A Critical Overview of Net Zero Energy Buildings and Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Abstract

ZEBs (zero energy buildings) and more specifically “net Zero Energy Building” (nZEB) have become a prominent wording to describe the synergy of energy efficient building and renewable energy utilization to reach a balanced energy budget over a yearly cycle. The lack of a common and accepted definition or even a good understanding of ZEB makes the approach of this problem very challenging. In this paper there is an evaluation of the criteria in the definition framework and selection of the related options. Also a methodology is approached, to set nZEB definitions in a systematic way. Today's different ZEB technologies, challenges and problems are identified and analyzed. For the first time the overall operation of nZEB and its performance is investigated and modeled using FCMs and learning algorithms. A set of low energy buildings using extensive energy and environmental data are simulated for all four seasons of a year. Interesting results are obtained, presented and discussed. Useful conclusions are drawn and future research challenging topics are presented.