ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS CONSIDERING THE LOCAL CONDITIONS IN ROMANIA.

Worldwide there is a constant effort to reduce energy consumption in order to prevent the climate change by decreasing the gas emissions. Another major concern of the authorities is to preserve conventional energy sources by using energy from renewable sources. European laws promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings, by considering the outdoor climatic and local conditions, without disregarding the indoor climate requirements (comfort). Starting with 31 December 2020, all new buildings should be nearly zero energy buildings. The energy consumption should be very low and a large part of the required energy must be covered from renewable sources. In this paper is presented an analysis of the energy consumptions for single-family residential buildings, located in Romania, in different climatic conditions. The methodology used for calculating the energy performance is the one adopted in Romania according to the European framework. Some numerical values of energy consumption revealed in the study could be used as reference values of the minimum energy performance requirements for the definition of nearly zero-energy buildings in the national standards. The results of the analysis suggest that the reference values to be used in Romania should be based on the average monthly temperatures of different locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]