Charles Yousif

Asset and Operational Energy Performance Rating of a Modern Apartment in Malta

This paper aims to evaluate the asset and operational energy performance rating of a modern apartment in Malta, by comparing modelling results of DesignBuilder-EnergyPlus and the Energy Performance Rating of Dwellings Malta (EPRDM) software, to actual energy consumption of the apartment. Results showed that EPRDM results compared favourably with the DesignBuilder results, although, the latter one showed higher energy consumption for cooling. This is attributed to the fact that EnergyPlus considers the hottest week in the sizing of cooling systems and the simulation is carried out dynamically for every hour of the day. Actual energy consumption for heating and cooling is generally lower than modelled results, which augurs well for the overall energy consumption in Maltese buildings. The thermal mass of Maltese buildings plays an important role in reducing peak loads.

Gauging the Effectiveness of a Resource Management Awareness Campaign on a Central Mediterranean Island

The ‘Reduce and Save’ campaign aimed to promote environmental sustainability awareness on the island of Gozo. Gozo forms part of the central Mediterranean Maltese Archipelago and has been earmarked to become an eco-island through the implementation of a local sustainable development strategy by 2020. The campaign falls under the umbrella of a wider-ranging initiative known as the eco-Gozo project, under the auspices of the Ministry for Gozo. The Reduce and Save campaign consisted of the identification and training of personnel capable of conducting a number of home visits in an attempt to reach as many Gozitan households as possible. The home visits made by these personnel consisted of 30-min information sessions on energy, waste and water management aspects, the distribution of informational printed matter and the filling in of a questionnaire to enable data compilation on specific topics. This chapter assesses the results generated by the questionnaire in conjunction with other information sources. Analyses of questionnaire responses revealed that a favourable disposition towards renewable energy (RE) technologies and energy-saving and water-conservation measures already existed amongst Gozitan households. Data on RE installations and energy-saving ventures for the islands are compiled by national entities such as the National Statistics Office and the Malta Resources Authority. These and other sources are assessed in order to gauge the effects, if any, of the Reduce and Save campaign. Any impacts on the behavioural patterns of Gozitans following the campaign are assessed by comparing specific indicators for the island with similar information for the main island of Malta. While the results help to consolidate the information compiled, they also enable the refinement of the training and dissemination methodologies utilised as a means of tailoring a similar, albeit larger-scale, campaign for the main island of Malta. Similar exercises aiming to increase awareness on environmental sustainability can also be replicated for other islands or communities.

Assessing PV Module Degradation and the Potential of Using Greenhouse Roofs for Supplemental PV Power Generation in Malta

This chapter presents work carried out on the evaluation of the added photovoltaic (PV) capacity that Malta might need to install to counter-balance the loss of energy production from installed solar PV systems caused by degradation in order to achieve the government’s target of 5 % PV generation by 2020. The potential of using unconventional rooftops is investigated with a focus on greenhouses, which are normally found in rural areas. Such a possibility also has the capability of providing renewable energy to greenhouses, making it greener and self-sufficient. The study started by analysing the actual degradation experienced by a number of PV modules which have been in operation on the island of Malta for between 3 and 33 years. An average degradation of 1.2 % has been found. Visits to greenhouses were also made to categorize their construction materials, area and other technical characteristics to have a better and more hands-on understanding of their ability to take up the added load of PV modules. Two cases were found where new greenhouses were actually in the process of installing PV modules, one in Malta and one in Gozo. The results of this study can help the government to provide incentives for greenhouse owners to invest in PV modules while alleviating the drop in energy production due to the degradation of already installed PV systems to reach the set target.

The ‘Reduce and Save’ Project: An Island-Wide Resource Management Awareness Initiative

The Republic of Malta is an archipelago composed of three inhabited islands – Malta, Gozo and Comino. The main island of Malta has one of the highest population densities in the world, at 1566 inhabitants/km2, and is the largest island, with an area of 246 km2. Gozo has about 31,000 inhabitants and an area of 67 km2, while Comino is much smaller and has fewer than 10 inhabitants and a hotel. In 2008, the government of Malta, through the Ministry for Gozo, embarked on a programme with the aim of transforming Gozo into an eco-island. This initiative was called the eco-Gozo Project – a Local Sustainable Development Strategy for an Island and Its Community. As part of this undertaking, the ministry commissioned the Institute for Sustainable Energy at the University of Malta to conduct an educational campaign named ‘Reduce and Save’. The aim of this campaign was to design and deliver information sessions on water and energy conservation, renewable energy and waste management in every household in Gozo. The main objectives of this initiative were to increase awareness and disseminate eco-friendly information with the aim of improving the quality of life and levels of sustainability on the island. The methodology consisted of training courses, examination of the trainers, the island-wide house-call programme, the approach used during the visits themselves and the results compiled through a specific questionnaire. These actions all served to couple an educational campaign focusing on sustainability and environment-related issues with a data-gathering exercise in an island community. The results showed a favourable opinion on renewable energy and energy-saving and water-conservation measures and gave a snapshot of the renewable energy installations (such as solar water heaters and photovoltaic systems), energy-saving measures (such as roof insulation and double glazing) and water-saving measures (such as recycling of grey water and the use of rainwater catchment in dwellings’ existing water cisterns) at the time of the home visits. In the context of the development of a local, community-based sustainable development strategy, this initiative was instrumental in empowering and engaging the population at a time when this wide-ranging community project was being launched.

Modelling of Shaded and Unshaded Shallow-Ground Heat Pump System for a Residential Building Block in a Mediterranean Climate

Heat pumps may be coupled to shallow-ground geothermal fields and used for the purpose of space heating and cooling of buildings. However, quite often it is not possible to locate the geothermal field in cleared grounds, especially in cities where building density is high and land has a high premium. This leads to the possibility of burying the geothermal field under the basement of new building blocks, before construction of the building. In the present work, the shaded-unshaded arrangement is numerically studied by coupling the software DesignBuilder-EnergyPlus to assess the buildings energy requirement with the software FEFLOW to solve the heat transfer equation in porous media. Assuming a standard residential building block, the coupling between the two software is performed by assigning the thermal energy requirement for air conditioning, as calculated by EnergyPlus, to a flat-panel typology of ground heat exchanger simplified in a 2D FEFLOWs domain. The results show that it is necessary to opt for a dual-source heat pump (air/geothermal) system to ensure that the ground is not frozen or over-heated at peak times and to improve the overall performance of the system.