Passive reduction

Measure General principle Climate Building type Building Reading

Tr Te D C S-tr New Retrofit materials*
Thermal insulation

Thermal insulation Insulation with a high R-value, to resist heat or cold transfer from the outside into the building and at the x x x x x All building types x x ZED: 6.1.1 / 6.1.2
same time the energy losses from the inside to the outside. / 6.1.5
ISD: 4.2
Air tightness (or air Air infiltration in and out of the building through cracks and crevices in the building skin. When the x x x x x All building types x (x) ZED: 6.1. /6.2.
permeability) building is not properly sealed additional ventilation will create undesired heat gains or losses. The air
tightness of the building depends on the design of the building structure and facade and their
connections (should be addressed carefully in both the building design (detailing) as the construction
phase).

Glazing type Windows are the weakest thermal links in the building envelope. The amount of thermal energy that is x x x x x All building types x x ZED: 6.3.1
transferred through the glass is expressed in the U-value. The lower the U-value of the glass, the lower
the heating or cooling losses. Such low U-value can be reached by adding different glass panes (double or
triple glazing) and also by adding a gas filled or a vacuum void between these panes. Other
characteristics for choosing the glazing type are the SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient): reflect solar
radiation instead of absorb it.

Window frame & doors Heat loss through the window does also depend on the frame. Wooden frames with an thermal bridge x x x x x All building types x x ZED: 6.2.5.
interruption and insulated doors are an example to limit the heat losses (decrease the U-value).

Smart bioclimatic design

Orientation & building Orientation towards sun and wind: limit or maximize the solar gains in the building, PV orientation, or x x x x x All building types x ZED: 5.1.2. /
envelope design orientate the building is such way that it maximizes wind breezes through the building (or minimizes). 5.2.1.
The building envelope should be designed to support these choices.

Shading Shading is used to prevent over-heating of the building. Shading can be applied as different types: blinds, x x x x x All types of buildings x x ZED: 6.3.2.
louvres, vegetation, overhanging facades, cantilevered floors, and so on. What type of shading will be
used depends on the climate, facade orientation and the design.
Temperate climate: movable shading elements preferred, so they can be removed during the heating
season to make optimal use of the solar gains.

Organisation floor plans Partioning and zoning of dwellings to reduce transmission and ventilation losses and optimize the solar x x x x x All building types, but x (x) ZED: 5.2.2.
heat gain. With partioning in certain compartments unnecessary heating and ventilation of certain rooms especially buildings with
can be avoided. Zoning is organising rooms close to each other that have roughly the same desired spaces that require different
heating temperature and placing spaces that require solar heat and daylight at the sunny side of the levels of heating, cooling,
building. ventilation, daylight

Double skin facades Extra glazed facade that functions as a buffer between the inside and outside. Thereby it improves the x x x Offices x x ZED: 5.2.6.
performance of the building in terms of energy and comfort. Often solar shading systems are integrated apartment blocks
into the cavity. The double skin can also be used to passively pre-heat the ventilation intake air before
entering the building. The double skin facade is mostly suitable for moderate and cold climates. The
double skin façade also reduces noise from the outside.

Atrium This large roofed, mostly glazed, buffer space is located outside the insulated building envelope and x x x Offices x ZED: 5.2.4.
reduces the thermal energy losses through the facade. The ventilation air can be preheated by supplying apartment blocks
the air through the atrium before entering the building. The atrium is less suitable for hot climates since
there is a high chance of overheating. In other climate overheating can be prevented by solar shading
and openable parts in the atrium.
Unheated conservatory
Facade air-collector
Light tube
Building shape/ compactness
of the building
Short water pipes lengths &
insulation pipes
Building mass
Trombe walls (thermal storage
wall)
Passive cooling
Concrete core activation
A conservatory/greenhouse is an enclosed outdoor space adjacent to building, mainly constructed with x x x Residences x x ZED: 5.2.3.
glass to benefit from solar heat. When the conservatory isn't climatized it can benefit the energy offices ISD: 5.02.02
performance of the building by preheating the ventilation air. Like the atrium, the conservatory is less
suitable to apply in hot climates since there is a high change on overheating. The principle works most
optimally at the south orientation.
During the heating season in colder climates the temperature of the greenhouse is on average 4 to 6
degrees Celsius higher than the outdoor temperature. Thereby it can pre-heat the incoming ventilation
air.
Facade collectors are mostly glazed constructions where a glass pane is placed in front of an absorber X X X X x Residences x x ZED: 5.2.5.
with a cavity between this glass plane and the absorber. The glass insulates the absorber and at the same offices
time it allows solar radiation to heat this absorber. An air flow is forced in the cavity by a fan or by the
buoyancy (stack effect) of the heated air. There are multiple modes in which the facade collector can be
used. 1) Fresh outdoor air into cavity, heated, forced into building. Thereby this incoming ventilation air
is preheated, increasing both the indoor comfort as decreasing the energy demands. 2) Circulating
Indoor air through the cavity > passive heating. 3) Indoor air forced to the outside via the cavity.
Resulting in passive cooling of the building.
By these different modes the facade collector suitable for different climates.
The light tube will provide more daylight to a certain space when the implementation of a skylight isn't x x x x x Residences, offices x x ZED: 5.3.
possible. Especially useful for built-in or deep rooms to provide (more) daylight. The tube is internally
equipped with reflective material and is connected to the outside through the building roof.
The more compact the building (small outer surface compared to volume), the lower the transmission x x x x x All building types x ZED: 5.1.1.
losses through the building envelope. This means the building will heat up and cool down less fast. This
compact volume also reduces the amount of structural connections resulting in a lower chance for
thermal bridges and air leakages.
By transporting hot water for DHW and space heating from the source (heating installation) to the x x x x x All types of buildings x ZED: 5.4. / 10.2.3.
demand (radiator, hot water tap) heat losses occur. By decreasing the distances between the water
heater and the tap in the kitchen and the bathroom these losses will be minimized. Above that the pipes
can be insulated to prevent heat losses.
Heating or cooling a building this does not only affect the indoor environment, also the temperature of x x x x x All building types x ZED: 6.4.
the structure changes. This energy is stored in the walls, creating a buffer. The heavier the structure the
bigger this buffer. A heavy structure heats up and cools down slowly. A light weight structure has low
thermal mass and thereby heats up and cools down quickly.
In a temperate climate for example a heavy structure is a benefit during spring and autumn, when the
differences between the day and night temperature are relatively high.
The trombe wall is a heat absorbing, sun-facing wall that is separated from the outside with glass and a x x Residences, offices x x ZED: 5.2.5.
cavity. The wall is mostly south facing and made of a dark, heat absorbing material. After absorbing the
solar energy, this heat is released into the interior during the evening and night. Since this system can
only provide passive heating it is only suitable for climates that require heating for a large part of the
year.
Using the thermal mass of a concrete structure (ceilings, walls, floors) to passively cool (high temperature x x x x x All building types x ZED: 9.2.3.
cooling) and to contribute to the heating of the building. Pipes that transport warm or cool water will be
integrated in the structure, by circulating water through these pipes the thermal energy storage capacity
of the concrete structure will be activated. By cooling or heating up this structure the building is passively
cooled or heated.
 Earth tube ventilation
Summer night ventilation
(cooling)
Green roofs
Cool roof
Double roof
Passive evaporative cooling
Vegetation cooling
*Reading materials:
ZED = Zero Energy Design Guidebook
ISD = Integrated Sustainable Design
An earth tube uses the relatively constant temperature of the ground to pre-heat or cool the incoming x x x Residences, offices x x ZED: 7.8.2.
ventilation air. An air duct will be placed at about 1,5m depth. The fresh air that is supplied via this pipe,
cools or heats up of by the ground temperature. During warm days the heat of the intake air is absorbed
by the soil, resulting in a temperature of the intake air of mostly 10C cooler than outside. During colder
days the ground warms up the incoming ventilation air. The system can be combined with different types
of ventilation.
Cooling during the night with the relatively cool outside air (overnight natural ventilation). The cool x x x x All types of buildings x x ZED: 7.8.1.
outside air removes the heat that was accumulated in the building mass during the day. This will be done ISD: 04.07.04
by cross ventilation and thermal drafts (stack effect) which are enabled by openable facade parts.
Provides extra cooling by reducing the solar intensity on the building roof and thereby reduces the x x x All types of buildings x x
amount of heat that is released into the building by the roof (less heat absorbed). Beside that a green
roof will decrease the urban heat island effect. A green roof doesn’t provide additional insulation to the
roof. At the same time roof insulation will work against the cooling effect of the green roof.
In hot climates a roof made out of a light colour will be beneficial since it will reflect sunlight and thereby x x x
result in a cooler roof temperature. This reduces the heat that is absorbed and transferred into the
building.
Reduce the heat that is transferred into the building by a double roof that is located just above the x x x
existing roof to shade it. The double roof structure is open on the sides, allowing the warm air between
the 2 roof structures to escape. The double roof will reduce the cooling demands in hot climates. When
the roof surface extents it will shade the exterior walls it will create shaded outdoor places.
The incoming fresh air will cool down while passing through or over a wetted surface and thereby cool x All building types x x
down a building passively with natural ventilation. Another options is to use an evaporative cooling
tower in which water is evaporated in the top, creating a downdraft of cooled air into the building.
Evaporative cooling reduces the demands for cooling and can (partly) replace mechanical cooling. This
principle is mainly suitable for hot and dry climates (deserts), by their low humidity.
Shading by trees and vegetation, reducing the temperature of the shaded surface and reduce the x x x x
reflected sunlight. Above that the air temperature of its surroundings will decrease by evaporation of
water through the leaves.
Active reduction
Measure General principle Climate Building type Building Reading
Tr Te D C S-tr New Retrofit materials
Efficient use of energy using appliances

LED lighting LED lights use much less energy, since they are up to 6-7 times more efficient that conventional bulbs. x x x x x All types of buildings x x ZED: 11.1.
Above that they have a longer lifespan (25x longer than traditional light bulbs). The LED lighting has a
comparable or better light quality as other types of light.

energy efficient equipment Reduction of mainly the electricity demands by energy efficient equipment in the buildings. The grade of x x x x x All types of buildings x x ZED:11.1.
(energy labels) energy efficiency for such installations is expressed with the letters A-G, so called energy labels. A(+++) is
given to the most energy efficient installations, G labels to installations with a high energy use.

Domotics Domotics is all equipment and infrastructure in and around the building that uses electronic information x x x x x All types of buildings x x ZED: 11.1.1.
to measure, control and program functions for residents and providers of services at homes. With
demotics insight can be provided in for example the energy use, the availability of energy, the current
price of the energy, and so on.

Ventilation systems

Natural supply & exhaust (A) Natural ventilation is achieved by pressure differences due to wind or temperature changes. Thereby no x x (x) (x) x Residences x x ZED: 7.4.
auxiliary energy is used, the operation of the system is simple for the user. Natural supply of air through
openable window, vents or grills above the windows (individual control). There are multiple types of
natural ventilation: single-sided, cross and stack ventilation. The ventilation rate depends highly on the
outdoor weather conditions. Natural ventilation is not commonly used in modern buildings.

Natural supply, mechanical
exhaust (C)
The air is supplied naturally through windows or grills, which can be controlled individually. The exhaust x x (x) x x Residences, offices, schools x x ZED: 7.5.
is executed by an electric fan in the central unit. Through a system of ducts and extraction valves the air
is extracted from the kitchen, toilet(s), bathroom(s). The system can be improved by adding CO2-sensors
(demand-driven system), self-regulating ventilation grills, time sensors and/or by preheating of the
natural ventilation air (with for example an earth tube, conservatory, double skin façade or with the
exhaust ventilation air by using a heat exchanger).

Balanced with heat recovery Fully mechanical ventilation system in which the amount of heat that is supplied is equal to the amount x x x x x All buildings x x ZED: 7.6.
(D) of heat extracted (balanced). Therefor there should be two air duct systems present in the building: one
for the exhaust and one for the supply. In the central ventilation unit a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is
integrated. Advantages are well controlled ventilation, comfortable climate by preheating or cooling the
air and the air is filtered before entering the building. Disadvantages are the noise by the supply and
exhaust units, regular maintenance required, the building envelope needs to be as airtight as possible
and the flexibility in the building lay-out is limited by the ventilation ducts.

Hybrid ventilation / mixed-
mode ventilation
The operation of this ventilation principle is based on the principle 'natural if possible/mechanically if x x x x x All buildings x x ZED: 7.7.
needed': Only when ‘natural forces’ (wind and temperature) of the natural ventilation system fail to
achieve a certain ventilation capacity the mechanical extraction (C) is activated. This will be done
automatically with sensors that measure when the natural ventilation system doesn’t work properly and
can thereby react to the changes in the outdoor weather conditions and changes in the building usage. In
this way the system uses less electricity then a fully mechanical system and at the same time the system
is less expensive during use. However the initial investment cost to buy and set-up the system are
relatively expensive. By complexity of programming the system the system is difficult to repair and to
maintain.

*Reading materials:
ZED = Zero Energy Design Guidebook
ISD = Integrated Sustainable Design