ابزار ارزیابی برای انرژی اقتصادی و ارزیابی زیست محیطی راه حل های عایق بندی حرارتی

The paper discusses an assessment tool, used for the energy, economic and environmental evaluation of Thermal Insulation Solutions (TIS). The results of the assessment undertaken with this tool can take the form of a simple rating system in order to enable users to perform comprehensive comparisons amongst various building materials and TIS. A ranking expressed by A, B and C classes is used for energy, environmental and economic parameters. By evaluating the materials, the tool supports the users to make decisions, depending on preferences or priorities such as the energy efficiency achieved, the total cost and the environmental performance. The assessment tool is applied for the double cavity wall and the External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) as they are used throughout Europe, both in new constructions and in the renovation of existing buildings.

Sustainability is increasingly becoming an issue of importance and practical significance for the construction sector, as the environmental concern related to buildings is rising amongst the public and, in that sense, also amongst prospective buyers of buildings. At the same time, from a methodological point of view, the scope of environmental evaluation is widening, marking an evolution from a single criterion consideration, like the energy performance of buildings, towards a full integration of all aspects emerging during the lifetime of a building and its elements. Many of the parameters to be considered are intrinsically linked to the life quality which determines the inhabitants’ physical health, productivity and emotional wellbeing. It becomes therefore clear, that “Sustainable Buildings” is a broad, multi-criteria subject related to three basic interlinked parameters: • economics, as a building stands for an entire economic and productive branch; • environmental issues, both direct ones, as those caused by land use, construction processes, demolition and waste management, and indirect or discreet ones, like those resulting from mining, materials’ supply and transportation; • social parameters based on human's need for comfort and “good living”, which leads to the acceptance of some building solutions and the rejection of others. The tool discussed in this paper aims at the examination of those parameters and the determination of the energy, environmental and economic efficiency of the most common building materials and TIS, taking the Greek sector as an example.

A series of benefits can be yielded, when applying the discussed assessment tool. It provides users with the option to select and evaluate building materials, to implement thermal insulation solutions and measure their environmental performance, their energy efficiency and their construction cost. The user can change the type or the thickness of the insulation material applied on a building element even at the earliest design stages, in order to verify its impact on meeting the requirements foreseen by the legislation, its environmental impacts, its cost, etc. The building materials and elements are evaluated in an integral approach, as the parameters examined cover a wide range of criteria including the thermal and physical characteristics, environment, energy and the cost. The assessment tool described is cooperating efficiently with other environmental tools, like the ISO 14001, building rating systems, Ecolabel, LCA, etc. The ultimate goal of the assessment tool is to provide users with comprehensive results and enable the evaluation of specific improvement alternatives, based on technical, socio-economic and environmental criteria. There is a wide range of interested parties such as designers and architects, builders, manufactures, owners, institutes, local government who can utilize such a tool, in their effort to implement new approaches for the buildings’ comprehensive evaluation and to present suggestions for efficient improvement options. The tool has been used, as part of its validation, by selected professionals and the first results have been encouraging. An analytical study of its use on the basis of thorough data is forthcoming.