Model Home 2020 – full-year measurements of daylight, energy and indoor climate in five single-family houses occupied by typical families: what has been learned

Panel: 5. Energy use in buildings: projects, technologies and innovation

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Peter Foldbjerg, VELUX A/S, Denmark
Thorbjørn Færing Asmussen, VELUX A/S, Denmark
Christoffer Plesner, VELUX A/S, Denmark
Jens Christoffersen, VELUX A/S, Denmark

Abstract

The VELUX Group launched the Model Home 2020 project in 2008, our vision for climate-neutral buildings with a high livability level. The vision and principles behind Model Home 2020 needed to be developed and tested; so from 2009 to 2011, full-scale experimental demo-houses have been placed in five different countries. Our ‘experiments’ are located in Denmark (newbuild), Germany (renovation), France (newbuild), Austria (newbuild) and in the UK (newbuild). All houses have an extensive monitoring program for the indoor environment (daylight, thermal comfort, indoor air quality and ventilation) and energy performance, as well as subjective responds from a test family living in the house for one year. The houses reflect and respond to three main principles – efficient energy design, high degree of livability and minimum climate impact – as well as the different climatic, cultural and architectural conditions of the countries in which they are built.

This paper summarizes the results from measurements of daylight, electrical light, thermal comfort and indoor air quality. The results show that good daylight conditions and high daylight levels can be achieved without overheating, and that both natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation is able to provide good indoor air quality. The actual use of measures to prevent overheating has been recorded, and results underline the importance of using solar shading and ventilative cooling (by natural ventilation) to achieve good thermal comfort as well as good indoor air quality. The results also provides insights into the interaction between residents and control systems. Automatic, sensor-based control of indoor climate systems is important, but the system must be simple and intuitive for the resident, and override must be simple, and not jeopardize the energy performance of the house.