ENERGY-EFFICIENT BUILDINGS WITH EXPLOITATION OF ACCUMULATION PROPERTIES OF THE GROUND.

The major factor that may affect the ability of ground as a heat storage medium as such is the diversity of substrate materials or groundwater. The residential houses in Okotoks, in the province of Alberta, Canada are good examples of using soil as the heat storage medium. It is worth mentioning that this is not high-efficient solution and it is justified in the case of supply thermal energy needed for heating energy efficient buildings. In particular, it might be useful for passive constructions characterized by demands for heating purposes lower than 15 kWh/m²/year. Therefore, in this paper, the concept of settlement designed as number passive residential houses, and its architectural visualization is presented. The solution for heating to provide properties of the accumulation of ground as a heat storage medium is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]