High performance green buildings

This work aims to study and analyze strategies and measures to improve energy performance in residential and service buildings, in order to minimize energy losses and energy consumption. Due to the high energy dependence of European Union (EU), including Portugal and Slovenia, and high percentage of energy consumption in the building sector, there was a need to adopt strategies at European level with ambitious goals. This came to force EU - Member States to take measures to achieve the proposed targets for energy consumption reduction. To this end, EU - Member States have adapted the laws to their needs and formed specialized agencies and qualified experts on energy certification, which somehow evaluate buildings according to their performance. In this study, the external characteristics of the building in order to meet its thermal needs and from there to survey the existing and possible constructive solutions to be used at the envelope will be examined, in order to increase comfort and reduce the need of use technical means of air conditioning. The possibility of passive heating and ventilation systems also will be discussed. These techniques are developed in parallel with the deployment and design of the building. In this manner, to reduce the energy consumption, various techniques and technologies exploit natural resources. Thus, appear the more sustainable and efficient buildings, so-called Green Buildings have been appeared. The study ends with the identification of measures used in several buildings, proving the economic return in the medium to long term, as well as the satisfaction of their users.