physics

Zero heating building

Zero heating building is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Zero heating building rather than just read about it. In short: Zero-heating building or nearly zero-heating building (nZHB) is a building having essentially zero heating demand, defined as having heating demand, Q'NH, less than 3 kWh/(m2a). The zero-heating building is intended for use in heating-dominated areas.

Key takeaways

Zero heating building belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Zero heating building to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Zero heating building from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Zero-heating building or nearly zero-heating building (nZHB) is a building having essentially zero heating demand, defined as having heating demand, Q'NH, less than 3 kWh/(m2a). The zero-heating building is intended for use in heating-dominated areas. The purpose of the zero-heating building is to supersede net-zero energy buildings as a way to bring building-related greenhouse gas emissions to zero in the EU. Zero-heating buildings address flawed net-zero energy buildings: the requirement for seasonal energy storage, in some cases poor comfort of living and narrow design options.

Concept and approach

Seasonal energy storage problem In areas where there is substantial heating demand, it is hard to fill this demand with renewable power as in heating season, solar power is in short supply. This means heating in highly urbanized areas is directly or indirectly powered by, in a large part from fossil sources. About 2000 TWh of seasonal energy storage is needed to meet EU's winter heating demand, should it be alleviated from fossil fuel dependency. Since heating is partially routed through electricity (e.g., heat-pumps) there is also a clear need for seasonal electricity storage. In Germany alone, about 40 TWh seasonal storage is required. The zero-heating building overcomes the need for major societal infrastructural changes required by the net-zero energy buildings and thus addresses major concerns.

Zero heating building as a continuation of the Passive house Zero-heating buildings are built in the similar way as Passive houses while taking advantage in the recent developments in ultra-low U-value glazing. It has been shown that for buildings with window U-values approaching 0.3 W/(m2K) the heating demand diminishes. In this way, the building would not need a winter power reserve, and it obviously would not need any seasonal energy storage. Buildings built according to Passive-house standard can provide for removal of the central heating appliance with an only small auxiliary heating provision in the ventilation system.

First examples In 1995, Wolfgang Feist demonstrated that with a glazing U-value of 0.3 W/(m2K) zero-heating buildings could be realized. The first purpose build (nearly) zero heating building is an office building, built in Rakvere, Estonia in 2014. Since 2015, more examples have been built based on the novel ultra-low U-value glazing.

Further developments of the Zero-heating building A zero-heating building is proposed as a cornerstone of a market acceptable solution to the problem of the CO2 mitigation through reduction of the need for seasonal energy storage. Above the reduction of the need for energy storage, there are deletions in shading and truncation in heating arrangements. Abandoning now common modulated external shades and switching to more cost-efficient multipane glazing with built-in solar control glass somewhat increases cooling demand. The zero-heating building should be designed to keep cooling demand, Q'NC, less than 20 kWh/(m2a) for office buildings and less than 15 kWh/(m2a) for all other types. After capitalizing on the effects made by nearly zero-heating building one can further equip such a building with PV, to obtain something of a winter positive energy building which could in principle speed-up alleviation of societal energy problems by providing extra power on time. The remaining cooling and ventilation demand can thus be favorably synchronized with solar radiation, where maximum photovoltaic generation nearly coincides with the maximum power needed for cooling.

Standards In 2020 a consortium partners: Reflex, Faculty Of Mechanical Engineering - Ljubljana, Passivhaus Institut, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has been established to work on Zero-heating building standardization, development and promotion.

Construction costs Quadruple glazing, as the main add-on component to the passive house, cost is essentially that of triple-glazing plus one more intermediate glass pane at about €10 /m2. As quadruple units allow for U-value of glazing to be less than 0.4 W/(m2K), external modulated sun shading, and its substantial cost can be omitted without any loss of energy performance. Pricing reality at the moment is different. As there is no long-term experience, design guideline and an established evaluation standard, there is a tendency to price quadruple glazing units at a cost of quadruple unit plus the cost of triple unit, just in case if something later turned to go seriously wrong requiring building glazing replacement.

Traits of zero-heating buildings

Marketability analysis Marketability failure of energy efficient buildings and inefficiency in integrated design approach are the main causes of low market penetration of energy efficient buildings. Compared to merely focusing on the energy-efficiency enhancement, increasing the number of energy efficient buildings with a better marketability via enhancement of their aesthetic features (product differentiation) is proposed as the approach for energy demand reduction in the building sector. The empirical evidence so far shows clearly that the enhancement of aesthetic features and window design can be a supplementary approach to overcome the current market barriers such as a high initial cost, a low market value and a lack of market demand for energy efficient buildings. The research has identified increased glazing area as the main desired architectural product differentiation. If features such as maintenance cost, service reliability and tenant comfort; some specific differentiating features are indoor air quality, natural light distribution, and fresh air circulation are included in marketing communications, the probability to go for green buildings is likely to be higher.

Design freedom Due to the exceptionally low U-values of glazing used, glazed areas are not limited in size due to energy requirements. nZEB building can be realized with 100% glazed walls. This removes some constraints imposed on the building design by the double and triple-pane glazing. Most notably, a zero heating building does not need to be purposefully built as a passive solar building.

Comfort

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Zero heating building

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Zero heating building claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Zero heating building before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Zero heating building ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Zero heating building

In research: Zero heating building appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Zero heating building in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Zero heating building is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Energy efficiency, Low-energy building, Thermal protection, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Zero heating building outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Zero heating building in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Zero heating building means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Zero heating building out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zero heating building in simple terms?

Why does Zero heating building matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Zero heating building?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Zero heating building.