In all countries there is a massive potential to save energy in buildings, both for heating and for cooling, and through this reduce energy expenditure for owners and tenants, CO2 emissions, pollution, and secure energy supply for the coming years.
A study of the Passive House Institute Darmstadt, based on insulation products by BASF or produced with BASF raw materials (Elastopor® H, Styrodur® and Neopor®), analyses the effect of thermal insulation on the same building in different cities.
The results of the study show that taking measures for increasing energy efficiency would save rather than cost money: excellent results can be effectively reached in all climates, in cold as well as in moderate and hot countries and for almost every building you can imagine.
In Warsaw, as well as in Frankfurt, Paris, London, Rome and Sevilla, you can reduce energy consumption by about 70% with only few centimetres insulation!
DEFINITIONS:
SPACE HEAT DEMAND: the annual amount of heat to be supplied to the building in order to ensure an operative temperature of 20°C.
HEATING ENERGY DEMAND: the amount of energy, e.g. in form of fuel oil or natural gas, to be supplied to the heating system in order to ensure an operative temperature of 20°C.
SPACE COOLING DEMAND: the annual amount of heat to be taken out of the building by active cooling, in order to keep the air temperature lower than 25° C.
ELECTRICITY FOR COOLING: the annual electricity demand for space cooling based on annual data of a typical split unit performance.
HOURS OVER 25° C: percentage of hours over 25° C without active cooling.
PEAK TEMPERATURE: the maximum hourly mean value of the temperature, which occurred in any of the rooms during the whole year. In general, the maximum temperatures occur in the south oriented zone located immediately under the roof.
PRIMARY ENERGY FOR HEATING AND COOLING: it is assumed, that active cooling is applied. The auxiliary electricity demand of the heating system was taken into account. The auxiliary electricity for cooling is included in the annual performance coefficient.
CO2 EMISSIONS: emissions due to the use of the heating and cooling systems.
