ABSTRACT
The Cypriot case study results from applying the ZERO-PLUS design methodology to create a positive-energy settlement at the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia. The settlement is composed of an existing prefabricated facility called “Air Quality Observatory” used as office space and workshop on the ground floor and as a climate and atmospheric laboratory on the first floor, and new prefabricated facilities are planned to be built in the future and called “ZERO-PLUS demohouses,” which will serve as student housing.
The ZERO-PLUS demohouses are used to prove theoretically the ZERO-PLUS design methodology and its suitability in a semi-arid climate typical of Nicosia. The Air Quality Observatory is used to install, test in-field, and monitor advanced passive building components, namely, the Fibran insulation, and novel active technologies for space heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) at the building level, namely, the FREESCOO HVAC system, and the generation of renewable energy, namely, the IDEA’s high-concentration photovoltaic and thermal (HCPV/T) system, at the settlement level.
