A net zero emission concept analysis of a single-family house

Aoife Anne Marie Houlihan Wiberg, Laurent Georges, Tor Helge Dokka, Matthias Haase, Berit Time, Anne Gunnarshaug Lien, Sofie Elisabet Mellegård, Mette Maren Maltha

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    101 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The paper aims to investigate whether it is possible to achieve a net Zero Emission Building (nZEB) by balancing emissions from the energy used for operation and embodied emissions from materials with those from on-site renewables in the cold climate of Norway. The residential nZEB concept is a so-called all-electric solution where essentially a well-insulated envelope is heated using a heat pump and where photovoltaic panels (PV) production is used to achieve the CO2eq balance. In addition, the main drivers for the emissions are revealed through the CO2eq calculation for a typical Norwegian, single-family house. This concept building provides a benchmark rather than an absolute optimum or an architectural expression of future nZEBs. The main result of this work shows that the criteria for zero emissions in operation (ZEB-O) is easily met, however, it was found that the only use of roof mounted PV production is critical to counterbalance emissions from both operation and materials (ZEB-OM). The results show that the single-family house has a net export to the electric grid with a need for import only during the coldest months. In the next stage of the work, the concept will be further optimised and the evaluation method improved.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)101-110
    Number of pages10
    JournalEnergy and Buildings
    Volume74
    Issue numberMay
    Early online date31 Jan 2014
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished online - 31 Jan 2014

    Keywords

    • Zero energy building
    • Zero emission building
    • ZEB
    • Building concept
    • Life cycle analysis
    • Cold climate

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