COMPARATIVE ENERGY MODELS FOR INDUSTRIAL BUILIDNGS THERMAL PERFORMANCES

A study concerning energy saving potential in prefabricated industrial buildings is presented, in which comparative energy calculation has been carried on through simulation models. According latest European energy directives and programs, retrofit and refurbishment of existing building appear to be the main target. In Italy the industrial building stock presents in most cases low comfort conditions and high energy consumption. After the 1980-1990 decade in Italy, there have been only few studies dealing with this topic to investigate and support the potential energy quality of industrial buildings. The study presented is based on selected case-studies, aimed to fix a set of general and effective criteria for refurbishment actions. One key factor for energy saving in prefabricated industrial building is the thermal performance of the envelope (walls, roofs and windows), through a reduction of energy consumption, for heating or full air conditioning conditions, directly related to thermal quality of building enclosure. The use of software design tools, like Autodesk Ecotect Analysis, Heat 2.0 and Wufi Pro, allow to quickly estimate how different envelope assemblages affect the final energy consumption related to building size on a common input base for climate, indoor ventilation and occupancy profile. The works move from a statistic comparison of existing common buildings in Italy, in which most diffused building elements, like concrete prefabricated wall panels, are investigated to run energy calculations. The first phase results show average performance indicators of mean efficiency conditions in real buildings and to show potential benefits from various single or multiple refurbishment options, where roofs represent the most critical surfaces and at the same time the most effective surfaces for a retrofitting with walls.