Energy conservation assessment of traditional and modern houses in Sydney

This study simulates various residential housing construction scenarios, including improved and standard fibro, brick veneer, double brick and fibro with improved flooring. The total heating and cooling energy requirements for each scenario are simulated with a computer program to determine which one is most energy efficient. In the simulation models, construction types and passive solar and energy efficient design strategies (PSEEDS) were varied while other parameters such as wall and roof thickness, windows sizes and general layout were kept constant. The study shows that a standard fibro house had the highest cooling and heating energy requirements (30,721 kWh/yr). The improved reverse brick veneer house had the lowest energy requirement of 9,628 kWh/yr. Amongst all the construction scenarios, the total energy required for cooling was higher than that required for heating. The results show that improved brick veneer, reverse brick veneer and double brick houses have the lowest net energy requirements for heating and cooling compared to the corresponding standard houses. The results indicate that the thermal mass (measured by R value) and PSEEDS incorporated in the construction have significant impact on the energy consumption. Incorporating these design features in the construction of a house can reduce the heating and cooling energy requirements by as much as 69%.