Field Station of the National Park Academy in Petronell, Austria: a Case Study of Evolving Thermal Performance Expect Ations

Abstract

Sustainability in the construction sector is increasing in importance. Due to a number of factors such as energy resource limitations and increasing occupancy expectations, the thermal performance standards concerning buildings are becoming stricter. In this context, it would be useful to document in practice, to which extent such developments in the standardization domain have affected the actual performance of buildings. The present contribution describes a research effort toward documentation of the evolving thermal performance of a specific building's refurbishment in Petronell, Austria. Subsequently, solar-thermal collectors and photovoltaic elements were added to explore the potential for utilizing renewable energy sources. In 2011, a new effort was initiated to capture the actual thermal performance of the building and its various components and systems in a structured and systematic manner. Thereby, a monitoring system was installed to collect data concerning indoor climatic conditions, user behavior and energy consumption. To put the performance of the building in the pertinent microclimatic context, a weather station was installed on the building. The collected results facilitate the treatment of a number of salient questions: Has the thermal retrofit of the building resulted in the expected performance improvement? How do previous standards compare to the currently valid thermal codes and requirements? What would be the potential of further improvement in building's energy efficiency if the implications of occupants' habits and behavior are considered? What is the actual output of the installed renewable energy harnessing systems? What lessons from the present monitoring exercise can be learned and applied to the context of other building projects? The paper concludes with a summary of the existing and necessary answers to these questions.