A climate smart building with an optimal heating and domestic hot water system : Investigating environmentally sustainable solutions for a Youth Centre in Moldova

Abstract: Moldova is a country that during the last twenty years, since the declaration of their independence, has had big problems within the energy sector. The infra structure that exist is outdated and there are few national sources of energy. Today Moldova import 94-98 % of the total energy consumption from surrounding countries. The usage of renewable energy sources is today low and in its beginning. There have been a few previous projects within the area. In 2010 Borlänge Energy AB and the Peace&Love Foundation took  an initiative to start up two Youth Centres, one in the countryside and one in the capital, Chişinău. These centres will not only contribute to offer a sanctuary for young people but as well function as a good example of energy efficient construction and the usage of renewable energy sources. The projects’ purpose is to design an ecologically sustainable solution for the building construction, the supply of domestic hot water and the domestic heating for the Youth Centre that will be built in Lozova, Moldova. The aim is to present a final suggestion of this complete system in a report. The gathering of information is based on literature but also interviews and study visits. All the stages have been done both in Moldova and Sweden. The work is done within the three areas: Energy smart building construction, thermal solar system for domestic hot water and heat and biomass fueled boilers for small scale use. The domestic heating system is based primarily on sun energy with a complimenting biomass boiler. Different materials for the building construction are compared with a starting point in different traditional types of buildings. Three different standardized cases are put against each other and these results in a recommendation of a low U-value. Meaning a value of how high the flow of energy is allowed to be through the house. This U-value is then used to obtain the total annual energy use which then lies as ground for the sun- and biomass energy system. Moldova’s biomass resources are mapped to identify possible choices for the biomass boiler. An evaluation of the boiler that in the end will give the best result for the environment is done. In the simulation program Polysun two different cases of combined sun and biomass systems are compared to each other. One system is designed with more basic technique and the other one is designed with more advanced technique. The results from Polysun and the Moldovan capability to receive the technique are taken into consideration and in the end the system designed with basic technique is chosen.