50
acteS du coLLoque
51
SeSSion 2
–
Currently, the most serious threat
for the architecture and technical systems
in historic buildings is the demand to reduce
CO2 emissions and adapt to climate change.
Unfortunately energy renovations oen ignore
the architectural and material authenticity
of historic buildings. is presentation briefly
reports of the most typical effects of energy
renovations on cultural heritage buildings
in Finland. To avoid the harmful effects from
the conservation point of view, three actions should
be applied. First we need to ensure that officially
protected buildings will be nationally excluded
from the scope of the directive, in each EU country.
Secondly, we should start the discussion about
the thermal comfort standards applied in cultural
heritage buildings. ermal comfort is controlled
by air-conditioning utilizing the biggest amount
of energy in buildings. Local standards for thermal
comfort are based on the static model in ASHRAE
Standard 55, which do not take into account the
human ability of behavioural, physiological and
psychological adaptation. e application of an
adaptive model instead of a static one, has greater
potential to energy saving.
irdly, we need to find ways to heat and cool
our old buildings so that the primary energy
consumption and the CO2 emissions are as low as
possible. Properly verified, low CO2 emissions may
reduce the need for additional insulation. In this
aspect, there is no difference between legally
protected and other existing buildings.
National Climate Change Strategies
Finland has been a pioneer in the implementation
of adaptation policy. e first long-term climate and
energy strategies were formulated already in 2001.
However, cultural heritage sector has been concerned
about the impacts and challenges of climate change
to our built heritage and the cultural environment.
Two years ago, in 2008, the Ministry of the
Environment published a report of Climate change
and the Cultural Environment. It tells, of course,
about the storms and floods and other extreme
weather phenomena, however, we should not
damage our built heritage with careless energy
renovations. ’Over the short term, the cultural
environment may be affected less by climate change
as such, than by mitigation and adaptation
measures, such as... various solutions for energy
efficiency...’. e ERA17 Energy-Smart Built
Environment programme was launched in October
2010 by the Ministry of the Environment. In these
strategies, existing buildings are mentioned only
as a source of potential energy saving 1.
e implementation of EPBD in Finland
To come back to EPBD (Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive), until now, Act on the Energy
Certificate 487/2007 is the only legal procedure
actually implementing the Directive which takes
into account the possibility for an exemption given
in the Directive. us, Energy Certificate is not
needed for officially protected buildings in Finland.
To answer the demands assessed in the EPBD 2010,
the Ministry of the Environment launched the dra
for new requirements for energy efficiency of new
building in September 2010. is revised dra
observes both U-values for building envelope and
overall energy performance, primary energy use per
energy carrier and air-tightness. Designed energy-
use has to be counted and used energy has to be able
to be metered. Also renewables are taken into
account according to EU directive 2009/28/EC -
«RES Promotion of the use of energy from renewable
energy resources».
What is new in National Building Code Part D2
under revision is a new parameter E-value, which
tells the maximum energy use allowed for various
building types1. e total energy consumption is
related to the building type, for example: residential
blocks - 140 kWh/m2a; offices, schools and day-care
centres - 190 kWh/m2a; hotels - 280 kWh/m2a ; shops
- 270 kWh/m2a. Single-family and detached houses
are given various E-values depending on the building
size and material. Buildings bigger than 150 m2
should be more energy efficient than smaller ones.
e Ministry of the Environment has started the
work for binding regulations addressed on
renovation of existing buildings in autumn 2010.
In case of officially protected building, conservation
plan will be taken into account.
Challenges: structural humidity
control and air-tightness
In Nordic countries mitigation and adaptation
to climate change means significant changes in
architecture, outdoors in facades as well as in
indoors. Additional thermal insulation may cover
the facades with unsuitable materials, wooden
windows are oen replaced by plastic or aluminium
thermal windows, and the outer doors renewed.
Pre-study on building physical behaviour and
durability of building envelopes is going on at
Tampere University of Technology and the Technical
Research Centre, however, it seems that researches,
engineers and building physicists have difficulties
to find suitable methods for traditional structures.
ermal comfort standards
ermal comfort is that single factor, which
has the biggest influence on the quality of indoor air
climate and therefore also to the energy consumption
of buildings. ermal comfort standards are
very rarely discussed among conservation
specialists; however, by changing the standards
we might be able to save both – energy as well as
buildings. It is commonly known, that buildings
account for nearly 40 % of the total primary energy
consumption and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions.
us, as Alice Kwok and Nicolas Rajkovich have
stated ’Since lighting, space heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning utilize the largest amount
of energy in buildings, a logical place to begin is by
addressing the standards that define the operation
of heating and cooling systems.’ 2
Today, local standards for ventilation regulations
are based on the static model originally formulated
in American ASHRAE standard 55. e standard was
developed in 1970s by experimental research of Ole
Fanger and his group at the Kansas State University.
Static-heat-balance-model was developed in a
laboratory climate chamber. According to the static
model, ’a human is a passive recipient of indoor air
provided’. People are unable to control the system.
Indoor air is wanted to be even, constant and
consistent, and the conditions are managed by the
building control system. erefore, the comfort zone
is only +-2 degrees Celsius. is demand can only be
met with exhaustive technology and electricity
consumption.
However, the standard gives also another
option. In adaptive model, the human ability
to physiological, psychological and behavioural
adaptation is observed. People are able to extend
their comfort zone if they have an easy access
to the building controls – and that is a way to save
heating and cooling energy. People may change their
position, their activity, add or remove clothing,
open or close the window, adjust thermostats,
use fans, shading, curtains, blinds etc.
ermal comfort is known to be based on previous
experiences of the space. ermal expectations are
a result of the building type, local climate, the desire
for seasonal clothing and the social dress code as well
as the past experiences in the space and in home.
In consequence, expectations are also different in
mechanically and naturally ventilated buildings.
People who had acclimatized to air-conditioned
buildings had lower thermal tolerance than
others. Researchers have shown that the amount of
complains is lower in naturally ventilated buildings
than in those buildings which were ventilated
mechanically. People modify their expectation
according to the known facilities of buildings.
Mechanical intervention is not always necessary.
In relation to historic and naturally ventilated
buildings, people have a toleration of moderate
discomfort, and those buildings are ’forgiven’ their
occasionally poor abilities. 3
Energy efficiency is an important part of the usability
of heritage buildings as stated in the Venice Charter
1964. ’e conservation of a monument is always
facilitated by making use of them for some socially
useful purpose. Such use is therefore desirable but it
must not change the lay-out or decoration of the
building. It is within these limits only that
modifications demanded by a change of function should
be envisaged and may be permied.’ I hope that we
could find ways to improve the energy-efficiency of our
cultural heritage buildings, without compromising
their architectural and historical values.
1. Ministry of the Environment of Finland (2010),
National Building Code Part D2.www.ymparisto.fi.
2. Kwok A. G., & Rajkovich N. B. (2010). Addressing climate
change in comfort standards. Building and Environment 45, 18-22.
3. Nicol F., "ermal comfort" in Santamouris M. (ed).
Solar thermal technologies for buildings. Low Energy
Architecture Research Unit, London Metropolitan University,
2003, pp. 279-331.
p50 : 19th Century Casern in Suomenlinna Fortress,
designed by Russian Engineering Officers.
Picture Seija Linnanmäki, 2010.
Below : U-value assessed for an outer wall
in National Building Code C3 2010 is 0,14 W/m2K.