Igor Bonefačić

Space heating and cooling energy demand in energy efficient single-family house with mechanical ventilation system

This paper investigates on the space heating and cooling energy demand as well as on the thermal comfort in energy efficient detached single-family houses with mechanical ventilation heat recovery system. The necessary energy calculations are based on a test reference year with one-hour-step weather data taken for the City of Rijeka which can be seen as an average location in Croatia in terms of weather conditions. The analysis consists of the comparison of three houses with different energy performance levels: a reference single-family house, a low-energy single-family house and a passive single-family house. As expected, the space heating energy demand is lowest in the passive house and highest in the reference house. The thermal comfort is best in the passive house and worst in the reference house. It is concluded that the mechanical ventilation heat recovery system is an indispensable part of the energy system in the passive house and that it can ensure significant energy savings in the low-energy house, too.