The occupants’ comfort in non-residential nearly Zero Energy Buildings in the 21st century: A review

Reducing energy consumption constitutes an important pillar of the policies for the building sector without however undermining the occupants' comfort conditions. In this line of approach, a variety of legislative and regulatory measures have been introduced since 2002 in Europe aiming to the realization of the vision of nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs). Considering this trend, and the fact that the EU member states should have completed these obligations until 2020, a review analysis over these issues is carried out and presented in this paper. This is being done by presenting the frameworks that have been established over these years and discussing their outcome. Furthermore, an analysis is conducted regarding the impact of the frameworks on the occupants' comfort. This leads to conclusions about the main parameters that have to be considered as part of the evolution of the regulations in the years to come.