Energy monitoring of low-energy houses in northern Poland Part one: Characteristics of buildings and their energy demand

Slowing development of low energy buildings in Poland and other EU is the lack of recommendations, compliance with which would guarantee the achievement of specified energy level. An attempt of a comprehensive approach to such a standard was made in 2013 by a program and the subsidy system for passive residential buildings. Two energy requirements were defined (NF15 and NF40) with appropriate specifications for building assemblies and installations. The maximum of the energy consumed during the heating season was specified as well as limits for other energy use. This publication is the first of two articles on the assessment of selected characteristics of several buildings with a reduced energy demand, which were built in north-eastern and central Poland. It is an introduction in which the assessed buildings were characterized both in terms of their designed technical and functional parameters as well as real energy supplies related to their heating and ventilation. (paper)