A Comparative Analysis of Energy Performance in Heating Consumption for Different Building Envelope Materials and Designs: A Case Study

The EU has established various general objectives aimed at energy sustainability, developing a broad regulatory framework linked to the various sectors that account for a significant share of global energy demand. Within this regulatory framework, strategic guidelines have been established through which the general objectives can be achieved. Numerous studies have been published related to the analysis of new materials and/or construction solutions for the thermal envelopes of buildings aimed at minimizing their energy demand. In the research presented here, an exhaustive analysis is conducted of these studies and of the technical characteristics of the materials and/or construction solutions identified. A method is developed, including standard calculation models, that is applied to all the technical solutions identified in the literature. Based on this, multiple simulations are carried out to evaluate energy demand and CO2 emissions for heating in different building types located in cold climate zones. From the results obtained, the performance of the different technical solutions was compared according to building type and climate zone. The results show appreciable differences in energy performance among the various construction solutions, even when they use the same reference material. This disparity in results varies depending on the type of housing and the climate zone. The results are of interest for the establishment of strategies in nearly zero-energy building planning.