Projects / Programmes
A Conceputal Model and an Open Knowledge Base of Energy in Buildings
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 2.01.00 |
Engineering sciences and technologies |
Civil engineering |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| T140 |
Technological sciences |
Energy research |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 2.01 |
Engineering and Technology |
Civil engineering |
buildings, energy, energy indicators, energy performance certificate, sustainable development, information technologies, semantic database, data gathering and manipulation, education
Researchers (18)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
The Energy Performance of Buildings prescribed concrete measures for increase of energy performance of buildings. Those measures have been followed by Slovenian strategic documents that define concrete tasks, which are currently under implementation.
However, it seems necessary to develop relevant information-technology support for their succesful up-take. Namely, our review and analysis of this research field show that the information on energy efficiency in buildings is vast and ubiquitous, but the data are poorly organized, not reliable, sometimes not factual and of varying quality. Moreover, in Slovenia we haven't got the database of building energy performance indicators.
According to the above, there is a need for a strong and properly structured information system on energy in buildings, which should contain a large number of relevant information, which could be used to make qualified decisions. Such open knowledge base should support the collection of complex-structured knowledge, and be organised according to types of low-energy newly constructed buildings, renovating techniques, and the dissemination of knowledge for different user profiles (e.g., building owners, energy inspectors, equipment and technology providers, designers, manufacturers of energy performance certificates).
Our research hypothesis is that we can contribute to the solution of the above mentioned problem by developing an information system, which would rely on conceptual model and open knowledge base on energy in buildings. The later would be based on state-of-the-art semantic technologies that would make it possible to capture, distil, disseminate and analyse the experience in the construction and renovation of buildings. Consequently, the architectural and construction companies and investors, faced with demands for an energy-saving design and construction, could gain access to relevant and important information in this field.
Our first basic objective of the proposed research is to develop a conceptual model of energy efficiency in buildings. It would be fairly complex, since it would include all phases of the building life-cycle (i.e. the planning, construction, use, renovation and removal) of materials and technologies, European and Slovenian agreements and guidelines, all aimed at increasing energy efficiency.
The second basic objective is to develop an appropriate open knowledge based on the developed conceptual model. We will develop a Web application so that the knowledge base may be populated by various users, which will be invited to participate. The developed information system will be used in an open way, since its users will benefit from it, but also feed-back their knowledge and experience.
Our third basic objective is to explore how such information system can contribute to the development of new technologies and approaches for building and renovating buildings with the primary goal to maximize energy efficiency.
The project involves two research organizations from Slovenia and a research organisation from the United Kingdom. In Slovenia: the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana (UL FGG) with its Department of Construction Informatics, and the Building and Civil Engineering Institute ZRMK d.o.o. (GI ZRMK) with its Centre for Environment, Building Physics and Energy, Ljubljana.
Members of the project team have extensive experience on energy efficiency of buildings and building sustainabiity (GI ZRMK), smart houses and semantic and grid technologies (UL FGG), IT in construction in general (UL FGG) and structural systems (GI ZRMK and UL FGG). The participating group from the University of Ulster (UU), School of Mathematics and Computer Science are experts in semantic technologies and smart houses.
Significance for science
The results of the project that have scientific significance have been presented in several scientific articles in journals and at several scientific conferences (and published in the conference proceedings). The main scientific results of the project were presented in the reports for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, and in this report in Section 6 "The most important scientific results and achievements of the project team." In the framework of this research project, doctoral thesis of Matija König was completed at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Ljubljana (supervised by assist. prof. Vlado Stankovski) entitled "A workflow system as an information support to companies operating and the area of ??Sustainable construction" [COBISS.SI-ID 6650977]. Asist. prof. Vlado Stankovski was also the editor of Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Cloud-Assisted Services - CLASS 2014, Bled, Slovenia, 25-26 September 2014. Ljubljana: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, the Commission of Science, Library and Publishing, 2014. VII, 50 p., Ilustre . ISBN 978-961-6884-22-8. [COBISS.SI-ID 275616512]. On this event asist. prof. Vlado Stankovski presented the process of development a knowledge base on sustainable buildings.
Significance for the country
Smart buildings and houses and smart use of resources are paradigms that are specifically listed in the latest version of the strategic document "Smart specialization Strategy of the Republic of Slovenia" of 29.8 .2014, which, when adopted, will become an important document to which the research and development projects finaced by European Union, will have to rely. The present research project is directly related to this paradigm. By definition, the smart buildings and houses efficiently deal with the energy (in the sense that they use it as little as possible to maximize the effect). With the knowledge acquired in the framework of this research project, the project team members will have easier job to write research projects (and compete for European funding) with research topics related to smart buildings and houses that efficiently deal with the energy. Knowledge acquired and upgraded during this research project are consistent with the needs and challenges of the current strategic documents adopted by the Slovenian state in the field of energy efficiency: Action Plan for Energy Efficiency - AN URE 2020, AN OVE - Renewable energy resources, AN sNES - Action Plan for the construction of nearly zero-energy buildings, and perhaps most impotant, yet emerging document: Long-term strategy to promote investment in energy renovation of buildings. The long-term strategy will provide technical guidances for the actions related to the energy renovation and connect them with the proposal of modern financial instruments from public domestic and European funds (but also private sources), which will lead Slovenia on the path to achieving exceptional energy savings potential in existing buildings. A special challenge to the individual investor and to the country will be to choose the cost-optimal approach in its realization. Special knowledge and its dissemination to target groups is essential here. Gradbeni inštitut ZRMK, as a contractor for the last two national plans, integrates the findings of the research projects with the aforementioned strategic planning. Web portal with a knowledge database on improvement the energy efficiency of buildings and a web aplication that enables a simple and quick way of obtaining estimates of some of the key energy indicators for the selected building in Slovenia, are now available to all stakeholders dealing with energy in buildings. Available to the interested are also various publications that have been prepared in the framework of this project. Within the framework of this project two diploma theses were completed in 2014 at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at University of Ljubljana (both under the supervision of assist. prof. Vlado Stankovski). The first thesis was made by Michael Tomsic, namely the use of semantic web applications in the marketing of construction products, and the other by Katja Ogrin, namely Semantic catalog of construction services. The third thesis completed in 2014 under the supervision of asist. prof. Marjane Šijanec Zavrl was Energy balance of the building by the quasi-steady-state method and dynamic method of calculation by Klemen Domjan.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
