Search results for: building energy simulation

Authors: Maryam Siyami

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Zero energy buildings refer to buildings that have zero annual energy consumption and do not produce carbon emissions. In today's world, considering the limited resources of fossil fuels, buildings, industries and other organizations have moved towards using other available energies. The idea and principle of net zero energy consumption has attracted a lot of attention because the use of renewable energy is a means and a solution to eliminate pollutants and greenhouse gases. Due to the increase in the cost of fossil fuels and their destructive effects on the environment and disrupting the ecological balance, today the plans related to zero energy principles have become very practical and have gained particular popularity. In this research, building modeling has been done in the Design Builder software environment. Based on the changes in the required energy throughout the year in different roof thickness conditions, it has been observed that with the increase in roof thickness, the amount of heating energy required has a downward trend, from 6730 kilowatt hours in the roof thickness of 10 cm to 6408 kilowatt hours in the roof thickness condition. 20 cm is reached, which represents a reduction of about 4.7% in energy if the roof thickness is doubled. Also, with the increase in the thickness of the roof throughout the year, the amount of cooling energy required has a gentle downward trend and has reached from 4964 kilowatt hours in the case of a roof thickness of 10 cm to 4859 kilowatt hours in the case of a roof thickness of 20 cm, which is a decrease equal to It displays 2%. It can be seen that the trend of changes in the energy required for cooling and heating is not much affected by the thickness of the roof (with an effect of 98%) and therefore there is no technical and economic recommendation to increase the thickness of the roof in this sector. Finally, based on the changes in the carbon dioxide produced in different states of the roof thickness, it has been observed that with the increase in the roof thickness, energy consumption and consequently the production of carbon dioxide has decreased. By increasing the thickness of the roof from 10 cm to 20 cm, the amount of carbon dioxide produced by heating the building has decreased by 27%. Also, this amount of reduction has been obtained based on the cooling system and for different amounts of roof thickness equal to 19%.

Keywords: energy consumption, green building, design builder, AHP

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Authors: M. Dehestani, M. Ghasemi-Kooch

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In this work, adsorption of chlorophylls a and b pigments in aqueous solution on the inner and outer surfaces of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) has been studied using molecular dynamics simulation. The linear interaction energy algorithm has been used to calculate the binding free energy. The results show that the adsorption of two pigments is fine on the both positions. Although there is the close similarity between these two pigments, their interaction with the nanotube is different. This result is useful to separate these pigments from one another. According to interaction energy between the pigments and carbon nanotube, interaction between these pigments-SWCNT on the inner surface is stronger than the outer surface. The interaction of SWCNT with chlorophylls phytol tail is stronger than the interaction of SWCNT with porphyrin ring of chlorophylls.

Keywords: adsorption, chlorophyll, interaction, molecular dynamics simulation, nanotube

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Authors: Shima Naderi, Abbas Abbaszadeh Shahri

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Energy resources are reachable and affordable in Iran, thus surplus access to fossil fuels besides high level of economic growth leads to serious environmental critical such as pollutants and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, increase in average degrease and lack of water sources specially in Tehran as a capital city of Iran. As building sector consumes a huge portion of energy, taking actions towards alternative sources of energy as well as conserving non-renewable energy resources and architectural energy saving methods are the fundamental basis for achieving sustainability`s goals. This study tries to explore implantation of both high technologies and traditional issues for reduction of energy demands in buildings of Tehran and introduce some factors and instructions for achieving this purpose. Green and energy efficient buildings such as ZEBs make it possible to preserve natural resources for the next generations by reducing pollution and increasing ecosystem self-recovery. However ZEB is not widely spread in Iran because of its low economic efficiency, it is not viable for a private entrepreneur without the governmental supports. Therefore executing of Architectural Energy Efficiency can be a better option. It is necessary to experience a substructure expansion with respect to traditional residential building style. Renewable energies and passive design which are the substantial part of the history of architecture in Iran can be regenerated and employed as an essential part of designing energy efficient buildings.

Keywords: architectural energy efficiency, passive design, renewable energies, zero energy buildings

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Authors: Muhamad Rasyid Angkotasan

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Eco-village is an ecosystem where the countryside or urban communities that are inside trying to integrate the social environment with low impact way of life to achieve this, they integrate the various aspects of ecological design, agriculture permanent, ecological building and the alternative energy. Eco-village in question is eco-village conducted on of marine tourism areas, where natural resources are very good, without ignoring the global issue of climate change. Desperately needed a source of energy, which can support the fulfillment of energy needs in a sustainable. Fulfillment of energy sources that offer is the use or application of environmentally friendly technologies of usage is still very low in Indonesia, the technology namely the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), OTEC is expected to be a source of the alternative energy, which can support the goal of eco-village of the region's of marine tourism.

Keywords: eco village, saving energy, ocean thermal energy conversion, environmental engineering

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Authors: Bessy Thuranira

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Buildings, as they are designed and used, may contribute to serious environmental problems because of excessive consumption of energy and other natural resources. Buildings in the informal settlements particularly, due to their unplanned physical structure and design, have significantly contributed the global energy problematic scenario typified by high-level inefficiencies. Energy used in buildings in Africa is estimated to be the highest of the total national electricity consumption. Over the last decade, assessments of energy consumption and efficiency/inefficiency has focused on formal and modern buildings. This study seeks to go off the beaten path, by focusing on energy use in informal settlements. Operationally, it sought to establish the contribution of informal buildings in the overall energy consumption in the city and the country at large. This study was carried out in Mukuru kwa Reuben informal settlement where there is distinct manifestation of different settlement morphologies within a small locality. The research narrowed down to three villages (Mombasa, Kosovo and Railway villages) within the settlement, that were representative of the different slum housing typologies. Due to the unpredictability nature and informality in slums, this study takes a multi-methodology approach. Detailed energy audits and measurements are carried out to predict total building consumption, and document building design and envelope, typology, materials and occupancy levels. Moreover, the study uses semi-structured interviews and to access energy supply, cost, access and consumption patterns. Observations and photographs are also used to shed more light on these parameters. The study reveals the high energy inefficiencies in slum buildings mainly related to sub-standard equipment and appliances, building design and settlement layout, poor access and utilization/consumption patterns of energy. The impacts of this inefficiency are high economic burden to the poor, high levels of pollution, lack of thermal comfort and emissions to the environment. The study highlights a set of urban planning and building design principles that can be used to retrofit slums into more energy efficient settlements. The study explores principles of responsive settlement layouts/plans and appropriate building designs that use the beneficial elements of nature to achieve natural lighting, natural ventilation, and solar control to create thermally comfortable, energy efficient, and environmentally responsive buildings/settlements. As energy efficiency in informal settlements is a relatively less explored area of efficiency, it requires further research and policy recommendations, for which this paper will set a background.

Keywords: energy efficiency, informal settlements, renewable energy, settlement layout

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Authors: Lucas Caldas, Pablo Paulse, Karla Hora

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Shipping containers are present in different Brazilian cities, firstly used for transportation purposes, but which become waste materials and an environmental burden in their end-of-life cycle. In the last decade, in Brazil, some buildings made partly or totally from shipping containers started to appear, most of them for commercial and office uses. Although the use of a reused container for buildings seems a sustainable solution, it is very important to measure the thermal and energy aspects when they are used as such. In this context, this study aims to evaluate the thermal and energy performance of an office building totally made from a 12-meter-long, High Cube 40’ shipping container in different Brazilian Bioclimatic Zones. Four different constructive solutions, mostly used in Brazil were chosen: (1) container without any covering; (2) with internally insulated drywall; (3) with external fiber cement boards; (4) with both drywall and fiber cement boards. For this, the DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus was used for the computational simulation in 8760 hours. The EnergyPlus Weather File (EPW) data of six Brazilian capital cities were considered: Curitiba, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Campo Grande, Teresina and Rio de Janeiro. Air conditioning appliance (split) was adopted for the conditioned area and the cooling setpoint was fixed at 25°C. The coefficient of performance (CoP) of air conditioning equipment was set as 3.3. Three kinds of solar absorptances were verified: 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 of exterior layer. The building in Teresina presented the highest level of energy consumption, while the one in Curitiba presented the lowest, with a wide range of differences in results. The constructive option of external fiber cement and drywall presented the best results, although the differences were not significant compared to the solution using just drywall. The choice of absorptance showed a great impact in energy consumption, mainly compared to the case of containers without any covering and for use in the hottest cities: Teresina, Rio de Janeiro, and Campo Grande. This study brings as the main contribution the discussion of constructive aspects for design guidelines for more energy-efficient container buildings, considering local climate differences, and helps the dissemination of this cleaner constructive practice in the Brazilian building sector.

Keywords: bioclimatic zones, Brazil, shipping containers, thermal and energy performance

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Authors: Swanand Patil, Pankaj Agarwal

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In past few decades, seismic performance objectives have shifted from earthquake resistance to earthquake resilience of the structures, especially for the lifeline buildings. Features such as negligible post-earthquake damage and replaceable damaged components, makes energy dissipating systems a valid choice for a seismically resilient building. In this study, various energy dissipation devices are applied on an eight-storey moment resisting RC building model. The energy dissipating devices include both hysteresis-based and viscous type of devices. The seismic response of the building is obtained for different positioning and mechanical properties of the devices. The investigation is carried forward to the deficiently ductile RC frame also. The performance assessment is done on the basis of drift ratio, mode shapes and displacement response of the model structures. Nonlinear dynamic analysis shows largely improved displacement response. The damping devices improve displacement response more efficiently in the deficient ductile frames than that in the perfectly moment resisting frames. This finding is important considering the number of deficient buildings in India and the world. The placement and mechanical properties of the dampers prove to be a crucial part in modelling, analyzing and designing of the structures with supplemental energy dissipation.

Keywords: earthquake resilient structures, lifeline buildings, retrofitting of structures, supplemental energy dissipation

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Authors: Rishabh Agrawal, S. C. Kaushik, T. S. Bhatti

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In order to reduce energy consumption for sustainable development, continuous energy consumption tracking of building energy systems are essential. In this paper an assessment study has been done to identify the energy consumption & energy conservation potential for commercial buildings sector in Karnataka state, India. There are a total of 326 commercial buildings in the state of Karnataka who has qualified as designated consumers (i.e., having a Contract Demand ≥ 600 KVA), was consider for the study. It has estimated that the annual electricity sale to commercial sector is 3.62 Billion Units (BU) in alone Karnataka State, India, which is an account for 9.57 % of the total electricity sold. The commercial sector constitutes Government & private establishments, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, educational institutions, malls etc. Total 326 commercial buildings in the state accounting for annual energy consumption of 1295.72 Million Units (MU) which works out to about 35% of the sectoral consumption. The annual energy savings potential for 326 commercial buildings is assessed to be 0.25 BU.

Keywords: commercial buildings, connected load, energy conservation studies, energy savings, energy efficiency, energy conservation strategy, energy efficiency, thermal energy, HVAC system

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Authors: Narjes Abbasabadi

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As the world continues to urbanize and suburbanize, where suburbanization associated with mass sprawl has been the dominant form of this expansion, sustainable development challenges will be more concerned. Sprawling, characterized by low density and automobile dependency, presents significant environmental issues regarding energy consumption and Co2 emissions. This paper examines the vertical expansion of suburbs integrated into mass transit nodes as a planning strategy for boosting density, intensification of land use, conversion of single family homes to multifamily dwellings or mixed use buildings and development of viable alternative transportation choices. It analyzes the spatial patterns of tall building transit-oriented development (TB-TOD) of suburban regions in Sydney (Australia), Toronto (Canada), and Washington D.C. (United States). The main objectives of this research seek to understand the effect of the new morphology of suburban tall, the physical dimensions of individual buildings and their arrangement at a larger scale with energy efficiency. This study aims to answer these questions: 1) why and how can the potential phenomenon of vertical expansion or high-rise development be integrated into suburb settings? 2) How can this phenomenon contribute to an overall denser development of suburbs? 3) Which spatial pattern or typologies/ sub-typologies of the TB-TOD model do have the greatest energy efficiency? It addresses these questions by focusing on 1) energy, heat energy demand (excluding cooling and lighting) related to design issues at two levels: macro, urban scale and micro, individual buildings—physical dimension, height, morphology, spatial pattern of tall buildings and their relationship with each other and transport infrastructure; 2) Examining TB-TOD to provide more evidence of how the model works regarding ridership. The findings of the research show that the TB-TOD model can be identified as the most appropriate spatial patterns of tall buildings in suburban settings. And among the TB-TOD typologies/ sub-typologies, compact tall building blocks can be the most energy efficient one. This model is associated with much lower energy demands in buildings at the neighborhood level as well as lower transport needs in an urban scale while detached suburban high rise or low rise suburban housing will have the lowest energy efficiency. The research methodology is based on quantitative study through applying the available literature and static data as well as mapping and visual documentations of urban regions such as Google Earth, Microsoft Bing Bird View and Streetview. It will examine each suburb within each city through the satellite imagery and explore the typologies/ sub-typologies which are morphologically distinct. The study quantifies heat energy efficiency of different spatial patterns through simulation via GIS software.

Keywords: energy efficiency, spatial pattern, suburb, tall building transit-oriented development (TB-TOD)

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Authors: Nneka Osuchukwu, Leonid Shpanin

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The concept of converting the kinetic energy of quadcopter propellers into electrical energy is considered in this contribution following the feasibility study of the propeller vibrations, theoretical energy conversion, and simulation techniques. Analysis of the propeller vibration performance is presented via graphical representation of calculated and simulated parameters, in order to demonstrate the possibility of recovering the harvested energy from the propeller vibrations of the quadcopter while the quadcopter is in operation. Consideration of using piezoelectric materials in such concept, converting the mechanical energy of the propeller into the electrical energy, is given. Photographic evidence of the propeller in operation is presented and discussed together with experimental results to validate the theoretical concept.

Keywords: energy harvesting, piezoelectric material, propeller vibration, unmanned aerial vehicle

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Authors: Khadidja Rahmani, Nahla Bouaziz

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Algeria is known for its rich heritage. It owns an immense historical heritage with a universal reputation. Unfortunately, this wealth is withered because of abundance. This research focuses on the Ksourian model, which constitutes a large portion of this wealth. In fact, the Ksourian model is not just a witness to a great part of history or a vernacular culture, but also it includes a panoply of assets in terms of energetic efficiency. In this context, the purpose of our work is to evaluate the performance of the old techniques which are derived from the Ksourian model , and that using the simulation tools. The proposed method is decomposed in two steps; the first consists of isolate and reintroduce each device into a basic model, then run a simulation series on acquired models. And this in order to test the contribution of each of these dialectal processes. In another scale of development, the second step consists of aggregating all these processes in an aboriginal model, then we restart the simulation, to see what it will give this mosaic on the environmental and energetic plan .The model chosen for this study is one of the ksar units of Knadsa city of Bechar (Algeria). This study does not only show the ingenuity of our ancestors in their know-how, and their adapting power to the aridity of the climate, but also proves that their conceptions subscribe in the current concerns of energy efficiency, and respond to the requirements of sustainable development.

Keywords: dialectal processes, energy efficiency, evaluation, Ksourian model, simulation tools

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Authors: Johannes Gantner, Michael Held, Matthias Fischer

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The refurbishment of the building stock in terms of energy supply and efficiency is one of the major challenges of the German turnaround in energy policy. As the building sector accounts for 40% of Germany’s total energy demand, additional insulation is key for energy efficient refurbished buildings. Nevertheless the energetic benefits often the environmental and economic performances of insulation materials are questioned. The methods Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as well as Life Cycle Costing (LCC) can form the standardized basis for answering this doubts and more and more become important for material producers due efforts such as Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) or Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). Due to increasing use of LCA and LCC information for decision support the robustness and resilience of the results become crucial especially for support of decision and policy makers. LCA and LCC results are based on respective models which depend on technical parameters like efficiencies, material and energy demand, product output, etc.. Nevertheless, the influence of parameter uncertainties on lifecycle results are usually not considered or just studied superficially. Anyhow the effect of parameter uncertainties cannot be neglected. Based on the example of an exterior wall the overall lifecycle results are varying by a magnitude of more than three. As a result simple best case worst case analyses used in practice are not sufficient. These analyses allow for a first rude view on the results but are not taking effects into account such as error propagation. Thereby LCA practitioners cannot provide further guidance for decision makers. Probabilistic analyses enable LCA practitioners to gain deeper understanding of the LCA and LCC results and provide a better decision support. Within this study, the environmental and economic impacts of an exterior wall system over its whole lifecycle are illustrated, and the effect of different uncertainty analysis on the interpretation in terms of resilience and robustness are shown. Hereby the approaches of error propagation and Monte Carlo Simulations are applied and combined with statistical methods in order to allow for a deeper understanding and interpretation. All in all this study emphasis the need for a deeper and more detailed probabilistic evaluation based on statistical methods. Just by this, misleading interpretations can be avoided, and the results can be used for resilient and robust decisions.

Keywords: uncertainty, life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, Monte Carlo simulation

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Authors: Ali Shirazi, Robert A. Taylor, Stephen D. White, Graham L. Morrison

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In this paper, a detailed simulation model of a solar-powered triple-effect LiBr–H₂O absorption chiller is developed to supply both cooling and heating demand of a large-scale building, aiming to reduce the fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in building sector. TRNSYS 17 is used to simulate the performance of the system over a typical year. A combined energetic-economic-environmental analysis is conducted to determine the system annual primary energy consumption and the total cost, which are considered as two conflicting objectives. A multi-objective optimization of the system is performed using a genetic algorithm to minimize these objectives simultaneously. The optimization results show that the final optimal design of the proposed plant has a solar fraction of 72% and leads to an annual primary energy saving of 0.69 GWh and annual CO₂ emissions reduction of ~166 tonnes, as compared to a conventional HVAC system. The economics of this design, however, is not appealing without public funding, which is often the case for many renewable energy systems. The results show that a good funding policy is required in order for these technologies to achieve satisfactory payback periods within the lifetime of the plant.

Keywords: economic, environmental, multi-objective optimization, solar air-conditioning, triple-effect absorption chiller

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Authors: A. Aboubakr, E. Fehling, S. A. Mourad, M. Omar

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Wind energy is one of the most effective renewable sources especially offshore wind energy although offshore wind technology is more costly to produce. It is well known that offshore wind energy can potentially be very cheap once infrastructure and researches improve. Laterally, the trend is to construct offshore wind energy to generate the electricity form wind. This leads to intensive research in order to improve the infrastructures. Offshore wind energy is the construction of wind farms in bodies of water to generate electricity from wind. The most important part in offshore wind turbine structure is the foundation and its connection with the wind tower. This is the main difference between onshore and offshore structures. Grouted connection between the foundation and the wind tower is the most important part of the building process when constructing wind offshore turbines. Most attention should be paid to the actual grout connection as this transfers the loads safely from tower to foundations and the soil also. In this paper, finite element analyses have been carried out for studying the behaviour of offshore grouted connection for wind turbine structures. ATENA program have been used for non-linear analysis simulation of the real structural behavior thus demonstrating the crushing, cracking, contact between the two materials and steel yielding. A calibration of the material used in the simulation has been carried out assuring an accurate model of the used material by ATENA program. This calibration was performed by comparing the results from the ATENA program with experimental results to validate the material properties used in ATENA program. Three simple patch test models with different properties have been performed. The research is concluded with a result that the calibration showing a good agreement between the ATENA program material behaviors and the experimental results.

Keywords: grouted connection, 3D modeling, finite element analysis, offshore wind energy turbines, stresses

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Authors: Tania Sharmin

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Energy use, overheating and thermal discomfort in low-income tropical housing remains an under-researched area. This research attempts to explore these aspects in the Loving Community, a housing colony created for former leprosy patients and their families in Ahmedabad in India. The living conditions in these households and working practices of the inhabitants in terms of how the building and its internal and external spaces are used, will be explored through interviews and monitoring which will be based on a household survey and a focus group discussion (FGD). The findings from the study will provide a unique and in-depth account of how the relocation of the affected households to the new, flood-resistant and architecturally-designed buildings may have affected the dwellers’ household routines (health and well-being, comfort, satisfaction and working practices) and overall living conditions compared to those living in poorly-designed, existing low-income housings. The new houses were built under an innovative building project supported by De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s Square Mile India project. A comparison of newly-built and existing building typologies will reveal how building design can affect people’s use of space and energy use. The findings will be helpful to design healthier, energy efficient and socially acceptable low-income housing in future, thus addressing United Nation’s sustainable development goals on three aspects: 3 (health and well-being), 7 (energy) and 11 (safe, resilient and sustainable human settlements). This will further facilitate knowledge exchange between policy makers, developers, designers and occupants focused on strategies to increase stakeholders’ participation in the design process.

Keywords: thermal comfort, energy use, low-income housing, tropical climate

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Authors: K. C. R.Perera, V. P. C Dassanayake, B. M. Hapuwatte, B. G. Smapath

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This paper presents a methodology to harvest the kinetic energy of the raindrops using piezoelectric devices. In the study 1m×1m PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) piezoelectric membrane, which is fixed by the four edges, is considered for the numerical simulation on deformation of the membrane due to the impact of the raindrops. Then according to the drop size of the rain, the simulation is performed classifying the rainfall types into three categories as light stratiform rain, moderate stratiform rain and heavy thundershower. The impact force of the raindrop is dependent on the terminal velocity of the raindrop, which is a function of raindrop diameter. The results were then analyzed to calculate the harvestable energy from the deformation of the piezoelectric membrane.

Keywords: raindrop, piezoelectricity, deformation, terminal velocity

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Authors: Andrey A. Chernousov, Ben Y. B. Chan

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The use of the low-cost paraffinic phase change material can be rather effective in smart building envelopes in the South China region. Particular attention has to be paid to the PCM optimization as an exploitation conditions and the envelope insulation changes its thermal characteristics. The studied smart building envelope consists of a reinforced aluminum exterior, polymeric insulation foam, phase change material and reinforced interior gypsum board. A prototype sample was tested to validate the numerical scheme using EnergryPlus software. Three scenarios of insulation thermal resistance loss (ΔR/R = 0%, 25%, 50%) were compared with the different PCM thicknesses (tP=0, 1, 2.5, 5 mm). The comparisons were carried out for a west facing enveloped office building (50 storey). PCM optimization was applied to find the maximum efficiency for the different ΔR/R cases. It was found, during the optimization, that the PCM is an important smart component, lowering the peak energy demand up to 2.7 times. The results are not influenced by the insulation aging in terms of ΔR/R during long-term exploitation. In hot and humid climates like Hong Kong, the insulation core of the smart systems is recommended to be laminated completely. This can be very helpful in achieving an acceptable payback period.

Keywords: smart building envelope, thermal performance, phase change material, energy efficiency, large-scale sandwich panel

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Authors: Luz-Marina Roberts, Ancil Kirk, Aisha Donaldson, Anya Seepaul, Jade Lakhan, Shianna Tikasingh

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Climate change has produced a crisis that particularly threatens small island states in the Caribbean. Developers and climate enthusiasts alike are now forced to find new and sustainable ways of building. Focus on existing buildings is particularly needed in Trinidad and Tobago, like other islands, especially as these countries are vulnerable to climate threats and geographic locations with close proximity to a hurricane. Additionally, since many colonial-era style buildings still exist, the idea that they are energy inefficient is at the forefront of the work of policy-makers. The question that remains is can these buildings be retrofitted to reflect the modern era while considering climate resilience. This paper aims to investigate the energy efficiency of colonial-era buildings in Port of Spain and whether these buildings in Trinidad and Tobago, if found to be energy inefficient, can be more energy efficient and sustainable. This involves collecting surveys from building management in colonial-era buildings and researching literature on colonial architecture in the Caribbean and modern innovations in green building designs. Additionally, the data and experiences from the Town and Country Planning Division in the Ministry of Planning and Development of Trinidad and Tobago will inform the paper. This research will aid in re-envisioning how green infrastructure can be applied to urban environments with older buildings and help inform planning policy as it relates to sustainability and energy efficiency.

Keywords: spatial planning, climate resilience, energy efficiency, sustainable development

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Authors: Mohammad Aldubyan, Fateh Belaid, Anwar Gasim

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This paper aims at linking to link residential energy efficiency to the rebound effect concept, a well-known behavioral phenomenon in which service consumption increases when consumers notice a reduction in monetary spending on energy due to improvements in energy efficiency. It provides insights on into how and why the rebound effect happens when energy efficiency improves and whether this phenomenon is positive or negative. It also shows one technique to estimate the rebound effect on the national residential level. The paper starts with a bird’s eye view of the rebound effect and then dives in in-depth into measuring the rebound effect and evaluating its impact. Finally, the paper estimates the rebound effect in the Saudi residential sector through by linking pre-estimated price elasticities of demand to the Saudi residential building stock.

Keywords: energy efficiency, rebound effect, energy consumption, residential electricity demand

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Authors: Roberto de Lieto Vollaro, Emanuele de Lieto Vollaro, Gianluca Coltrinari

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The building sector is responsible, in many industrialized countries, for about 40% of the total energy requirements, so it seems necessary to devote some efforts in this area in order to achieve a significant reduction of energy consumption and of greenhouse gases emissions. The paper presents a study aiming at providing a design methodology able to identify the best configuration of the system building/plant, from a technical, economic and environmentally point of view. Normally, the classical approach involves a building's energy loads analysis under steady state conditions, and subsequent selection of measures aimed at improving the energy performance, based on previous experience made by architects and engineers in the design team. Instead, the proposed approach uses a sequence of two well known scientifically validated calculation methods (TRNSYS and RETScreen), that allow quite a detailed feasibility analysis. To assess the validity of the calculation model, an existing, historical building in Central Italy, that will be the object of restoration and preservative redevelopment, was selected as a case-study. The building is made of a basement and three floors, with a total floor area of about 3,000 square meters. The first step has been the determination of the heating and cooling energy loads of the building in a dynamic regime by means of TRNSYS, which allows to simulate the real energy needs of the building in function of its use. Traditional methodologies, based as they are on steady-state conditions, cannot faithfully reproduce the effects of varying climatic conditions and of inertial properties of the structure. With TRNSYS it is possible to obtain quite accurate and reliable results, that allow to identify effective combinations building-HVAC system. The second step has consisted of using output data obtained with TRNSYS as input to the calculation model RETScreen, which enables to compare different system configurations from the energy, environmental and financial point of view, with an analysis of investment, and operation and maintenance costs, so allowing to determine the economic benefit of possible interventions. The classical methodology often leads to the choice of conventional plant systems, while RETScreen provides a financial-economic assessment for innovative energy systems and low environmental impact. Computational analysis can help in the design phase, particularly in the case of complex structures with centralized plant systems, by comparing the data returned by the calculation model RETScreen for different design options. For example, the analysis performed on the building, taken as a case study, found that the most suitable plant solution, taking into account technical, economic and environmental aspects, is the one based on a CCHP system (Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power) using an internal combustion engine.

Keywords: energy, system, building, cooling, electrical

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Authors: Amy Lebar, Kim L. Trenbath, Bennett Doherty, William Livingood

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Plug and process loads (PPLs) account for 47% of U.S. commercial building energy use. There is a huge potential to reduce whole building consumption by targeting PPLs for energy savings measures or implementing some form of plug load management (PLM). Despite this potential, there has yet to be a widely adopted commercial PLM technology. This paper describes the Automatic Type and Location Identification System (ATLIS), a PLM system framework with automatic and dynamic load detection (ADLD). ADLD gives PLM systems the ability to automatically identify devices as they are plugged into the outlets of a building. The ATLIS framework takes advantage of smart, connected devices to identify device locations in a building, meter and control their power, and communicate this information to a central database. ATLIS includes five primary capabilities: location identification, communication, control, energy metering and data storage. A laboratory proof of concept (PoC) demonstrated all but the data storage capabilities and these capabilities were validated using an office building scenario. The PoC can identify when a device is plugged into an outlet and the location of the device in the building. When a device is moved, the PoC’s dashboard and database are automatically updated with the new location. The PoC implements controls to devices from the system dashboard so that devices maintain correct schedules regardless of where they are plugged in within a building. ATLIS’s primary technology application is improved PLM, but other applications include asset management, energy audits, and interoperability for grid-interactive efficient buildings. A system like ATLIS could also be used to direct power to critical devices, such as ventilators, during a brownout or blackout. Such a framework is an opportunity to make PLM more widespread and reduce the amount of energy consumed by PPLs in current and future commercial buildings.

Keywords: commercial buildings, grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEB), miscellaneous electric loads (MELs), plug loads, plug load management (PLM)

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Authors: Alex Gonzalez Caceres, Jan Karlshøj, Tor Arvid Vik

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Life cycle of residential buildings are expected to be several decades, 40% of European residential buildings have inefficient energy conservation measure. The existing building represents 20-40% of the energy use and the CO₂ emission. Since net zero energy buildings are a short-term goal, (should be achieved by EU countries after 2020), is necessary to plan the next logical step, which is to prepare the existing outdated stack of building to retrofit them into an energy efficiency buildings. In order to accomplish this, two specialize and widespread tool can be used Building Information Modelling (BIM) and life-cycle assessment (LCA). BIM and LCA are tools used by a variety of disciplines; both are able to represent and analyze the constructions in different stages. The combination of these technologies could improve greatly the retrofitting techniques. The incorporation of the carbon footprint, introducing a single database source for different material analysis. To this is added the possibility of considering different analysis approaches such as costs and energy saving. Is expected with these measures, enrich the decision-making. The methodology is based on two main activities; the first task involved the collection of data this is accomplished by literature review and interview with experts in the retrofitting field and BIM technologies. The results of this task are presented as an evaluation checklist of BIM ability to manage data and improve decision-making in retrofitting projects. The last activity involves an evaluation using the results of the previous tasks, to check how far the IFC format can support the requirements by each specialist, and its uses by third party software. The result indicates that BIM/LCA have a great potential to improve the retrofitting process in existing buildings, but some modification must be done in order to meet the requirements of the specialists for both, retrofitting and LCA evaluators.

Keywords: retrofitting, BIM, LCA, energy efficiency

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Authors: Amrutha Kishor

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Today, with the rising global warming and depletion of resources every industry is moving toward sustainability and energy efficiency. As part of this movement, it is nowadays obligatory for architects to play their part by creating energy predictions for their designs. But in a lot of cases, these predictions do not reflect the real quantities of energy in newly built buildings when operating. These can be described as ‘Energy Performance Gaps’. This study aims to determine the underlying reasons for these gaps. Seven houses designed by Allan Joyce Architects, UK from 1998 until 2019 were considered for this study. The data from the residents’ energy bills were cross-referenced with the predictions made with the software SefairaPro and from energy reports. Results indicated that the predictions did not match the actual energy usage. An account of how energy was used in these seven houses was made by means of personal interviews. The main factors considered in the study were occupancy patterns, heating systems and usage, lighting profile and usage, and appliances’ profile and usage. The study found that the main reasons for the creation of energy gaps were the discrepancies in occupant usage and patterns of energy consumption that are predicted as opposed to the actual ones. This study is particularly useful for energy-conscious architectural firms to fine-tune the approach to designing houses and analysing their energy performance. As the findings reveal that energy usage in homes varies based on the way residents use the space, it helps deduce the most efficient technological combinations. This information can be used to set guidelines for future policies and regulations related to energy consumption in homes. This study can also be used by the developers of simulation software to understand how architects use their product and drive improvements in its future versions.

Keywords: architectural simulation, energy efficient design, energy performance gaps, environmental design

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Authors: Aulon Shabani, Denis Panxhi, Orion Zavalani

Abstract:

This paper presents the modelling and development of a simulator for residential electrical appliances. The simulator is developed on MATLAB providing the possibility to analyze and simulate energy consumption of frequently used home appliances in Albania. Modelling of devices considers the impact of different factors, mentioning occupant behavior and climacteric conditions. Most devices are modeled as an electric circuit, and the electric energy consumption is estimated by the solutions of the guiding differential equations. The provided models refer to devices like a dishwasher, oven, water heater, air conditioners, light bulbs, television, refrigerator water, and pump. The proposed model allows us to simulate beforehand the energetic behavior of the largest consumption home devices to estimate peak consumption and improving its reduction. Simulated home prototype results are compared to real measurement of a considered typical home. Obtained results from simulator framework compared to monitored typical household using EmonTxV3 show the effectiveness of the proposed simulation. This conclusion will help for future simulation of a large group of typical household for a better understanding of peak consumption.

Keywords: electrical appliances, energy management, modelling, peak estimation, simulation, smart home

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Authors: Y. B. Kirankumar, J. D. Mallapur

Abstract:

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is an emerging technology, which has great invention for various low cost applications both for mass public as well as for defence. The wireless sensor communication technology allows random participation of sensor nodes with particular applications to take part in the network, which results in most of the uncovered simulation area, where fewer nodes are located at far distances. The drawback of such network would be that the additional energy is spent by the nodes located in a pattern of dense location, using more number of nodes for a smaller distance of communication adversely in a region with less number of nodes and additional energy is again spent by the source node in order to transmit a packet to neighbours, thereby transmitting the packet to reach the destination. The proposed work is intended to develop Energy Efficient Node Placement Algorithm (EENPA) in order to place the sensor node efficiently in simulated area, where all the nodes are equally located on a radial path to cover maximum area at equidistance. The total energy consumed by each node compared to random placement of nodes is less by having equal burden on fewer nodes of far location, having distributed the nodes in whole of the simulation area. Calculating the network lifetime also proves to be efficient as compared to random placement of nodes, hence increasing the network lifetime, too. Simulation is been carried out in a qualnet simulator, results are obtained on par with random placement of nodes with EENP algorithm.

Keywords: energy, WSN, wireless sensor network, energy approach

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Authors: Tirthankar Chakraborty, Indranil Mukherjee

Abstract:

The environmental aspect had a major effect on industrial decisions after the deteriorating condition of our surroundings dsince the industrial activities became apparent. Green buildings have been seen as a possible solution to reduce the carbon emissions from construction projects and the housing industry in general. Though this has been established in several areas, with many commercial buildings being designed green, the scope for expansion is still significant and further information on the importance and advantages of green buildings is necessary. Several commercial green building projects have come up and the green buildings are mainly implemented in the residential sector when the residential projects are constructed to furnish amenities to a large population. But, residential buildings, even those of medium sizes, can be designed to incorporate elements of sustainable design. In this context, this paper attempts to give a theoretical appraisal of the use of renewable energy systems in residential buildings of different sizes considering the weather conditions (solar insolation and wind speed) of the metropolis, Kolkata, India. Three cases are taken; one with solar power, one with wind power and one with a combination of the two. All the cases are considered in conjunction with conventional energy, and the efficiency of each in fulfilling the total energy demand is verified. The optimum combination for reducing the carbon footprint of the residential building is thus established. In addition, an assessment of the amount of money saved due to green buildings in metered water supply and price of coal is also mentioned.

Keywords: renewable energy, green buildings, solar power, wind power, energy hybridization, residential sector

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Authors: Elke Meex, Elke Knapen, Griet Verbeeck

Abstract:

The focus of sustainable building is gradually shifting from energy efficiency towards the more global environmental impact of building design during all life-cycle stages. In this context, many tools have been developed that use a LCA-approach to assess the environmental impact on a whole building level. Since the building design strongly influences the final environmental performance and the architect plays a key role in the design process, it is important that these tools are adapted to his work method and support the decision making from the early design phase on. Therefore, a comparative evaluation of the degree of architect-friendliness of some LCA tools on building level is made, based on an evaluation framework specifically developed for the architect’s viewpoint. In order to allow comparison of the results, a reference building has been designed, documented for different design phases and entered in all software tools. The evaluation according to the framework shows that the existing tools are not very architect-friendly. Suggestions for improvement are formulated.

Keywords: architect-friendliness, design supportive value, evaluation framework, tool comparison

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Authors: Minzheong Song

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to see a case of smart energy evolution of the UK along with government projects and smart city project like 'Smart London Plan (SLP)' in 2013 with the logic of business model innovation (BMI). For this, it discusses the theoretical logic and formulates a research framework of evolving smart energy from silo to integrated system. The starting point is the silo system with no connection and in second stage, the private investment in smart meters, smart grids implementation, energy and water nexus, adaptive smart grid systems, and building marketplaces with platform leadership. As results, the UK’s smart energy sector has evolved from smart meter device installation through smart grid to new business models such as water-energy nexus and microgrid service within the smart energy city system.

Keywords: smart city, smart energy, business model, business model innovation (BMI)

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Authors: Román Rodríguez Echegoyen, Fernando Carlos López Hernández, José Manuel López Ujaque

Abstract:

Interactive management of energy certification ratings has remained on the sidelines of the evolution of virtual reality (VR) despite related advances in architecture in other areas such as BIM and real-time working programs. This research studies to what extent VR software can help the stakeholders to better understand energy efficiency parameters in order to obtain reliable ratings assigned to the parts of the building. To evaluate this hypothesis, the methodology has included the construction of a software prototype. Current energy certification systems do not follow an intuitive data entry system; neither do they provide a simple or visual verification of the technical values included in the certification by manufacturers or other users. This software, by means of real-time visualization and a graphical user interface, proposes different improvements to the current energy certification systems that ease the understanding of how the certification parameters work in a building. Furthermore, the difficulty of using current interfaces, which are not friendly or intuitive for the user, means that untrained users usually get a poor idea of the grounds for certification and how the program works. In addition, the proposed software allows users to add further information, such as financial and CO₂ savings, energy efficiency, and an explanatory analysis of results for the least efficient areas of the building through a new visual mode. The software also helps the user to evaluate whether or not an investment to improve the materials of an installation is worth the cost of the different energy certification parameters. The evaluated prototype (named VEE-IS) shows promising results when it comes to representing in a more intuitive and simple manner the energy rating of the different elements of the building. Users can also personalize all the inputs necessary to create a correct certification, such as floor materials, walls, installations, or other important parameters. Working in real-time through VR allows for efficiently comparing, analyzing, and improving the rated elements, as well as the parameters that we must enter to calculate the final certification. The prototype also allows for visualizing the building in efficiency mode, which lets us move over the building to analyze thermal bridges or other energy efficiency data. This research also finds that the visual representation of energy efficiency certifications makes it easy for the stakeholders to examine improvements progressively, which adds value to the different phases of design and sale.

Keywords: energetic certification, virtual reality, augmented reality, sustainability

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Authors: Adedayo Adeleke, Dineo Pule

Abstract:

The ongoing load-shedding in most parts of South Africa, combined with climate change causing severe drought conditions in Cape Town, has left electricity consumers seeking alternative sources of power and water. Solar energy, which is abundant in most parts of South Africa and is regarded as a clean and renewable source of energy, allows for the generation of electricity via solar photovoltaic systems. Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rainwater from building rooftops, allowing people without access to water to collect it. The lack of dependable energy and water source must be addressed by shifting to solar energy via solar photovoltaic systems and rainwater harvesting. Before this can be done, the potential of building rooftops must be assessed to determine whether solar energy and rainwater harvesting will be able to meet or significantly contribute to Atlantis industrial areas' electricity and water demands. This research project presents methods and approaches for automatically extracting building rooftops in Atlantis industrial areas and evaluating their potential for solar photovoltaics and rainwater harvesting systems using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and aerial imagery. The four objectives were to: (1) identify an optimal method of extracting building rooftops from aerial imagery and LiDAR data; (2) identify a suitable solar radiation model that can provide a global solar radiation estimate of the study area; (3) estimate solar photovoltaic potential overbuilding rooftop; and (4) estimate the amount of rainwater that can be harvested from the building rooftop in the study area. Mapflow, a plugin found in Quantum Geographic Information System(GIS) was used to automatically extract building rooftops using aerial imagery. The mean annual rainfall in Cape Town was obtained from a 29-year rainfall period (1991- 2020) and used to calculate the amount of rainwater that can be harvested from building rooftops. The potential for rainwater harvesting and solar photovoltaic systems was assessed, and it can be concluded that there is potential for these systems but only to supplement the existing resource supply and offer relief in times of drought and load-shedding.

Keywords: roof potential, rainwater harvesting, urban plan, roof extraction

Procedia PDF Downloads 115