Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

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Energy & Buildings

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The operational performance of net zero energy wooden structure

building in the severe cold zone: A case study in Hailar of China
Shenyang Ni, Neng Zhu ⇑, Zhiyuan Zhang, Yingzhen Hou, Siqi Li
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: At present, there is no lack of research on net zero energy buildings (nZEB) in China, and most of the
Received 2 July 2021 research on ‘‘nZEB” focuses on buildings using traditional building materials like rebar concrete, brick,
Revised 29 November 2021 etc. In this paper, we take a wooden structure residential building in the severe cold zone as the research
Accepted 14 December 2021
object, design a new type of water-passing wooden structure wall, and explore how to achieve net zero
Available online 17 December 2021
energy consumption through appropriate methods in the design stage. During the operation of the woo-
den structure building throughout the year, the solar photovoltaic (PV) system provides electricity to the
Keywords:
building. In the heating season, we will supply groundwater or shallow geothermal water into the water
Net zero energy consumption
Severe cold zone
pipes in the wall, and the solar thermal system provides hot water for heating. According to the whole
Wooden structure building year operation of the wooden structure building, the indoor environment meets the requirements of
Water-passing wall comfort standards, and the designed envelope structure of the wooden structure building has an excel-
Solar photovoltaic system lent thermal performance. The energy consumption was reduced by 62.9% compared with energy-saving
Energy criteria buildings without water-passing walls. The electricity generation capacity of the solar PV system is more
Economy than the actual electricity consumption of the building, the energy criteria are met the relevant require-
ments of the net zero energy building, and its economy is also evaluated.
Ó 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

1. Introduction
The current energy structure in China is still dominated by fossil
energy; however, the burning of fossil energy can contribute to
global warming and pollutant emissions. According to the statisti-
cal bulletin of national economic and social development of China
in 2020, the total energy consumption was 4.98 billion tons of
standard coal, an increase of 2.2% over the previous year[1], the
building sector accounts for the majority proportion of the energy
consumption[2]. The total energy consumption in Hailar was 3.05
million tons of standard coal, and its energy structure is dominated
by raw coal (94.3%), supplemented by electricity (5.6%) and crude
oil (0.1%)[3]. In China, the energy consumed by buildings repre-
sents approximately 28% of the nation’s total energy consumption;
still, the effective use of energy by buildings was insufficient; the
utilization rate is only 30%[4,5]. According to sampling statistics,
compared with European and American countries with similar cli-
matic conditions, only 4.3% of building energy consumption in
China was up to standard. The same heating area of residential
buildings usually consumed 2–3 times more energy than European
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: nzhu@tju.edu.cn (N. Zhu).
and American countries, and the indoor environment was less
comfortable[6]. In developed countries, buildings consume 30%-
40% of primary energy each year, and in the United States, build-
ings account for about 40% of primary energy consumption[7]. In
the severe cold zone, the proportion of building energy consump-
tion in primary energy is even more pronounced.
In recent years, some concepts of energy-saving buildings like
‘‘ultra-low energy building”, ‘‘near zero energy building” and ‘‘net
zero energy building” (‘‘nZEB”) have been proposed in turn to meet
energy and carbon emission reduction targets[8]. The ‘‘ultra-low
energy building” refers to a building that uses passive energy-
saving technology; it can significantly reduce the heating and cool-
ing loads of buildings, and improve the efficiency of energy sys-
tems and facilities, and provide a comfortable indoor
environment with less energy consumption. The ‘‘near-zero energy
building” is a building that uses renewable energy based on ultra-
low energy buildings; it can optimize the operation of the energy
system and provide a comfortable indoor environment with mini-
mal energy consumption. The ‘‘net zero energy building” is a build-
ing that generates energy is equal to its energy consumption over
some time, and the yearly energy supply from renewable energy is
greater than or equal to the building’s total energy consumption
throughout the year[9]. In net zero energy buildings, reducing
energy demand as much as possible, making full use of the renew-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111788
0378-7788/Ó 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al.
able energy of the building itself and its surroundings, and supply-
ing the remaining energy demand by utilizing on-site renewable
energy resources[10].
A lot of studies had been conducted to reduce the energy
demand of the building around the world, including optimizing
building orientation and shape, using high-performance envelope
structure[11–13], and adopting high efficient heating, ventilation,
and air-conditioning (HVAC) facilities[14–22], etc. The most
important of these is to reduce the heat transfer through the envel-
ope structure of the building[23]. Therefore, the selection of mate-
rial for the building envelope is significant. At present, the
materials used in the building envelope structure are mainly rebar
concrete, brick, stone, and wood. And the common walls are con-
crete walls, brick walls, and stone walls[24], but the wooden struc-
ture walls have gradually been adopted in recent years. In China,
wooden structure building was developed thousands of years ago
and has already entered the stage of modern light wooden struc-
ture from the traditional heavy wooden structure building[25].
Compared with buildings made of other materials, the light woo-
den structure building has many distinct advantages: (1) Raw
materials were renewable; (2) Superior performance of insulation
and energy-saving; (3) The design was more flexible, and the ren-
ovation was convenient; (4) Excellent performance of fire resis-
tance, that can be comparable to concrete materials buildings;
(5) The period of construction was short and had less environmen-
tal pollution; (6) Superior performance of seismic performance
[26–29].
Multiple technologies are utilized in the buildings in the severe
cold zone to pursue net zero energy consumption. The adoption
rate of active technologies in the United States (US) and the Euro-
pean Union (EU) is higher than in passive technologies; in contrast,
the situation in China is the opposite. In the use of renewable
energy, the EU and China allow on-site renewable energy or nearby
to offset on-site use. Still, except for utilization on-site and nearby
renewable energy, the US also allows the purchase of renewable
energy[30]. At present, the technologies for achieving net zero
energy consumption, including utilization technology of solar PV
[31], thermal storage technology[32], thermoelectric technology
[33], reverse charging technology of electric vehicle[34], and
advanced technology of HVAC system[35], etc. Renewable energy
plays an essential role in achieving net zero energy consumption;
renewable energy includes solar photovoltaic (PV), wind power,
geothermal energy, and biomass energy[36]. The building-
integrated PV system has been developed rapidly in the past ten
years; compared to solar power accessibility and easy integration
with existing building systems, the intermittent nature of wind
energy has restricted its comprehensive implementation[37].
China has a vast territory and complex terrain; due to the differ-
ent geographical latitudes, topography, and other conditions, the
climate varies significantly from place to place. Therefore, different
areas have different energy-saving designs on buildings. According
to different climatic conditions, China is divided into five thermal
climate zones: severe cold zone, cold zone, hot summer and cold
winter zone, hot summer and warm winter zone, and moderate
zone. The population distribution on these thermal climate zones
is 11.1%, 31%, 41.3%, 11.9%, and 4.7%, respectively (see Fig. 1)[38].
In the severe cold zone, winter takes a long time of the year, and
the outdoor temperature is lower, which can reach
40 ℃; the Chi-
nese standard on building envelope in this zone is far from the
requirements of ‘‘nZEB”. According to statistics, ‘‘nZEB” in severe
cold zone of China contribute 10% of the total national ‘‘nZEB”
number[39]. Therefore, whether ‘‘nZEB” can be achieved in the sev-
ere cold zone, it’s of great significance to promoting and imple-
menting zero energy buildings in China.
Most existing studies on ‘‘nZEB” focus on buildings in China
using traditional building materials like rebar concrete, brick, and
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Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788
stone[25]. According to the results of our on-site investigation,
the walls of traditional buildings in Hailar are mainly made of con-
crete and bricks. Therefore, in this study, we take a wooden struc-
ture residential building in Hailar as the research object, design a
new type of water-passing wooden structure wall, and explore
how to achieve net zero energy consumption through appropriate
methods in the design stage. The main research is as follows:
(1) According to the annual energy simulation results, a solar PV
system has been designed and installed on the building.
Then the electricity generation of the solar PV system is sim-
ulated to determine whether the electricity generated can
meet the needs of the building.
(2) We studied the performance of a new water-passing wall.
(3) We evaluated the wooden structure building’s energy crite-
ria and calculated the economy of ‘‘nZEB”.
2. Methodology
2.1. Energy simulation
At the design stage, building energy simulation is often con-
ducted to determine ways for achieving net zero energy consump-
tion. The energy consumption of the preliminary design building
was simulated by EnergyPlus software. The annual energy con-
sumption can be calculated dynamically according to various
parameters, such as meteorological parameters, the composition
of the envelope structure, building shape, ventilation mode, form
of energy systems, occupant’s behaviors, lighting, equipment, etc.
During the simulation, it is assumed that the wooden structure
building model is designed and operated under standard condi-
tions; therefore, in selecting relevant parameters in the process
of building design and modeling, we refer to the results of on-
site investigation and relevant national standards of China. How-
ever, this simulation has some limitations; in the actual operating
of the building system, each occupant has a different behavior pat-
tern, which can cause some gaps between the actual operating
results and the simulation results. Although it has certain limita-
tions, it provides theoretical support for our subsequent construc-
tion and in-depth study of net zero energy wooden structure
buildings in the severe cold area.
Due to EnergyPlus software using a thermal balance model, the
thermal state of the thermal zone can be obtained by solving the
thermal balance equations of indoor air, internal and external
walls, roofs, and floors. The thermal balance equation includes
the unsteady heat transfer through the envelope structure and
the outdoor meteorological parameters. The variation of outdoor
meteorological parameters also affects the temperature field vari-
ation of the building envelope. Therefore, in the process of model-
ing the wooden structure building, the temperature field was
mainly considered. The indoor and outdoor boundary conditions
are as follows: the air temperature near the internal and external
surfaces of the envelope structure, and the surface heat transfer
coefficient between the air and internal and external surfaces of
the envelope structure are known. According to Chinese design
code for heating ventilation and air conditioning of civil building,
in this simulation, the indoor design temperature in winter is
22℃, and the indoor design temperature in summer is 26℃.
2.1.1. Design standards and principles of building
In order to achieve net zero energy consumption, wooden struc-
ture buildings need to make full use of the renewable energy of the
building itself. Generally speaking, solar energy utilization equip-
ment is mainly placed on the roof of the building; therefore, it is
necessary to consider the areas and form of the building roof at
the design stage. According to related standards of China, to max-
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al.
Fig. 1. The climate zones of China.
imize the use of solar energy and protect the walls of wooden
structure buildings, the roof of prefabricated wooden structure
building should adopt slope roof, the roof slope should be 1:3–
1:4, and overhanging eaves should be set around the eaves[40].
When the solar thermal system and solar PV system were installed
on the building, the sunlight standard of the building shall not be
reduced[41].
When designing the wooden structure building, it should be
considered that the building shape, size, window-to-wall area
ratio, and shape coefficient. The shape coefficient of the building
refers to the ratio of the external surface area to the volume of
the building. The standard limits of building shape coefficient
and window-wall area ratio in severe cold areas are shown in
Table1. In this study, the building’s slope of the roof is set to 1:4,
with overhanging eaves on all sides. The window-wall ratio in each
direction and shape coefficient of the building are shown in Table1.
2.1.2. Building models
According to our preliminary literature research and on-site
investigation, and combined with economic benefits, the pastoral
area of Hailar can adopt the following two forms of light wooden
structure buildings: (1) prefabricated two-story modular building
with a building area of about 100 m2; (2) movable small single-
story building with a building area of 20–30 m2.
This study uses prefabricated two-story light wooden structure
buildings as a base-case model to study net zero energy consump-
tion. The information of the wooden structure building was as fol-
lows: two-story residential building with 112 m2, and height of
each floor is 2.8 m (see Fig. 2 (a)). According to the function of dif-
ferent rooms in the building, we divide the rooms with similar
requirements for the indoor environment into the same thermal
zone. This wooden structure building was divided into four ther-
mal zones (see Fig. 2 (b)), from thermal zone 1 to thermal zone 4
Table 1
Prefabricated two-story building’s shape coefficient and window-wall ratio.
Parameters Calculated Standard limit[42]
Shape coefficient 0.427 0.55 (floor  3)
Window-wall ratio South:0.24; North:0.17 South:0.45; North:0.25
East:0.05; West:0.07 East:0.3; West:0.3
3
Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788
refer to the living room, toilets and other auxiliary rooms on the
first floor, bedroom, toilets and other auxiliary rooms on the sec-
ond floor, respectively.
2.1.3. Location and climate
The building in this study is located in the pastoral area of Hai-
lar District, Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,
China, in the northeast of Inner Mongolia (longitude: 119.75°E; lat-
itude: 49.6°N) (Fig. 1). The climate zone is the severe cold zone
(1A); it takes a long time in winter, and the climate is cold. There-
fore, the living conditions of herders cannot meet the requirement
of comfortable. According to historical meteorological data from
China Meteorological Administration, the outdoor maximum dry-
bulb temperature for summer in Hailar is 30.1℃, the average
dry-bulb temperature is 20.6℃, and the average wind speed was
4.2 m/s, the hottest month was July. The lowest outdoor dry-bulb
temperature for winter is
35.1℃, the average dry-bulb tempera-
ture is
24.2 ℃, and the average wind speed is 1.6 m/s; the coldest
month is January. Fig. 3 shows the monthly average dry-bulb tem-
perature, relative humidity, and wind speed of ambient air in
Hailar.
2.1.4. Internal gain
The mainly internal heat source in this wooden structure build-
ing are occupants, lighting, and indoor equipment. According to the
functions of different thermal zones and actual usage habits of res-
idents, occupant density, lighting density, and equipment density
are designed (shown in Table2). The running schedule of the main
indoor equipment is shown in Table3.
2.2. Energy criteria
The energy criteria is a crucial indicator that used to evaluate
whether a building has achieved net zero energy consumption; it
includes: (1) the comprehensive value of building energy con-
sumption; (2) the utilization rate of renewable energy; (3) the per-
formance index of building itself[42]. In the energy criteria, the
residential buildings mainly consume electricity; the scope of
energy consumption includes heating, ventilation, air conditioning,
lighting, domestic hot water, and elevator system. The standard
limits of energy criteria are shown in Table4; these three indicators
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al. Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

Fig. 2. Physical model and thermal zone of wooden structure building.

Table 3
Running schedule of People lighting and indoor equipment.

Internal heat source Thermal zone Schedule

Lighting Thermal zone1 6:00–8:00, 18:00–22:00.
Thermal zone2 6:00–22:00.
Thermal zone3 6:00–8:00, 21:00–23:00.
Thermal zone4 6:00–22:00.
Equipment Thermal zone1 7:00–22:00.
Thermal zone3 7:00–9:00, 21:00–23:00.
People Thermal zone1 7:00–22:00.
Thermal zone2 6:00–22:00
Thermal zone3 0:00–9:00, 21:00–24:00.
Thermal zone4 6:00–22:00

Table 4
The limits of energy criteria of net zero energy consumption residential buildings in
the severe cold zone[42].

Comprehensive value of building energy consumption KWh/(m2a) 55

Performance index of Yearly heat consumption for heating 18
building itself KWh/(m2a)
Air-tightness of the building (air 0.6
circulation ratio N50)
Utilization rate of renewable energy 10%

per unit area of HVAC, lighting, domestic hot water, and the elec-
tricity generation of the renewable energy system. It reflects the
building’s consumption of fossil energy and its impact on the envi-
ronment. It can be calculated by Eq. (1). The ‘‘performance index of
the building itself” refers to the energy efficiency improvement
requirements of the building envelope and energy system, except
for the utilization of renewable energy to generate electricity.
Fig. 3. The monthly average dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity, and wind The ‘‘yearly heat consumption for heating”, the ‘‘yearly cold con-
speed of ambient air in Hailar. sumption for cooling”, and the ‘‘airtightness of the building” are
used as constraint indicators for residential buildings. The renew-
need to meet standard limits simultaneously so that the building able energy utilization rate can be calculated by Eq. (2). [42]
can achieve net zero energy consumption. In the calculation, it is P P
necessary to convert the energy consumption and renewable Er;i  f i þ Erd;i  f i
E ¼ EE
ð1Þ
energy generation into standard coal equivalent. A
The ‘‘comprehensive value of building energy consumption”
P P
refers to the difference between the annual energy consumption EP h þ EP c þ EP w þ Er;i  f i þ Erd;i  f i
REP P ¼ ð2Þ
Q h þ Q c þ Q w þ El  f i þ Ee  f i
Table 2 Here: E is the comprehensive value of building energy consumption,
Interior heat of wooden structure building[42].
KWh/(m2a); EE is the comprehensive value of building energy con-
Thermal zone Occupant Lighting power Equipment power sumption excluding renewable energy power generation, KWh/
density (p/m2) density (W/m2) density (W/m2) (m2a), it can be calculated by Eq. (3); Er;i is annual electricity gen-
Thermal zone1 0.03 6 7.5 eration of renewable energy by the building itself, KWh; Erd;i is
Thermal zone2 0 6 0 annual electricity generation of renewable energy around the build-
Thermal zone3 0.03 6 6
ing, KWh; f i is energy conversion coefficient, it refers to the coeffi-
Thermal zone4 0 6 0
cient that converts energy consumption and renewable energy
4
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al.
generation into standard coal equivalent; A is the usable area of res-
idential buildings m2; REP P is renewable energy utilization rate, %;
EPh is renewable energy utilization of the heating system, KWh;
EPc is renewable energy utilization of the cooling system, KWh;
EPw is renewable energy utilization of domestic hot water system,
KWh; Er;i is annual electricity generation of renewable energy by
the building itself, KWh; Erd;i is annual electricity generation of
renewable energy around the building, KWh; Q h is annual heat
consumption of the heating system, KWh; Q c is annual cold con-
sumption of the cooling system, KWh; Q w is annual heat consump-
tion of domestic hot water system, KWh; El is the annual energy
consumption of lighting system, KWh; Ee is the annual energy con-
sumption of the elevator system, KWh. [42]
Eh  f i þ Ec  f i þ E l  f i þ Ew  f i þ Ee  f i
EE ¼ ð3Þ
A
Here: Eh is the annual energy consumption of the heating system,
KWh; Ec is the annual energy consumption of the cooling system,
KWh; Ew is the annual energy consumption of domestic hot water
system, KWh.
3. System description
To achieve net zero energy consumption, the most important
thing is to reduce the terminal energy consumption of the building,
both passive and active design methods were taken into consider-
ation. EnergyPlus simulated the annual energy consumption of the
wooden structure building in Hailar. According to the simulation
results of energy consumption, a solar PV system was selected to
balance the annual energy consumption and annual electricity
generation of the wooden structure building. Thereby, provides
conditions for wooden structure buildings to achieve net zero
energy consumption.
3.1. High-performance envelope structure
SIP panels were used in the exterior walls, roof, and ground
floor in the small light wooden structure building. The SIP panels
are composed of two layers of OSB panels, and the interior is filled
with insulation materials such as polyurethane (Fig. 4). This struc-
ture can realize the modularization of wooden structure building
and reduce the amount of wood used.
The exterior wall, roof, and ground floor structure are shown in
Figs. 5-7; the water pipes were pre-embedded in the wall as an
Fig. 4. The structure of SIP panels.
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Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788
active layer of the envelope. It is necessary to prevent the water
pipeline from freezing in winter; the water pipes are generally
pre-embedded in the middle of the wall or the wall near the indoor
side. The water pipes were pre-embedded in the building envelope
is also a way to reduce the building energy consumption. This
water-passing wall is a new type of building envelope that the
water pipes that were pre-embedded in the wall, and the circulat-
ing water in the water pipes were used for heat transfer. This struc-
ture is similar to a radiant heating/cooling system; it can
effectively utilize low taste energy to reduce the impact of outdoor
climate on the indoor environment, thereby reducing building
energy consumption and improving indoor comfortable[43–55].
The materials’ thermal performance of each layer is shown in
Table5-7. The heat transfer coefficient (U-value) of the exterior
wall, roof, and the ground floor was calculated by Eq. (4).
1
k¼ ð4Þ
1
þ dk þ h12
h1
Here: k is heat transfer coefficient, W/(m2K); h1 is heat transfer
coefficient of the internal surface, W/(m2K); h2 is heat transfer coef-
ficient of the external surface, W/(m2K); d is thickness, m; k is ther-
mal conductivity, W/(mK);
According to the calculation, the U-value of the exterior wall,
roof, and the ground floor is 0.085 W/(m2K), 0.113 W/(m2K),
and 0.077 W/(m2K), respectively. Exterior windows are made of
plastic steel and three-layer of 5 mm glazed glass, and a low-E
metal film is plated on the internal and external layer glass, the
cavity of glass is filled with 12 mm argon, the structure of the exte-
rior window is shown in Fig. 8. The U-value is 0.911 W/(m2K), the
value of solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) is 0.279. The heat trans-
fer coefficient of the envelope and the window of the wooden
structure building is significantly lower than the relevant national
standards[42] (see Table8).
3.2. Water-passing wall system
The water pipes in the wall are composed of a series of elbow
pipes and straight pipes. The elbow pipes are inverted S-shaped
heating pipes with antiseptic treatment; the straight pipes also
adopt heating pipes, the outer diameter of pipes, the thickness of
pipe wall, and the center distance between the pipes is 20 mm,
2 mm, 46 mm, respectively. Pipe clamps and screws fix the water
pipes, and iron sheets to keep the spacing of the pipes from defor-
mation (see Fig. 9). It is connected to the water supply pipes and
return pipes with a splitter and water mixer. The water supply
pipes and return pipes adopt PE pipes, the outer diameter of the
water supply pipes and return pipes is 40 mm, and the thickness
of the pipe wall is 4 mm. The water pump is installed on the water
supply pipeline, the source of the supply water is groundwater or
Fig. 5. Structure of the exterior wall.
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al. Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

Table 7
Thermal performance of main material of the ground floor.

Material Thickness Heat conductivity W/ Density Kg/

mm (mK) m3
wood 19 0.115 800
subfloor
Waterproof 2 0.17 600
OSB panel 12 0.105 593
Polyurethane 160 0.024 35
OSB panel 12 0.105 593
Air gap 150 – 1.29
Concrete 40 0.129 2240

Fig. 6. Structure of the roof.

Fig. 8. Structure of the exterior window.

Table 8
The heat transfer coefficient of the envelope and window of the wooden structure
building.

Structure U-value W/(m2K) Standard limit[42] W/(m2K)

Fig. 7. Structure of the ground floor.
Exterior wall 0.085 0.1～0.15
Roof 0.113 0.1～0.15
Ground floor 0.077 0.15～0.3
Table 5 Exterior window 0.911 1
Thermal performance of main material of the exterior wall.

Material Thickness Heat conductivity W/ Density Kg/

mm (mK) m3 shallow geothermal water, and the water pipes in each direction
Gypsum 12 0.16 800 wall are separate loops (see Fig. 10).
board A circulating pump with variable frequency and constant pres-
Air gap 40 – 1.29
sure was selected; its lift, flow rate, and power are 8 m, 4.8 m3/h,
OSB panel 12 0.105 593
Polyurethane 160 0.024 35 and 165 W, respectively. According to the literature, the tempera-
OSB panel 12 0.105 593 ture of groundwater in the northeastern part of Inner Mongolia is
XPS panel 100 0.036 50 about 10℃. Therefore, the supply water temperature is 10℃, the
Waterproof 2 0.17 600 water velocity is 0.5 m/s, and the time of supply water is from Jan-
Softwood 40 0.129 496
uary 1st to March 31st and November 1st to December 31st.

3.3. Measurement of water-passing wall thermal performance

Table 6
Thermal performance of main material of the roof.
In order to study the actual heat transfer effect of water-passing
Material Thickness Heat conductivity W/ Density Kg/ wooden structure walls in the severe cold zone, and verify the cor-
mm (mK) m3
rectness of the simulation result of the wooden structure building,
Gypsum board 12 0.16 800 we need to carry out relevant actual measurements. In the actual
OSB panel 12 0.105 593 measurement process, it is too difficult to build a full-scale build-
Polyurethane 160 0.024 35
OSB panel 12 0.105 593
ing, therefore, we conducted measurement on the water-passing
XPS panel 50 0.036 50 wooden structure wall in a cold and hot box apparatus, as shown
Waterproof 2 0.17 600 in Fig. 11. We mainly measured the temperature of the internal
Asphalt 3 0.04 1120 and external surface of the water-passing wall, and the heat flux
shingle
through the water-passing wall.
6
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al.
Fig. 9. Laying form of water pipes in the wall.
Fig. 10. Schematic of water inlet and outlet of water-passing wall.
The temperature and heat flux in the cold box are measured
using an automatic temperature monitoring system. The system
consists of 14 K-type thermocouples, heat flow sheets of the data
collector, and heat flux and temperature itinerant detector. The
models, function, and accuracy of experimental equipment are
shown in Table9. The system acquisition uncertainties of the tem-
perature and heat flux itinerant detector are that: the temperature
is less than ± 0.3℃, and the heat flux is less than 0.2% of the dis-
played value. The 14 thermocouples are arranged according to
the location of the measuring points in Fig. 12. The form of the
water-passing wooden structure wall during construction and
after completion is shown in Fig. 12(a and b), respectively.
During the experiment, the data to be measured include the
heat flux through the water-passing wooden structure wall, the
temperature of the internal and external surface of the wall, and
the temperature of each layer inside the wall.
3.4. Natural ventilation
Natural ventilation is also adopted in this wooden structure
building to reduce the power consumption of water pumps that
supply water to the wall and improve indoor comfort. During
the transition seasons and summer, the outdoor temperature is
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Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788
lower than the indoor temperature; we are opening windows
for ventilation, the air circulation ratio is 10 times/hour. This is
an effective way to reduce indoor cooling load and heating load;
at this time, we stop supplying water to the wall. In the heating
seasons, the window is closed, the air circulation ratio is 0.5
times/hour.
3.5. Renewable energy system
Considering the availability of renewable energies in this study,
the most suitable system for this wooden structure building was
solar PV and solar thermal system. Therefore, various parameters
of the solar PV system were tested, such as current, voltage, elec-
tricity generated, and electricity consumption. Other parameters
were also introduced, such as selecting the size and number of
PV panels, the generation of direct current, and the selection of
inverters. For the solar thermal system, the size and number of
solar collectors, the outlet water temperature, and heat storage
temperature were introduced
3.5.1. Solar thermal system
The solar thermal system of the wooden structure building con-
sists of four solar collectors with a vacuum tube, heat storage
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al. Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

Fig. 11. Schematic diagram of cold box heat flow meter method.

Table 9 Table 10
The model and function of experimental equipment. Performance of solar collector.

Name Model Function Accuracy Name Unit Performance parameters

Cold box BC/ Provide a cold environment ±0.5% Size mm 18502000
BD252DNE Module efficiency % 85
Thermocouple TT-K-30- Measure the temperature of ±0.4%
SLE the internal and external
surface of the wall and its inner
temperature the solar thermal storage system is 45–49 ℃. It can provide 45 ℃
Heat flux sheet MX100 Measure the heat flux of the 0.001 mV of hot water to the wooden structure building, the part of the
wall hot water is directly used as domestic hot water for the occupant,
Temperature SR70B Read the temperature and heat ±0.1℃
and the other part hot water is mixed with tap water to 35 ℃ for
and heat flux flux on the internal and 0.001 mV
itinerant external surfaces of the wall heating.
detector

3.5.2. Solar PV system

device, domestic hot water device, heating system, and circulating
pump. Solar thermal water as a heat source for heating. During the
heating season in Hailar, the amount of solar radiation is
0.793 MWh/m2[56], the total installed area of the solar collector
is 14.8 m2, the performance of the solar collector is shown in
Table10. In Hailar, the temperature of hot water produced by solar
collectors in winter is 65 ℃, the hot water produced by the solar
thermal system stored in the hot water tank for building use,
and the thermal in the surplus hot water was stored in the phase
change material through the phase change device. When the
amount of hot water generated by the solar collector is insufficient,
the heat stored in the phase change material can release to provide
hot water for the building by heat exchange. The paraffin wax was
selected as a phase change material in the phase change device;
the phase change temperature of the phase change materials in
The solar PV system was employed for electricity generation;
the generated electricity was used for lighting systems, indoor
equipment, heating system, water-passing wall system, and other
systems in the wooden structure building. The surplus electricity
is stored in the storage battery. When the electricity generated
by the solar photovoltaic system cannot meet the electricity
demand of the building, the electricity stored in the storage battery
will be used. The schematic diagram of the system is shown in
Fig. 13. According to the energy simulation results, we selected
the solar PV system of the wooden structure building. Considering
the other electricity usage in the building, the electricity genera-
tion of solar PV systems should be about 20% higher than the elec-
tricity consumption of the building. The yearly total radiant
intensity of solar energy in Hailar was 1.69 MWh/m2[56]. The
solar PV system of the building is composed of five PV panels with
monocrystalline silicon, solar charge controllers, inverters, batter-

Fig. 12. Schematic diagram of water-passing wall construction.

8
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al. Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

It can be seen from the measurement results, the temperature

of the internal surface of the wall is much higher than the temper-
ature of the external surface. Therefore, this water-passing wooden
structure wall has good thermal performance. In addition, the mea-
suring points 5, 6, 7, and 8 are located on both sides of the water
pipe layer of the wooden structure wall, according to the measure-
ment results, the average temperature of the water pipe layer
about 9 °C, so the water pipe will not freeze during the experiment.
To verify the reliability of the simulation results, we set the tem-
perature of the cold box to
25 °C and compared the experimental
results with the simulation results at this temperature. The results
are shown in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15. As can be seen from the figure that
the temperature distribution curve obtained by the simulation is
fitting well with the experimental measurements, and the changing
trend of the heat flux is also consistent. In the experiment, due to
the edge of the wooden structure wall is not completely insulated,
it can cause the part of the heat to be exchanged with the air
through the edge of the wall, which makes the experimentally mea-
Fig. 13. Schematic of solar PV power generation system. sured value of heat flux and temperature lower than the simulated
value. After comparative analysis, the errors of temperature and
ies, and pipelines; the performance of solar PV panels and inverters heat flux are both within 10%, so the simulation results have good
are shown in Table11. The total installed area of the PV panel was reliability in the research of this paper.
8.15 m2.
4.2. Influencing factors of indoor thermal comfort
3.6. Heating system
4.2.1. Water-passing wall
Hailar is located in the severe cold zone, with short and com- When water pipes are embedded in different positions in the
fortable summers; therefore, the wooden structure buildings only wall, the function of the water-passing wall may be different.
need to consider the heating system. The heating system adopts Therefore, in this section, we studied the influence on the indoor
a radiant floor system; the circulating pump with variable fre- thermal environment when water pipes are pre-embedded in dif-
quency constant pressure was selected, the lift, flow rate, and ferent positions on the wall. The result is shown in Table13 and
power of the heating pump are 8 m, 4.8 m3/h, and 165 W, respec- Fig. 16.
tively. The layout form of the heating coil in the floor is similar to When the water pipes are pre-embedded in the internal side of
the embedded pipe in the wall; the outer diameter of pipes, the the wall, the annual average indoor temperature of all thermal
thickness of the pipe wall, and the center distance between the zones in the building is approximately 10 ℃, the surface tempera-
pipes are 20 mm, 2 mm, and 150 mm, respectively. The outer ture of the indoor wall is also about 10 ℃. In this situation, the
diameter of the water supply pipes and return pipes is 40 mm, water-passing wall is similar to a radiant cooling/heating system,
and the thickness of the pipe wall is 4 mm. The temperature of the wall temperature is low, and it will inevitably cause a cold sen-
the supply water is 35℃, and the water velocity is 0.5 m/s. The sation of indoor occupants. When the water pipes are pre-
heating time in Hailar is from January 1st to April 30th and October embedded in the middle of the wall, the average indoor tempera-
1st to December 31st each year. ture of all thermal zones in the building is significantly higher than
the outdoor temperature in winter. In this situation, the water-
4. Results and discussion passing wall plays the role of isolating the outdoor cold.
Since the heat of the water in embedded pipes in the middle of
4.1. Analysis of measurement results the wall is mainly used to isolate the outdoor cold, only a small
part of the heat is used to increase the indoor temperature, and
The temperature in the cold box will affect the heat flux of the the heat of the water in embedded pipes in the inner side of the
internal and external surfaces of the wooden structure wall and the wall is mainly used to raise the indoor temperature. Therefore, in
temperature distribution of each layer in the wall. Therefore, in winter, the water pipes are pre-embedded in the middle of the
this experiment, the temperature of the cold box is set to
35℃, wall, the indoor average temperatures are less favorable than those

30℃,
25℃ and
15℃, respectively. Under these four conditions, obtained with the pre-embedded pipes in the inner side of the wall
the thermal performance of the water-passing wooden structure (see Fig. 16). The annual average indoor temperature of all thermal
wall was studied, and the temperature of each measuring point zones is higher than the average indoor temperature with an
is shown in Table12. embedded pipe in the wall near the indoor side (see Table13).
The annual energy consumption of the water-passing wall sys-
Table 11
Performance of solar PV panel and inverters. tem in the two forms are 362.69KWh and 383.47KWh, respec-
tively. Therefore, considering energy consumption and indoor
PV equipment Name Unit Performance
thermal comfort, the best position for the embedded pipes in the
parameters
middle of the wall. The water-passing walls mentioned in the fol-
Monocrystalline Size mm 1640  992  40
lowing articles are all of this form.
silicon PV panels Rate power W 300
Operating voltage V 24 Due to the doors and windows of the wooden structure building
Module efficiency % 18 being closed, there was no ventilation inside the building, and
Inverters Rate power W 3000 there were internal heat sources. When there was no water supply
Peak power W 9000 to the embedded pipes in the wall, the monthly average tempera-
Operating voltage V 24
ture of each thermal zone in the building is higher than the out-
Module efficiency % 93
door temperature (see Fig. 16). This shows that the envelope of
9
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al. Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

Table 12
The temperature and heat flux value at different cold side temperatures.

Temperature (℃) Temperature of the cold box (℃)

35
30
25
15
Measuring point 1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.6
Measuring point 2 13.4 13.5 13.3 13.7
Measuring point 3 12.7 12.5 12.7 12.5
Measuring point 4 12.8 12.7 12.6 12.6
Measuring point 5 9.1 9.4 9.4 9.7
Measuring point 6 9.0 9.2 9.5 9.8
Measuring point 7 8.6 9.1 9.3 9.6
Measuring point 8 8.7 8.9 9.2 9.5
Measuring point 9
29.2 –22.9
19.4
10.2
Measuring point 10
29.4 –23.1
19.3
10.3
Measuring point 11 –33.3
27.9 –23.1
13.4
Measuring point 12 –33.4
28.1 –23.4
13.6
Heat flux value (W/m2) 4.95 4.39 4.12 2.88

Table 13
Annual average indoor temperature of each thermal zone.

Thermal zone When the water supply When the water supply
to the embedded pipe in to the embedded pipe in the
the middle of the wall (℃) wall near the indoor side (℃)
Thermal zone1 14.8 11.66
Thermal zone2 13.3 10.64
Thermal zone3 12.7 10.82
Thermal zone4 12.15 10.4

supplying water to the wall and open the windows for ventilation
to ensure indoor thermal comfort.

4.2.2. Natural ventilation

As described in the previous section, we can consider opening
the windows for ventilation in summer to reduce the indoor tem-
perature. From Fig. 16, we found that the indoor monthly average
temperature in May and September are 21.08℃ and 22.73℃,
Fig. 14. Comparison of simulated and experimental values of wall surface respectively (take the thermal zone3 as an example). Although
temperature. the indoor temperature is higher than the outdoor temperature,
the temperature also meets the thermal comfort standard. There-
fore, the time to open the windows is from June 1st to August
31st. The result is shown in Fig. 17.
There are noticeable changes in indoor temperature before and
after opening the windows for ventilation; the temperature
descending range is about 10 ℃, and the occupant feels more com-
fortable. Therefore, there is no need to provide cooling in summer,
saving part of the energy consumption. After ventilation, we
stopped supplying water to the embedded pipes in the wall; it
can also save part of pump power consumption.

4.2.3. Heating system

Fig. 15. Comparison of theoretical and experimental values of internal wall heat
flux at different temperatures.
wooden structure building has good performance of thermal insu-
lation. As a result, even if water is supplied to the wall in summer,
the indoor temperature is still higher than the outdoor tempera-
ture. Therefore, for the sake of energy saving, it can be stopped
10
After supplying water to the embedded pipes in the wooden
structure wall, the indoor temperature in winter was still not meet
the heating standards; this wooden structure building needs heat-
ing. The indoor temperature changes before and after heating are
shown in Fig. 18. Due to the existence of the water-passing wall,
when the building is not heating in the heating season, the indoor
temperature of each thermal zone is above 0 ℃ (see Fig. 18). There-
fore, only a minor amount of energy is needed for heating, making
the occupants obtain higher thermal comfort. After heating, the
indoor monthly average temperature is stable at about 22 ℃; it is
higher than the specified indoor temperature in winter in the rel-
evant national standards of China. Combined with natural ventila-
tion in summer, the annual average indoor temperature of the
wooden structure building is 20.5 ℃, and the monthly average
temperature of every month exceeds 16 ℃; the wooden structure
building has high thermal comfort.
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al. Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

Fig. 16. Comparison of the monthly average temperature of outdoor and indoor in each thermal zones before and after the water supply to the wall.

Fig. 17. Comparison of indoor and outdoor temperature changes before and after natural ventilation.

4.3. The energy consumption and cooling loads (see Table14) and the total energy consumption
(see Table15). In this building, the heating loads include heat gain
Using the building system described in section3, the wooden of people, lighting, indoor equipment, window, and opaque envel-
structure building was simulated to determine the annual heating ope structure, and the cooling loads include heat dissipation of
11
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al. Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788

Fig. 18. Comparison of indoor and outdoor temperature changes before and after heating.

Table 14
Cooling and heating loads statistics of each thermal zone.

Loads Cooling load per Heating loads per

Thermal zone unit area [W/m2] unit area [W/m2]
Thermal zone1 11.46 23.56
Thermal zone2 2.15 17.58
Thermal zone3 9.19 32.78
Thermal zone4 2.45 20.04
Total 7.86 24.9

window and opaque envelope structure. The total energy con-

sumption includes the heating system energy consumption,
water-passing wall system energy consumption, lighting system
energy consumption, and indoor equipment energy consumption.
According to calculations, the heating loads index of the wooden
structure building is 24.9 W/m2, and the air conditioning cooling
loads index is 7.9 W/m2, which meets the requirements of the
heating loads index and cooling loads index in the relevant
national standards of China.
The annual energy consumption of the wooden structure build-
ing was about 2080.24 KWh, the average energy consumption per
unit area was 18.6 KWh/m2, which the heating system was 3.9
KWh/m2 (20.9%), the water-passing wall system was 3.4 KWh/
m2 (18.4 %), the lighting system was 4.7 KWh/m2 (25%), and the
indoor equipment was 6.6 KWh/m2 (35.7%) (See Fig. 19). In this
Fig. 19. The proportion of each energy consumption in the total energy
consumption.
wooden structure building, although the existence of the water-
passing wall system can increase the power consumption of the
circulating pump by 18.4%, the energy consumption of the heating
system only accounts for 20.94%, it has obtained huge energy-
saving benefits.
To determine the energy-saving rate of the wooden structure
building with the water-passing wall, we also simulated the energy
consumption without the water-passing wall under the same con-
ditions. The basic information of the building without the water-
passing wall is the same as the building with the water-passing
walls in this study. According to the calculation, the energy

Table 15
Energy consumption of each system.

Month Lighting [KWh] Indoor equipment [KWh] Water-passing wall system [KWh] Heating circulating pump [KWh] Total [KWh]
1 44.1 63.01 103.33 102.85 313.29
2 39.73 56.92 79.7 79.24 255.59
3 43.75 63.01 51.02 51.4 209.18
4 42.58 60.96 0 21.29 124.83
5 44.1 63.01 0 0 107.11
6 44.27 60.96 0 0 105.23
7 44.1 63.01 0 0 107.11
8 43.89 63.01 0 0 106.9
9 42.44 60.96 0 0 103.4
10 44.1 63.01 0 32.36 139.47
11 42.39 60.96 60.93 60.51 224.79
12 43.9 63.01 88.49 87.94 283.34
Total 519.35 741.83 383.47 435.59 2080.24

12
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al.
Fig. 20. The electricity generation of solar PV system of the wooden structure
building.
consumption was reduced by 62.9% compared with energy-saving
buildings without the water-passing wall. Therefore, it is an effec-
tive way to realize net zero energy consumption by supplying
groundwater or shallow geothermal water into the wall of the
wooden structure building in the severe cold zone.
4.4. Electricity generation of solar PV
According to the calculation, the yearly electricity generation of
solar PV system in this wooden structure building is 3329.15KWh,
and the yearly electricity consumption is 2080.24KWh, its elec-
tricity generation is greater than its electricity consumption.
Therefore, this building achieves a balance between supply and
demand of electricity and has a surplus of electricity. Fig. 20 shows
the monthly change of the electricity generation of the solar PV
system. Due to Hailar is located at a higher latitude, the sun’s alti-
tude angle was reduced in winter, and the solar radiation intensity
is also decreased, which can cause the electricity generation of the
solar PV system to be lower throughout the winter. However, the
solar radiation intensity is the highest in May; in this time, the
power generation of the solar photovoltaic system reaches its peak
for the whole year.
In the design stage, the electricity generation capacity of the
solar PV system is 20% more than the actual electricity consump-
tion of the building. Theoretically, the demand of net zero energy
consumption can be pursued by using this system; however, the
monthly electricity consumption and the monthly electricity gen-
eration of the wooden structure building could not be matched
well (see Fig. 21). In winter (January, February, November, and
December), electricity consumption is higher than electricity gen-
eration. Still, in other months, electricity generation is more than
electricity consumption; there is a mismatch between electricity
supply and demand. Therefore, solar PV systems need to adopt
methods such as using the battery to achieve ‘‘peak-shaving and
valley-filling” to match the supply and demand of the electricity.
When the electricity generation of the solar PV system is more
than the electricity consumption of the building, the surplus elec-
tricity is stored in the battery; when the electricity generation is
insufficient, the electricity that stored in the battery will be sup-
plied to the building, and ensuring the smooth operation of the
wooden structure building system. In this solar PV system, the
inverter and the system will also consume part of the electricity,
which consumes about 277.8KWh.
13
Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788
Fig. 21. Comparison of electricity generation and consumption in the wooden
structure building.
4.5. Energy criteria of net zero energy wooden structure buildings
According to the calculations, the ‘‘comprehensive value of
building energy consumption” of the wooden structured building
is
37.89KWh/(m2a); this means that the building is a negative
energy consumption building and can generate energy, the elec-
tricity generation is more than the electricity consumption by
the building itself, it also shows that this wooden structure build-
ing in Hailar has no impact on the environment. The energy con-
sumption per unit area of the building is 18.6KWh/(m2a), the
yearly heat consumption for heating is 7.3KWh/(m2a), the air-
tightness of the building N50 is 0.5, and the utilization rate of
renewable energy exceeds 100%. These values have met the
requirements in the relevant standards of zero energy building of
China. Therefore, it can be determined that this wooden structure
building in Hailar has initially pursued the requirement of net zero
energy consumption.
4.6. The economy of net zero energy wooden structure building
The economy of net zero energy wooden structure building in
the severe cold zone has aroused widespread concern. In this
study, the cost of the wooden structure building is 2410 yuan/
m2, 17% higher than that of the ordinary energy-efficient light
wooden structure building under the same circumstances (see
Table16). There are three main reasons for the increase in cost:
(1) the cost of solar PV systems, including solar PV panels with
monocrystalline silicon, inverter, and batteries, etc. (2) the cost of
the high-performance envelope structure; (3) the cost of the
water-passing wall system, including water pipes and circulating
pump, etc. However, the wooden structure building in this study
can be more energy-efficient than traditional energy-saving build-
ings. According to formula (5), the payback period is 9 years. In
order to further promote and implement net zero energy buildings
in Hailar pastoral areas and even the whole country, more efforts
are needed to put in.
DI
N payback ¼ ð5Þ
ðQ PV;power þ Q S Þ  P P
Here: N payback is the payback period, years; DI is value of capital cost,
RMB yuan, it can be calculated by Eq. (6); Q PV;power is total annual
electricity production from photovoltaic panels, KWh; Q S is the
annual energy savings, KWh/year,; P P is tariff, RMB yuan/KWh,
PP = 0.49 yuan/KWh.
DI ¼ I 0 þ I m;t ð6Þ
S. Ni, N. Zhu, Z. Zhang et al.
Table 16
Comparison of the construction cost of the net zero energy wooden structure building
and ordinary wooden structure building.
construction cost net zero energy ordinary wooden
wooden structure structure building
building (RMB yuan) (RMB yuan)
The overall structure of the 224,108 218,750
building + doors and
windows
Water-passing wall system 20,170 0 (6) According to calculations, the ‘‘comprehensive value of
Renewable energy 20,358 0 building energy consumption”, ‘‘utilization rate of renew-
utilization system
Other 5284 5284
Total 269,920 224,034
I m;0 1 consumption.
I m;t ¼ ½1
 ð7Þ
r ð1 þ r Þn
Here: I0 is the value of initial investment cost, RMB yuan; Im;t is the
total maintenance costs in PV, RMB yuan; Im;0 is the maintenance
costs in PV for the first year, RMB yuan; n is the expected lifetime
for PV; r is the discount rate, r = 8%; The yearly maintenance and
the expected lifetime was assumed to be 4% of the initial invest-
ment and 20 years, respectively[56].
5. Conclusion
In this study, a wooden structure building in Hailar, China was
selected as a case building to investigate the operational perfor-
mance of net zero energy wooden structure building in the severe
cold zone. By designing a new type of water-passing wooden struc-
ture wall, utilizing natural ventilation and other measures, the
energy consumption of the building is significantly reduced, and
the thermal comfort of the building is improved. In addition, the
solar PV system is used to provide electricity to the building to
meet the electricity demand of the building. One year’s operational
measurements show that the net zero energy wooden structure
building in the severe cold zone could be achieved conditionally.
The following conclusions are drawn:
(1) The wooden structure building in Hailar has good opera-
tional performance, its new type of water-passing wall and
other envelope structure has good performance of thermal
insulation, the U-values are also lower than the regulations
in relevant standards of China, and the indoor thermal com-
fort level can be maintained at a high point throughout the
year. After actual measurement, the error between the sim-
ulation result and the actual measurement result is within
10%.
(2) The water pipes are pre-embedded in different positions of
the wall, the water-passing walls have different functions.
When the embedded pipes in the wall near the indoor side,
the water-passing wall was similar to a radiant cooling/heat-
ing system. When the pipes are embedded in the middle of
the wall, the water-passing wall plays a role in isolating
the outdoor cold.
(3) During the transitional seasons and summer, natural venti-
lation can be carried out. After natural ventilation, the
annual average indoor temperature is 20.5℃, and the indoor
environment has high thermal comfort.
(4) Due to the water-passing wall’s effect, the heating system’s
energy consumption in the wooden structure building is sig-
nificantly reduced. Although it can increase the electricity
consumption of circulating pumps of the water-passing wall
system, its energy-saving rate is up to 62.9%, which is com-
pared with buildings without water walls, and the energy-
saving benefit is obvious.
14
Energy & Buildings 257 (2022) 111788
(5) The electricity generation of the solar PV system of the woo-
den structure building generates more electricity than the
actual electricity consumption. However, the monthly elec-
tricity generation cannot be well-matched with the electric-
ity consumption. To address this problem, methods such as
batteries are used in the solar PV system to ‘‘peak-shaving
and valley-filling” to match the supply and demand of
electricity.
able energy”, and the ‘‘performance index of the building
itself” were met the requirements of the relevant standards
of China for zero energy buildings. The wooden structure
building in Hailar has initially achieved net zero energy
(7) The biggest obstacle to implementing and promoting the
development of net zero energy buildings is the high initial
investment. The payback period of the construction invest-
ment in the wooden structure building in Hailar is 9 years.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop appropriate technolo-
gies to reduce the initial investment.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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