Optimization of the free facade of the earth-sheltered houses in order to minimize the final energy consumption during the heating season

Abstract

The use of earth-sheltered houses in the building industry on the territory of Serbia is very modest, even though such facilities have excellent energy performance and a positive impact on the environment. Earth-sheltered houses could also be a good solution to the problem of building density in urban environments where the field configuration allows their application. In this paper, using the Energy Plus software, an earth-sheltered house in the territory of Kragujevac was analyzed from the aspect of final energy consumption for its heating during the heating season, whereby a geothermal heat pump in combination with floor panels was used as the active heating system. At the same time, in order to minimize the final energy consumption for heating, it was also analyzed how the dimensions and layers of transparent elements (windows) affect the production of electricity if the non-transparent surface of the free (southern) facade of the earth-sheltered house were completely covered by PV panels. The results showed that the final energy consumption for the heating of the given earthsheltered house can be reduced from 19.36 to 4.61 kWh/m2/a.