International. Ifema presented the study called: "Adaptation of the user to buildings of almost zero consumption – Passivhaus (ECCN-PH)", which allows to identify the habits of people in their buildings and how users adapt to new technologies .
The report reveals in depth how users adapt to new passive housing technologies, their current habits and their trust in institutions and companies in the energy efficiency market.
It is at a key moment of transition towards almost zero energy housing and studies like this can allow to successfully face the imminent implementation of the new regulations on energy efficiency in the building.
To carry out the study, 1,100 surveys have been carried out throughout Spain and the methodological approach has aimed to determine how the ECCN-PH changes energy saving and efficiency practices, based on current habits. The results allow to identify what are the practices of the user in his home in relation to his adaptation to the ECCN.
The work is divided into four chapters. The first addresses the general framework of the research and the approach under which it will analyze the data, results and conclusions. The second is oriented to the analysis of the survey and its relationship with the key aspects of the study.
The third proposes results based on the main needs and the fourth chapter identifies the key concepts of the transition from conventional building practices to ECCN-PH.
The climate, a key element of comfort
The analysis detects that the climate is the element that governs the relationship between the user and the space he inhabits. It is, therefore, one of the factors that most affects the feeling of comfort. The challenge of nearly zero-energy buildings is to establish a more balanced relationship between what the user asks of their home and what their home can do.
According to the results, the user constantly intervenes in the house to feel comfort; opens and closes windows, cools and heats according to the interior temperature, gets used to certain noises on the premises, etc., has the feeling that if you do not act actively, the house does not respond.
The ECCN pose a new scenario for the inhabitants since the passive housing works permanently without the need for user intervention to achieve a comfortable temperature.
76.27% of users open windows to ventilate
The vast majority of people ventilate their homes every day because they relate this action to greater well-being and comfort. Even so, the study shows that it is difficult to discern between ventilation (air quality) and temperature (cold /heat).
In a conventional building, air quality is achieved through the opening of windows, while comfort temperature is achieved through conventional air systems. These systems are often fancoils, convectors or splits, and do not help to generate a feeling of comfort because they generate currents, dust, noise and unequal temperatures.
On the contrary, in the ECCN, a different logic is used: the air quality is achieved with ventilation systems with heat recovery and the comfort temperature is given by the use of passive enclosures-insulation.
76.27% of users open windows to ventilate and achieve healthy indoor air. Therefore, it is important to reinforce the idea that natural ventilation can also be done through mechanical ventilation systems (MCV) and that, the latter, are not only more ecological – since by not opening windows there are no thermal oscillations and, consequently, energy expenditure – but more efficient and healthy.
This paradigm shift, which consists of understanding a mechanical system as something natural and reliable, is one of the important challenges that the ECCN construction sector must face.
The companies behind the project were Zehnder, Griesser, Knauf Insulation, Inn-Solutions, Roto Frank, ePower & Building and Passivhaus Consulting.
