating or cooling dominant regions.Thus,fuel poverty issues may be alleviated through HR system application.The HRs can remove a‘sensible’portion of metabolic heat,but they cannot effectively contribute to the‘latent’heat removal.Thus,the future potential use or effect of‘flow-through’HRs,which are integrated into a underfloor air distribution(UFAD)plenum,was also dsicussed in this study.In the test house located in Melbourne,the flow-through HR UFAD system is currently under development.Therefore,the performance will be measured once the system has come into operation for further testing.展开更多
基金SWA’s work in this project has been funded through the Building America Program, part of the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program.
文摘INTRODUCTION In 2010,Rural Development,Inc.(RDI)completed construction of Wisdom Way Solar Village(WWSV),a community of 20 homes(ten duplexes)in Greenfield,MA.RDI was committed to very low energy use and sustainable building practices from the outset as they assembled a committed design and construction team.The team worked together closely to optimize site planning,home design and envelope systems,IEQ strategies,sustainable materials,and HVAC and solar systems.Most of the homes were reserved for low-and moderate-income buyers,and most of the buyers were first-time homeowners.RDI coordinated outreach and training for buyers about the homes’design and advanced systems.The homes’design,orientation,and excellent building envelope allowed for very simple HVAC systems-saving RDI$4,000 or more per home when compared to their standard HVAC systems.All of these building systems-combined with active solar electric and thermal systems-resulted in average gas and electric bills of less than$350 per year(14%of the regional average,EIA).The homes also achieved LEED for Homes certification at the Platinum level.The author(an engineer with Steven Winter Associates,SWA)worked with RDI through the design and construction process and conducted evaluations of several building systems before and during occupancy.
文摘Fuel poverty is one of the global concerns affecting not only users’financial capacity or affordability for maintaining housing operation but also the occupants’health and wellbeing.Space heating and cooling require a relatively large amount of domestic energy use in housing.Therefore,this study was formed with the aim to propose an innovative approach to utilising free,clean renewable sources of energy applicable to the space heating and cooling of housing in both cold and hot regions.Accordingly,housing test facilities based in Melbourne,Australia,and Kuching,Malaysia,were selected and used for this study that examined the thermal performance of a proposed‘hydronic radiator’(HR)system through simulation and onsite measurements.The geothermal heat capacity of a‘vertical ground heat exchanger’(VGHE)installed in the house in Melbourne was examined previously by the authors and the VGHE measured data was also applied to this HR performance simulation.The water that circulates through the HRs is heated by sunlight and VGHE or cooled by night sky radiation.This study drew conclusions that the sole utilisation of renewable sources through these proposed HR space heating and cooling systems can provide thermally accessible or comfortable indoor living environments in both heating or cooling dominant regions.Thus,fuel poverty issues may be alleviated through HR system application.The HRs can remove a‘sensible’portion of metabolic heat,but they cannot effectively contribute to the‘latent’heat removal.Thus,the future potential use or effect of‘flow-through’HRs,which are integrated into a underfloor air distribution(UFAD)plenum,was also dsicussed in this study.In the test house located in Melbourne,the flow-through HR UFAD system is currently under development.Therefore,the performance will be measured once the system has come into operation for further testing.
