Transition to Zero Energy and Low Carbon Emission in Residential Buildings Located in Tropical and Temperate Climates

Modeste Kameni Nematchoua, José A. Orosa, Paola Ricciardi, Esther Obonyo, Eric Jean Roy Sambatra and Sigrid Reiter
Additional contact information
Modeste Kameni Nematchoua: Local Environment Management & Analysis (LEMA), Department of Architecture, Geology, Environment and Constructions, Allée de la Découverte 9, Quartier Polytech 1, BE-4000 Liège, Belgium
José A. Orosa: Department of N.S. and M.E. ETSNyM, University of A Coruña, Paseo de Ronda 51, 15011 A Coruña, Spain
Paola Ricciardi: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Esther Obonyo: School of Engineering Design and Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Eric Jean Roy Sambatra: Department of Industrial Engineering, Higher Institute of Technology Antsiranana, Antsiranana 201, Madagascar
Sigrid Reiter: Local Environment Management & Analysis (LEMA), Department of Architecture, Geology, Environment and Constructions, Allée de la Découverte 9, Quartier Polytech 1, BE-4000 Liège, Belgium

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-21

Abstract: Different methods to achieve zero-energy and low carbon on the scale of a building are shown by most of the research works. Despite this, the recommendations generally offered by researchers do not always correspond to the realities found during the construction of new buildings in a determined region. Therefore, a standard may not be valid in all climate regions of the world. Being aware of this fact, a study was carried out to analyse the design of new buildings respecting the “zero-energy and low carbon emission” concept in tropical climatic regions when they are compared with a base case of temperate regions. To reach this objective, the comparison between real and simulated data from the different buildings studied was developed. The results showed that the renovation of existing residential buildings allows for reducing up to 35% of energy demand and a great quantity of CO 2 emissions in both climate types. Despite this, the investment rate linked to the construction of zero-energy buildings in tropical zones is 12 times lower than in temperate zones and the payback was double. In particular, this effect can be related to the efficiency of photovoltaic panels, which is estimated to be, at least, 34% higher in tropical zones than temperate zones. Finally, this study highlights the interest and methodology to implement zero-energy buildings in tropical regions.

Keywords: zero-energy; low carbon; residential buildings; tropical; temperate climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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