Energy Performance & Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings in Russia

The global aim of building sustainability is to reduce carbon emissions and achieve zero emission buildings. Currently, a major method is implementing innovative environmental strategies to improve a building’s energy performance, using Building Research Establishment Energy Assessment Methods (BREEAM) to provide a certificate. An important aspect to consider is the climate, as well as the airtightness of the building’s fabric which drastically influence how a building can perform. This paper assesses energy performance and thermal comfort in Russia’s climate in a case study building, comparatively analysing results through changing the building fabric’s parameters. The case study is on the top floor of an office building in Moscow, where internal conditions and various parameters were accounted into the simulations in IES (VE). By testing the combinations of each parameter, scenarios with improved energy performance and thermal comfort were found. The results suggest the ideal configuration of parameters for Russia’s harsh climate would be to use the most optimal U-values and triple-paned glazing, implementing a night purging strategy and 1.5m overhang louvres as the solar shading strategies to ensure the building remains thermally comfortable and avoid overheating during summer. It is recommended to reduce excessive glazing to mitigate the impact of heat loss during winter while strengthening the airtightness of the building, though the annual range suggests that it may not be enough against Russia’s climate throughout the year, particularly in winter, PMV ranging from -2.17 in January to 0.81 in July representing a thermally uncomfortable situation both in summer and winter.