Over the past 50 years the use of air conditioning in non-domestic buildings has become a norm and an indicator of status. Today the rediscovering of the natural ventilation is a part of rediscovering the buildings' energy efficiency, or maybe even a part of a wider approach, which is a desire to be closer to nature. The main task of all ventilation systems is to maintain an appropriate indoor air quality and to improve the indoor environment. Natural ventilation systems could do the above using less energy than mechanical systems. However, it requires also the implementation of other passive measures. The most important of them are: the reduction of the harmful air contaminants, the control of heat gains, the exposition of the building's thermal mass and utilisation of the night cooling. Because of energy efficiency and thermal comfort reasons, in temperate climate ventilation systems have to work according to at least three scenarios: spring/autumn, winter and summer. The thermal comfort parameters in naturally ventilated buildings are usually more variable than in air-conditioned ones, what does not mean that the occupants will experience thermal discomfort. Therefore, thermal comfort in passively ventilated buildings should be evaluated according to the adaptive comfort standard, ...
The assessment of a building's energy efficiency is a crucial element in estimating and minimizing its operational costs. This analysis is particularly significant in the case of large-volume structures, including public utility buildings. The aim of the conducted research was to determine the electricity and heat consumption of a public utility building, specifically the selected seat of the Commune Office in the Silesian Voivodeship (Żywiec County). The scope of the study included calculating the demand for useful energy (EU), final energy (EK), and primary energy (EP) both before and after the thermal modernization carried out in the years 2016-2019, as well as developing recommendations for further modernization aimed at reducing the energy intensity of the assessed facility. As a result of the analysis of energy indicators calculated for the building before and after thermal modernization, it was found that the construction works performed had a positive impact on the energy and economic efficiency of the facility, reducing primary energy consumption from 639.04 kWh∙m⁻²∙year⁻¹ to 143.83 kWh∙m⁻²∙year⁻¹. It is recommended to carry out further works, as a result of which primary energy consumption could be reduced to 92.20 kWh∙m⁻²∙year⁻¹ (35.9%), which will allow for achieving the technical conditions envisaged for public ...
