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Documents published in Scipedia

• Development of a dynamic model for natural ventilated photovoltaic components and of a data driven approach to validate and identify the model parameters

  J. Cipriano, G. Houzeaux, G. Mor Martinez, U. Eicker, J. Carbonell, S. Danov

  Solar Energy (2016). Vol. 129, pp. 310-331

  
  

  Abstract

  In the development of dynamic models for the energy performance evaluation of building integrated natural ventilated PV components there are still many open questions regarding the uncertainty of the estimated parameters of the models. Traditionally, the dynamic models for these complex components are derived from the heat transfer balance equations, and the unknown heat transfer coefficients (convection and radiation), the solar properties of the materials or the pressure coefficients for the air mass flow rate balance, are assigned based on literature or on manufacturer prescriptions. However, there is a lack of systematic methods able to validate the simulation outputs with the measured data, taking into consideration the uncertainty of the parameters and their effect over the results. This research is focused on the development of a dynamic simulation model for a PV ventilated component, and on the application of a data-driven iterative approach to identify the unknown parameters, to evaluate their influence in the simulation outputs and finally, to determine the deviations of the simulations outputs against the measured data. During the identification process, 43 unknown parameters are detected and 13 of them are categorized as strong parameters. The implemented data driven approach is able to achieve high goodness of fit with the measured data and it is recommended to analyses which aim at evaluating the influence of some component parameters or the thermal and electrical energy produced by these natural ventilated PV components.

  Abstract
  In the development of dynamic models for the energy performance evaluation of building integrated natural ventilated PV components there are still many open questions regarding [...]

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• Hidden Markov Models for indirect classification of occupant behaviour

  J. Liisberg, J. Moller, H. Bloem, J. Cipriano, G. Mor Martinez, H. Madsen

  Sustainable Cities and Society (2016). Vol. 27, pp. 83-98

  
  

  Abstract

  Even for similar residential buildings, a huge variability in the energy consumption can be observed. This variability is mainly due to the different behaviours of the occupants and this impacts the thermal (temperature setting, window opening, etc.) as well as the electrical (appliances, TV, computer, etc.) consumption. It is very seldom to find direct observations of occupant presence and behaviour in residential buildings. However, given the increasing use of smart metering, the opportunity and potential for indirect observation and classification of occupants’ behaviour is possible. This paper focuses on the use of Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to create methods for indirect observations and characterisation of occupant behaviour. By applying homogeneous HMMs on the electricity consumption of fourteen apartments, three states describing the data were found suitable. The most likely sequence of states was determined (global decoding). From reconstruction of the states, dependencies like ambient air temperature were investigated. Combined with an occupant survey, this was used to classify/interpret the states as (1) absent or asleep, (2) home, medium consumption and (3) home, high consumption. From the global decoding, the average probability profiles with respect to time of day were investigated, and four distinct patterns of occupant behaviour were observed. Based on the initial results of the homogeneous HMMs and with the observed dependencies, time dependent HMMs (inhomogeneous HMMs) were developed, which improved forecasting. For both the homogeneous and inhomogeneous HMMs, indications of common parameters were observed, which suggests further development of the HMMs as population models.

  Abstract
  Even for similar residential buildings, a huge variability in the energy consumption can be observed. This variability is mainly due to the different behaviours of the occupants [...]

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• Developing indicators to improve energy action plans in municipalities: An accounting framework based on the fund-flow model

  X. Cipriano, G. Gamboa, S. Danov, G. Mor Martinez, J. Cipriano

  Sustainable Cities and Society (2017). Vol. 32, pp. 236-276

  
  

  Abstract

  The main instrument used to implement the EU 2020 objectives at local level is the Covenant of Mayors, which fosters the development of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs); these plans aim to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. These action plans are linked to different municipal promotion tools, and a set of indicators has also been proposed to define and monitor the actions. In general, the adequacy of the main indicators used by the SEAPs is analysed, taking into consideration the representation of the urban system across all scales (city, neighbourhood and building) as well as whether the chosen indicators enable the analyst to consider the influence of human activities (i.e. hours of use) on energy consumption, within the system. In contrast, this paper proposes to apply the fund-flow model as an accounting framework that can be used to develop indicators for energy-efficient urban planning. The energy model behind these indicators was obtained using an innovative procedure for energy simulation which considers the isolated characteristics of the buildings (type of construction, occupation, interior comfort, type of energy system) as well as the interaction with the surrounding buildings (shadows, streets, geometry).The indicators proposed have been developed within the SEMANCO UE project, and we have taken into account their potential as criteria for identifying the most effective actions for energy planning on multilevel scales. An example in Manresa (Spain) is used to test the usability. Our results demonstrate that these indicators are suitable for use in decision-making processes in the field of urban planning and for performing coherent comparisons of actions between urban areas, cities, countries or regions.

  Abstract
  The main instrument used to implement the EU 2020 objectives at local level is the Covenant of Mayors, which fosters the development of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs); [...]

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• A cooling system for a hybrid PV/thermal linear concentrator

  D. Chemisana, J. Cipriano, M. Ibáñez, B. Mesih, A. Mellor

  (2008). Research Report, Nº PI325

  
  

  Abstract

  This paper presents the thermal evaluation of an evacuated PVT collector designed to operate under concentrated radiation (15 suns). Finite volume 3D numerical computations have been carried out in order to study the thermal characteristics of different rectangular cross section aluminium pipes and to test the performance of the PVT collector with several laminar flow rates. Experiments with the same laminar flows show the same behavior than in the numerical results.

  Abstract
  This paper presents the thermal evaluation of an evacuated PVT collector designed to operate under concentrated radiation (15 suns). Finite volume 3D numerical computations [...]

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• Development and characterization of semitransparent double skin PV façades

  J. Cipriano, C. Lodi, D. Chimisana, G. Houzeaux, O. Perpiñan

  (2008). Research Report, Nº PI324

  
  

  Abstract

  This research aims at developing new standardized typologies of semitransparent double skin façades formed by PV laminates in the outer skin. At present there are many buildings in Europe which incorporate such active façades, but all have been designed as user defined projects and very few accurately evaluate the feasibility of using the heat produced within the air gap. There is actually a lack of effective methodology to allow non-specialist architects to design and evaluate such façades. This research tries to address this situation: the Spanish PV manufacturer ISOFOTON, together with the partners of the PVTBUILDING project: CIMNE, the UdL, PICHAguilera, DOMUS and BSC have begun a collaboration to design industrialized modules constituted by an external semitransparent PV layer, a wide air gap and an internal glass layer. This paper describes the results of four stages of a more wide research: a detailed analysis of the existing double skin façades in office buildings and the definition of a family of standard PV modules and ventilated façades; an intensive evaluation of the existing heat transfer relations for asymmetrical heated vertical air channels; the programming of a dynamic transient solver based on TRNSYS and the validation of the codes with the set up of prototypes and the beginning of an experimental campaign.

  Abstract
  This research aims at developing new standardized typologies of semitransparent double skin façades formed by PV laminates in the outer skin. At present there are many [...]

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• EMPOWERING, a smart Big Data framework for sustainable electricity suppliers

  A. Access, . November, J. Cipriano

  EMPOWERING, a smart Big Data framework for sustainable electricity suppliers (2018). IEEE Access. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2881413

  
  

  Abstract

  This paper presents the EMPOWERING project, a Big Data environment aimed at helping domestic customers to save electricity by managing their consumption positively. This is achieved by improving the information received about energy bills and offering online tools. The main contributions of EMPOWERING are the creation of a novel workflow in the electricity utility sector regarding the implementation of data analytics for their customers and the fast implementation of data-mining techniques in massive datasets within a Big Data platform to achieve scalability. The results obtained show that EMPOWERING can be of use for customers of electrical suppliers by changing their energy habits to decrease consumption and so increase environmental sustainability. Index Terms—Big-data, Electricity supply industry, Sustainable development, Domestic consumption

  Abstract
  This paper presents the EMPOWERING project, a Big Data environment aimed at helping domestic customers to save electricity by managing their consumption positively. This is [...]

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• Assessing the nearly zero-energy building gap in university campuses with a feature extraction methodology applied to a case study in Spain

  J. Cipriano

  Articles on Energy (2018).

  
  

  Abstract

  Public universities face the challenge of retrofitting the actual campus buildings into nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB). In this study, a novel methodology for evaluating historical energy use and renewable energy production for all the buildings of a university, including hourly, daily and monthly data assessments is presented. This analysis is useful as a baseline for comparisons with future energy retrofits and enables determining the current gap between actual energy indicators at building and campus levels and the established limits for NZEB non-residential buildings in the European Union. The methodology is applied to a case study at the University of Lleida, a typical average-size university in Spain. Results show a wide variation in energy use among campus buildings, ranging between 50 and 470 kWh/m2 year. Constant or slightly increasing energy use and decreasing trends in renewable energy generation are observed. The daily electricity profiles have shown similar patterns among buildings and substantial potential energy savings during unoccupied periods. In the NZEB analysis, the average non-renewable primary energy use is about 4 times higher than the maximum estimated Spanish threshold range of 45–55 kWh/m2 year. Deep energy renovation strategies are, thus, needed for universities to meet EU NZEB targets.

  Abstract
  Public universities face the challenge of retrofitting the actual campus buildings into nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB). In this study, a novel methodology for evaluating [...]

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Articles (Documents not available in Scipedia)

• Assessing the nearly zero-energy building gap in university campuses with a feature extraction methodology applied to a case study in Spain

  M Medrano, JM Martí, L Rincón, G Mor, J Cipriano, M Farid

  International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 1-21, 2018

• Using matrix factorisation for the prediction of electrical quantities

  F Lecron, Z De Grève, F Vallée, G Mor, D Pérez, S Danov, J Cipriano

  CIRED-Open Access Proceedings Journal 2017 (1), 2568-2571, 2017

• Developing indicators to improve energy action plans in municipalities: An accounting framework based on the fund-flow model

  X Cipriano, G Gamboa, S Danov, G Mor, J Cipriano

  Sustainable cities and society 32, 263-276, 2017

• Comparing time-series clustering approaches for individual electrical load patterns

  Z De Greve, F Lecron, F Vallee, G Mor, D Perez, S Danov, J Cipriano

  CIRED-Open Access Proceedings Journal 2017 (1), 2165-2168, 2017

• ZEBRA 2020-NEARLY ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING STRATEGY 2020. Strategies for a nearly Zero-Energy Building market transition in the European Union

  A Toleikyte, L Kranzl, R Bointner, F Bean, J Cipriano, M De Groote, ...

  ZEBRA 2020, 2016

• ZEBRA 2020-Nearly Zero‐Energy Building Strategy 2020. D6. 2: Strategies for nZEB market transition on national level

  A Toleikyte, J Cipriano, S Schimschar, D Kretschmer, R Guillin, M Klinski, ...

  ZEBRA 2020, 2016

• Development of a dynamic model for natural ventilated photovoltaic components and of a data driven approach to validate and identify the model parameters

  J Cipriano, G Houzeaux, G Mor, U Eicker, J Carbonell, S Danov

  Solar Energy 129, 310-331, 2016

• Hidden Markov Models for indirect classification of occupant behaviour

  J Liisberg, JK Møller, H Bloem, J Cipriano, G Mor, H Madsen

  Sustainable Cities and Society 27, 83-98, 2016

• Influencing factors in energy use of housing blocks: a new methodology, based on clustering and energy simulations, for decision making in energy refurbishment pr...

  X Cipriano, A Vellido, J Cipriano, J Martí-Herrero, S Danov

  Energy Efficiency, 1-24, 2016

• Dynamic Methodology for the Evaluation of Occupant Behaviour and Residential Energy Consumption

  GM J. Bloem, H. Madsen, J. Kloppenborg, J. Liisberg, J. Cipriano

  Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in …, 2015

• Empowering customer engagement by informative billing: a European approach

  S Danov, J Cipriano, A Meganck, L Vandevelde

  23rd International Conference and Exhibition on Electricity Distribution …, 2015

• Evaluation of a multi-stage guided search approach for the calibration of building energy simulation models

  J Cipriano, G Mor, D Chemisana, D Pérez, G Gamboa, X Cipriano

  Energy and Buildings 87, 370-385, 2015

• Energy characterization and experimental validation of natural ventilated semitransparent double skin PV components

  J Cipriano

  Universitat de Lleida, 2014

• Research activities of the Building Energy and Environment (BEE) group of CIMNE

  J Cipriano, D Pérez

  I Jornada de la recerca i la innovació tecnològica al Campus de la UPC a …, 2013

• Numerical analysis of the most appropriate heat transfer correlations for free ventilated double skin photovoltaic façades

  J Cipriano, G Houzeaux, D Chemisana, C Lodi, J Martí-Herrero

  Applied Thermal Engineering 57 (1-2), 57-68, 2013

• Approaches to evaluate building energy performance from daily consumption data considering dynamic and solar gain effects

  S Danov, J Carbonell, J Cipriano, J Martí-Herrero

  Energy and Buildings 57, 110-118, 2013

• Modelling the heat dynamics of a monitored test reference environment for building integrated photovoltaic systems using stochastic differential equations

  C Lodi, P Bacher, J Cipriano, H Madsen

  Energy and Buildings 50, 273-281, 2012

• An outdoor test reference environment for double skin applications of building integrated photovoltaic systems

  JJ Bloem, C Lodi, J Cipriano, D Chemisana

  Energy and Buildings 50, 63-73, 2012

• Design methodology for low cost tubular digesters

  J Martí-Herrero, J Cipriano

  Bioresource Technology 108, 21-27, 2012

• Design and monitoring of an improved test reference environment for the evaluation of BIPV systems

  C Lodi, J Cipriano, JJ Bloem, D Chemisana

  Proceedings of the 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference …, 2010

• Monitoring and modelling energy efficiency of municipal public buildings: case study in Catalonia region

  X Cipriano, J Carbonell, J Cipriano

  International Journal of Sustainable Energy 28 (1-3), 3-18, 2009

• Development and characterization of semitransparent double skin PV façades

  J Cipriano, C Lodi, D Chemisana, G Houzeaux, O Perpinan

  Proceedings of the EuroSun 2008, 8, 2008

• L'ús actual de l'energia solar. Aplicacions als edificis

  X Cipriano, J Cipriano

  Atzavara, L', 51-60, 2004