A Small Modular House as a Response to the Energy Crisis

Miroslaw Zukowski ()
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Miroslaw Zukowski: Department of HVAC Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45 E Street, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: Energy security is becoming one of the most important issues today. Continuous increases in the prices of fossil fuels, firewood and wood pellets have become commonplace in many countries. One positive effect of this situation is the greater focus on the development of renewable energy technologies and the search for solutions to reduce the heat demands of residential buildings. The purpose of this paper is to present a small modular building that can be a response to the energy crisis and Ukraine’s wave of refugees in Poland. The results of the energy simulations performed in DesignBuilder software showed that this type of house has a primary energy demand of 139.35 kWh/m 2 . The calculations were performed for the climatic conditions of north-eastern Poland, assuming natural gas as the fuel. The use of a geothermal heat pump reduced this value to 90.14 kWh/m 2 . In order to achieve a zero primary energy balance, 23.76 m 2 of PV panels and 4 m 2 of solar thermal collectors should be installed. In addition, the influence of the overhangs and the glazing area on the heat gain from the solar radiation was analyzed. A drop in temperature inside the house in the event of a continuous power failure was also investigated.

Keywords: renewable energy sources; ground source heat pump (GSHP); air-to-air heat pump (AAHP); zero-energy building (ZEB); energy simulations; small modular house (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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