A framework for NZEB design in Mediterranean climate: Design, building and set-up monitoring of a lab-small villa

Nowadays, the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) represent the new target from 2019 onwards. The present study is focused on a single-family house (called BNZEB), placed in south Italy and specifically designed for a Mediterranean climate. The “Benevento” Nearly Zero Energy Building (that is why the name is “BNZEB”) is built with the purpose to be, at the same time, a research laboratory, suitable for testing and measuring energy demands, renewable energy conversion, indoor environmental quality and other aspects of performances in a realistic context. More in detail, firstly the BNZEB is presented and described; then, the early results of a monitoring campaign are shown with the purpose to characterise the energy performance of this building during the summer season and verify the effectiveness of chosen design solutions. For this reason, the daily energy balance is proposed with the aim to evidence the impact of solar production and electric storage on building energy consumptions. It is really important the presentation and the discussion about the monitoring results because, very often, the real performance does not coincide with the expected one and further optimizations are needed. Subsequently, a numerical model of the case study building, suitable for performing transient energy simulations, is used to compare the BNZEB building with other buildings: (a) one representative of the constructive standard established by Italian law; (b) a second one typical of the not-refurbished buildings stock of the city. The aim of this last part is to understand how much the BNZEB's energy performances are better compared to reference buildings during the summer season. Finally, the replicability of BNZEB design in Mediterranean cities, like Lisbon, Montpellier, Madrid, Seville and Athens is evaluated.