E x a m i n i n g C o s t – E f f e c t i v e n e s s o f P V / T M V H R S y s t e m s
613
EXAMINING COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF PV/T MVHR SYSTEMS
APPLIED TO SCOTTISH HOUSING
Kajal Dhamne
1
, Anushree Rohatgi
1
, Balachander Raidu
1
, Masa Noguchi
1
, Yoshiki
Higuchi
2
, and Mitsuhiro Udagawa
2
1
Mackintosh School of Architecture, The Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom
2
Department of Architecture, Kogakuin University, Japan
Abstract
The ZEMCH 109 is a zero energy affordable housing prototype that has been designed
by NRGStyle in partnership with ZEMCH Network (Zero Energy Mass Customised
Housing) and will be constructed in Prestwick, Scotland (Evans et al 2012). The project
is aimed at achieving zero energy bills with the support of the application of passive
design techniques and renewable energy technologies in order to replace the
conventional sources of energy. In particular, this study examines the performance and
cost effectiveness of hybrid solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) panels connected to a
mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system which will be applied to ZEMCH
109. The PV/T system converts solar radiation into both electricity and heat in contrast to
conventional PV modules that generate electricity alone. The system performance will be
simulated with an aim to examine the effect of the panels’ orientation, tilt angle and
ventilation air flow. Moreover, the field tests will be conducted after the construction of
ZEMCH 109. In this study, both initial and operational costs of the system will be
investigated within the timeframe set in order to give an insight about the correlation
between the system’s performance and the cost effectiveness.
Keywords:
Photovoltaic thermal systems, balanced mechanical ventilation with heat
recovery systems, building integration, cost-effectiveness
Introduction
The Scottish Government (2008) is in support of the EU target of 20% of Europe’s
energy requirements being met from renewable resources by 2020. The Government
aims to produce 50% of Scottish demand for electricity from renewable sources by 2020,
and this helps play its part in the UK's 15% contribution towards the EU target. The fuel
poverty has increased from 15% in 2003 to 33% in 2009, which shows the increase in
the cost of energy (Scottish Household Survey 2009). Nicola Sturgeon (2010) stresses
that "Scotland is leading the way on reducing our carbon footprint and introducing
modern measures for modern times, to help meet our ambitious climate change targets.
Creating sustainable communities will help us become less reliant on fuel consumption
and boost our standard of living. This goes hand in hand with helping people to reduce
household fuel bills, work locally and being able to walk to the shops and work without
relying on a car." Use of renewable resources of energy is a way of reducing the
expenditure on energy demands.
Scottish homes today are conspicuous energy consumers emitting on average 3 ton-
CO
2
per house annually. The figure indicates the operational carbon dioxide (CO
2
)
emission is much higher than the UK average of 2.75 ton-CO
2
. Moreover, approx. 30%
