Low-Energy House in Arctic Climate: Five Years of Experience
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 3
Abstract
The aim of this article is to present and discuss the experience gained from a low-energy house in Sisimiut, Greenland, over the 5 years of operation since its inauguration in April 2005. The house was designed to test and present new low-energy technologies in the Arctic climate and to improve sustainability in Greenlandic buildings. The article presents some measurements, analyses, and comparisons of theoretical simulations and some steps that were taken to improve the house with impacts on energy consumption. The results include energy consumption, temperatures, and solar heating production. Also presented are the results of several investigations carried out in the house, such as blower-door tests and inspection of the ventilation system. The initial target for the heating demand of the house was that it should be restricted to , but in reality it has varied over the past 5 years from 139 to . Currently the house is on the way to presenting a good energy solution, and the annual energy consumption for heating in 2010 was .
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Villum Foundation for supporting the development of the LEH, Lars Due, of Isolink ApS, for carrying out the blower-door tests in the house, and all the people and companies in Sisimiut who have contributed to the LEH. The article is part of the Ph.D. project “Passive Houses for Arctic Climates” at the Technical University of Denmark.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 3 • September 2012
Pages: 79 - 100
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 20, 2011
Accepted: Oct 20, 2011
Published online: Oct 24, 2011
Published in print: Sep 1, 2012
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