Stilt houses in Southeastern and Northern European climate conditions

Abstract

The comparison of the annual specific primary energy consumption (SPEC) of the different stilt house models and corresponding slab-on house (SOH), the stilt house with fully opened (SWAC) and fully closed zone below the raised ground floor (lower zone) was investigated. The stilt house with fully closed zone implies the stilt house with transparent (SWTC), non-transparent (SWNTC) and variable transparent (SHSC) walls of the lower zone. The comparison was conducted for different climate conditions, insulation levels and ground temperature scenarios. The most favourable type of stilt house is the house with transparent walls of the lower zone during winter and non-transparent walls during summer (SHSC). The average percentage increase in SPEC of stilt houses, in relation to the SPEC of the corresponding SOH ranges from a maximum of 12.17% (SWAC) to a minimum of 3.63% (SHSC), for the Southeastern Europe, and from 12.54% (SWAC) to 4.62% (SHSC), for the Northern Europe climatic conditions, respectively.