OUAZIA BOUALEM1; TARDIF MICHEL2; BIRGITTA NORDQUIST3; MIKE LUBUN4; BOOTH DANIEL5

1 Research Officer, National Research Council Canada, Intelligent Building Operation, boualem.ouazia@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

2 Research Engineer in Built Environment, Natural Resources Canada, CanmetENERGY, Michel.Tardif@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca

3 Assistant Professor Lund University Sweden , birgitta.nordquist@hvac.lth.se

4 Project Manager , Natural Resources Canada, CanmetENERGY,Mike.Lubun@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca

5 Technical Officer, National Research Council Canada, Intelligent Building Operation, Daniel.booth@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

As a means to pre heat or pre cool outside air in a high performance building located in Canada, nine large diameter concrete pipes (also called earth tubes) have been installed into the ground as part of passive strategies to reduce ventilation loads. This paper, investigate the key parameters influencing the energy performance of the earth tubes and how the design of such renewable technology can be improved.

Keywords: earth tubes, passive heating, ventilation loads, energy performance