smart Zero Energy Building in SICILY - Botticelli project

Website

http://www.sapienzaepartners.it/progetto-botticelli/?lang=en

Email

Timeline

General description

Zero-energy, certified Passive House new build with strategic shading and cooling strategies as well as PV and potentially other RES. The building is designed as zero-energy building and it’s certified according to Passivhaus standard, respecting requirements in terms of thermal performance and air tightness. The reduction of energy need is accompanied by the local production of renewable energy by means of photovoltaic modules, a thermal solar system and a earth to air heat exchanger (EAHE) in the mechanical ventilation system. In particular, the EAHE provides pre-heating or pre-cooling to the air supplied by the ventilation system. The supply-air temperature can be further adjusted by means of a heat recovery unit and a heating / cooling coil before entering the indoor environment. A solar thermal system is integrated with a heat pump generator. The system is automatically regulated by a building automation system supported by KNX protocol. The dwelling also benefits from natural ventilation (cross ventilation) – especially for night cooling - enhanced by an internal patio and the optimal layout of window openings. The building will be fully monitored for energy and comfort for at least 2 years by eERG reasearch group, www.eerg.it. The PassREg project will serve to disseminate the findings on a large scale. Large multiplier potential for Passive House + RES as the building has already gained the interest of industry and local governments.

Project type

New build

Project scale

individual building

Ownership type

privately owned

Building type and size

detached single family house

Treated Floor Area according to PHPP

144m²

Energy efficiency and use of renewables

Botticelli is a Smart NZEB built in Passive House Standard in Sicily near Etna Vulcan at Mascalucia village, in Catania Province. It is a first example of Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) adopting complete integrated design of Passivhaus lnstitut concept in South Mediterranean climate. It is also the first Passive House in Sicily and in addition it has become an Active House with positive energy generation. Progetto Botticelli is a Passive House zero energy residential building where home automation improves energy efficiency, indoor condition and living comfort. The building is designed as zero-energy building and it’s certified according to Passivhaus standard (http://passivhausprojekte.de/projekte.php?detail=2123&lang=en), respecting requirements in terms of thermal performances, air-tightness, and comfort quality. This advanced zero-energy building was designed by Eng. Carmelo Sapienza of Sapienza & Partners technical firm (http://www.sapienzaepartners.it/progetto-botticelli/?lang=en), with the support of dynamic simulations and comfort optimization techniques provided by eERG-PoliMI - the end-use Efficiency Research Group of Politecnico di Milano (http://www.eerg.it/index.php?p=Mission). eERG-PoliMI group also will closely monitor energy and comfort performances of building for 2 years. There are also some industrial partners of the project as Rockwool, Siemens, PM Plastic Material and Herholdt Controls. In Botticelli project, the reduction of energy need is accompanied by the local production of renewable energy by means of photovoltaic modules, a thermal solar system and a earth to air heat exchanger (EAHE) in the mechanical ventilation system. In particular, the EAHE provides pre-heating or pre-cooling to the air supplied by the ventilation system. The supply air temperature can be further adjusted by means of a heat recovery unit and a heating / cooling coil before entering the indoor environment. A solar thermal system is integrated with a heat pump generator. The system is automatically regulated by a building automation system supported by KNX protocol, an easy open standard protocol for building and home automation to achieve energy efficiency, living and climatic comfort and energy management. The dwelling also benefits from natural ventilation (cross ventilation) when the outdoor air temperatures are lower than indoor ones in cooling period - especially for night cooling - enhanced by an internal patio and the optimal layout of window openings. An high thermal insulation of envelope has been guaranteed adopting common and consolidated local building technologies. Here main thermal feature of building envelope: • External Wall thermal transmittance: 0,13 W/(m² K) • Basement thermal transmittance: 0,23 W/(m² K) • Roof thermal transmittance: 0,13 W/(m² K) • Windows Frame thermal transmittance: 0,97 W/(m² K) • Windows Glazing thermal transmittance: 0,7 W/(m² K) • Windows Glazing solar factor (g-value): 54% Glazing surfaces are also completed with automatic control external blind for solar shading, when it needs. An envelope air tightness value n50 lower than 0,6 volume per hour was reached and certified with a blower door test at pressure of 50 Pa. A reversible air to air heat pump has been installed to heat and cool the air of the mechanical ventilation system. The heat pump provide also domestic hot water production, in combination with thermal solar flat collectors integrated in roof surface. This integrated features made reach the following energy performances (according to Phpp, passive house official calculation software): • Energy need for heating: 11 kWh/m²/year • Primary energy demand: 88 kWh/m²/year ** ** (total primary energy demand for heating installation, domestic hot water, household electricity and auxiliary electricity) Progetto Botticelli is also a case study of European project PassREg - Passive House Regions with Renewable Energies (https://passreg.eu/index.php). The PassREg project will serve to disseminate the successful findings on a large scale. Large multiplier potential for Passive House plus Renewables Energy systems, as the building has already gained the interest of industry and local governments Environmental goals have been reached by an integrated design of envelope and plants with an innovative smart building management system, according also the integrated design approach analysed ino the research project MaTrID, on market transformation towards nearly zero energy buildings through widespread use of integrated energy design (http://www.integrateddesign.eu/?p=Progetti_-_Matrid). In Botticelli project, a design team faced and solves with systemic approach the various aspects of the Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) as: • indoor comfort for occupants • environmental sustainability • energy efficiency • architectural quality • social and economic development Adaptive controls maintain indoor comfort by controlling temperature, humidity, lighting, solar shading devices, and air quality during resident presence. KNX is a protocol for building automation with "distributed intelligence" among site serial devices based on communication of events and not polling; none mainframe PC is required. Each device is independent and executes autonomously each specific function and communication. European standard EN 15232 "Energy performance of buildings - Impact of building automation, controls and building management" outlines how building automation and control systems (BACS) systems reduce energy consumption. BACS high performance applications, according EN15232, may increase efficiency up to, 26 % for heating and cooling, and up to 14,8 % for electricity. --> Design team: Eng. Carmelo Sapienza (www.sapienzaepartners.it) - eERG - end-use Efficiency Research Group of POLITECNICO DI MILANO (www.eerg.it)

Passive house database

Find this project at www.passivehouse-database.org