EFdeN Signature - a case study of a zero-energy house prototype optimized for Middle East climate

When talking about the urban challenges we face today at a global level, population growth and urbanization ranks high in the charts. Both challenges can be found in the Middle East and especially in Dubai, one of the fastest growing cities in the world - a rapidly developing urban settlement supporting an ever-increasing human population. With a very warm climate, the United Arab Emirates are struggling to develop strategies and solutions to decrease energy consumption. Among the major consumers in Middle East are the building therefore an integrated approach using renewable sources is mandatory. Within the Solar Decathlon competition the Romanian team of students proposed a house prototype to answer Middle East challenges. In this paper we present the developed model, its structure, systems and we demonstrate its potential as a positive energy balance building using numerical simulations.