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This paper studies the effects of energy efficiency measures on energy demand in the Krsan Castle, which is a cultural heritage complex in Istria (Croatia). The heating and cooling energy demand is calculated by means of a dynamic building energy model based on hourly weather data. The largest individual reductions are obtained with thermal insulation for the heating demand, and with external window shading and natural night ventilation for the cooling demand. Energy reductions of up to 80%, relatively to the existing state, can be achieved by energy retrofit projects which include thermal insulation, energy efficient windows, improved airtightness, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and passive cooling techniques. The economic analysis revealed that payback periods between 10 and 16 years can be achieved by this kind of energy retrofit projects.

Hospitals present complex indoor environment with various users, health hazards and specific activities. This paper classifies health hazards specific to the hospital environment (HE), defines their interactions and possible impacts on human health and summarizes recommendations for biological and chemical hazards. A detailed literature review clearly shows that there is no developed system or method for integral control of health hazards in HE. There is no appropriate technology available that would allow development of optimal thermal comfort conditions for individual users in HE. For integral control of physical hazards, an innovative low exergy (LowEx) system was designed and tested. The system enables individual control of thermal comfort parameters to meet the needs of various users in the same room. It enables the design of optional conditions for healthcare and treatment considering the different requirements of individual patients and thermally neutral zones for other users. The system application is presented in a model room for burns patient. The measured energy use was lower by 11–27% for space heating and by 32–73% for cooling, when using LowEx system as compared to the conventional system. Owning to its flexibility, the system can also be used for other potential users.

The paper describes detailed structure of the integral automated regulation system for the control of indoor environment (ICsIE) which harmonises occupant comfort requirements and principles of bioclimatic approach. The ICsIE regulates indoor illumination, thermal conditions and air quality. The control unit of the system is designed as a hybrid cascade system incorporating fuzzy logic and conventional PI controllers. Regulation is executed with the use of sensors, which monitor the environmental conditions and adherent actuators. The ICsIE is currently installed in an occupied office in the building of the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. During the operation the ICsIE was able to synchronise the aspects of thermal, illuminance and ventilation control and maintain indoor environmental conditions in the desired range of the set-point values. From the occupant point of view the ICsIE performed adequately, as manual interventions into the functioning of the system were rare.

This paper presents the influence of a movable reflector on the thermal response of an atrium building. Various positions of thermal insulation in the building envelope were used to control thermal dynamics, while the atrium roof with reflector was used for solar heating. The influence of the roof reflector was calculated on a large number of cases differing with regard to wall structures, use of night insulation on the atrium roof and operational heating mode. The heating energy used in the building was assessed by the computer program KAMRA-RW using the actual weather data during typical time periods. This program had been previously tested on a scale model in real-time conditions and compared with the results obtained by the TRNSYS program. The tests showed acceptable consistency. The research proved that a reflector mounted on the atrium roof accelerates the dynamics of the thermal response of a building and substantially diminishes the quantity of the required heating energy.

In the era of informational and technological breakthrough, the automatically controlled living and working environment is expected to become a commonly used service. This paper deals with dynamically controlled thermal and illumination responses of built environment in real-time conditions. The aim is to harmonize thermal and optical behaviour of a building by coordinating energy flows that pass through the transparent part of the envelope. For this purpose, a test chamber with an opening on the southern side was built. Changeable geometry of the opening is achieved by the automated external roller blind. A fuzzy control system enables the positioning of the shading device according to the desired indoor set points and the outdoor conditions. Through the experiments, the fuzzy controllers were tuned and gradually improved. Some sets of the experiments are presented here to illustrate the process.