Parametric Analysis of Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in a Building Located in Different Climate Regions

Abstract: One of the biggest challenges of a residential building, when it is designed, is to be energy efficient and to provide simultaneously many hours of thermal comfort throughout the year. So, this was the scope of this thesis: to perform a parametric analysis of thermal comfort and energy efficiency in a house that was designed for the climate of Gotland in Sweden. After that, modifications were introduced to the base model and each scenario was checked for the geographical locations of Thessaloniki, Greece and Barcelona, Spain, in order to decide what option is better. The modifications to the base model were changes in the structure of the external wall (insulation materials and total width), the insulation of the internal wall, the thermal bridges (set to good), the windows (3-pane glazing, schedule opening, external window shading, integrated shading), the installation of HVAC system, photovoltaics with efficiencies 15%, 17% and 22% and the introduction of chimney. Based on the results, the Gotland scenario that included the base model plus the modifications of the external and internal wall, HVAC system, PVs with 22% and external window shading increased the energy use by 18.7% but improved the thermal comfort as the yearly hours of dissatisfaction reduced to 22 from 882, compared to the base model. Similar results were taken from the case with the integrated shading in which the energy increased to 19.3%, but the hours of dissatisfaction declined to 24 throughout the year. Regarding only the energy cost of the house, the best location is Barcelona (without cooling). Nevertheless, when considering the overall thermal comfort, the best place for the house is Gotland, as the building was designed for the cold environment of Sweden and not the hot weather of the other southern cities.