Towards an Energy Autonomous Dwelling Design How to Create a More Constant Energy Supply to Limit Storage Demand
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Towards an energy autonomous dwelling design How to create a more constant energy supply to limit storage demand Patricia Knaap Student nr.: 4011015 e-mail: [email protected] Delft University of Technology Faculty of architecture Architectural Engineering – Studio 12 May 2014 ABSTRACT of these sources for generating electricity results in This paper is a summary of the research that has heavy pollution. Many new dwellings are all- been conducted on energy consumption and the electric so that gas is not required anymore for possibilities to produce the electricity from heating and cooking, but this results in a higher renewable sources on a small scale in such a way electricity demand. that the dependency of the grid or electricity Although renewable energy sources can provide a storage demand is reduced. significant amount of electricity in a much more It shortly describes the current situation of energy sustainable way, the largest part of electricity still consumption, the energy demand of a Dutch free comes from natural resources. A reason why standing dwelling and how this demand can be renewable energy is not used very much yet is reduced by smart architectural design choices. because there is not a continuous production. The main focus in this paper is how electricity can Where natural resources are available at any be produced by a dwelling by using renewable time, the availability of renewable energy sources resources and how this can be done as efficient is variable and therefore it results in peak as possible to limit the need for electricity storage. productions of electricity. This means that there is Therefore the electricity production with PV cells a bigger mismatch between electricity production and wind turbines is researched. For PV cells and consumption with electricity produced from calculations have been made to compare the renewable sources than from natural resources electricity production and storage demand for which has to be solved by storing electricity. different orientations and slopes. Wind energy is Storage of electricity is very difficult and has very researched for its possibility to provide electricity low efficiencies. This is the reason why currently when PV cells are not sufficient in order to limit an exchange of electricity is established between electricity storage even more. At last, electricity producing buildings and the national combinations of solar energy, wind energy and power grid. But when all buildings become all- required storage capacity are compared. electric there will be enormous peaks in energy production and consumption which are not Key-words: energy consumption, electricity production, occurring simultaneously and cannot be solved all-electric, renewable electricity, electricity storage, with electricity exchange and storage. optimizing solar energy production, wind energy, The objective of this paper is to seek for a way to energy autonomous create a more stable energy supply in order to reduce the dependency of the grid, for an energy 1. INTRODUCTION neutral dwelling throughout the year by making Building sustainably is becoming more and more optimal use of the environment and its climate important since natural resources such as coal, oil and by integrating sustainable energy and natural gas are depleting rapidly and the use technologies in architecture. 1 This paper will first quickly describe the current is divided more or less equal throughout the year situation of energy consumption and the energy and only depends on the demand of the user. demand of a Dutch dwelling, followed by possible (www.gaslicht.com) architectural design methods to reduce the energy demand. After that, possibilities to produce electricity on a small scale will be described as well as ways to store this electricity. Lastly, we will investigate how we can optimize the electricity production to the consumption in order to limit electricity storage. 2. CURRENT SITUATION Figure 2: Energy use of households, 1990-2012 The total energy consumption of the Netherlands (www.compendiumvoordeleefomgeving.nl) has been increasing in the period between 1990 and 2012. In 2012 the consumption increased The electricity production in The Netherlands in with 0,7% compared to 2011. This was mainly 2012 was for 53 per cent a result of burning gas. the result of a 6% increase of energy consumption Electricity can also be provided by burning coal. of households due to the cold winter which In 2012, 81 per cent of the electricity production resulted in more heating and therefore a higher came from fossil fuels. This is a reduction 12 per energy demand. cent compared to 1998 when over 90 per cent of (www.compendiumvoordeleefomgeving.nl) the electricity was produced with fossil fuels. (Wezel & Kloots) Figure 1: Energy use per sector (www.compendiumvoordeleefomgeving.nl) ENERGY USE IN DWELLINGS Dutch dwellings require both thermal and electrical energy. Thermal energy is used for heating, warm tap water and cooking. Electrical Figure 3: Electricity production divided per source energy is used for lighting, ventilation, cooling (Wezel & Kloots) and electrical appliances. The electricity production from renewable sources The most commonly used energy source for increases slowly. The share of renewable providing heating is gas. How much gas is electricity production in 1998 was 2,5 per cent of consumed mainly depends on the weather the total and increased to 12 per cent in 2012. conditions of autumn and winter since this (Wezel & Kloots) determines the heating demand. When it is colder The most important sources for renewable energy than average, there is a higher heating demand are wind energy (18,4% of which 15,5% on which means an increase of the gas consumption. shore), burning biomass in waste burning plants Gas is also used for providing warm tap water (15,5%), biofuels for transport (14,1%), wood and for cooking. The amount of gas used for this burning in dwellings (13,1%) and burning 2 biomass in electricity plants (11,6%). This counts used in the winter months; October to April. for over 70 per cent of the energy consumption (Essent, 2014) However, the exact distribution of from renewable resources. Solar energy (heat and gas used for heating over the year depends on electricity) is only 2% of the energy consumption the weather. Since the outside temperature is one from renewable resources. (CBS, 2013, pp. 17, of the most important factors in the demand for 18) heating of a dwelling, degree-days can be used to determine the average course of heating demand The following graph shows the electricity and gas throughout one year. consumption of Dutch households since 2000. There is a significant decrease of gas DEGREE-DAYS consumption which is mainly the result of a Degree-days look at the difference between the smaller heating demand due to high-efficiency outside temperature and a reference temperature. heating systems and better insulation of dwellings. This reference temperature is set at the (EnergieNederland, p. 55) temperature where no heating is required, usually 18 degrees Celsius. The following graph shows how the degree-days are distributed over the one year. (TUDelft, 2011, pp. 49, 50) Figure 4: Average consumption of electricity and gas for Dutch households (EnergieNederland, p. 56) The electricity consumption has increased from 1988 until 2008 as a result of the introduction of electrical appliances such as the refrigerator and Figure 5: Degree days, based on average temperatures dish washer. Because of a decreasing amount of in the Netherlands. persons per household, the improved efficiency of (TUDelft, 2011, p. 50) appliances and a stop in the growth of the penetration rate of electrical appliances, the The graph of the degree-days is used to electricity consumption stabilised after 2008. determine the average course of gas use for However, an increase of electricity consumption is heating throughout one year as can be seen in occurring again as a result of the increasing total figure 6. The surface under the heating curve amount of households and their growing represents the total gas use for one year, in this electricity use. (EnergieNederland, p. 55) case 1.711 m3. In the Netherlands, a family of four person uses 3. ENERGY DEMAND on average 4.580 kWh electricity per year. This is A four person Dutch household, living in a free practically evenly distributed over one year. standing dwelling uses on average is 2.220 m3 In the graph, the amounts of gas and electricity gas per year. Almost 20 per cent (444 m3) of this have been converted into mega joules in order to is used for warm tap water in the kitchen and compare the required energy. bathroom. 65 m3 of the total gas use is used for cooking and the remaining 1.711 m3 is used for heating. (www.milieucentraal.nl) From the gas used for heating, approximately 85 per cent is 3 small windows in the north façade (the cold side), only for natural day lighting purposes. On the south façade, bigger windows are made but with an overhang which blocks the high sun in summer and allows the low sun in winter to enter the building and give natural heating. Other design options which are less often used but can also influence the energy use of a dwelling is the shape of the building. The smaller the façade surface is compared to the floor plan, Figure 6: Energy consumption of a free standing the smaller the surface of heat transfer through dwelling (based on own calculations with numbers the façade is. Also the spatial organisation of a mentioned above) dwelling influences the energy use. By looking at the time and amount of heating demand of rooms 4. ENERGY REDUCTION and adjusting this to the orientation, the energy A first step in limiting the electricity storage or use for heating can be limited.