Simulation of an energy efficient single-family house in the area of Smedjebacken to meet Miljöbyggnad’s Gold House energy category requirements

Abstract: Since the building construction area is accounted for high share of energy usage (36 %) in Europe, there is high demand to pay attention to this area accurately. Sweden which is one of the pioneer countries in terms of building energy efficiency plans to reduce this value to 50 % by 2050. To reduce this value there is a need to define a mandatory guideline for builders by the government. So national board of housing, building and planning (Boverket) were given responsibility to define these regulations for builders and house owners. Parallel with that Swedish green building council developed a certification considering the buildin g’s energy demand, indoor air climate and environmental impact of building called Miljöbyggnad. While all the existing and new buildings following Boverket’s regulations meet this certification’s lowest limitations, some ambitious builders tend to fulfil its highest level of limitations called Gold level. This study aimed to design a house in the area of Smedjebacken to meet Miljö byggnad’s gold house’s energy category requirements. To meet the mentioned requirements several parametric studies regarding insulation thickness, windows assembly, heating and ventilation system are done via simulation software called TRNSYS. The result of testing several models show that although windows assembly does not affect this building ’s energy demand very much, other parameters such as insulation ’s thickness and type of heating system have a key role. In addition, a parametric study regarding the impact of thermal mass on the building energy demand is performed. The result shows that the effect of removed massive wood is compensated by replaced additional mineral wool insulation. In conclusion it is concluded that a single family house located in a cold climate like Smedjebacken using district heating cannot meet Miljöbyggnad’s gold level criteria without help of heat recovery ventilation. Furthermore, building with ground source heat pump as its heating system can meet Miljöbyggnad’s principals easier than those having district heating. In this case building with 200 mm insulation thickness even with exhaust air ventilation meets certification principals easily.