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• Moisture needed to be removed in three building types is calculated. • Salt supported porous composites satisfy most climates and building types. • Zeolites are suitable for return air state, ARI summer and ARI humid climates. • Polyelectrolytes can cope with humid climates and buildings with high wet load. Energy conservation and emission reduction have become a global consensus. As a novel promising energy-saving dehumidification technology, desiccant coated heat exchanger (DCHE)-based air conditioning systems have attracted immense attention recently. This paper provides a quick and reasonable selection of desiccant materials for DCHE systems using water as the cooling medium in different buildings and climates. By the theoretical calculation of moisture needed to be removed in three types of buildings (offices, residential buildings and restaurants) and the analysis of the dehumidification capacity of desiccants in DCHEs reported in the literature, optimal desiccants for different building types and ambient air conditions under given parameters are recommended. Salt-supported porous composite desiccants possess flexible dehumidification performance and can be utilized in most climates and building types, except for extremely humid indoor environments with high requirement for fresh air. Zeolites are especially suitable for return air states, American Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) summer and ARI humid climates in buildings with moderate indoor moisture gain, such as offices or residential buildings. Polyelectrolytes can be applied in humid climates and buildings with high indoor wet loads, such as restaurants. This paper offers a promising route to the applications of desiccant materials in novel energy-saving air conditioning technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Greening the building envelope focusing on green façades with vegetation is a good example of a new construction practice. Plants and partly growing materials in case of living wall systems (LWS) have a number of functions that are beneficial, for example: increasing the biodiversity and ecological value, mitigation of urban heat island effect, outdoor and indoor comfort, insulating properties, improvement of air quality and of the social and psychological well being of city dwellers. This paper discusses a comparative life cycle analysis (LCA) situated in The Netherlands for: a conventional built up European brick façade, a façade greened directly, a façade greened indirectly (supported by a steel mesh), a façade covered with a living wall system based on planter boxes and a façade covered with a living wall system based on felt layers. Beside the environmental benefits of the above described greening systems, it is eventually not clear if these systems are sustainable, due to the materials used, maintenance, nutrients and water needed. A LCA is used to analyze the similarity and differences in the environmental impacts in relation with benefits estimated for two climate types for building energy saving (reduction of electrical energy used for building cooling and heating). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Investigation of two residential buildings in a sub-Arctic region. • One building subject of energy-retrofit, one maintained the original envelope. • No significant improvement to the heat supply after energy efficiency measure. • The thermal indoor climate showed signs of overheating. • The heating system should be reviewed when an energy-retrofit is done. There is a need to improve the understanding and the knowledge of energy efficiency measures for residential buildings in sub-Arctic climate regions. This paper presents an investigation of two identical multi-family residential buildings in the sub-Arctic climate of northern Sweden, before and after renovation. During the renovation, additional insulation of the external walls and new windows were installed in one building, while the other building retained its original envelope. The energy usage data for the past four heating seasons were collected, including data from before and after the renovation. Detailed thermal indoor climate data were gathered for specific months. The data from the two separate buildings showed that the renovation did not result in a significant improvement in energy usage. Prior to the renovation, the energy usage data showed a difference of 2–3% in the heat supply between the two buildings, and this difference persisted after the renovation. On the other hand, the indoor air temperature was raised. The renovated building had an indoor air temperature which was 2 °C higher than the not yet renovated building. IDA ICE models were constructed and validated with the measured data to investigate how a lower indoor air temperature would affect the energy usage and indoor thermal climate. The models showed that with a reduction in the indoor air temperature by 2 °C after the renovation, the thermal climate would maintain an acceptable level according to PMV/PPD standards, and would result in a 13–14% reduction of the heat supply during the cold months. With an annual reduction of 15%, the heat supply could be reduced by 270 MWh per year for the whole area where the buildings are located. This clearly demonstrates the importance of adjusting the heating system after an energy efficiency measure has been performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings are responsible for a large share of the energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Europe and Switzerland. Bottom-up building stock models (BSMs) can be used to assess policy measures and strategies based on a quantitative assessment of energy demand and GHG emissions in the building stock over time. Recent developments in BSM-related research have focused on modeling the status quo of the stock and comparatively little focus has been given to improving the modeling methods in terms of stock dynamics. This paper presents a BSM based on an agent-based modeling approach (ABBSM) that models stock development in terms of new construction, retrofit and replacement by modeling individual decisions on the building level. The model was implemented for the residential building stock of Switzerland and results show that it can effectively reproduce the past development of the stock from 2000 to 2017 based on the changes in policy, energy prices, and costs. ABBSM improves on current modeling practice by accounting for heterogeneity in the building stock and its effect on uptake of retrofit and renewable heating systems and by incorporating both regulatory or financial policy measures as well as other driving and restricting factors (costs, energy prices). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]