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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sara Walker
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024 The Authors. Buildings contribute to 40% of global energy demand and are responsible for a third of CO2 emissions. Strategies to decarbonise buildings are, therefore, crucial for reaching the net-zero emissions targets by most of the countries in the world. This study investigates the feasibility of decarbonising well-insulated buildings with current and future weather scenarios by applying adaptive thermal comfort strategy in combination with a closed-loop deep geothermal system. An office building has been chosen as a case study because of the comprehensive sensor system installed in the building which allows for detailed data extraction and analysis. The results show that the building's heating and cooling demand can be reduced by 51% using an adaptive thermal comfort approach, while this decreases to 45% in 2080 under a warming climate. Combined with this adaptive approach, geothermal energy can satisfy 50% of building heating demand at present when combined with intermittent storage scenarios, while 5 deep borehole heat exchangers (DBHEs) would be required to meet all the heating demand directly. In conclusion, this study shows that using a DBHE and adaptive thermal comfort approach to well-insulated buildings presents an innovative and low-cost opportunity for buildings to significantly lower building thermal demand and carbon emissions.
Author(s): Ben H, Brown CS, Kolo I, Falcone G, Walker S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Energy & Buildings
Year: 2024
Volume: 319
Print publication date: 15/09/2024
Online publication date: 27/06/2024
Acceptance date: 24/06/2024
Date deposited: 24/07/2024
ISSN (print): 0378-7788
ISSN (electronic): 1872-6178
Publisher: Elsevier BV
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114466
DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114466
Data Access Statement: Data will be made available on request.
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