Solar Low Energy Houses of IEA Task 13

Robert Hastings

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781134254613
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

The International Energy Agency's Task 13 is to advance solar building technologies. As part of that programme, 15 houses in 12 countries have been built to test new technologies and strategies for achieving low energy demand while maintaining a good indoor climate.;The principal strategies used and evaluated are: minimization of heat losses, profiting from passive solar and internal gains, heating with an active solar system, heating with recovered heat and providing auxiliary heat efficiently.;For each house, this work provides a list of energy features incorporated, an analysis of energy demand, a floor plan, and a description of methods of construction. The houses range from apartment blocks to detached and terraced housing. Local weather conditions, building styles and cultural requirements are taken into consideration.

Canadian Single-family House in Brampton

Design team:

Elizabeth White, Architect
Marsh Hill Farm R.R.4
CDN-Stirling
Ontario KOK 3E0

Greg Allen (Integrated
Mechanical System)
Allen Associates
400 Mount Pleasant Road
Suite 5
CDN-Toronto
Ontario M4S 2L6

Energy features:

Super-insulation
Super-glazing
Integrated mechanical system
Sunspace preheat, of ventil.
air
Energy-efficient appliances
and lighting

Energy demand:
(kWh/m²a)

Heated floor area: 408 m²

Latitude: 44°N

Solar Radiation (Glob. Vert. S)
Average Monthly Temperature

The building shell of the Brampton Advanced House is lightweight, well insulated and airtight. Walls are wood frame with 240 mm of wet-blown cellulose insulation and 25 mm of rigid fibreglass; the ceilings are insulated with 450 mm of blown cellulose. The concrete basement walls are insulated with 175 mm of blown cellulose and 50 mm of rigid insulation under the concrete floor. The wood-framed windows are triple-glazed with two low-e coatings, argon gas filled and have insulated spacers. A two-storey sunspace preheats ventilation air through ducts in the sunspace wall and floor slab.

An integrated mechanical system provides heating, cooling, ventilation and water heating. The system has a hot water tank and an ice storage tank. Heat, recovered from exhaust air, grey water and excess passive solar gains is fed to the ice storage tank. A heat pump upgrades this heat for the hot water tank which supplies space and water heating. Fluid from the ice tank is circulated through a fan coil to provide summer air conditioning.

Energy-efficient appliances and lighting use only half the energy conventionally used. The full-size refrigerator consumes less than 30 kWh per month. All lighting is fluorescent and halogen; no incandescent lighting is used.

Monthly Energy Balances

Canadian Single–family House in Waterloo

Design team:

Enermodal Engineering
368 Phillip Street, Unit 2
CDN-Waterloo
Ontario N2L 5J1

Richard Reichard
Snider Reichard March
Architects
145 Columbia Street West
CDN-Waterloo
Ontario N2L 3L2

Energy features:

PV-pumped Solar DHW
Combined furnace and heat
recovery system
Super-glazing
Cistern/ground cooling
Recycled materials
Energy-efficient appliances
and lighting

Predicted energy demand:
(kWh/m²a)

Heated floor area: 208 m²

Latitude: 44°N

Solar Radiation (Glob. Vert. S)
Average Monthly Temperature

The Waterloo Region Green House has a well-insulated and airtight shell. Above-grade walls are framed with wooden I-beams and below-grade walls use a precast concrete system requiring only half the concrete of typical foundations. The triple-glazed windows feature insulated fibreglass frames. The house finishes include reused wood flooring, refurbished bathroom fixtures, recycled gypsum board, carpets made from plastic pop bottles, and formaldehydeand VOC-free paints, glues and fabrics.

A prototype combination natural gas furnace and air-to-air heat exchanger of small rocks provides heating and mechanical ventilation. A solar domestic hot water system, with the circulation pump powered by a PV panel, meets most of the hot water needs. Water conservation features include a cistern, 3 I flush toilets, and low water use appliances. Energy-efficient appliances include a directvent natural gas stove and a non-CFC refrigerator.

Operable clerestory windows and a thermochromatic film (that turns from clear to translucent above 26°C) reduce ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• An Overview of Strategies Used
• A Row House in Lustenau
• B Row House in Louvain-la-Neuve
• CD-1 Single-family House in Brampton
• CD-2 Single-family House in Waterloo
• DK Row Houses at Kolding
• FIN Single-family House in Pietarsaari
• D-1 Duplex in Rottweil
• D-2 Row House in Berlin
• J Duplex in Iwaki
• NL Apartment Building in Amstelveen
• N Row House at Hamar
• S Single-family House in Röskär
• CH Duplex in Gelterkinden
• US-1 Single-family House at Grand Canyon
• US-2 Single-family House at Yosemite
• Appendices