Papers by Sofia- Natalia Boemi
Journal of Econometrics, 2014
Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology, 2015
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2020
The present paper examines the phenomenon of energy poverty in Greece. Specifically, energy pover... more The present paper examines the phenomenon of energy poverty in Greece. Specifically, energy poverty concerns a growing number of households that have limited access to energy or are unable to pay for this energy, mainly due to insufficient thermal insulation, low income and high energy costs. The continuing economic crisis in Greece has increased the rate of energy poverty as incomes have fallen, the price of oil and PPC tariffs have risen, more households are asked to pay more than 20% of their energy bill income. Excessive energy poverty in turn has an impact on the environment (illegal logging, smog, etc.), but also to the physical and mental health of people exposed to it. The paper includes a case study which provides information and data collected from a sample of 384 households using the questionnaire method in four areas of northern Greece, which is the Edessa area in Central Macedonia, the area of Drama in Eastern Macedonia, the area of Xanthi and the Municipality of Myki (...
Advances in Building Energy Research, 2014
ABSTRACT The concept of Net Zero Energy Buildings is gaining momentum. However, the underlying id... more ABSTRACT The concept of Net Zero Energy Buildings is gaining momentum. However, the underlying idea of offsetting the energy drawn from the grids with local production is yet to be proven as economically efficient, namely when compared with alternatives such as district/neighbourhood-level facilities or adding more large-scale facilities to the national grid(s). This paper presents a study on strategies for making an existing neighbourhood becoming net zero energy, focusing on the level of retrofit to apply to the buildings, on the proximity of the offset and on the selected offset equipment. The following discretization was considered: three levels of energy efficiency (low, medium and high), four offset generation alternatives (building integrated photovoltaic (PV), off-site large-scale PV, off-site large-scale wind turbines and not offsetting) and two energy tariff types (subsidized and non-subsidized). The results have shown that, under the reference economic conditions considered, it is best to upgrade the energy efficiency up to the medium level, and then offset the demand with off-site large-scale wind turbine equipment. These suggest that reaching net zero balance through on-site generation is less efficient than doing it through large-scale facilities.
Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects
International Journal of Ventilation, 2011
The issue of evaluating possible strategies for improving the building stock's energy and environ... more The issue of evaluating possible strategies for improving the building stock's energy and environmental performance is crucial. This applies to all buildings including residential and non-residential. In particular, hotels represent a group of both economic importance and public interest. Within the frame of a field study, and in a bottom-up approach, data related to the energy and environmental performance of Hellenic hotels were gathered, along with information related to occupancy levels, indoor environmental quality matters and management procedures. At the same time, and in a top-down approach, data were obtained from the Hellenic Tourism Organization and the national and regional Hotel Chambers. These data provide a reliable background in order to elaborate statistical indices, such as the mean, mode and median for the energy performance of various hotel groups. The idea of a "typical" hotel, as well as its respective performance, remains, however, vague and has to be linked to the aforementioned bottom-up approach. The present analysis is an attempt to group the main features via descriptive statistics and identify possible associations and correlations between energy figure factors.
International Journal of Ventilation, 2011
ABSTRACT This research concentrates on evaporative cooling, a sustainable and alternative way to ... more ABSTRACT This research concentrates on evaporative cooling, a sustainable and alternative way to cool a roof surface by taking advantage of the properties of porous materials. During periods of rain or high humidity nights, water sorbents store moisture in their small pores inside their particles. During a warm sunny day, the latent heat released due to evaporation of moisture, maintains the surface temperature at low level. Lower roof temperatures contribute to smaller heat flow inside the building while reducing the cooling load. In this work, materials consisting of ordinary soil, montmorillonite and modified clays were used. Prior to moisture sorption experiments, materials were characterized by techniques including X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, thermogravimetric analysis and porosimetry. In order to determine the sorption isotherms, dry specimens were placed initially in desiccators above four different saturated salts in water solutions (32.8% to 93.6%). The modified clay was found to have the highest equilibrium state (10% after almost 4 days of sorption at high relative humidity). Also the moisture sorption rate of the modified clay was faster than the rest of the materials and equilibrium was attained in less than 12 hours. Moreover, a specific environment chamber was developed and tested for the evaporative cooling properties of the materials. The lower observed surface temperatures under simulating radiation of the modified clays in comparison to ordinary soil, indicated their significant potential for evaporative cooling applications.
Energy Procedia, 2015
A family of composite cool thermal insulation materials has been developed as part of the DICOM r... more A family of composite cool thermal insulation materials has been developed as part of the DICOM research project, in order to provide building materials optimized for the retrospective insulation of existing buildings, which contribute in particular to the reduction of cooling loads in summer. An integrated evaluation of the materials was carried out in 2013-2014, by means of in vitro and in situ measurements, in order to determine and evaluate the materials' performance and the thermal comfort conditions before and after the retrofitting. Finally, a Life Cycle Analysis was carried for the materials, in order to evaluate their environmental impact.
Η παρούσα εργασία πραγματεύεται το ζήτημα της εξοικονόμησης ενέργειας στον κτιριακό τομέα και ειδ... more Η παρούσα εργασία πραγματεύεται το ζήτημα της εξοικονόμησης ενέργειας στον κτιριακό τομέα και ειδικότερα στις ξενοδοχειακές κατασκευές. Τα ξενοδοχεία αποτελούν μία ιδιαίτερη κατηγορία κτιρίων, σε σχέση με τα υπόλοιπα εμπορικά κτίρια, λόγω της μεγάλης ανομοιομορφίας των δραστηριοτήτων και λειτουργιών που πρέπει να περιλαμβάνουν. Κάθε ξενοδοχείο, στα πλαίσια ικανοποίησης των χρηστών και επισκεπτών του, ανάλογα με την κατηγορία του και την περίοδο λειτουργίας του, πρέπει να διαθέτει συγκεκριμένες παροχές, οι οποίες επηρεάζουν την περιβαλλοντική και ενεργειακή συμπεριφορά του. Παρ’ όλες τις προσπάθειες συνεχούς βελτίωσης της ποιότητας των παρεχόμενων υπηρεσιών, η πλειοψηφία των ξενοδοχειακών μονάδων στην Ελλάδα εξακολουθεί να αποτελείται από ξενοδοχεία 2 ή 3 αστέρων, εποχιακής λειτουργίας, με χαμηλές επιδόσεις στον τομέα της ενεργειακής και περιβαλλοντικής διαχείρισης. Σκοπός της συγκεκριμένης εργασίας είναι να παρουσιαστεί μία συνολική εικόνα του ξενοδοχειακού δυναμικού, και η εξέλιξη ...
Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy, 2010
Renewable energy sources (RES), excluding large hydroelectric plants, currently produce 4.21% of ... more Renewable energy sources (RES), excluding large hydroelectric plants, currently produce 4.21% of total electricity production in Greece. Even when considering the additional production from large hydroelectric plants, which accounts for some 7.8%, the distance to be covered towards the objective of 20% electricity produced from RES by 2010 and respectively towards 20% of total energy production by 2020 is discouraging. The potential, however, does exist; unfortunately so do serious barriers. On the other hand, solid waste management (SWM) is an issue that generates continuously increasing interest due to the extra amounts of solid waste generated; the lack of existing disposal facilities with adequate infrastructure and integrated management plans, also often accompanied by legislative and institutional gaps. However, socio-economic and public awareness problems are still met in the planning and implementation of RES and SWM projects, together with the lack of a complete national ca...
Landscape and Urban Planning, 2014
An urban park located in a densely built area of Western Athens, Greece is monitored. Temperature... more An urban park located in a densely built area of Western Athens, Greece is monitored. Temperature data from 15 urban and suburban stations are also used to perform comparative analysis at the city level. The park presents an important temperature inhomogeneity during day and night due to the variable radiative cooling capacity and shading potential between its various zones. Average nocturnal Cool Island Intensities (CII) against the reference urban stations varied between-0.7 K to-2.8 K while during the daytime the maximum CII was between-0.2 to-2.6 K. A statistical significant correlation between the magnitude of the CII and the population density index is found for both day and night. The data analysis showed that the park was warmer than the urban stations for ambient temperatures lower than 34 °C, while for higher urban temperatures the park remained cooler. Moreover the absolute CII increased as a function of the ambient temperature. A strong correlation with the wind speed is observed for speeds higher than 6 m/sec. The mitigation potential of the park was assessed by using three traverses in and around the park. The analysis of the Park Cooling Index (PCI) showed a variation from 3.3 to 3.8 K. The traverses' temperature gradient was estimated to be between 0.16 to 1.4/100m.The climatic influence of the park was extended up to 300 m away from the borders of the park.
Energy Policy, 2010
... Then, there is a series of office buildings and private dwellings designed be internationally... more ... Then, there is a series of office buildings and private dwellings designed be internationally acclaimed architects like Alexandros Tombazis (Helios 1 and 3, The Wave, AEGEK building, S&B building, Agrotiki Bank building), Harry Bougadellis (Dunant Hospital, Panteion ...
The need to improve the energy performance of buildings, both new but also, and in particular, ex... more The need to improve the energy performance of buildings, both new but also, and in particular, existing ones, is more imperative than ever. The “traditional” approach of thermal insulation is quite satisfactory for the reduction of thermal heating losses and loads, but it is not enough for coping with the problem of increased cooling loads, that are evolving to the single most influential problem, mainly for buildings in the densely built urban environment in Mediterranean and Southern European countries. Aim of the ongoing DICOM project, which is co-funded by the Hellenic General Secretariat for Research and Technology, is the design, development, production, evaluation, certification and introduction to the market of innovative, composite cool thermal insulating materials based on the new generation of extruded polystyrene (XPS) with improved vapour permeability (lower water vapour diffusion resistance factor μ) as well as with use of special plasters as a final coating with speci...
Contents: Climatic change in the built environment in temperate climates -- The role of buildings... more Contents: Climatic change in the built environment in temperate climates -- The role of buildings in the energy systems -- Challenges and priorities for a sustainable built environment in Southern Europe -- The impact of energy efficiency measures and renewable energies on employment -- Indicators for buildings performance assessment -- Life Cycle vs Carbon Footprint Analysis for construction materials -- Economic experiments used for the evaluation of buildings users behavior -- Technologies and socio-economic strategies to nZEB in the building stock of the Mediterranean area -- Households: Trends and perspectives -- Office buildings -- Commercial buildings: Trends and perspectives -- Hotel industry: Current situation and its steps beyond sustainability -- Schools: Trends and perspectives -- New Challenges at covering buildings thermal loads -- Micro-CHP -- Thermal Energy Storage -- Solar Thermal -- Solar Energy (PV) for Building Supply -- Thermal Insulation -- Cool materials -- Sh...
Cultural Sustainable Tourism, 2019
This paper addresses the spatial pattern around the ancient amphitheater in the Çiftepınarlar nei... more This paper addresses the spatial pattern around the ancient amphitheater in the Çiftepınarlar neighborhood of the Konuralp District in Düzce Province, Turkey. The amphitheater has been declared a first-degree archeological site and its surrounding buildings are officially registered. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the quality of the settlement pattern in the defined area via an analysis based on the scale of the streets and residences. Furthermore, GIS was used to detect the urban pattern of the area under evaluation. The ultimate aim was to assess the vulnerability of the historical site and to develop a relevant proposal for the enhancement and conservation of the neighborhood.
Energy Performance of Buildings, 2016
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
Pursuing high energy performance with the least environmental impact of a building, along with en... more Pursuing high energy performance with the least environmental impact of a building, along with ensuring the well-being of the occupants, is the ultimate goal of an institutional framework that addresses energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. The building sector is responsible for 38% of the total final energy consumption in Europe and is therefore in the epicentre of the effort to achieve improvements. This is being expressed by the targets of EU policies for 2030 and 2050, which set truly ambitious goals. Part of this effort is the improvement of the building's envelope thermal performance, along with the respective one of the HVAC systems, but also integrating those two in the best possible way. The façade is the crucial factor, as it is the interface between the building and its environment, but also between the environment and the HVAC system; it is truly the building's skin, which is therefore much more than a simple state boundary, if we want to have truly advanced buildings. Main scope of the paper is to present the results of an in depth investigation regarding the best available technologies and the upcoming trends of intelligent building façades, to be used in Zero and Positive Energy Buildings. This cannot be done without discussing the legislative and regulatory framework that applies for the building envelope, as solutions have to comply with regulations and standards, both national and international. In this line of approach an investigation of the practices and technical approaches best suited for Greece is being made, specifying their performance, possible drawbacks and approaches that are to be applied and the implementation of which is expected to contribute to the improvement of the buildings' performance. Furthermore, the constructional approaches and the effectiveness of both naturally and mechanically ventilated façades are discussed, along with their adaptation to the Greek building practices. The integration of ventilated façades with the building's HVAC systems may offer advantages, especially in spring and fall when preheating the air may lead to reduced energy requirements. In the opposite direction, heat rejection may be a problem in summer, where alternative cooling techniques can provide a solution. Finally, integration of innovative design elements such as the use of different final coating materials on the façades, the use of phasechanging materials (PCMs) and the integration of photovoltaic systems are evaluated.
Procedia Environmental Sciences
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Papers by Sofia- Natalia Boemi