Concrete Structures and Structural Design

SmallHouse IV im Smallhouse-Village

The basic idea of the full-scale demonstrator is the integral use of the lifting structure, made of concrete, for condition purposes. In detail, this means that the building is thermally conditioned via the building envelope, which can actively be heated or cooled using water-filled pipe registers. The mass of the activated building part, already in place fulfilling further purposes like load-bearing or definition of room, is used for active thermal functions. Therefore, those building parts are called multifunctional building parts (MPB). In addition, the excess solar energy is stored in the ground beneath the building for the medium to long term. If required, the thermal energy from the seasonal storage is usable by a ground-water-heat pump. Due to the high storage capacity of the building components, this system can be operated with comparatively low flow temperatures, allowing for further improvements of the heat pump and solar thermal collector. This overall concept represents an alternative to conventional thermal storage systems by explicitly exploiting the existing potential of the building structure and the ground. The advantages of this system have already been demonstrated by numerical investigations of a thermal building model. These show significant improvements of reduced electric annual demands of up to 35%.

 

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