An Advanced IoT-based System for Intelligent Energy Management in Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Marinakis, Vangelis; Doukas, Haris

2018-02-16

The energy sector is closely interconnected with the building sector and integrated Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions for effective energy management supporting decision-making at building, district and city level are key fundamental elements for making a city Smart. The available systems are designed and intended exclusively for a predefined number of cases and systems without allowing for expansion and interoperability with other applications that is partially due to the lack of semantics. This paper presents an advanced Internet of Things (IoT) based system for intelligent energy management in buildings. A semantic framework is introduced aiming at the unified and standardised modelling of the entities that constitute the building environment. Suitable rules are formed, aiming at the intelligent energy management and the general modus operandi of Smart Building. In this context, an IoT-based system was implemented, which enhances the interactivity of the buildings' energy management systems. The results from its pilot application are presented and discussed. The proposed system extends existing approaches and integrates cross-domain data, such as the building's data (e.g., energy management systems), energy production, energy prices, weather data and end-users' behaviour, in order to produce daily and weekly action plans for the energy end-users with actionable personalised information.

Natural ventilation systems to enhance sustainability in buildings: a review towards zero energy buildings in schools

Science.gov (United States)

Gil-Baez, Maite; Barrios-Padura, Ángela; Molina-Huelva, Marta; Chacartegui, Ricardo

2017-11-01

European regulations set the condition of Zero Energy Buildings for new buildings since 2020, with an intermediate milestone in 2018 for public buildings, in order to control greenhouse gases emissions control and climate change mitigation. Given that main fraction of energy consumption in buildings operation is due to HVAC systems, advances in its design and operation conditions are required. One key element for energy demand control is passive design of buildings. On this purpose, different recent studies and publications analyse natural ventilation systems potential to provide indoor air quality and comfort conditions minimizing electric power consumption. In these passive systems are of special relevance their capacities as passive cooling systems as well as air renovation systems, especially in high-density occupied spaces. With adequate designs, in warm/mild climates natural ventilation systems can be used along the whole year, maintaining indoor air quality and comfort conditions with small support of other heating/cooling systems. In this paper is analysed the state of the art of natural ventilation systems applied to high density occupied spaces with special focus on school buildings. The paper shows the potential and applicability of these systems for energy savings and discusses main criteria for their adequate integration in school building designs.

Web-based energy information systems for energy management and demand response in commercial buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Motegi, Naoya; Piette, Mary Ann; Kinney, Satkartar; Herter, Karen

2003-04-18

Energy Information Systems (EIS) for buildings are becoming widespread in the U.S., with more companies offering EIS products every year. As a result, customers are often overwhelmed by the quickly expanding portfolio of EIS feature and application options, which have not been clearly identified for consumers. The object of this report is to provide a technical overview of currently available EIS products. In particular, this report focuses on web-based EIS products for large commercial buildings, which allow data access and control capabilities over the Internet. EIS products combine software, data acquisition hardware, and communication systems to collect, analyze and display building information to aid commercial building energy managers, facility managers, financial managers and electric utilities in reducing energy use and costs in buildings. Data types commonly processed by EIS include energy consumption data; building characteristics; building system data, such as heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) and lighting data; weather data; energy price signals; and energy demand-response event information. This project involved an extensive review of research and trade literature to understand the motivation for EIS technology development. This study also gathered information on currently commercialized EIS. This review is not an exhaustive analysis of all EIS products; rather, it is a technical framework and review of current products on the market. This report summarizes key features available in today's EIS, along with a categorization framework to understand the relationship between EIS, Energy Management and Control Systems (EMCSs), and similar technologies. Four EIS types are described: Basic Energy Information Systems (Basic-EIS); Demand Response Systems (DRS); Enterprise Energy Management (EEM); and Web-based Energy Management and Control Systems (Web-EMCS). Within the context of these four categories, the following characteristics of EIS

The performance of energy efficient residential building envelope systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Proskiw, G.

1996-08-01

The adequacy and durability of residential building envelope systems under actual field conditions were evaluated. A building envelope offers protection from cold, heat, moisture, wind and noise. However, they are exposed to thermal, structural, and moisture stresses and their performance can degrade over time. Envelope performance was evaluated at 20 energy efficient and four conventional, detached modern homes in Winnipeg, Canada. The three complementary measurement tools were wood moisture content (WMC) of framing members, thermographic examinations, and airtightness tests. As expected, energy efficient building envelope systems performed better than the conventional systems. No evidence of envelope degradation was found in any of the energy efficient houses. The building envelopes using polyethylene air barriers performed slightly better than those which used the airtight drywall approach, although both were considered satisfactory. WMC levels were a bit lower in the polyethylene-clad house. 1 ref., 1 tab.

The impact of Zero Energy Buildings on the Scandinavian energy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seljom, Pernille; Lindberg, Karen Byskov; Tomasgard, Asgeir; Doorman, Gerard; Sartori, Igor

2017-01-01

This paper investigates how an extensive implementation of net Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs) affects cost-optimal investments in the Scandinavian energy system towards 2050. Analyses are done by a stochastic TIMES model with an explicit representation of the short-term uncertainty related to electricity supply and heat demand in buildings. We define a nearly ZEB to be a highly efficient building with on-site PV production. To evaluate the flexibility requirement of the surrounding energy system, we consider no use of energy storage within the ZEBs. The results show that ZEBs reduce the investments in non-flexible hydropower, wind power and Combined Heat and Power, and increase the use of direct electric heating and electric boilers. With building integrated PV production of 53 TWh in 2050, ZEBs increase the Scandinavian electricity generation by 16 TWh and increase the net electricity export by 19 TWh. Although the increased production reduces the electricity prices, the low heat demand in ZEBs gives a drop in the electricity consumption by 4 TWh in 2050. Finally, the results demonstrate that the Scandinavian energy system is capable of integrating a large amount of ZEBs with intermittent PV production due to the flexible hydropower in Norway and Sweden. - Highlights: • We analyse cost-optimal integration of ZEBs in the Scandinavian energy system. • We capture impact of short-term uncertainty on long-term investment decisions. • ZEBs reduce the investments in the electricity and heating sector. • The Scandinavian electricity sector is capable of integrating ZEBs with PV. • The operation of the flexible hydropower is changed with ZEBs.

BizWatts: A modular socio-technical energy management system for empowering commercial building occupants to conserve energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulbinas, R.; Jain, R.K.; Taylor, J.E.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We developed a socio-technical commercial building energy management system. • It was designed for directly engaging and connecting building occupants via feedback. • We collected an array of clickstream data for internal design validation. • A pilot study validated its ability to drive energy savings in commercial buildings. - Abstract: Commercial buildings represent a significant portion of energy consumption and environmental emissions worldwide. To help mitigate the environmental impact of building operations, building energy management systems and behavior-based campaigns designed to reduce energy consumption are becoming increasingly popular. In this paper, we describe the development of a modular socio-technical energy management system, BizWatts, which combines the two approaches by providing real-time, appliance-level power management and socially contextualized energy consumption feedback. We describe in detail the physical and virtual architecture of the system, which simultaneously engages building occupants and facility managers, as well as the main principles behind the interface design and component functionalities. A discussion about how the data collection capabilities of the system enable insightful commercial building energy efficiency studies and quantitative network analysis is also included. We conclude by commenting on the validation of the system, identifying current system limitations and introducing new research avenues that the development and deployment of BizWatts enables

Integrated energy system for a high performance building

Science.gov (United States)

Jaczko, Kristen

Integrated energy systems have the potential to reduce of the energy consumption of residential buildings in Canada. These systems incorporate components to meet the building heating, cooling and domestic hot water load into a single system in order to reduce energy losses. An integrated energy system, consisting of a variable speed heat pump, cold and hot thermal storage tanks, a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector array and a battery bank, was designed for the Queen's Solar Design Team's (QSDT) test house. The system uses a radiant floor to provide space- heating and sensible cooling and a dedicated outdoor air system provides ventilation and dehumidifies the incoming fresh air. The test house, the Queen's Solar Education Centre (QSEC), and the integrated energy system were both modelled in TRNSYS. Additionally, a new TRNSYS Type was developed to model the PV/T collectors, enabling the modeling of the collection of energy from the ambient air. A parametric study was carried out in TRNSYS to investigate the effect of various parameters on the overall energy performance of the system. These parameters included the PV/T array size and the slope of the collectors, the heat pump source and load-side inlet temperature setpoints, the compressor speed control and the size of the thermal storage tanks and the battery bank. The controls of the heat pump were found to have a large impact on the performance of the integrated energy system. For example, a low evaporator setpoint improved the overall free energy ratio (FER) of the system but the heat pump performance was lowered. Reducing the heat loss of the PV/T panels was not found to have a large effect on the system performance however, as the heat pump is able to lower the inlet collector fluid temperature, thus reducing thermal losses. From the results of the sensitivity study, a recommended system model was created and this system had a predicted FER of 77.9% in Kingston, Ontario, neglecting the energy consumption of

Energy Efficiency Building Systems Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krebs, Martha [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

2016-07-29

The Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI) was established through a Funding Opportunity Announcement led by the U.S. Department of Energy, under a cooperative agreement managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory. CBEI is led by The Pennsylvania State University and is composed of partners from academia, the private sector, and economic development agencies. The Consortium has included as many as 24 different partners over the five years, but 14 have been core to the work over the five year cooperative agreement. CBEI primarily focused on developing energy efficiency solutions for the small and medium commercial building market, with a focus on buildings less than 50,000 square feet. This market has been underserved by the energy efficiency industry, which has focused on larger commercial buildings where the scale of an individual retrofit lends itself to the use of sophisticated modeling tools and more advanced solutions. Owners/operators and retrofit providers for larger buildings have a greater level of understanding of, and experience with different solutions. In contrast, smaller commercial building retrofits, like residential retrofits, often have owners with less knowledge about energy management and less time to learn about it. This market segment is also served by retrofit providers that are smaller and often focused on particular building systems, e.g. heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting, roofing, or insulation. The size of a smaller commercial building retrofit does not lend itself, from a cost perspective, to the application of multiple, sophisticated design and modeling tools, which means that they are less likely to have integrated solutions.

Energy efficiency design strategies for buildings with grid-connected photovoltaic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Yimprayoon, Chanikarn

The building sector in the United States represents more than 40% of the nation's energy consumption. Energy efficiency design strategies and renewable energy are keys to reduce building energy demand. Grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems installed on buildings have been the fastest growing market in the PV industry. This growth poses challenges for buildings qualified to serve in this market sector. Electricity produced from solar energy is intermittent. Matching building electricity demand with PV output can increase PV system efficiency. Through experimental methods and case studies, computer simulations were used to investigate the priorities of energy efficiency design strategies that decreased electricity demand while producing load profiles matching with unique output profiles from PV. Three building types (residential, commercial, and industrial) of varying sizes and use patterns located in 16 climate zones were modeled according to ASHRAE 90.1 requirements. Buildings were analyzed individually and as a group. Complying with ASHRAE energy standards can reduce annual electricity consumption at least 13%. With energy efficiency design strategies, the reduction could reach up to 65%, making it possible for PV systems to meet reduced demands in residential and industrial buildings. The peak electricity demand reduction could be up to 71% with integration of strategies and PV. Reducing lighting power density was the best single strategy with high overall performances. Combined strategies such as zero energy building are also recommended. Electricity consumption reductions are the sum of the reductions from strategies and PV output. However, peak electricity reductions were less than their sum because they reduced peak at different times. The potential of grid stress reduction is significant. Investment incentives from government and utilities are necessary. The PV system sizes on net metering interconnection should not be limited by legislation existing in

An Advanced IoT-based System for Intelligent Energy Management in Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vangelis Marinakis

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The energy sector is closely interconnected with the building sector and integrated Information and Communication Technologies (ICT solutions for effective energy management supporting decision-making at building, district and city level are key fundamental elements for making a city Smart. The available systems are designed and intended exclusively for a predefined number of cases and systems without allowing for expansion and interoperability with other applications that is partially due to the lack of semantics. This paper presents an advanced Internet of Things (IoT based system for intelligent energy management in buildings. A semantic framework is introduced aiming at the unified and standardised modelling of the entities that constitute the building environment. Suitable rules are formed, aiming at the intelligent energy management and the general modus operandi of Smart Building. In this context, an IoT-based system was implemented, which enhances the interactivity of the buildings’ energy management systems. The results from its pilot application are presented and discussed. The proposed system extends existing approaches and integrates cross-domain data, such as the building’s data (e.g., energy management systems, energy production, energy prices, weather data and end-users’ behaviour, in order to produce daily and weekly action plans for the energy end-users with actionable personalised information.

An Advanced IoT-based System for Intelligent Energy Management in Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Doukas, Haris

2018-01-01

The energy sector is closely interconnected with the building sector and integrated Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions for effective energy management supporting decision-making at building, district and city level are key fundamental elements for making a city Smart. The available systems are designed and intended exclusively for a predefined number of cases and systems without allowing for expansion and interoperability with other applications that is partially due to the lack of semantics. This paper presents an advanced Internet of Things (IoT) based system for intelligent energy management in buildings. A semantic framework is introduced aiming at the unified and standardised modelling of the entities that constitute the building environment. Suitable rules are formed, aiming at the intelligent energy management and the general modus operandi of Smart Building. In this context, an IoT-based system was implemented, which enhances the interactivity of the buildings’ energy management systems. The results from its pilot application are presented and discussed. The proposed system extends existing approaches and integrates cross-domain data, such as the building’s data (e.g., energy management systems), energy production, energy prices, weather data and end-users’ behaviour, in order to produce daily and weekly action plans for the energy end-users with actionable personalised information. PMID:29462957

Energy Performance and CO2 Emissions of HVAC Systems in Commercial Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafat Al-Waked

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Energy performance of buildings has attracted much attention among building physicists and engineers worldwide. The effects of building heating; ventilation; and air conditioning (HVAC systems’ design upgrade on the building energy performance are the focus of the current study. The adopted HVAC system consisted of chilled ceiling and chilled beam systems served by a centrifugal water chiller. An energy simulation study was undertaken in accordance with the national Australian built environment rating system-rules for collecting and using data. A three-dimensional simulation study was carried out utilizing the virtual environment-integrated environmental solutions software. Results from the current study have shown the importance of utilizing energy-efficient HVAC systems and HVAC strategies for achieving a high building energy star rating. Recommended strategies in order to achieve the nominated star rating; as predicted by the simulation analysis; were presented. Moreover; the effects of solar radiation inside the building atrium were significant; which cannot be overcome by simply installing a low shading coefficient glazing type at the atrium skylight. In addition to providing chilled ceiling technology; a high efficiency chiller and low energy lighting; it is recommended that the building be well tuned during the commissioning period. The current approach could be extended to accommodate higher energy ratings of commercial buildings at different locations worldwide.

Building energy analysis tool

Science.gov (United States)

Brackney, Larry; Parker, Andrew; Long, Nicholas; Metzger, Ian; Dean, Jesse; Lisell, Lars

2016-04-12

A building energy analysis system includes a building component library configured to store a plurality of building components, a modeling tool configured to access the building component library and create a building model of a building under analysis using building spatial data and using selected building components of the plurality of building components stored in the building component library, a building analysis engine configured to operate the building model and generate a baseline energy model of the building under analysis and further configured to apply one or more energy conservation measures to the baseline energy model in order to generate one or more corresponding optimized energy models, and a recommendation tool configured to assess the one or more optimized energy models against the baseline energy model and generate recommendations for substitute building components or modifications.

System impact of energy efficient building refurbishment within a district heated region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lidberg, T.; Olofsson, T.; Trygg, L.

2016-01-01

The energy efficiency of the European building stock needs to be increased in order to fulfill the climate goals of the European Union. To be able to evaluate the impact of energy efficient refurbishment in matters of greenhouse gas emissions, it is necessary to apply a system perspective where not only the building but also the surrounding energy system is taken into consideration. This study examines the impact that energy efficient refurbishment of multi-family buildings has on the district heating and the electricity production. It also investigates the impact on electricity utilization and emissions of greenhouse gases. The results from the simulation of four energy efficiency building refurbishment packages were used to evaluate the impact on the district heating system. The packages were chosen to show the difference between refurbishment actions that increase the use of electricity when lowering the heat demand, and actions that lower the heat demand without increasing the electricity use. The energy system cost optimization modeling tool MODEST (Model for Optimization of Dynamic Energy Systems with Time-Dependent Components and Boundary Conditions) was used. When comparing two refurbishment packages with the same annual district heating use, this study shows that a package including changes in the building envelope decreases the greenhouse gas emissions more than a package including ventilation measures. - Highlights: • Choice of building refurbishment measures leads to differences in system impact. • Building refurbishment in district heating systems reduces co-produced electricity. • Valuing biomass as a limited resource is crucial when assessing global GHG impact. • Building envelope measures decrease GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions more than ventilation measures.

Integrated fuel cell energy system for modern buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moard, D.M.; Cuzens, J.E.

1998-07-01

Energy deregulation, building design efficiency standards and competitive pressures all encourage the incorporation of distributed fuel cell cogeneration packages into modern buildings. The building marketplace segments to which these systems apply include office buildings, retail stores, hospitals, hotels, food service and multifamily residences. These applications represent approximately 60% of the commercial building sector's energy use plus a portion of the residential sector's energy use. While there are several potential manufacturers of fuel cells on the verge of marketing equipment, most are currently using commercial hydrogen gas to fuel them. There are few suppliers of equipment, which convert conventional fuels into hydrogen. Hydrogen Burner Technology, Inc. (HBT) is one of the few companies with a proven under-oxidized-burner (UOB) technology, patented and already proven in commercial use for industrial applications. HBT is developing a subsystem based on the UOB technology that can produce a hydrogen rich product gas using natural gas, propane or liquid fuels as the feed stock, which may be directly useable by proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for conversion into electricity. The combined thermal output can also be used for space heating/cooling, water heating or steam generation applications. HBT is currently analyzing the commercial building market, integrated system designs and marketplace motivations which will allow the best overall subsystem to be designed, tested and introduced commercially in the shortest time possible. HBT is also actively involved in combined subsystem designs for use in automotive and small residential services.

Based on the Hardware Resources Configurable Shanke PLC Building Energy Consumption Detection System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Guanghe

2017-01-01

Full Text Available According to the actual situation of the comprehensive office building and the functional requirements of the building energy consumption monitoring and management system, the office building energy consumption monitoring and management system is designed by using the hardware resource configurable Shanke PLC(SKPLC as the data collector. The system uses data bus technology and field data acquisition technology to achieve the building energy consumption data acquisition and management. Practice has proved that energy-saving effect is good.

Building occupancy diversity and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system energy efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Zheng; Ghahramani, Ali; Becerik-Gerber, Burcin

2016-01-01

Approximately forty percent of total building energy consumption is attributed to HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems that aim to maintain healthy and comfortable indoor environments. An HVAC system is a network with several subsystems, and there exist heat transfer and balance among the zones of a building, as well as heat gains and losses through a building's envelope. Diverse occupancy (diversity in terms of when and how occupants occupy a building) in spaces could result in increase of loads that are not actual demands for an HVAC system, leading into inefficiencies. This paper introduces a framework to quantitatively evaluate the energy implications of occupancy diversity at the building level, where building information modeling is integrated to provide building geometries, HVAC system layouts, and spatial information as inputs for computing potential energy implications if occupancy diversity were to be eliminated. An agglomerate hierarchical clustering-based iterative evaluation algorithm is designed for iteratively eliminating occupancy diversity. Whole building energy simulations for a real-world building, as well as virtual reference buildings demonstrate that the proposed framework could effectively quantify the HVAC system energy efficiency affected by occupancy diversity and the framework is generalizable to different building geometries, layouts, and occupancy diversities. - Highlights: • Analyze relationships between occupancy diversity and HVAC energy efficiency. • Integrate BIM for quantifying energy implications of occupancy diversity. • Demonstrate the effectiveness and generalizability of iterative evaluation algorithm. • Improve agglomerative hierarchical clustering process using heap data structure.

Commercial Building Energy Asset Score System: Program Overview and Technical Protocol (Version 1.0)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Na; Gorrissen, Willy J.

2013-01-11

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is developing a national voluntary energy asset score system that includes an energy asset score tool to help building owners evaluate their buildings with respect to the score system. The goal of the energy asset score system is to facilitate cost-effective investment in energy efficiency improvements of commercial buildings. The system will allow building owners and managers to compare their building infrastructure against peers and track building upgrade progress over time. The system can also help other building stakeholders (e.g., building operators, tenants, financiers, and appraisers) understand the relative efficiency of different buildings in a way that is independent from their operations and occupancy. This report outlines the technical protocol used to generate the energy asset score, explains the scoring methodology, and provides additional details regarding the energy asset score tool. This report also describes alternative methods that were considered prior to developing the current approach. Finally, this report describes a few features of the program where alternative approaches are still under evaluation.

Implementing effect of energy efficiency supervision system for government office buildings and large-scale public buildings in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jing; Wu Yong; Zhu Neng

2009-01-01

The Chinese central government released a document to initiate a task of energy efficiency supervision system construction for government office buildings and large-scale public buildings in 2007, which marks the overall start of existing buildings energy efficiency management in China with the government office buildings and large-scale public buildings as a breakthrough. This paper focused on the implementing effect in the demonstration region all over China for less than one year, firstly introduced the target and path of energy efficiency supervision system, then described the achievements and problems during the implementing process in the first demonstration provinces and cities. A certain data from the energy efficiency public notice in some typical demonstration provinces and cities were analyzed statistically. It can be concluded that different functional buildings have different energy consumption and the average energy consumption of large-scale public buildings is too high in China compared with the common public buildings and residential buildings. The obstacles need to be overcome afterward were summarized and the prospects for the future work were also put forward in the end.

Implementing effect of energy efficiency supervision system for government office buildings and large-scale public buildings in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao Jing [School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)], E-mail: zhaojing@tju.edu.cn; Wu Yong [Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People' s Republic of China, Beijing 100835 (China); Zhu Neng [School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

2009-06-15

The Chinese central government released a document to initiate a task of energy efficiency supervision system construction for government office buildings and large-scale public buildings in 2007, which marks the overall start of existing buildings energy efficiency management in China with the government office buildings and large-scale public buildings as a breakthrough. This paper focused on the implementing effect in the demonstration region all over China for less than one year, firstly introduced the target and path of energy efficiency supervision system, then described the achievements and problems during the implementing process in the first demonstration provinces and cities. A certain data from the energy efficiency public notice in some typical demonstration provinces and cities were analyzed statistically. It can be concluded that different functional buildings have different energy consumption and the average energy consumption of large-scale public buildings is too high in China compared with the common public buildings and residential buildings. The obstacles need to be overcome afterward were summarized and the prospects for the future work were also put forward in the end.

Implementing effect of energy efficiency supervision system for government office buildings and large-scale public buildings in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Jing; Zhu, Neng [School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Wu, Yong [Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People' s Republic of China, Beijing 100835 (China)

2009-06-15

The Chinese central government released a document to initiate a task of energy efficiency supervision system construction for government office buildings and large-scale public buildings in 2007, which marks the overall start of existing buildings energy efficiency management in China with the government office buildings and large-scale public buildings as a breakthrough. This paper focused on the implementing effect in the demonstration region all over China for less than one year, firstly introduced the target and path of energy efficiency supervision system, then described the achievements and problems during the implementing process in the first demonstration provinces and cities. A certain data from the energy efficiency public notice in some typical demonstration provinces and cities were analyzed statistically. It can be concluded that different functional buildings have different energy consumption and the average energy consumption of large-scale public buildings is too high in China compared with the common public buildings and residential buildings. The obstacles need to be overcome afterward were summarized and the prospects for the future work were also put forward in the end. (author)

Smart energy control systems for sustainable buildings

CERN Document Server

Spataru, Catalina; Howlett, Robert; Jain, Lakhmi

2017-01-01

There is widespread interest in the way that smart energy control systems, such as assessment and monitoring techniques for low carbon, nearly-zero energy and net positive buildings can contribute to a Sustainable future, for current and future generations. There is a turning point on the horizon for the supply of energy from finite resources such as natural gas and oil become less reliable in economic terms and extraction become more challenging, and more unacceptable socially, such as adverse public reaction to ‘fracking’. Thus, in 2016 these challenges are having a major influence on the design, optimisation, performance measurements, operation and preservation of: buildings, neighbourhoods, cities, regions, countries and continents. The source and nature of energy, the security of supply and the equity of distribution, the environmental impact of its supply and utilization, are all crucial matters to be addressed by suppliers, consumers, governments, industry, academia, and financial institutions. Thi...

Calculation of the yearly energy performance of heating systems based on the European Building Energy Directive and related CEN Standards

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Bjarne W.; de Carli, Michele

2011-01-01

According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) all new European buildings (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) must since 2006 have an energy declaration based on the calculated energy performance of the building, including heating, ventilating, cooling and lighting syst......–20% of the building energy demand. The additional loss depends on the type of heat emitter, type of control, pump and boiler. Keywords: Heating systems; CEN standards; Energy performance; Calculation methods......According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) all new European buildings (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) must since 2006 have an energy declaration based on the calculated energy performance of the building, including heating, ventilating, cooling and lighting...... systems. This energy declaration must refer to the primary energy or CO2 emissions. The European Organization for Standardization (CEN) has prepared a series of standards for energy performance calculations for buildings and systems. This paper presents related standards for heating systems. The relevant...

Government regulation and associated innovations in building energy-efficiency supervisory systems for large-scale public buildings in a market economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai Xuezhi; Wu Yong; Di Yanqiang; Li Qiaoyan

2009-01-01

The supervision of energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings is the main embodiment for government implementation of Public Administration in the fields of resource saving and environmental protection. Aimed at improving the current situation of lack of government administration in building energy efficiency, this paper proposes the concept of 'change and redesign of governmental supervision in building energy efficiency', repositioning the role of government supervision. Based on this theory and other related theories in regulation economic and modern management, this paper analyzes and researches the action and function of all level governments in execution of the supervisory system of building energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings. This paper also defines the importance of government supervision in energy-efficiency system. Finally, this paper analyzes and researches the interaction mechanism between government and owners of different type buildings, government and energy-efficiency service institution with gambling as main features. This paper also presents some measurements to achieve a common benefit community in implementation of building energy-efficiency supervisory system.

Government regulation and associated innovations in building energy-efficiency supervisory systems for large-scale public buildings in a market economy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai Xuezhi [China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013 (China)], E-mail: daixz9999@126.com; Wu Yong [Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People' s Republic of China, Beijing 100835 (China); Di Yanqiang [China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013 (China); Li Qiaoyan [Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore (Singapore)

2009-06-15

The supervision of energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings is the main embodiment for government implementation of Public Administration in the fields of resource saving and environmental protection. Aimed at improving the current situation of lack of government administration in building energy efficiency, this paper proposes the concept of 'change and redesign of governmental supervision in building energy efficiency', repositioning the role of government supervision. Based on this theory and other related theories in regulation economic and modern management, this paper analyzes and researches the action and function of all level governments in execution of the supervisory system of building energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings. This paper also defines the importance of government supervision in energy-efficiency system. Finally, this paper analyzes and researches the interaction mechanism between government and owners of different type buildings, government and energy-efficiency service institution with gambling as main features. This paper also presents some measurements to achieve a common benefit community in implementation of building energy-efficiency supervisory system.

Government regulation and associated innovations in building energy-efficiency supervisory systems for large-scale public buildings in a market economy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, Xuezhi; Di, Yanqiang [China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013 (China); Wu, Yong [Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People' s Republic of China, Beijing 100835 (China); Li, Qiaoyan [Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore (Singapore)

2009-06-15

The supervision of energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings is the main embodiment for government implementation of Public Administration in the fields of resource saving and environmental protection. Aimed at improving the current situation of lack of government administration in building energy efficiency, this paper proposes the concept of 'change and redesign of governmental supervision in building energy efficiency', repositioning the role of government supervision. Based on this theory and other related theories in regulation economic and modern management, this paper analyzes and researches the action and function of all level governments in execution of the supervisory system of building energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings. This paper also defines the importance of government supervision in energy-efficiency system. Finally, this paper analyzes and researches the interaction mechanism between government and owners of different type buildings, government and energy-efficiency service institution with gambling as main features. This paper also presents some measurements to achieve a common benefit community in implementation of building energy-efficiency supervisory system. (author)

Multiobjective optimisation of energy systems and building envelope retrofit in a residential community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Raphael; Mavromatidis, Georgios; Orehounig, Kristina; Carmeliet, Jan

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Simultaneous optimisation of building envelope retrofit and energy systems. • Retrofit and energy systems change interact and should be considered simultaneously. • Case study quantifies cost-GHG emission tradeoffs for different retrofit options. - Abstract: In this paper, a method for a multi-objective and simultaneous optimisation of building energy systems and retrofit is presented. Tailored to be suitable for the diverse range of existing buildings in terms of age, size, and use, it combines dynamic energy demand simulation to explore individual retrofit scenarios with an energy hub optimisation. Implemented as an epsilon-constrained mixed integer linear program (MILP), the optimisation matches envelope retrofit with renewable and high efficiency energy supply technologies such as biomass boilers, heat pumps, photovoltaic and solar thermal panels to minimise life cycle cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Due to its multi-objective, integrated assessment of building transformation options and its ability to capture both individual building characteristics and trends within a neighbourhood, this method is aimed to provide developers, neighbourhood and town policy makers with the necessary information to make adequate decisions. Our method is deployed in a case study of typical residential buildings in the Swiss village of Zernez, simulating energy demands in EnergyPlus and solving the optimisation problem with CPLEX. Although common trade-offs in energy system and retrofit choice can be observed, optimisation results suggest that the diversity in building age and size leads to optimal strategies for retrofitting and building system solutions, which are specific to different categories. With this method, GHG emissions of the entire community can be reduced by up to 76% at a cost increase of 3% compared to the current emission levels, if an optimised solution is selected for each building category.

A SCADA System for Energy Management in Intelligent Buildings

OpenAIRE

Figueiredo, Joao; Sá da Costa, Jose

2012-01-01

This paper develops an energy management platform for intelligent buildings using a SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition). This SCADA system integrates different types of information coming from the several technologies present in modern buildings (control of ventilation, temperature, illumination, etc.). The developed control strategy implements an hierarchical cascade controller where inner loops are performed by local PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller), and the outer...

Data Acquisition and Transmission System for Building Energy Consumption Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Zhao

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Building energy consumption monitoring and management system have been developed widely in China in order to gain the real-time data of energy consumption in buildings for analyzing it in the next state work. This paper describes a low-cost and small-sized collector based on the STM32 microcontroller, which can be placed in a building easily to implement the work of data acquisition, storage, and transmission. The collector gathers the electricity, water, heat, and energy consumption data through the RS485 field bus and stores the data into an SD card with mass storage, finally, using Internet to finish the communication and transmission to data server through TCP protocol. The collector has been used in application for two years, and the results show that the system is reliable and stable.

Implementation of a demand elasticity model in the building energy management system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ożadowicz, A.; Grela, J.; Babar, M.

2016-01-01

Nowadays, crucial part of modern Building Automation and Control Systems (BACS) is electric energy management. An active demand side management is very important feature of a Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) integrated within the BACS. Since demand value changes in time and depends on

Power and energy saving in buildings by distributed generation based on gas-engine systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arghandeh, R.; Amidpour, M.; Ghaffari, A. [Khaje Nasir Toosi Univ. of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Joint Program of Energy Systems Engineering; Manchester Univ., Manchester (United Kingdom)

2008-07-01

Buildings consume high amounts of energy and produce high amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper discussed the use of gas cogeneration distributed generation (DG) technologies as a means of reducing energy consumption from buildings as well as energy losses from transmission lines in Iran. Energy sources and power generation systems were reviewed, and the economical benefits and energy savings resulting from the use of cogeneration systems were outlined. Actual rates of electricity consumption for Iran were estimated. Building power consumption was divided into the following 6 major sections: (1) lighting, (2) home appliances, (3) restaurant and cooking devices, (4) sports facilities, (5) utilities, and (6) electronics. Energy consumption criteria (ECC) and daily consumption charts (DCC) were used to plan and design the cogeneration systems. Energy balances, capital costs, and investment rates of return (IRR) were then calculated for 2 scenarios for a sample building. Results of the study showed that gas engine combined heat and power (CHP) DG systems are a reliable and economic technology for reducing energy consumption in buildings. The IRR of the CHP DG system for the sample building was achieved in 1 year. 13 refs., 10 tabs., 11 figs.

Building Energy Management Systems BEMS, German contribution to the IEA research projects Annex 16 and 17. Building Energy Management System BEMS; deutscher Beitrag zu den IEA-Forschungsvorhaben Annex 16 und 17

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bach, H.; Stephan, W.; Madjidi, M. (Univ. Stuttgart, IKE, Abt. HLK (Germany)); Brendel, T.; Schneider, A. (Ingenieurbuero Dr. Brendel, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)); Ast, H.; Kellner, H. (IFB, Dr. R. Braschel GmbH, Stuttgart (Germany))

1991-01-01

As part of the IEA project Annex 16 and 17 Germany carries out the project Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS). With digital control systems energetic and low-cost operation of space hvac systems can be attained. The project aims at abolishing impediments to efficient use of energy. Potential savings are shown for three examples: A conventional heating system for an office building, a VAV system (circulating air, heating, cooling, washer humidifcation) for an office building and VAV systems (FWRG, heating, cooling, steam humidification) for an office building in compact design. (BWI).

Life cycle optimization model for integrated cogeneration and energy systems applications in buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Osman, Ayat E.

Energy use in commercial buildings constitutes a major proportion of the energy consumption and anthropogenic emissions in the USA. Cogeneration systems offer an opportunity to meet a building's electrical and thermal demands from a single energy source. To answer the question of what is the most beneficial and cost effective energy source(s) that can be used to meet the energy demands of the building, optimizations techniques have been implemented in some studies to find the optimum energy system based on reducing cost and maximizing revenues. Due to the significant environmental impacts that can result from meeting the energy demands in buildings, building design should incorporate environmental criteria in the decision making criteria. The objective of this research is to develop a framework and model to optimize a building's operation by integrating congregation systems and utility systems in order to meet the electrical, heating, and cooling demand by considering the potential life cycle environmental impact that might result from meeting those demands as well as the economical implications. Two LCA Optimization models have been developed within a framework that uses hourly building energy data, life cycle assessment (LCA), and mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). The objective functions that are used in the formulation of the problems include: (1) Minimizing life cycle primary energy consumption, (2) Minimizing global warming potential, (3) Minimizing tropospheric ozone precursor potential, (4) Minimizing acidification potential, (5) Minimizing NOx, SO 2 and CO2, and (6) Minimizing life cycle costs, considering a study period of ten years and the lifetime of equipment. The two LCA optimization models can be used for: (a) long term planning and operational analysis in buildings by analyzing the hourly energy use of a building during a day and (b) design and quick analysis of building operation based on periodic analysis of energy use of a building in a

Renewable building energy systems and passive human comfort solutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Omer, Abdeen Mustafa [17 Juniper Court, Forest Road West, Nottingham NG7 4EU (United Kingdom)

2008-08-15

With environmental protection posing as the number one global problem, man has no choice but to reduce his energy consumption. One way to accomplish this is to resort to passive and low-energy systems to maintain thermal comfort in buildings. The conventional and modern designs of wind towers can successfully be used in hot arid regions to maintain thermal comfort (with or without the use of ceiling fans) during all hours of the cooling season, or a fraction of it. Climatic design is one of the best approaches to reduce the energy cost in buildings. Proper design is the first step of defence against the stress of the climate. Buildings should be designed according to the climate of the site, reducing the need for mechanical heating or cooling. Hence maximum natural energy can be used for creating a pleasant environment inside the built envelope. Technology and industry progress in the last decade diffused electronic and informatics' devices in many human activities, and also in building construction. The utilisation and operating opportunities components, increase the reduction of heat losses by varying the thermal insulation, optimise the lighting distribution with louver screens and operate mechanical ventilation for coolness in indoor spaces. In addition to these parameters the intelligent envelope can act for security control and became an important part of the building domotic revolution. Application of simple passive cooling measure is effective in reducing the cooling load of buildings in hot and humid climates. Fourty-three percent reductions can be achieved using a combination of well-established technologies such as glazing, shading, insulation, and natural ventilation. More advanced passive cooling techniques such as roof pond, dynamic insulation, and evaporative water jacket need to be considered more closely. The building sector is a major consumer of both energy and materials worldwide, and that consumption is increasing. Most industrialised

On-Site Renewable Energy and Green Buildings: A System-Level Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ghamdi, Sami G; Bilec, Melissa M

2016-05-03

Adopting a green building rating system (GBRSs) that strongly considers use of renewable energy can have important environmental consequences, particularly in developing countries. In this paper, we studied on-site renewable energy and GBRSs at the system level to explore potential benefits and challenges. While we have focused on GBRSs, the findings can offer additional insight for renewable incentives across sectors. An energy model was built for 25 sites to compute the potential solar and wind power production on-site and available within the building footprint and regional climate. A life-cycle approach and cost analysis were then completed to analyze the environmental and economic impacts. Environmental impacts of renewable energy varied dramatically between sites, in some cases, the environmental benefits were limited despite the significant economic burden of those renewable systems on-site and vice versa. Our recommendation for GBRSs, and broader policies and regulations, is to require buildings with higher environmental impacts to achieve higher levels of energy performance and on-site renewable energy utilization, instead of fixed percentages.

The Energy Audit Activity Focused on the Lighting Systems in Historical Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giacomo Salvadori

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The energy audit for a building is a procedure designed mainly to obtain adequate knowledge of the energy consumption profile, identify, and quantify opportunities for energy savings by a cost-benefit analysis and report, clearly and comprehensively, about the obtained results. If the audit is referred to a building with a significant historical and artistic value, a compatibility evaluation of the energy saving interventions with the architectural features should also be developed. In this paper, analysing the case study of a historical building used as public offices in Pisa (Italy, the authors describe how it is possible to conduct an energy audit activity (especially dedicated to the lighting system and they show how, for this type of buildings, it is possible to obtain significant energy savings with a refurbishment of the lighting system. A total number of seven interventions on indoor and outdoor lighting sub-systems were analysed in the paper. They are characterised by absolute compatibility with the historical and artistic value of the building and they show short payback times, variable between 4 and 34 months, allowing a reduction of the electrical energy consumption for the artificial indoor and outdoor lighting variable from 1.1 MWh/year to 39.0 MWh/year. The followed methodology and the evaluation results described in the paper, although based on a case study, can be extended to numerous historical buildings used as public offices, a recurring situation in the centres of Italian historical cities.

Consumer Central Energy Flexibility in Office Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Billanes, Joy Dalmacio; Ma, Zheng; Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard

2017-01-01

Energy flexibility in buildings will play an important role in the smart energy system. Office buildings have more potentials to provide energy flexibility to the grid compared to other types of buildings, due to the existing building management, control systems and large energy consumption....... Consumers in office buildings (building owners/managers and occupants) take a main role for adopting and engaging in building energy flexibility. In this paper provides a systematic review of consumer central energy flexibility in office buildings with the discussion of social, technical and business...... can boost energy flexibility in the office buildings....

Modeling and optimization of energy generation and storage systems for thermal conditioning of buildings targeting conceptual building design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grahovac, Milica

2012-11-29

The thermal conditioning systems are responsible for almost half of the energy consump-tion by commercial buildings. In many European countries and in the USA, buildings account for around 40% of primary energy consumption and it is therefore vital to explore further ways to reduce the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system energy consumption. This thesis investigates the relationship between the energy genera-tion and storage systems for thermal conditioning of buildings (shorter: primary HVAC systems) and the conceptual building design. Certain building design decisions irreversibly influence a building's energy performance and, conversely, many generation and storage components impose restrictions on building design and, by their nature, cannot be introduced at a later design stage. The objective is, firstly, to develop a method to quantify this influence, in terms of primary HVAC system dimensions, its cost, emissions and energy consumption and, secondly, to enable the use of the developed method by architects during the conceptual design. In order to account for the non-stationary effects of the intermittent renewable energy sources (RES), thermal storage and for the component part load efficiencies, a time domain system simulation is required. An abstract system simulation method is proposed based on seven pre-configured primary HVAC system models, including components such as boil-ers, chillers and cooling towers, thermal storage, solar thermal collectors, and photovoltaic modules. A control strategy is developed for each of the models and their annual quasi-stationary simulation is performed. The performance profiles obtained are then used to calculate the energy consumption, carbon emissions and costs. The annuity method has been employed to calculate the cost. Optimization is used to automatically size the HVAC systems, based on their simulation performance. Its purpose is to identify the system component dimensions that provide

Modeling and optimization of energy generation and storage systems for thermal conditioning of buildings targeting conceptual building design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grahovac, Milica

2012-11-29

The thermal conditioning systems are responsible for almost half of the energy consump-tion by commercial buildings. In many European countries and in the USA, buildings account for around 40% of primary energy consumption and it is therefore vital to explore further ways to reduce the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system energy consumption. This thesis investigates the relationship between the energy genera-tion and storage systems for thermal conditioning of buildings (shorter: primary HVAC systems) and the conceptual building design. Certain building design decisions irreversibly influence a building's energy performance and, conversely, many generation and storage components impose restrictions on building design and, by their nature, cannot be introduced at a later design stage. The objective is, firstly, to develop a method to quantify this influence, in terms of primary HVAC system dimensions, its cost, emissions and energy consumption and, secondly, to enable the use of the developed method by architects during the conceptual design. In order to account for the non-stationary effects of the intermittent renewable energy sources (RES), thermal storage and for the component part load efficiencies, a time domain system simulation is required. An abstract system simulation method is proposed based on seven pre-configured primary HVAC system models, including components such as boil-ers, chillers and cooling towers, thermal storage, solar thermal collectors, and photovoltaic modules. A control strategy is developed for each of the models and their annual quasi-stationary simulation is performed. The performance profiles obtained are then used to calculate the energy consumption, carbon emissions and costs. The annuity method has been employed to calculate the cost. Optimization is used to automatically size the HVAC systems, based on their simulation performance. Its purpose is to identify the system component dimensions that provide minimal

ImBuild: Impact of building energy efficiency programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, M.J.; Hostick, D.J.; Belzer, D.B.

1998-04-01

As part of measuring the impact of government programs on improving the energy efficiency of the Nation`s building stock, the Department of Energy Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs (BTS) is interested in assessing the economic impacts of its portfolio of programs, specifically the potential impact on national employment and income. The special-purpose version of the IMPLAN model used in this study is called ImBuild. In comparison with simple economic multiplier approaches, such as Department of Commerce RIMS 2 system, ImBuild allows for more complete and automated analysis of the economic impacts of energy efficiency investments in buildings. ImBuild is also easier to use than existing macroeconomic simulation models. The authors conducted an analysis of three sample BTS energy programs: the residential generator-absorber heat exchange gas heat pump (GAX heat pump), the low power sulfur lamp (LPSL) in residential and commercial applications, and the Building America program. The GAX heat pump would address the market for the high-efficiency residential combined heating and cooling systems. The LPSL would replace some highly efficient fluorescent commercial lighting. Building America seeks to improve the energy efficiency of new factory-built, modular, manufactured, and small-volume, site-built homes through use of systems engineering concepts and early incorporation of new products and processes, and by increasing the demand for more energy-efficient homes. The authors analyze a scenario for market penetration of each of these technologies devised for BTS programs reported in the BTS GPRA Metrics Estimates, FY99 Budget Request, December 19, 1997. 46 figs., 4 tabs.

Intelligent demand side management of residential building energy systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sinha, Maruti N.

Advent of modern sensing technologies, data processing capabilities and rising cost of energy are driving the implementation of intelligent systems in buildings and houses which constitute 41% of total energy consumption. The primary motivation has been to provide a framework for demand-side management and to improve overall reliability. The entire formulation is to be implemented on NILM (Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring System), a smart meter. This is going to play a vital role in the future of demand side management. Utilities have started deploying smart meters throughout the world which will essentially help to establish communication between utility and consumers. This research is focused on investigation of a suitable thermal model of residential house, building up control system and developing diagnostic and energy usage forecast tool. The present work has considered measurement based approach to pursue. Identification of building thermal parameters is the very first step towards developing performance measurement and controls. The proposed identification technique is PEM (Prediction Error Method) based, discrete state-space model. The two different models have been devised. First model is focused toward energy usage forecast and diagnostics. Here one of the novel idea has been investigated which takes integral of thermal capacity to identify thermal model of house. The purpose of second identification is to build up a model for control strategy. The controller should be able to take into account the weather forecast information, deal with the operating point constraints and at the same time minimize the energy consumption. To design an optimal controller, MPC (Model Predictive Control) scheme has been implemented instead of present thermostatic/hysteretic control. This is a receding horizon approach. Capability of the proposed schemes has also been investigated.

Preliminary Findings from an Analysis of Building Energy Information System Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Granderson, Jessica; Piette, Mary Ann; Ghatikar, Girish; Price, Philip

2009-06-01

Energy information systems comprise software, data acquisition hardware, and communication systems that are intended to provide energy information to building energy and facilities managers, financial managers, and utilities. This technology has been commercially available for over a decade, however recent advances in Internet and other information technology, and analytical features have expanded the number of product options that are available. For example, features such as green house gas tracking, configurable energy analyses and enhanced interoperability are becoming increasingly common. Energy information systems are used in a variety of commercial buildings operations and environments, and can be characterized in a number of ways. Basic elements of these systems include web-based energy monitoring, web-based energy management linked to controls, demand response, and enterprise energy management applications. However the sheer number and variety of available systems complicate the selection of products to match the needs of a given user. In response, a framework was developed to define the capabilities of different types of energy information systems, and was applied to characterize approximately 30 technologies. Measurement is a critical component in managing energy consumption and energy information must be shared at all organizational levels to maintain persistent, efficient operations. Energy information systems are important to understand because they offer the analytical support to process measured data into information, and they provide the informational link between the primary actors who impact building energy efficiency - operators, facilities and energy managers, owners and corporate decision makers. In this paper, preliminary findings are presented, with a focus on overall trends and the general state of the technology. Key conclusions include the need to further pursue standardization and usability, x-y plotting as an under-supported feature, and

75 FR 17700 - Energy Efficient Building Systems Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative-Joint Federal Funding...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-07

... economically dynamic regional innovation cluster focused on energy efficient buildings technologies and systems...-risk, high-reward research that overcomes technology challenges through approaches that span basic... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Efficient Building Systems Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative...

Energy efficient model based algorithm for control of building HVAC systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirubakaran, V; Sahu, Chinmay; Radhakrishnan, T K; Sivakumaran, N

2015-11-01

Energy efficient designs are receiving increasing attention in various fields of engineering. Heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) control system designs involve improved energy usage with an acceptable relaxation in thermal comfort. In this paper, real time data from a building HVAC system provided by BuildingLAB is considered. A resistor-capacitor (RC) framework for representing thermal dynamics of the building is estimated using particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. With objective costs as thermal comfort (deviation of room temperature from required temperature) and energy measure (Ecm) explicit MPC design for this building model is executed based on its state space representation of the supply water temperature (input)/room temperature (output) dynamics. The controllers are subjected to servo tracking and external disturbance (ambient temperature) is provided from the real time data during closed loop control. The control strategies are ported on a PIC32mx series microcontroller platform. The building model is implemented in MATLAB and hardware in loop (HIL) testing of the strategies is executed over a USB port. Results indicate that compared to traditional proportional integral (PI) controllers, the explicit MPC's improve both energy efficiency and thermal comfort significantly. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Energy Cloud: Services for Smart Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohamed, Nader; Al-Jaroodi, Jameela; Lazarova-Molnar, Sanja

2018-01-01

, and network technologies. Using smart building energy management systems provides intelligent procedures to control buildings’ equipment such as HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning) systems, home and office appliances, and lighting systems to reduce energy consumption while maintaining......Energy consumption in buildings is responsible for a significant portion of the total energy use and carbon emissions in large cities. One of the main approaches to reduce energy consumption and its environmental impact is to convert buildings into smart buildings using computer, software, sensor...... the required quality of living in all of the building’s spaces. This chapter discusses and reviews utilizing cloud computing to provide energy-related services to enhance the operations of smart buildings’ energy management systems. Cloud computing can provide many advantages for smart buildings’ energy...

Recent Developments of the Modelica"Buildings" Library for Building Energy and Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wetter, Michael; Zuo, Wangda; Nouidui, Thierry Stephane

2011-04-01

At the Modelica 2009 conference, we introduced the Buildings library, a freely available Modelica library for building energy and control systems. This paper reports the updates of the library and presents example applications for a range of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Over the past two years, the library has been further developed. The number of HVAC components models has been doubled and various components have been revised to increase numerical robustness.The paper starts with an overview of the library architecture and a description of the main packages. To demonstrate the features of the Buildings library, applications that include multizone airflow simulation as well as supervisory and local loop control of a variable air volume (VAV) system are briefly described. The paper closes with a discussion of the current development.

Net positive energy buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero, A.; Barreiro, E.; Sanchez Zabala, V.

2010-01-01

Buildings are great consumers of energy, being responsible for almost 36% of CO2 emissions in Europe. Though there are many initiatives towards the reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in buildings, many of the alternatives are diminished due to a lack of a unique and holistic approach to the problem. This paper reports a new innovative concept of Positive Energy Buildings (EB+), as well as an integral methodology that covers the overall design process for achieving them. The methodology evaluates energy efficiency solutions at different scales, from building site to generation systems. An educational building design in Navarra serves as a case study to check the feasibility of the proposed methodology. The study concludes that the key to achieve a Positive Energy Building is a minimized energy demand, complemented by efficient facilities and enhanced by distributed power generation from renewable sources. (Author).

Building automation: Photovoltaic assisted thermal comfort management system for energy saving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, M Reyasudin Basir; Jidin, Razali; Shaaya, Sharifah Azwa; Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh

2013-01-01

Building automation plays an important key role in the means to reduce building energy consumption and to provide comfort for building occupants. It is often that air conditioning system operating features ignored in building automation which can result in thermal discomfort among building occupants. Most automation system for building is expensive and incurs high maintenance cost. Such system also does not support electricity demand side management system such as load shifting. This paper discusses on centralized monitoring system for room temperature and photovoltaic (PV) output for feasibility study of PV assisted air conditioning system in small office buildings. The architecture of the system consists of PV modules and sensor nodes located at each room. Wireless sensor network technology (WSN) been used for data transmission. The data from temperature sensors and PV modules transmitted to the host personal computer (PC) wirelessly using Zigbee modules. Microcontroller based USB data acquisition device used to receive data from sensor nodes and displays the data on PC.

Building automation: Photovoltaic assisted thermal comfort management system for energy saving

Science.gov (United States)

Reyasudin Basir Khan, M.; Jidin, Razali; Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh; Azwa Shaaya, Sharifah

2013-06-01

Building automation plays an important key role in the means to reduce building energy consumption and to provide comfort for building occupants. It is often that air conditioning system operating features ignored in building automation which can result in thermal discomfort among building occupants. Most automation system for building is expensive and incurs high maintenance cost. Such system also does not support electricity demand side management system such as load shifting. This paper discusses on centralized monitoring system for room temperature and photovoltaic (PV) output for feasibility study of PV assisted air conditioning system in small office buildings. The architecture of the system consists of PV modules and sensor nodes located at each room. Wireless sensor network technology (WSN) been used for data transmission. The data from temperature sensors and PV modules transmitted to the host personal computer (PC) wirelessly using Zigbee modules. Microcontroller based USB data acquisition device used to receive data from sensor nodes and displays the data on PC.

Operational Planning of Low-Energy District Heating Systems Connected to Existing Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tol, Hakan; Svendsen, Svend

2012-01-01

. The response of the radiator heating systems at different levels of supply temperature was used to form the operational planning of the low-energy DH system, which determined the design parameters of the low-energy DH network in terms of overall mass flow requirement and the return temperature from...... the buildings. Since the existing buildings were considered to be renovated to low-energy class, the operational planning was simultaneously modelled for both present high-demand and future low-demand situations of the same case area.......This article focuses on low-energy District Heating (DH) systems operating in low-temperatures such as 55°C in terms of supply and 25°C in terms of return in connection with existing buildings. Since the heat loss from the network has a significant impact in case of supplying heat to low...

Energy conservation and management system using efficient building automation

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, S. Faiz; Hazry, D.; Tanveer, M. Hassan; Joyo, M. Kamran; Warsi, Faizan A.; Kamarudin, H.; Wan, Khairunizam; Razlan, Zuradzman M.; Shahriman A., B.; Hussain, A. T.

2015-05-01

In countries where the demand and supply gap of electricity is huge and the people are forced to endure increasing hours of load shedding, unnecessary consumption of electricity makes matters even worse. So the importance and need for electricity conservation increases exponentially. This paper outlines a step towards the conservation of energy in general and electricity in particular by employing efficient Building Automation technique. It should be noted that by careful designing and implementation of the Building Automation System, up to 30% to 40% of energy consumption can be reduced, which makes a huge difference for energy saving. In this study above mentioned concept is verified by performing experiment on a prototype experimental room and by implementing efficient building automation technique. For the sake of this efficient automation, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is employed as a main controller, monitoring various system parameters and controlling appliances as per required. The hardware test run and experimental findings further clarifies and proved the concept. The added advantage of this project is that it can be implemented to both small and medium level domestic homes thus greatly reducing the overall unnecessary load on the Utility provider.

Development and analysis of sustainable energy systems for building HVAC applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalid, F.; Dincer, I.; Rosen, M.A.

2015-01-01

The main HVAC applications considered in this paper are heating and cooling. Three newly developed systems for heating and cooling applications in buildings are proposed and assessed. Energy and exergy analyses are performed to assess the performance of heating, cooling and overall systems for each case, and the effects of various parameters on the energy and exergy efficiencies are examined. Also, the effect of changing the energy input for each system is also found in terms of overall efficiency. The overall system energy efficiency is found to be highest for the natural gas operated system with a vapour absorption chiller (system 1) at 27.5% and lowest for the photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal operated system with vapour compression chiller (system 3) at 19.9%. The overall system exergy efficiency is found to be highest for the PV and solar thermal operated system with vapour compression chiller (system 3) at 3.9% and lowest for the PV and solar thermal operated system with heat pump (system 2) at 1.2%, respectively. - Highlights: • Three HVAC systems for buildings using renewable energy sources are proposed and assessed. • A performance improvement study is undertaken. • Parametric studies are carried out to determine the effects of various parameters on energy and exergy efficiencies

Energy Flexibility in Retail Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ma, Zheng; Billanes, Joy Dalmacio; Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun

2017-01-01

Retail buildings has an important role for demand side energy flexibility because of their high energy consumption, variety of energy flexibility resources, and centralized control via building control systems. Energy flexibility requires agreements and collaborations among different actors......), with the discussion of the stakeholders’ roles and their interrelation in delivering energy flexibility with the influential factors to the actual implementation of energy flexible operation of their buildings. Based on a literature analysis, the results cover stakeholders’ types and roles, perceptions (drivers......, barriers, and benefits), energy management activities and technology adoptions, and the stakeholders’ interaction for the energy flexibility in retail buildings....

Understanding Net Zero Energy Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salom, Jaume; Widén, Joakim; Candanedo, José

2011-01-01

Although several alternative definitions exist, a Net-Zero Energy Building (Net ZEB) can be succinctly described as a grid-connected building that generates as much energy as it uses over a year. The “net-zero” balance is attained by applying energy conservation and efficiency measures...... and by incorporating renewable energy systems. While based on annual balances, a complete description of a Net ZEB requires examining the system at smaller time-scales. This assessment should address: (a) the relationship between power generation and building loads and (b) the resulting interaction with the power grid...

Building Energy Efficiency in India: Compliance Evaluation of Energy Conservation Building Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Sha; Evans, Meredydd; Delgado, Alison

2014-03-26

India is experiencing unprecedented construction boom. The country doubled its floorspace between 2001 and 2005 and is expected to add 35 billion m2 of new buildings by 2050. Buildings account for 35% of total final energy consumption in India today, and building energy use is growing at 8% annually. Studies have shown that carbon policies will have little effect on reducing building energy demand. Chaturvedi et al. predicted that, if there is no specific sectoral policies to curb building energy use, final energy demand of the Indian building sector will grow over five times by the end of this century, driven by rapid income and population growth. The growing energy demand in buildings is accompanied by a transition from traditional biomass to commercial fuels, particularly an increase in electricity use. This also leads to a rapid increase in carbon emissions and aggravates power shortage in India. Growth in building energy use poses challenges to the Indian government. To curb energy consumption in buildings, the Indian government issued the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in 2007, which applies to commercial buildings with a connected load of 100 kW or 120kVA. It is predicted that the implementation of ECBC can help save 25-40% of energy, compared to reference buildings without energy-efficiency measures. However, the impact of ECBC depends on the effectiveness of its enforcement and compliance. Currently, the majority of buildings in India are not ECBC-compliant. The United Nations Development Programme projected that code compliance in India would reach 35% by 2015 and 64% by 2017. Whether the projected targets can be achieved depends on how the code enforcement system is designed and implemented. Although the development of ECBC lies in the hands of the national government – the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the Ministry of Power, the adoption and implementation of ECBC largely relies on state and local governments. Six years after ECBC�

Modeling and simulation to determine the potential energy savings by implementing cold thermal energy storage system in office buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rismanchi, B.; Saidur, R.; Masjuki, H.H.; Mahlia, T.M.I.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Simulating the CTES system behavior based on Malaysian climate. • Almost 65% of power is used for cooling for cooling the office buildings, every day. • The baseline shows an acceptable match with real data from the fieldwork. • Overall, the energy used for full load storage is much than the conventional system. • The load levelling storage strategy has 3.7% lower energy demand. - Abstract: In Malaysia, air conditioning (AC) systems are considered as the major energy consumers in office buildings with almost 57% share. During the past decade, cold thermal energy storage (CTES) systems have been widely used for their significant economic benefits. However, there were always doubts about their energy saving possibilities. The main objective of the present work is to develop a computer model to determine the potential energy savings of implementing CTES systems in Malaysia. A case study building has been selected to determine the energy consumption pattern of an office building. In the first step the building baseline model was developed and validated with the recorded data from the fieldwork. Once the simulation results reach an acceptable accuracy, different CTES system configuration was added to the model to predict their energy consumption pattern. It was found that the overall energy used by the full load storage strategy is considerably more than the conventional system. However, by applying the load leveling storage strategy, and considering its benefits to reduce the air handling unit size and reducing the pumping power, the overall energy usage was almost 4% lower than the non-storage system. Although utilizing CTES systems cannot reduce the total energy consumption considerably, but it has several outstanding benefits such as cost saving, bringing balance in the grid system, reducing the overall fuel consumption in the power plants and consequently reducing to total carbon footprint

Development of an Indoor Airflow Energy Harvesting System for Building Environment Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Fei

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks (WSNs have been widely used for intelligent building management applications. Typically, indoor environment parameters such as illumination, temperature, humidity and air quality are monitored and adjusted by an intelligent building management system. However, owing to the short life-span of the batteries used at the sensor nodes, the maintenance of such systems has been labor-intensive and time-consuming. This paper discusses a battery-less self-powering system that converts the mechanical energy from the airflow in ventilation ducts into electrical energy. The system uses a flutter energy conversion device (FECD capable of working at low airflow speeds while installed on the ventilation ducts inside of buildings. A power management strategy implemented with a circuit system ensures sufficient power for driving commercial electronic devices. For instance, the power management circuit is capable of charging a 1 F super capacitor to 2 V under ventilation duct airflow speeds of less than 3 m/s.

A generalized window energy rating system for typical office buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tian, Cheng; Chen, Tingyao; Yang, Hongxing; Chung, Tse-ming [Research Center for Building Environmental Engineering, Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong (China)

2010-07-15

Detailed computer simulation programs require lengthy inputs, and cannot directly provide an insight to relationship between the window energy performance and the key window design parameters. Hence, several window energy rating systems (WERS) for residential houses and small buildings have been developed in different countries. Many studies showed that utilization of daylight through elaborate design and operation of windows leads to significant energy savings in both cooling and lighting in office buildings. However, the current WERSs do not consider daylighting effect, while most of daylighting analyses do not take into account the influence of convective and infiltration heat gains. Therefore, a generalized WERS for typical office buildings has been presented, which takes all primary influence factors into account. The model includes embodied and operation energy uses and savings by a window to fully reflect interactions among the influence parameters. Reference locations selected for artificial lighting and glare control in the current common simulation practice may cause uncompromised conflicts, which could result in over- or under-estimated energy performance. Widely used computer programs, DOE2 and ADELINE, for hourly daylighting and cooling simulations have their own weaknesses, which may result in unrealistic or inaccurate results. An approach is also presented for taking the advantages of the both programs and avoiding their weaknesses. The model and approach have been applied to a typical office building of Hong Kong as an example to demonstrate how a WERS in a particular location can be established and how well the model can work. The energy effect of window properties, window-to-wall ratio (WWR), building orientation and lighting control strategies have been analyzed, and can be indicated by the localized WERS. An application example also demonstrates that the algebraic WERS derived from simulation results can be easily used for the optimal design of

Fuzzy Linguistic Knowledge Based Behavior Extraction for Building Energy Management Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dumidu Wijayasekara; Milos Manic

2013-08-01

Significant portion of world energy production is consumed by building Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) units. Thus along with occupant comfort, energy efficiency is also an important factor in HVAC control. Modern buildings use advanced Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) control schemes to realize these goals. However, since the performance of HVAC units is dependent on many criteria including uncertainties in weather, number of occupants, and thermal state, the performance of current state of the art systems are sub-optimal. Furthermore, because of the large number of sensors in buildings, and the high frequency of data collection, large amount of information is available. Therefore, important behavior of buildings that compromise energy efficiency or occupant comfort is difficult to identify. This paper presents an easy to use and understandable framework for identifying such behavior. The presented framework uses human understandable knowledge-base to extract important behavior of buildings and present it to users via a graphical user interface. The presented framework was tested on a building in the Pacific Northwest and was shown to be able to identify important behavior that relates to energy efficiency and occupant comfort.

75 FR 7464 - Energy Efficient Building Systems Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative-Joint Federal Funding...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-19

... a regional innovation cluster focused on innovation in energy efficient building technologies and... technology challenges through approaches that span basic research to engineering development to... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Efficient Building Systems Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative...

Opportunities of energy saving in lighting systems for public buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayman Abd El-khalek

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The lighting system provides many options for cost-effective energy saving with low or no inconvenience. Lighting improvements are excellent investments in most public buildings, it is usually cost-effective to address because lighting improvements are often easier to make than many process upgrades.For public buildings, the easy no and low cost options to help save money and improve the energy performance are:Understand energy use.Identify optionsPrioritize actionsMake the changes and measure the savings.Continue managing energy efficiency.The challenge is to retrofit traditional lamps with LED lamps of good quality. The benefits of LED light bulbs are long-lasting, durable, cool, mercury free, more efficient, and cost effective.The light Emitting Diode (LED bulb uses a semiconductor as its light source, and is currently one of the most energy efficient and quickly developing types of bulbs for lighting. LEDs increasingly are being purchased to replace traditional bulbs. LEDs are relatively more expensive than other types of bulbs, but are very cost-effective because they use only a fraction of electricity of traditional lighting methods nd can last for longer.Benchmarking guides decision makers to policies aimed at the energy sector through better understanding of energy consumption trends nationwide, e.g.: energy price, moderating, peak demand, and encouraging sectors, low energy expansions.The “Improving Energy Efficiency Project of Lighting and Appliances” carried out energy audits and implemented opportunities of energy saving in lighting for different type of public buildings.To rationalize the use of energy by giving guidelines to consumers, the IEEL&A project prepared some brochures.This paper leads with the results of case studies as energy audits, opportunities in lighting systems, energy saving and CO2 reduction.

Improvement of energy performances of existing buildings by application of solar thermal systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krstić-Furundžić Aleksandra

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Improvement of energy performances of the existing buildings in the suburban settlement Konjarnik in Belgrade, by the application of solar thermal systems is the topic presented in this paper. Hypothetical models of building improvements are created to allow the benefits of applying solar thermal collectors to residential buildings in Belgrade climate conditions to be estimated. This case study presents different design variants of solar thermal collectors integrated into a multifamily building envelope. The following aspects of solar thermal systems integration are analyzed in the paper: energy, architectural, ecological and economic. The results show that in Belgrade climatic conditions significant energy savings and reduction of CO2 emissions can be obtained with the application of solar thermal collectors.

Commissioning of building HVAC systems for improvement of energy performance; Commissioning of building HVAC systems for improvement of energy performance. Teilnahme IEA-ECBCS Annex 40 (Betreiberkompetenz)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chuard, J -M

2005-06-15

This paper takes a look at the tasks performed in Task 40 of the 'Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems ECBCS' programme of the International Energy Agency IEA that is taking a look at the commissioning of building HVAC systems with the aim of improving the energy performance of such systems. Emphasis is put on the Swiss contribution to the task. This well-illustrated paper presents information on the structure of the task, time-lines and a diagram for its implementation structures. Also, the countries participating in Task 40 and their representatives are listed, and various work already published by the annex is noted. The paper places a focus on operator competence and lists points to be taken into account when carrying out work on optimising energy consumption. The various processes involved are noted and discussed. Management guidelines are presented and economical and market aspects are discussed. Finally, projects that will continue the work are noted.

Commissioning of building HVAC systems for improvement of energy performance; Commissioning of building HVAC systems for improvement of energy performance. Teilnahme IEA-ECBCS Annex 40 (Betreiberkompetenz)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chuard, J.-M.

2005-06-15

This paper takes a look at the tasks performed in Task 40 of the 'Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems ECBCS' programme of the International Energy Agency IEA that is taking a look at the commissioning of building HVAC systems with the aim of improving the energy performance of such systems. Emphasis is put on the Swiss contribution to the task. This well-illustrated paper presents information on the structure of the task, time-lines and a diagram for its implementation structures. Also, the countries participating in Task 40 and their representatives are listed, and various work already published by the annex is noted. The paper places a focus on operator competence and lists points to be taken into account when carrying out work on optimising energy consumption. The various processes involved are noted and discussed. Management guidelines are presented and economical and market aspects are discussed. Finally, projects that will continue the work are noted.

Energy requirements for new buildings in Finland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Airaksinen, M., Email: miimu.airaksinen@vtt.fi

2012-06-15

Buildings account for circa 40% of the total energy use in Europe [1] and for about 36% of the EU's total CO{sub 2} emissions [2], including the existing energy conservation in buildings [3]. Key features of the Finnish energy policy are improved energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy sources. To achieve a sustainable shift in the energy system, a target set by the authorities, both energy savings and increased use of low-pollution energy sources are therefore priority areas. Building low-energy buildings is in accordance with the declared national aim of reducing energy use and thus reducing CO{sub 2} emissions. The main motivation in renewing building codes for new buildings was to build more energy efficiently, encourage the use the most efficient energy sources and to enhance the use of renewable energy sources. In addition the aim was to give more freedom to fi nd the real optimal solutions for energy efficiency by optimising all aspects including the building architecture and different systems with demand controls. However, in order to ensure the good quality of buildings certain minimum requirements for structure U-values are given. (orig.)

Solar energy in buildings solved by building information modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Chudikova, B.; Faltejsek, M.

2018-03-01

Building lead us to use renewable energy sources for all types of buildings. The use of solar energy is the alternatives that can be applied in a good ratio of space, price, and resultant benefits. Building Information Modelling is a modern and effective way of dealing with buildings with regard to all aspects of the life cycle. The basis is careful planning and simulation in the pre-investment phase, where it is possible to determine the effective result and influence the lifetime of the building and the cost of its operation. By simulating, analysing and insert a building model into its future environment where climate conditions and surrounding buildings play a role, it is possible to predict the usability of the solar energy and establish an ideal model. Solar systems also very affect the internal layout of buildings. Pre-investment phase analysis, with a view to future aspects, will ensure that the resulting building will be both low-energy and environmentally friendly.

Energy efficient hybrid nanocomposite-based cool thermal storage air conditioning system for sustainable buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parameshwaran, R.; Kalaiselvam, S.

2013-01-01

The quest towards energy conservative building design is increasingly popular in recent years, which has triggered greater interests in developing energy efficient systems for space cooling in buildings. In this work, energy efficient silver–titania HiTES (hybrid nanocomposites-based cool thermal energy storage) system combined with building A/C (air conditioning) system was experimentally investigated for summer and winter design conditions. HiNPCM (hybrid nanocomposite particles embedded PCM) used as the heat storage material has exhibited 7.3–58.4% of improved thermal conductivity than at its purest state. The complete freezing time for HiNPCM was reduced by 15% which was attributed to its improved thermophysical characteristics. Experimental results suggest that the effective energy redistribution capability of HiTES system has contributed for reduction in the chiller nominal cooling capacity by 46.3% and 39.6% respectively, under part load and on-peak load operating conditions. The HiTES A/C system achieved 27.3% and 32.5% of on-peak energy savings potential in summer and winter respectively compared to the conventional A/C system. For the same operating conditions, this system yield 8.3%, 12.2% and 7.2% and 10.2% of per day average and yearly energy conservation respectively. This system can be applied for year-round space conditioning application without sacrificing energy efficiency in buildings. - Highlights: • Energy storage is acquired by HiTES (hybrid nanocomposites-thermal storage) system. • Thermal conductivity of HiNPCM (hybrid nanocomposites-PCM) was improved by 58.4%. • Freezing time of HiNPCM was reduced by 15% that enabled improved energy efficiency. • Chiller nominal capacity was reduced by 46.3% and 39.6% in on-peak and part load respectively. • HiTES A/C system achieved appreciable energy savings in the range of 8.3–12.2%

Life Cycle Multi-Criteria Analysis Of Alternative Energy Supply Systems For A Residential Building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artur Rogoža

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyses energy supply alternatives for a partially renovated residential building. In addition to the existing district heating (base case alternative systems, gas boilers, heat pumps (air-water and ground-water, solar collectors, solar cells, and combinations of these systems have been examined. Actual heat consumption of the building and electricity demand determined by the statistical method are used for simulating the systems. The process of simulation is performed using EnergyPro software. In order to select an optimal energy supply option, the life cycle analysis of all systems has been carried out throughout a life span of the building, and the estimated results of energy, environmental and economic evaluation have been converted into non-dimensional variables (3E using multi–criteria analysis.Article in Lithuanian

Energy demand and thermal comfort of HVAC systems with thermally activated building systems as a function of user profile

Science.gov (United States)

Pałaszyńska, Katarzyna; Bandurski, Karol; Porowski, Mieczysław

2017-11-01

Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS) are a way to use building structure as a thermal energy storage. As a result, renewable energy sources may be used more efficiently. The paper presents numerical analysis of a HVAC system with TABS energy demand and indoor thermal comfort of a representative room in a non-residential building (governmental, commercial, educational). The purpose of analysis is to investigate the influence of a user profile on system performance. The time span of the analysis is one year - a typical meteorological year. The model was prepared using a generally accepted simulation tool - TRNSYS 17. The results help to better understand the interaction of a user profile with TABS. Therefore they are important for the development of optimal control algorithms for energy efficient buildings equipped with such systems.

Solar energy in buildings: Implications for California energy policy

Science.gov (United States)

Hirshberg, A. S.; Davis, E. S.

1977-01-01

An assessment of the potential of active solar energy systems for buildings in California is summarized. The technology used for solar heating, cooling, and water heating in buildings is discussed. The major California weather zones and the solar energy designs are described, as well as the sizing of solar energy systems and their performance. The cost of solar energy systems is given both at current prices and at prices consistent with optimistic estimates for the cost of collectors. The main institutional barriers to the wide spread use of solar energy are summarized.

Alternative Natural Energy Sources in Building Design.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Albert J.; Schubert, Robert P.

This publication provides a discussion of various energy conserving building systems and design alternatives. The information presented here covers alternative space and water heating systems, and energy conserving building designs incorporating these systems and other energy conserving techniques. Besides water, wind, solar, and bio conversion…

Modeling energy flexibility of low energy buildings utilizing thermal mass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foteinaki, Kyriaki; Heller, Alfred; Rode, Carsten

2016-01-01

In the future energy system a considerable increase in the penetration of renewable energy is expected, challenging the stability of the system, as both production and consumption will have fluctuating patterns. Hence, the concept of energy flexibility will be necessary in order for the consumption...... to match the production patterns, shifting demand from on-peak hours to off-peak hours. Buildings could act as flexibility suppliers to the energy system, through load shifting potential, provided that the large thermal mass of the building stock could be utilized for energy storage. In the present study...... the load shifting potential of an apartment of a low energy building in Copenhagen is assessed, utilizing the heat storage capacity of the thermal mass when the heating system is switched off for relieving the energy system. It is shown that when using a 4-hour preheating period before switching off...

Energy demand and thermal comfort of HVAC systems with thermally activated building systems as a function of user profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pałaszyńska Katarzyna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS are a way to use building structure as a thermal energy storage. As a result, renewable energy sources may be used more efficiently. The paper presents numerical analysis of a HVAC system with TABS energy demand and indoor thermal comfort of a representative room in a non-residential building (governmental, commercial, educational. The purpose of analysis is to investigate the influence of a user profile on system performance. The time span of the analysis is one year – a typical meteorological year. The model was prepared using a generally accepted simulation tool – TRNSYS 17. The results help to better understand the interaction of a user profile with TABS. Therefore they are important for the development of optimal control algorithms for energy efficient buildings equipped with such systems.

Assessing Energy Efficiency Opportunities in US Industrial and Commercial Building Motor Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rao, Prakash; Sheaffer, Paul; McKane, Aimee; Scheihing, Paul

2015-09-01

In 2002, the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) published an energy efficiency assessment of U.S. industrial sector motor systems titled United States Industrial Electric Motor Systems Market Opportunities Assessment. The assessment advanced motor system efficiency by providing a greater understanding of the energy consumption, use characteristics, and energy efficiency improvement potential of industrial sector motor systems in the U.S. Since 2002, regulations such as Minimum Energy Performance Standards, cost reductions for motor system components such as variable frequency drives, system-integrated motor-driven equipment, and awareness programs for motor system energy efficiency have changed the landscape of U.S. motor system energy consumption. To capture the new landscape, the USDOE has initiated a three-year Motor System Market Assessment (MSMA), led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The MSMA will assess the energy consumption, operational and maintenance characteristics, and efficiency improvement opportunity of U.S. industrial sector and commercial building motor systems. As part of the MSMA, a significant effort is currently underway to conduct field assessments of motor systems from a sample of facilities representative of U.S. commercial and industrial motor system energy consumption. The Field Assessment Plan used for these assessments builds on recent LBNL research presented at EEMODS 2011 and EEMODS 2013 using methods for characterizing and determining regional motor system energy efficiency opportunities. This paper provides an update on the development and progress of the MSMA, focusing on the Field Assessment Plan and the framework for assessing the global supply chain for emerging motors and drive technologies.

Passive designs and renewable energy systems optimization of a net zero energy building in Embrun/France

Science.gov (United States)

Harkouss, F.; Biwole, P. H.; Fardoun, F.

2018-05-01

Buildings’ optimization is a smart method to inspect the available design choices starting from passive strategies, to energy efficient systems and finally towards the adequate renewable energy system to be implemented. This paper outlines the methodology and the cost-effectiveness potential for optimizing the design of net-zero energy building in a French city; Embrun. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is chosen in order to minimize thermal, electrical demands and life cycle cost while reaching the net zero energy balance; and thus getting the Pareto-front. Elimination and Choice Expressing the Reality decision making method is applied to the Pareto-front so as to obtain one optimal solution. A wide range of energy efficiency measures are investigated, besides solar energy systems are employed to produce required electricity and hot water for domestic purposes. The results indicate that the appropriate selection of the passive parameters is very important and critical in reducing the building energy consumption. The optimum design parameters yield to a decrease of building’s thermal loads and life cycle cost by 32.96% and 14.47% respectively.

A hybrid decision support system for sustainable office building renovation and energy performance improvement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Juan, Yi-Kai [Department of Architecture, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) (China); Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness, Stanford University (United States); Gao, Peng [Department of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Tongji University (China); Wang, Jie [Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness, Stanford University (United States)

2010-03-15

Energy consumption of buildings accounts for around 20-40% of all energy consumed in advanced countries. Over the last decade, more and more global organizations are investing significant resources to create sustainably built environments, emphasizing sustainable building renovation processes to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. This study develops an integrated decision support system to assess existing office building conditions and to recommend an optimal set of sustainable renovation actions, considering trade-offs between renovation cost, improved building quality, and environmental impacts. A hybrid approach that combines A* graph search algorithm with genetic algorithms (GA) is used to analyze all possible renovation actions and their trade-offs to develop the optimal solution. A two-stage system validation is performed to demonstrate the practical application of the hybrid approach: zero-one goal programming (ZOGP) and genetic algorithms are adopted to validate the effectiveness of the algorithm. A real-world renovation project is introduced to validate differences in energy performance projected for the renovation solution suggested by the system. The results reveal that the proposed hybrid system is more computationally effective than either ZOGP or GA alone. The system's suggested renovation actions would provide substantial energy performance improvements to the real project if implemented. (author)

Problems of Technology of Energy-Saving Buildings and Their Impact on Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Kwasnowski, Pawel; Fedorczak-Cisak, Malgorzata; Knap, Katarzyna

2017-10-01

Introduction of EPBD in legislation of the EU member states caused that buildings must meet very stringent requirements of thermal protection and energy efficiency. On the basis of EPBD provisions, EU Member States introduce standard of NZEB (Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings). Such activities cause a need for new, innovative materials and technologies, and new approaches to design, construction and retrofitting of buildings. Indispensable is the precise coordination of the design of structure and technical installations of building, which may be provided in an integrated design process in the system BIM. Good coordination and cooperation of all contractors during the construction phase is also necessary. The article presents the problems and the new methodology for the design, construction and use of energy efficient buildings in terms of energy saving technologies, including discussion of the significant impact of the automation of technical installations on the building energy efficiency.

Saving energy by using underfloor-air-distribution (UFAD) system in commercial buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alajmi, Ali; El-Amer, Wid

2010-01-01

The number of attempts by researchers to reduce building energy consumption has increased, ever since global warming became a serious issue. In this trend, a relatively new approach of air distribution, underfloor-air-distribution system (UFAD), has been widely used in new commercial buildings. This technique is simply accomplished by supplying air through a raised floor using different types of distribution configurations and outlets. In UFAD, the air is directly supplied to the occupants' area (occupied zone) causing occupants plumes and zone heat load stratify to the upper layer of the zone (unoccupied zone), which are later extracted from return points at high level. This flow pattern gives UFAD the advantage of using less energy than a conventional air-distribution system, ceiling-based air distribution (CBAD) due to lower pressure drop and lower air flow rate. This paper investigates the effectiveness of UFAD systems in commercial buildings for various types of application and at different air supply temperatures in a hot climate (The State of Kuwait). The findings show that UFAD has a significant saving of energy compared to CBAD (∼30%); in particular with high ceiling building types, as well as providing satisfactory comfort conditions for the occupants. Ultimately, more investigations should be done on conventional building heights (offices) to optimize the utilization of thermal stratification at design and operation stages.

Energy options for residential buildings assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rezaie, Behnaz; Dincer, Ibrahim; Esmailzadeh, Ebrahim

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Studying various building energy options. ► Assessing these options from various points. ► Comparing these options for better environment and sustainability. ► Proposing renewable energy options as potential solutions. - Abstract: The building sector, as one of the major energy consumers, demands most of the energy research to assess different energy options from various aspects. In this paper, two similar residential buildings, with either low or high energy consumption patterns, are chosen as case studies. For these case studies, three different renewable energy technology and three different hybrid systems are designed for a specified size. Then, the environmental impact indices, renewable energy indices, and the renewable exergy indices have been estimated for every energy options. Results obtained show that the hybrid systems (without considering the economics factors) are superior and having top indices. The importance of the energy consumption patterns in buildings are proven by the indices. By cutting the energy consumption to about 40% the environment index would increase by more than twice (2.1). Utilization of the non-fossil fuels is one part of the solution to environmental problems while energy conservation being the other. It has been shown that the re-design of the energy consumption model is less complex but more achievable for buildings.

Analysis and Optimization of Building Energy Consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Chuah, Jun Wei

Energy is one of the most important resources required by modern human society. In 2010, energy expenditures represented 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP). By 2035, global energy consumption is expected to increase by more than 50% from current levels. The increased pace of global energy consumption leads to significant environmental and socioeconomic issues: (i) carbon emissions, from the burning of fossil fuels for energy, contribute to global warming, and (ii) increased energy expenditures lead to reduced standard of living. Efficient use of energy, through energy conservation measures, is an important step toward mitigating these effects. Residential and commercial buildings represent a prime target for energy conservation, comprising 21% of global energy consumption and 40% of the total energy consumption in the United States. This thesis describes techniques for the analysis and optimization of building energy consumption. The thesis focuses on building retrofits and building energy simulation as key areas in building energy optimization and analysis. The thesis first discusses and evaluates building-level renewable energy generation as a solution toward building energy optimization. The thesis next describes a novel heating system, called localized heating. Under localized heating, building occupants are heated individually by directed radiant heaters, resulting in a considerably reduced heated space and significant heating energy savings. To support localized heating, a minimally-intrusive indoor occupant positioning system is described. The thesis then discusses occupant-level sensing (OLS) as the next frontier in building energy optimization. OLS captures the exact environmental conditions faced by each building occupant, using sensors that are carried by all building occupants. The information provided by OLS enables fine-grained optimization for unprecedented levels of energy efficiency and occupant comfort. The thesis also describes a retrofit

NET-ZERO ENERGY BUILDING OPERATOR TRAINING PROGRAM (NZEBOT)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brizendine, Anthony; Byars, Nan; Sleiti, Ahmad; Gehrig, Bruce; Lu, Na

2012-12-31

topics in the primary five-day Building Energy/Sustainability Management Certificate program in five training modules, namely: 1) Strategic Planning, 2) Sustainability Audits, 3) Information Analysis, 4) Energy Efficiency, and 5) Communication. Training Program 2 addresses the following technical topics in the two-day Building Technologies workshop: 1) Energy Efficient Building Materials, 2) Green Roofing Systems, 3) Energy Efficient Lighting Systems, 4) Alternative Power Systems for Buildings, 5) Innovative Building Systems, and 6) Application of Building Performance Simulation Software. Program 3 is a seminar which provides an overview of elements of programs 1 and 2 in a seminar style presentation designed for the general public to raise overall public awareness of energy and sustainability topics.

Development and Application of a ZigBee-Based Building Energy Monitoring and Control System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changhai Peng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Increasing in energy consumption, particularly with the ever-increasing growth and development of urban systems, has become a major concern in most countries. In this paper, the authors propose a cost-effective ZigBee-based building energy monitoring and control system (ZBEMCS, which is composed of a gateway, a base station, and sensors. Specifically, a new hardware platform for power sensor nodes is developed to perform both local/remote power parameter measurement and power on/off switching for electric appliances. The experimental results show that the ZBEMCS can easily monitor energy usage with a high level of accuracy. Two typical applications of ZBEMCS such as subentry metering and household metering of building energy are presented. The former includes lighting socket electricity, HVAC electricity, power electricity and special electricity. The latter includes household metering according to the campus’s main function zone and each college or department. Therefore, this system can be used for energy consumption monitoring, long-term energy conservation planning, and the development of automated energy conservation for building applications.

Sustainable Urban (re-Development with Building Integrated Energy, Water and Waste Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae-Goo Lee

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The construction and service of urban infrastructure systems and buildings involves immense resource consumption. Cities are responsible for the largest component of global energy, water, and food consumption as well as related sewage and organic waste production. Due to ongoing global urbanization, in which the largest sector of the global population lives in cities which are already built, global level strategies need to be developed that facilitate both the sustainable construction of new cities and the re-development of existing urban environments. A very promising approach in this regard is the decentralization and building integration of environmentally sound infrastructure systems for integrated resource management. This paper discusses such new and innovative building services engineering systems, which could contribute to increased energy efficiency, resource productivity, and urban resilience. Applied research and development projects in Germany, which are based on integrated system approaches for the integrated and environmentally sound management of energy, water and organic waste, are used as examples. The findings are especially promising and can be used to stimulate further research and development, including economical aspects which are crucial for sustainable urban (re-development.

Capacity building for sustainable energy development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogner, Hans-Holger

2006-01-01

Capacity Building for Sustainable Energy Development - Mission: To build capacity in Member States (MS) for comprehensive energy system, economic and environmental analyses to assist in: - making informed policy decisions for sustainable energy development; - assessing the role of nuclear power; - understanding environmental and climate change issues related to energy production and use

Thermodynamic analyses and assessments of various thermal energy storage systems for buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caliskan, Hakan; Dincer, Ibrahim; Hepbasli, Arif

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Proposing a novel latent (PCM), thermochemical and sensible (aquifer) TES combination for building heating. ► Performing comprehensive environmental, energy, exergy and sustainability analyses. ► Investigating the effect of varying dead state temperatures on the TESs. - Abstract: In this study, energetic, exergetic, environmental and sustainability analyses and their assessments are carried out for latent, thermochemical and sensible thermal energy storage (TES) systems for phase change material (PCM) supported building applications under varying environment (surrounding) temperatures. The present system consists of a floor heating system, System-I, System-II and System-III. The floor heating system stays at the building floor supported with a floor heating unit and pump. The System-I includes a latent TES system and a fan. The latent TES system is comprised of a PCM supported building envelope, in which from outside to inside; glass, transparent insulation material, PCM, air channel and insulation material are placed, respectively. Furthermore, System-II mainly has a solar-thermochemical TES while there are an aquifer TES and a heat pump in System-III. Among the TESs, the hot and cold wells of the aquifer TES have maximum exergetic efficiency values of 88.782% and 69.607% at 8 °C dead state temperature, respectively. According to the energy efficiency aspects of TESs, the discharging processes of the latent TES and the hot well of the aquifer TES possess the minimum and maximum values of 5.782% and 94.118% at 8 °C dead state temperature, respectively. Also, the fan used with the latent TES is the most environmentally-benign system component among the devices. Furthermore, the most sustainable TES is found for the aquifer TES while the worst sustainable system is the latent TES.

Human Capacity Building in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy System Maintenance for the Yurok Tribe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engel, R. A.' Zoellick, J J.

2007-07-31

From July 2005 to July 2007, the Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) assisted the Yurok Tribe in the implementation of a program designed to build the Tribe’s own capacity to improve energy efficiency and maintain and repair renewable energy systems in Tribal homes on the Yurok Reservation. Funding for this effort was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Tribal Program under First Steps grant award #DE-FG36-05GO15166. The program’s centerpiece was a house-by-house needs assessment, in which Tribal staff visited and conducted energy audits at over fifty homes. The visits included assessment of household energy efficiency and condition of existing renewable energy systems. Staff also provided energy education to residents, evaluated potential sites for new household renewable energy systems, and performed minor repairs as needed on renewable energy systems.

Acquisition System Verification for Energy Efficiency Analysis of Building Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia Cid

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Climate change and fossil fuel depletion foster interest in improving energy efficiency in buildings. There are different methods to achieve improved efficiency; one of them is the use of additives, such as phase change materials (PCMs. To prove this method’s effectiveness, a building’s behaviour should be monitored and analysed. This paper describes an acquisition system developed for monitoring buildings based on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA and with a 1-wire bus network as the communication system. The system is empirically tested to prove that it works properly. With this purpose, two experimental cubicles are made of self-compacting concrete panels, one of which has a PCM as an additive to improve its energy storage properties. Both cubicles have the same dimensions and orientation, and they are separated by six feet to avoid shadows. The behaviour of the PCM was observed with the acquisition system, achieving results that illustrate the differences between the cubicles directly related to the PCM’s characteristics. Data collection devices included in the system were temperature sensors, some of which were embedded in the walls, as well as humidity sensors, heat flux density sensors, a weather station and energy counters. The analysis of the results shows agreement with previous studies of PCM addition; therefore, the acquisition system is suitable for this application.

Hierarchical fuzzy control of low-energy building systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Zhen; Dexter, Arthur [Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PJ (United Kingdom)

2010-04-15

A hierarchical fuzzy supervisory controller is described that is capable of optimizing the operation of a low-energy building, which uses solar energy to heat and cool its interior spaces. The highest level fuzzy rules choose the most appropriate set of lower level rules according to the weather and occupancy information; the second level fuzzy rules determine an optimal energy profile and the overall modes of operation of the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system (HVAC); the third level fuzzy rules select the mode of operation of specific equipment, and assign schedules to the local controllers so that the optimal energy profile can be achieved in the most efficient way. Computer simulation is used to compare the hierarchical fuzzy control scheme with a supervisory control scheme based on expert rules. The performance is evaluated by comparing the energy consumption and thermal comfort. (author)

Economical optimization of building elements for use in design of nearly zero energy buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Sanne

2012-01-01

Nearly zero energy buildings are to become a requirement as part of the European energy policy. There are many ways of designing nearly zero energy buildings, but there is a lack of knowledge on how to end up with the most economical optimal solution. Therefore this paper present a method...... for finding the economical optimal solutions based on the use of the cost of conserved energy for each main building envelope part and building service system and cost of produced energy for each energy producing system. By use of information on construction cost and developed models of the yearly energy use...

Government management and implementation of national real-time energy monitoring system for China large-scale public building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Na Wei; Wu Yong; Song Yan; Dong Zhongcheng

2009-01-01

The supervision of energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings (GOBLPB) is the main embodiment for government implementation of Public Administration in the fields of resource saving and environmental protection. It is significant for China government to achieve the target: reducing building energy consumption by 11 million ton standard coal before 2010. In the framework of a national demonstration project concerning the energy management system, Shenzhen Municipality has been selected for the implementation of the system. A data acquisition system and a methodology concerning the energy consumption of the GOBLPB have been developed. This paper summarizes the various features of the system incorporated into identifying the building consumes and energy saving potential. This paper also defines the methods to achieve the real-time monitoring and diagnosis: the meters installed at each building, the data transmitted through internet to a center server, the analysis and unification at the center server and the publication through web. Furthermore, this paper introduces the plans to implement the system and to extend countrywide. Finally, this paper presents some measurements to achieve a common benefit community in implementation of building energy efficiency supervisory system on GOBLPB in its construction, reconstruction or operation stages.

Energy efficiency supervision strategy selection of Chinese large-scale public buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin Zhenxing; Wu Yong; Li Baizhan; Gao Yafeng

2009-01-01

This paper discusses energy consumption, building development and building energy consumption in China, and points that energy efficiency management and maintenance of large-scale public buildings is the breakthrough point of building energy saving in China. Three obstacles are lack of basic statistics data, lack of service market for building energy saving, and lack of effective management measures account for the necessity of energy efficiency supervision for large-scale public buildings. And then the paper introduces the supervision aims, the supervision system and the five basic systems' role in the supervision system, and analyzes the working mechanism of the five basic systems. The energy efficiency supervision system of large-scale public buildings takes energy consumption statistics as a data basis, Energy auditing as a technical support, energy consumption ration as a benchmark of energy saving and price increase beyond ration as a price lever, and energy efficiency public-noticing as an amplifier. The supervision system promotes energy efficiency operation and maintenance of large-scale public building, and drives a comprehensive building energy saving in China.

Energy efficiency supervision strategy selection of Chinese large-scale public buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Zhenxing; Li, Baizhan; Gao, Yafeng [The Faculty of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing (China); Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region' s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400045 (China); Wu, Yong [The Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Construction, Beijing 100835 (China)

2009-06-15

This paper discusses energy consumption, building development and building energy consumption in China, and points that energy efficiency management and maintenance of large-scale public buildings is the breakthrough point of building energy saving in China. Three obstacles are lack of basic statistics data, lack of service market for building energy saving, and lack of effective management measures account for the necessity of energy efficiency supervision for large-scale public buildings. And then the paper introduces the supervision aims, the supervision system and the five basic systems' role in the supervision system, and analyzes the working mechanism of the five basic systems. The energy efficiency supervision system of large-scale public buildings takes energy consumption statistics as a data basis, Energy auditing as a technical support, energy consumption ration as a benchmark of energy saving and price increase beyond ration as a price lever, and energy efficiency public-noticing as an amplifier. The supervision system promotes energy efficiency operation and maintenance of large-scale public building, and drives a comprehensive building energy saving in China. (author)

Energy efficiency supervision strategy selection of Chinese large-scale public buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin Zhenxing [Faculty of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing (China); Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region' s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400045 (China)], E-mail: jinzhenxing33@sina.com; Wu Yong [Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Construction, Beijing 100835 (China); Li Baizhan; Gao Yafeng [Faculty of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing (China); Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region' s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400045 (China)

2009-06-15

This paper discusses energy consumption, building development and building energy consumption in China, and points that energy efficiency management and maintenance of large-scale public buildings is the breakthrough point of building energy saving in China. Three obstacles are lack of basic statistics data, lack of service market for building energy saving, and lack of effective management measures account for the necessity of energy efficiency supervision for large-scale public buildings. And then the paper introduces the supervision aims, the supervision system and the five basic systems' role in the supervision system, and analyzes the working mechanism of the five basic systems. The energy efficiency supervision system of large-scale public buildings takes energy consumption statistics as a data basis, Energy auditing as a technical support, energy consumption ration as a benchmark of energy saving and price increase beyond ration as a price lever, and energy efficiency public-noticing as an amplifier. The supervision system promotes energy efficiency operation and maintenance of large-scale public building, and drives a comprehensive building energy saving in China.

Development of a new energy benchmark for improving the operational rating system of office buildings using various data-mining techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hyo Seon; Lee, Minhyun; Kang, Hyuna; Hong, Taehoon; Jeong, Jaewook

2016-01-01

Highlights: • This study developed a new energy benchmark for office buildings. • Correlation analysis, decision tree, and analysis of variance were used. • The data from 1072 office buildings in South Korea were used. • As a result, six types of energy benchmarks for office buildings were developed. • The operational rating system can be improved by using the new energy benchmark. - Abstract: As improving energy efficiency in buildings has become a global issue today, many countries have adopted the operational rating system to evaluate the energy performance of a building based on the actual energy consumption. A rational and reasonable energy benchmark can be used in the operational rating system to evaluate the energy performance of a building accurately and effectively. This study aims to develop a new energy benchmark for improving the operational rating system of office buildings. Toward this end, this study used various data-mining techniques such as correlation analysis, decision tree (DT) analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Based on data from 1072 office buildings in South Korea, this study was conducted in three steps: (i) Step 1: establishment of the database; (ii) Step 2: development of the new energy benchmark; and (iii) Step 3: application of the new energy benchmark for improving the operational rating system. As a result, six types of energy benchmarks for office buildings were developed using DT analysis based on the gross floor area (GFA) and the building use ratio (BUR) of offices, and these new energy benchmarks were validated using ANOVA. To ensure the effectiveness of the new energy benchmark, it was applied to three operational rating systems for comparison: (i) the baseline system (the same energy benchmark is used for all office buildings); (ii) the conventional system (different energy benchmarks are used depending on the GFA, currently used in South Korea); and (iii) the proposed system (different energy benchmarks are

Energy Conservation in an Office Building Using an Enhanced Blind System Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edorta Carrascal-Lekunberri

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The two spaces office module is usually considered as a representative case-study to analyse the energetic improvement in office buildings. In this kind of buildings, the use of a model predictive control (MPC scheme for the climate system control provides energy savings over 15% in comparison to classic control policies. This paper focuses on the influence of solar radiation on the climate control of the office module under Belgian weather conditions. Considering MPC as main climate control, it proposes a novel distributed enhanced control for the blind system (BS that takes into account part of the predictive information of the MPC. In addition to the savings that are usually achieved by MPC, it adds a potential 15% improvement in global energy use with respect to the usually proposed BS hysteresis control. Moreover, from the simulation results it can be concluded that the thermal comfort is also improved. The proposed BS scheme increases the energy use ratio between the thermally activated building system (TABS and air-handling unit (AHU; therefore increasing the use of TABS and allowing economic savings, due to the use of more cost-effective thermal equipment.

Electrical Supply System for the Experimental Zero-Energy Building (of 300 m2 Based on Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Basok, B.I.

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The results of the development and implementation of the power supply system of the experimental zero-energy building based on renewable and alternative energy sources are presented. CDF-model to determine the optimal conditions for the deployment of wind energy installations within the building limits is developed.

Functional materials for energy-efficient buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ebert H.-P

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The substantial improving of the energy efficiency is essential to meet the ambitious energy goals of the EU. About 40% of the European energy consumption belongs to the building sector. Therefore the reduction of the energy demand of the existing building stock is one of the key measures to deliver a substantial contribution to reduce CO2-emissions of our society. Buildings of the future have to be efficient in respect to energy consumption for construction and operation. Current research activities are focused on the development of functional materials with outstanding thermal and optical properties to provide, for example, slim thermally superinsulated facades, highly integrated heat storage systems or adaptive building components. In this context it is important to consider buildings as entities which fulfill energy and comfort claims as well as aesthetic aspects of a sustainable architecture.

Functional materials for energy-efficient buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Ebert, H.-P.

2015-08-01

The substantial improving of the energy efficiency is essential to meet the ambitious energy goals of the EU. About 40% of the European energy consumption belongs to the building sector. Therefore the reduction of the energy demand of the existing building stock is one of the key measures to deliver a substantial contribution to reduce CO2-emissions of our society. Buildings of the future have to be efficient in respect to energy consumption for construction and operation. Current research activities are focused on the development of functional materials with outstanding thermal and optical properties to provide, for example, slim thermally superinsulated facades, highly integrated heat storage systems or adaptive building components. In this context it is important to consider buildings as entities which fulfill energy and comfort claims as well as aesthetic aspects of a sustainable architecture.

Quantifying demand flexibility of power-to-heat and thermal energy storage in the control of building heating systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Finck, Christian; Li, Rongling; Kramer, Rick

2018-01-01

restricted by power-to-heat conversion such as heat pumps and thermal energy storage possibilities of a building. To quantify building demand flexibility, it is essential to capture the dynamic response of the building energy system with thermal energy storage. To identify the maximum flexibility a building......’s energy system can provide, optimal control is required. In this paper, optimal control serves to determine in detail demand flexibility of an office building equipped with heat pump, electric heater, and thermal energy storage tanks. The demand flexibility is quantified using different performance...... of TES and power-to-heat in any case of charging, discharging or idle mode. A simulation case study is performed showing that a water tank, a phase change material tank, and a thermochemical material tank integrated with building heating system can be designed to provide flexibility with optimal control....

Development and Analysis of New Integrated Energy Systems for Sustainable Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Khalid, Farrukh

Excessive consumption of fossil fuels in the residential sector and their associated negative environmental impacts bring a significant challenge to engineers within research and industrial communities throughout the world to develop more environmentally benign methods of meeting energy needs of residential sector in particular. This thesis addresses potential solutions for the issue of fossils fuel consumption in residential buildings. Three novel renewable energy based multigeneration systems are proposed for different types of residential buildings, and a comprehensive assessment of energetic and exergetic performances is given on the basis of total occupancy, energy load, and climate conditions. System 1 is a multigeneration system based on two renewable energy sources. It uses biomass and solar resources. The outputs of System 1 are electricity, space heating, cooling, and hot water. The energy and exergy efficiencies of System 1 are 91.0% and 34.9%, respectively. The results of the optimisation analysis show that the net present cost of System 1 is 2,700,496 and that the levelised cost of electricity is 0.117/kWh. System 2 is a multigeneration system, integrating three renewable energy based subsystems; wind turbine, concentrated solar collector, and Organic Rankine Cycle supplied by a ground source heat exchanger. The outputs of the System 2 are electricity, hot water, heating and cooling. The optimisation analysis shows that net present cost is 35,502 and levelised cost of electricity is 0.186/kWh. The energy and exergy efficiencies of System 2 are found to be 34.6% and 16.2%, respectively. System 3 is a multigeneration system, comprising two renewable energy subsystems-- geothermal and solar to supply power, cooling, heating, and hot water. The optimisation analysis shows that the net present cost of System 3 is 598,474, and levelised cost of electricity of 0.111/kWh. The energy and exergy efficiencies of System 3 are 20.2% and 19.2%, respectively, with

New building technology based on low energy design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meggers, Forrest; Leibundgut, Hansjurg

2009-01-01

Full text: The construction, operation and maintenance of all residential, commercial, and industrial buildings are responsible for over half of global greenhouse gas emissions, and two-thirds of global electricity is generated solely for building operation. This single sector has a huge potential impact on the future sustainability of society, and therefore new advanced technologies must be rapidly developed and implemented in what is often a slow-moving sector. The concept of the low exergy building has created a new framework for the development of high performance building systems. Exergy analysis has been used to help minimize the primary energy demands of buildings through the minimization of losses in the chain of energy supply in a building system. The new systems that have been created have been shown to be more comfortable and more energy efficient. These systems include integrated thermal mass systems heated by high efficiency heat pumps integrated with energy recovery systems that eliminate the waste that is common in building systems. The underlying principles and concepts of low exergy building systems will be presented along with the analysis of several technologies being implemented in a low Ex building in Zurich, Switzerland. These include an advanced ground source heat pump strategy with integrated heat recovery, decentralized ventilation, and a unique active wall insulation system, which are being researched as part of the IEA ECBCS Annex 49 (www.annex49.org). (author)

Energy plus standard in buildings constructed by housing associations?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stutterecker, Werner; Blümel, Ernst

2012-01-01

In order to achieve national, European and international energy goals, energy efficiency strategies in the building sector have to be implemented. The passive house standard and low energy standards are already successfully established in single dwelling houses. These high performance standards are starting to penetrate into the sector of housing associations. A case study about an apartment building constructed by a housing association is presented here. It describes the monitoring concept and the results of the 1st year of monitoring. Depending on the definition of the zero energy building standard (extent of loads included in the balancing), the building could be classified as an energy plus building or as a building, which uses more energy, than is supplied by on-site generation. If the building's total energy use (including user specific loads) is defined as load, only 34.5% of these loads were provided by the net energy output of the PV system. If only the heating energy demand is defined as load, the PV system even yielded a surplus of 45.6% of the energy load. -- Highlights: ► Energy monitoring of an apartment building constructed by a housing association. ► Planned as a Passive House with a semi-central ventilation system with decentralized heat pump technology. ► Total end energy demand of the building was 43 kWh/(m² a). ► Total net energy generation by the PV system was 15 kWh/(m² a). ► Apartment no. 1: 52% of the energy demand were used for heating and ventilation.

Building Energy Management Open Source Software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahman, Saifur [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)

2017-08-25

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy in November 2013, a Building Energy Management Open Source Software (BEMOSS) platform was engineered to improve sensing and control of equipment in small- and medium-sized commercial buildings. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), small- (5,000 square feet or smaller) and medium-sized (between 5,001 to 50,000 square feet) commercial buildings constitute about 95% of all commercial buildings in the U.S. These buildings typically do not have Building Automation Systems (BAS) to monitor and control building operation. While commercial BAS solutions exist, including those from Siemens, Honeywell, Johnsons Controls and many more, they are not cost effective in the context of small- and medium-sized commercial buildings, and typically work with specific controller products from the same company. BEMOSS targets small and medium-sized commercial buildings to address this gap.

Dynamic classification system in large-scale supervision of energy efficiency in buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiluk, S.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Rough set approximation of classification improves energy efficiency prediction. • Dynamic features of diagnostic classification allow for its precise prediction. • Indiscernibility in large population enhances identification of process features. • Diagnostic information can be refined by dynamic references to local neighbourhood. • We introduce data exploration validation based on system dynamics and uncertainty. - Abstract: Data mining and knowledge discovery applied to the billing data provide the diagnostic instruments for the evaluation of energy use in buildings connected to a district heating network. To ensure the validity of an algorithm-based classification system, the dynamic properties of a sequence of partitions for consecutive detected events were investigated. The information regarding the dynamic properties of the classification system refers to the similarities between the supervised objects and migrations that originate from the changes in the building energy use and loss similarity to their neighbourhood and thus represents the refinement of knowledge. In this study, we demonstrate that algorithm-based diagnostic knowledge has dynamic properties that can be exploited with a rough set predictor to evaluate whether the implementation of classification for supervision of energy use aligns with the dynamics of changes of district heating-supplied building properties. Moreover, we demonstrate the refinement of the current knowledge with the previous findings and we present the creation of predictive diagnostic systems based on knowledge dynamics with a satisfactory level of classification errors, even for non-stationary data

Life cycle primary energy analysis of residential buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustavsson, Leif; Joelsson, Anna [Ecotechnology, Department of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Oestersund (Sweden)

2010-02-15

The space heating demand of residential buildings can be decreased by improved insulation, reduced air leakage and by heat recovery from ventilation air. However, these measures result in an increased use of materials. As the energy for building operation decreases, the relative importance of the energy used in the production phase increases and influences optimization aimed at minimizing the life cycle energy use. The life cycle primary energy use of buildings also depends on the energy supply systems. In this work we analyse primary energy use and CO{sub 2} emission for the production and operation of conventional and low-energy residential buildings. Different types of energy supply systems are included in the analysis. We show that for a conventional and a low-energy building the primary energy use for production can be up to 45% and 60%, respectively, of the total, depending on the energy supply system, and with larger variations for conventional buildings. The primary energy used and the CO{sub 2} emission resulting from production are lower for wood-framed constructions than for concrete-framed constructions. The primary energy use and the CO{sub 2} emission depend strongly on the energy supply, for both conventional and low-energy buildings. For example, a single-family house from the 1970s heated with biomass-based district heating with cogeneration has 70% lower operational primary energy use than if heated with fuel-based electricity. The specific primary energy use with district heating was 40% lower than that of an electrically heated passive row house. (author)

Building energy efficiency labeling programme in Singapore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Siew Eang; Rajagopalan, Priyadarsini

2008-01-01

The use of electricity in buildings constitutes around 16% of Singapore's energy demand. In view of the fact that Singapore is an urban city with no rural base, which depends heavily on air-conditioning to cool its buildings all year round, the survival as a nation depends on its ability to excel economically. To incorporate energy efficiency measures is one of the key missions to ensure that the economy is sustainable. The recently launched building energy efficiency labelling programme is such an initiative. Buildings whose energy performance are among the nation's top 25% and maintain a healthy and productive indoor environment as well as uphold a minimum performance for different systems can qualify to attain the Energy Smart Office Label. Detailed methodologies of the labelling process as well as the performance standards are elaborated. The main strengths of this system namely a rigorous benchmarking database and an independent audit conducted by a private accredited Energy Service Company (ESCO) are highlighted. A few buildings were awarded the Energy Smart Office Label during the launching of the programme conducted in December 2005. The labeling of other types of buildings like hotels, schools, hospitals, etc. is ongoing

Quantifying demand flexibility of power-to-heat and thermal energy storage in the control of building heating systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Finck, C.J.; Li, R.; Kramer, R.P.; Zeiler, W.

2018-01-01

In the future due to continued integration of renewable energy sources, demand-side flexibility would be required for managing power grids. Building energy systems will serve as one possible source of energy flexibility. The degree of flexibility provided by building energy systems is highly

Performance of Radiant Heating Systems of Low-Energy Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Sarbu, Ioan; Mirza, Matei; Crasmareanu, Emanuel

2017-10-01

After the introduction of plastic piping, the application of water-based radiant heating with pipes embedded in room surfaces (i.e., floors, walls, and ceilings), has significantly increased worldwide. Additionally, interest and growth in radiant heating and cooling systems have increased in recent years because they have been demonstrated to be energy efficient in comparison to all-air distribution systems. This paper briefly describes the heat distribution systems in buildings, focusing on the radiant panels (floor, wall, ceiling, and floor-ceiling). Main objective of this study is the performance investigation of different types of low-temperature heating systems with different methods. Additionally, a comparative analysis of the energy, environmental, and economic performances of floor, wall, ceiling, and floor-ceiling heating using numerical simulation with Transient Systems Simulation (TRNSYS) software is performed. This study showed that the floor-ceiling heating system has the best performance in terms of the lowest energy consumption, operation cost, CO2 emission, and the nominal boiler power. The comparison of the room operative air temperatures and the set-point operative air temperature indicates also that all radiant panel systems provide satisfactory results without significant deviations.

Energy Savings Potential and RD&D Opportunities for Commercial Building HVAC Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goetzler, William [Navigant Consulting, Burlington, MA (United States); Shandross, Richard [Navigant Consulting, Burlington, MA (United States); Young, Jim [Navigant Consulting, Burlington, MA (United States); Petritchenko, Oxana [Navigant Consulting, Burlington, MA (United States); Ringo, Decker [Navigant Consulting, Burlington, MA (United States); McClive, Sam [Navigant Consulting, Burlington, MA (United States)

2017-12-01

The Building Technologies Office (BTO) commissioned this characterization and technology assessment of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for commercial buildings. The main objectives of this study: Identify a wide range of technology options in varying stages of development that could reduce commercial HVAC energy consumption; Characterize these technology options based on their technical energy-savings potential, development status, non-energy benefits, and other factors affecting end-user acceptance and the ability to compete with conventional HVAC technologies; Make specific recommendations to DOE and other stakeholders on potential research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities that would support further development of the most promising technology options.

Improving building energy efficiency in India: State-level analysis of building energy efficiency policies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Sha; Tan, Qing; Evans, Meredydd; Kyle, Page; Vu, Linh; Patel, Pralit L.

2017-11-01

India is expected to add 40 billion m2 of new buildings till 2050. Buildings are responsible for one third of India’s total energy consumption today and building energy use is expected to continue growing driven by rapid income and population growth. The implementation of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) is one of the measures to improve building energy efficiency. Using the Global Change Assessment Model, this study assesses growth in the buildings sector and impacts of building energy policies in Gujarat, which would help the state adopt ECBC and expand building energy efficiency programs. Without building energy policies, building energy use in Gujarat would grow by 15 times in commercial buildings and 4 times in urban residential buildings between 2010 and 2050. ECBC improves energy efficiency in commercial buildings and could reduce building electricity use in Gujarat by 20% in 2050, compared to the no policy scenario. Having energy codes for both commercial and residential buildings could result in additional 10% savings in electricity use. To achieve these intended savings, it is critical to build capacity and institution for robust code implementation.

Energy efficiency of high-rise buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Zhigulina, Anna Yu.; Ponomarenko, Alla M.

2018-03-01

The article is devoted to analysis of tendencies and advanced technologies in the field of energy supply and energy efficiency of tall buildings, to the history of the emergence of the concept of "efficiency" and its current interpretation. Also the article show the difference of evaluation criteria of the leading rating systems LEED and BREEAM. Authors reviewed the latest technologies applied in the construction of energy efficient buildings. Methodological approach to the design of tall buildings taking into account energy efficiency needs to include the primary energy saving; to seek the possibility of production and accumulation of alternative electric energy by converting energy from the sun and wind with the help of special technical devices; the application of regenerative technologies.

Energy simulation in building design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hensen, J.L.M.

1992-01-01

Design decision support related to building energy consumption and / or indoor climate, should be based on an integral approach of environment, building, heating, ventilating and airconditioning (HVAC) system and occupants. The tools to achieve this are now available in the form of computer

Energy-efficient window systems. Effects on energy use and daylight in buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buelow-Huebe, H.

2001-11-01

This thesis deals with energy-efficient windows in Swedish buildings. Parametric studies were performed in the dynamic energy simulation tool Derob-LTH in order to study the effects of window choices on energy use and indoor climate for both residential and office buildings. A steady-state program was used to evaluate two years of measurements of energy use and indoor temperatures of an energy-efficient row-house. Two behavioural studies regarding (1) daylight transmittance, view and room perception using super-insulated windows and (2) the satisfaction with the daylight environment and the use of shading devices in response to daylight/sunlight were conducted in full-scale laboratory environments exposed to the natural climate. Results show that as the energy-efficiency of buildings increase, window U-values must decrease in order not to increase the annual heating demand, since the heating season is shortened, and useful solar gains become smaller. For single-family houses with a window-to-floor area ratio of 15 % and insulated according the current Swedish building code, the U-values should thus on average be lower than 1.0 W/m{sup 2}K. For houses insulated according to 1960s standard, the U-value may on average be 1.6 W/m{sup 2}K. For colder climates (northern Sweden), the U-values should be somewhat lower, while slightly higher U-values can be tolerated in milder climates of south Sweden. Thermal comfort during winter is improved for energy-efficient windows. However, overheating problems exist for both super-insulated houses and highly glazed office buildings showing a need for very low U-values in combination with low g-values. Daylight experiments indicate that the use of two low-emittance coatings tints the transmitted daylight enough to be appreciated, and colours may be perceived as more drab and rooms more enclosed. A compromise between energy-efficiency and daylighting may be needed, and it is suggested that only one coating be used except when very

An optimization methodology for the design of renewable energy systems for residential net zero energy buildings with on-site heat production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milan, Christian; Bojesen, Carsten; Nielsen, Mads Pagh

2011-01-01

The concept of net zero energy buildings (NZEB) has received increased attention throughout the last years. A well adapted and optimized design of the energy supply system is crucial for the performance of such buildings. This paper aims at developing a method for the optimal sizing of renewable...... energy supply systems for residential NZEB involving on-site production of heat and electricity in combination with electricity exchanged with the public grid. The model is based on linear programming and determines the optimal capacities for each relevant supply technology in terms of the overall system...

The analysis of energy consumption of a commercial building in Tianjin, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jing; Zhu Neng; Wu Yong

2009-01-01

According to statistics and field investigation, the energy consumption situation and reality of commercial building is described in this paper. As the first step of large-scale public building energy efficiency supervision system encouraged by central government of China, the energy consumption of several typical commercial buildings and public buildings was analyzed in detail. The main contents of investigation are as follows: basic information of building, operational record of energy consumption equipment, energy consumption of indoor equipments, energy-efficiency assessment of energy consumption systems and equipments, investigation of behavior energy saving, etc. On this basis further analysis and diagnosis including indoor thermal and humid environment, operation state of air-conditioning water system, operation state of air-conditioning duct system and operation management of air-conditioning system were implemented. The results show that the most energy consumption of buildings in this city is commercial buildings, which can reach to about 240 W/m 2 per year. Further analysis tells that air conditioning systems play the major role of building energy consumption, and building energy saving has great potential in this city. In this paper, the ways of diagnosis work for building energy consumption are also described and discussed. Reasonable test, diagnosis and analysis are meaningful for building energy efficiency retrofit and management.

Integration of Building energy and energy supply simulations for low-energy district heating supply to energy-efficient buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalla Rosa, Alessandro

2012-01-01

The future will demand implementation of C02 neutral communities, the consequences being a far more complex design of the whole energy system, since the future energy infrastructures will be dynamic and climate responsive systems. Software able to work with such level of complexity is at present...... a missing link in the development. In this paper is demonstrated how a link between a dynamic Building Simulation Programme (BSP) and a simulation program for District Heating (DH) networks can give important information during the design phase. By using a BSP it is possible to analyze the influence...... of the human behaviour regarding the building and link the results to the simulation program for DH networks. The results show that human behaviour can lead to 50% higher heating demand and 60% higher peak loads than expected according to reference values in standardized calculation of energy demand...

Whole systems appraisal of a UK Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system: Energy, environmental, and economic evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammond, Geoffrey P.; Harajli, Hassan A.; Jones, Craig I.; Winnett, Adrian B.

2012-01-01

Energy analysis, environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) and economic appraisals have been utilised to study the performance of a domestic building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system on a ‘whole systems’ basis. Energy analysis determined that the system paid back its embodied energy in just 4.5 years. LCA revealed that the embodied impacts were offset by the electricity generated to provide a net environmental benefit in most categories. Only carcinogens, ecotoxicity and minerals had a small net lifetime burden. A financial analysis was undertaken from the householder's perspective, alongside cost-benefit analysis from a societal perspective. The results of both indicated that the systems are unlikely to pay back their investment over the 25 year lifetime. However, the UK is in an important period (2010/11) of policy transition with a move away from the ‘technology subsidies’ of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) and towards a ‘market development policy’ of feed-in tariffs. Representing the next stage on an innovation S-curve this is expected to facilitate rapid PV uptake, as experienced in countries such as Germany, Denmark, and Spain. The results of the present study clearly demonstrate the importance of the new government support scheme to the future uptake of BIPV. - Highlights: ► LCA and economic appraisals of a UK domestic building integrated PV system. ► Energy analysis determined that the system paid back its embodied energy in 4.5 years. ► UK moved towards a market development policy of feed-in tariffs. ► Financial analysis shows the importance of the new FiT scheme to the uptake of PV.

Economic Energy Savings Potential in Federal Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Daryl R.; Dirks, James A.; Hunt, Diane M.

2000-09-04

The primary objective of this study was to estimate the current life-cycle cost-effective (i.e., economic) energy savings potential in Federal buildings and the corresponding capital investment required to achieve these savings, with Federal financing. Estimates were developed for major categories of energy efficiency measures such as building envelope, heating system, cooling system, and lighting. The analysis was based on conditions (building stock and characteristics, retrofit technologies, interest rates, energy prices, etc.) existing in the late 1990s. The potential impact of changes to any of these factors in the future was not considered.

A control-oriented model for combined building climate comfort and aquifer thermal energy storage system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rostampour Samarin, Vahab; Bloemendal, J.M.; Jaxa-Rozen, M.; Keviczky, T.

2016-01-01

This paper presents a control-oriented model for combined building climate comfort and aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system. In particular, we first provide a description of building operational systems together with control framework variables. We then focus on the derivation of an

Overview of rural building energy efficiency in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Bao-jie; Yang, Li; Ye, Miao; Mou, Ben; Zhou, Yanan

2014-01-01

Over the past three decades, people's living standard in China has been greatly improved, accompanied by the rapid increasing building energy consumption. Rural building energy consumption has become one of the most important parts of the total energy consumption in China, which deserves to be paid much attention. It is of vital importance to promote building energy efficiency for the New Socialist Countryside and energy conservation and emission reduction. This paper provides an overview of building energy consumption in the countryside, which figures out the situation and challenges in energy-saving work. The government has worked for years on rural building code system aimed at narrowing the energy gap between urban areas, but it is in the beginning phase. This paper has analyzed the only special issues about rural building energy efficiency and the mandatory standards for urban buildings, which can facilitate the development of rural building energy efficiency. Based on the above analysis, some recommendations regarding the improvement of rural building energy efficiency are given. - Highlights: • Situation of rural energy consumption in China. • Challenges in rural building energy-saving work. • Design standard, special plan and some pilot projects are analyzed. • Effects of existing energy policies for urban buildings. • Some recommendations are given

Energy in buildings: Efficiency, renewables and storage

Science.gov (United States)

Koebel, Matthias M.

2017-07-01

This lecture summary provides a short but comprehensive overview on the "energy and buildings" topic. Buildings account for roughly 40% of the global energy demands. Thus, an increased adoption of existing and upcoming materials and solutions for the building sector represents an enormous potential to reduce building related energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions. The central question is how the building envelope (insulation, fenestration, construction style, solar control) affects building energy demands. Compared to conventional insulation materials, superinsulation materials such as vacuum insulation panels and silica aerogel achieve the same thermal performance with significantly thinner insulation layers. With low-emissivity coatings and appropriate filler gasses, double and triple glazing reduce thermal losses by up to an order of magnitude compared to old single pane windows, while vacuum insulation and aerogel filled glazing could reduce these even further. Electrochromic and other switchable glazing solutions maximize solar gains during wintertime and minimize illumination demands whilst avoiding overheating in summer. Upon integration of renewable energy systems into the building energy supply, buildings can become both producers and consumers of energy. Combined with dynamic user behavior, temporal variations in the production of renewable energy require appropriate storage solutions, both thermal and electrical, and the integration of buildings into smart grids and energy district networks. The combination of these measures allows a reduction of the existing building stock by roughly a factor of three —a promising, but cost intensive way, to prepare our buildings for the energy turnaround.

Development of a methodology for life cycle building energy ratings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez, Patxi; Kenny, Paul

2011-01-01

Traditionally the majority of building energy use has been linked to its operation (heating, cooling, lighting, etc.), and much attention has been directed to reduce this energy use through technical innovation, regulatory control and assessed through a wide range of rating methods. However buildings generally employ an increasing amount of materials and systems to reduce the energy use in operation, and energy embodied in these can constitute an important part of the building's life cycle energy use. For buildings with 'zero-energy' use in operation the embodied energy is indeed the only life cycle energy use. This is not addressed by current building energy assessment and rating methods. This paper proposes a methodology to extend building energy assessment and rating methods accounting for embodied energy of building components and systems. The methodology is applied to the EU Building Energy Rating method and, as an illustration, as implemented in Irish domestic buildings. A case study dwelling is used to illustrate the importance of embodied energy on life cycle energy performance, particularly relevant when energy use in operation tends to zero. The use of the Net Energy Ratio as an indicator to select appropriate building improvement measures is also presented and discussed. - Highlights: → The definitions for 'zero energy buildings' and current building energy ratings are examined. → There is a need to integrate a life cycle perspective within building energy ratings. → A life cycle building energy rating method (LC-BER), including embodied energy is presented. → Net Energy Ratio is proposed as an indicator to select building energy improvement options.

A Solar Heating and Cooling System in a Nearly Zero-Energy Building: A Case Study in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhifeng Sun

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The building sector accounts for more than 40% of the global energy consumption. This consumption may be lowered by reducing building energy requirements and using renewable energy in building energy supply systems. Therefore, a nearly zero-energy building, incorporating a solar heating and cooling system, was designed and built in Beijing, China. The system included a 35.17 kW cooling (10-RT absorption chiller, an evacuated tube solar collector with an aperture area of 320.6 m2, two hot-water storage tanks (with capacities of 10 m3 and 30 m3, respectively, two cold-water storage tanks (both with a capacity of 10 m3, and a 281 kW cooling tower. Heat pump systems were used as a backup. At a value of 25.2%, the obtained solar fraction associated with the cooling load was close to the design target of 30%. In addition, the daily solar collector efficiency and the chiller coefficient of performance (COP varied from 0.327 to 0.507 and 0.49 to 0.70, respectively.

Heat of fusion storage systems for combined solar systems in low energy buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultz, Jørgen Munthe; Furbo, Simon

2004-01-01

Solar heating systems for combined domestic hot water and space heating has a large potential especially in low energy houses where it is possible to take full advantage of low temperature heating systems. If a building integrated heating system is used – e.g. floor heating - the supply temperature...... from solid to liquid form (Fig. 1). Keeping the temperature as low as possible is an efficient way to reduce the heat loss from the storage. Furthermore, the PCM storage might be smaller than the equivalent water storage as more energy can be stored per volume. If the PCM further has the possibility...... systems through further improvement of water based storages and in parallel to investigate the potential of using storage designs with phase change materials, PCM. The advantage of phase change materials is that large amounts of energy can be stored without temperature increase when the material is going...

Integrated Urban System and Energy Consumption Model: Residential Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rocco Papa

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a segment of research conducted within the project PON 04a2_E Smart Energy Master for the energetic government of the territory conducted by the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environment Engineering, University of Naples "Federico II".  In particular, this article is part of the study carried out for the definition of the comprehension/interpretation model that correlates buildings, city’s activities and users’ behaviour in order to promote energy savings. In detail, this segment of the research wants to define the residential variables to be used in the model. For this purpose a knowledge framework at international level has been defined, to estimate the energy requirements of residential buildings and the identification of a set of parameters, whose variation has a significant influence on the energy consumption of residential buildings.

Energy conservation in developing countries using green building idea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashid, Akram; Qureshi, Ijaz Mansoor

2013-01-01

Green buildings uses processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle. In these buildings Certain energy conservative and environment friendly steps are considered and implemented from design, construction, operation, maintenance and renovation. In present era no doubt new technologies are constantly constructed and used in creating greener structures, energy efficient buildings. The common objective is to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health using available energy efficiently. To increase the efficiency of the System or the building, Onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power, wind power, hydro power, or biomasscan significantly reduce the environmental impact of the building. Power generation is generally the most expensive feature to add to a building. Any how power generation using renewable sources that is Solar system may further enhance energy conservation ideas. Power Factor improvement can also be another source of efficient tool for efficient use of Electrical Energy in green buildings. In developing countries a significant amount of Electrical Energy can be conserved and System efficiency as a whole can be increased by Power Factor correction. The reverse flow of power can be locally engaged instead of creating extra stress and opposition to the existing grid lines.

Energy conservation in selected buildings, Gdansk. 1. final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-02-01

This Final Report marks the end of the implementation stage of the project: 'Energy Conservation in Selected Buildings in Gdansk, Poland' supported by the Danish Environment-related Energy Sector Programme for Poland under the Danish Energy Agency. The residential and commercial sectors together with public buildings account for 40-45% of the total energy consumption and are dominated by the use of space heating and hot water. The sector has a significant over-consumption of energy, which first of all is due to the lack of or too weak incentives for the individual tenants to decrease the energy consumption. Bad thermal insulation of buildings and inefficient central heating systems with a widespread lack of measurement and automatic control systems give cause for extensive heat losses. The objective of the project has been to document the effects of energy savings in 18 multi-family houses when different types of energy saving measures are applied. These measures include thermal insulation of buildings, refurbishment of the heating system and introduction of individual billing system for heating and hot tap water. Energy audits of 18 buildings were performed by combination of on-site inspection of all buildings and data collection from the available drawings, technical descriptions, etc. The on-site inspection was carried out by use of an energy audit scheme specially developed for this project. (EG)

Energy conservation in selected buildings, Gdansk. 1. final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-02-01

This Final Report marks the end of the implementation stage of the project: `Energy Conservation in Selected Buildings in Gdansk, Poland` supported by the Danish Environment-related Energy Sector Programme for Poland under the Danish Energy Agency. The residential and commercial sectors together with public buildings account for 40-45% of the total energy consumption and are dominated by the use of space heating and hot water. The sector has a significant over-consumption of energy, which first of all is due to the lack of or too weak incentives for the individual tenants to decrease the energy consumption. Bad thermal insulation of buildings and inefficient central heating systems with a widespread lack of measurement and automatic control systems give cause for extensive heat losses. The objective of the project has been to document the effects of energy savings in 18 multi-family houses when different types of energy saving measures are applied. These measures include thermal insulation of buildings, refurbishment of the heating system and introduction of individual billing system for heating and hot tap water. Energy audits of 18 buildings were performed by combination of on-site inspection of all buildings and data collection from the available drawings, technical descriptions, etc. The on-site inspection was carried out by use of an energy audit scheme specially developed for this project. (EG)

The urban wind energy potential for integrated roof wind energy systems based on local building height distributions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blok, R.; Coers, M.D.

2017-01-01

An Integrated Roof Wind Energy System (IRWES) is a roof mounted structure with an internal wind turbine that uses smart aerodynamics to catch and accelerate wind flow. It has been designed for application on (existing) buildings in the urban environment. To estimate the maximum total wind energy

Performance assessment of earth pipe cooling system for low energy buildings in a subtropical climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, S.F.; Khan, M.M.K.; Amanullah, M.T.O.; Rasul, M.G.; Hassan, N.M.S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Earth pipe cooling performance was investigated in a subtropical climate in Australia. • A thermal model was developed using Fluent to assess the cooling performance. • A temperature reduction of around 2 °C was found for the earth pipe cooling system. • Annual energy savings of maximum 866.54 kW (8.82%) was achieved for a 27.23 m"3 room. - Abstract: Energy consumption in heating and cooling around the world has been a major contributor to global warming. Hence, many studies have been aimed at finding new techniques to save and control energy through energy efficient measures. Most of this energy is used in residential, agricultural and commercial buildings. It is therefore important to adopt energy efficiency measures in these buildings through new technologies and novel building designs. These new building designs can be developed by employing various passive cooling systems. Earth pipe cooling is one of these which can assist to save energy without using any customary mechanical units. This paper investigates the earth pipe cooling performance in a hot humid subtropical climate of Rockhampton, Australia. A thermal model is developed using ANSYS Fluent for measuring its performance. Impacts of air velocity, air temperature, relative humidity and soil temperature on room cooling performance are also assessed. A temperature reduction of around 2 °C was found for the system. This temperature reduction contributed to an energy saving of a maximum of 866.54 kW (8.82%) per year for a 27.23 m"3 room.

Evaluating Different Green School Building Designs for Albania: Indoor Thermal Comfort, Energy Use Analysis with Solar Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dalvi, Ambalika Rajendra

Improving the conditions of schools in many parts of the world is gradually acquiring importance. The Green School movement is an integral part of this effort since it aims at improving indoor environmental conditions. This would in turn, enhance student- learning while minimizing adverse environmental impact through energy efficiency of comfort-related HVAC and lighting systems. This research, which is a part of a larger research project, aims at evaluating different school building designs in Albania in terms of energy use and indoor thermal comfort, and identify energy efficient options of existing schools. We start by identifying three different climate zones in Albania; Coastal (Durres), Hill/Pre-mountainous (Tirana), mountainous (Korca). Next, two prototypical school building designs are identified from the existing stock. Numerous scenarios are then identified for analysis which consists of combinations of climate zone, building type, building orientation, building upgrade levels, presence of renewable energy systems (solar photovoltaic and solar water heater). The existing building layouts, initially outlined in CAD software and then imported into a detailed building energy software program (eQuest) to perform annual simulations for all scenarios. The research also predicted indoor thermal comfort conditions of the various scenarios on the premise that windows could be opened to provide natural ventilation cooling when appropriate. This study also estimated the energy generated from solar photovoltaic systems and solar water heater systems when placed on the available roof area to determine the extent to which they are able to meet the required electric loads (plug and lights) and building heating loads respectively. The results showed that there is adequate indoor comfort without the need for mechanical cooling for the three climate zones, and that only heating is needed during the winter months.

Zero energy buildings and mismatch compensation factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Henrik; Marszal, Anna Joanna; Heiselberg, Per

2011-01-01

This paper takes an overall energy system approach to analysing the mismatch problem of zero energy and zero emission buildings (ZEBs). The mismatch arises from hourly differences in energy production and consumption at the building level and results in the need for exchange of electricity via...... the public grid even though the building has an annual net-exchange of zero. This paper argues that, when looked upon from the viewpoint of the overall electricity supply system, a mismatch can be both negative and positive. Moreover, there are often both an element of levelling out mismatches between...... of the energy production unit. Based on historical data for the electricity supply area in western Denmark, this paper makes a first attempt to quantify mismatch compensation factors. The results indicate that such compensation factors are a little below one for buildings with photovoltaics (PV) and a little...

Zero Energy Building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marszal, Anna Joanna; Heiselberg, Per; Bourrelle, J.S.

2011-01-01

The concept of Zero Energy Building (ZEB) has gained wide international attention during last few years and is now seen as the future target for the design of buildings. However, before being fully implemented in the national building codes and international standards, the ZEB concept requires......, (4) the type of energy balance, (5) the accepted renewable energy supply options, (6) the connection to the energy infrastructure and (7) the requirements for the energy efficiency, the indoor climate and in case of gird connected ZEB for the building–grid interaction. This paper focuses...

Contrasting the capabilities of building energy performance simulation programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crawley, Drury B. [US Department of Energy, Washington, DC (United States); Hand, Jon W. [University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom). Energy Systems Research Unit; Kummert, Michael [University of Wisconsin-Madison (United States). Solar Energy Laboratory; Griffith, Brent T. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (United States)

2008-04-15

For the past 50 years, a wide variety of building energy simulation programs have been developed, enhanced and are in use throughout the building energy community. This paper is an overview of a report, which provides up-to-date comparison of the features and capabilities of twenty major building energy simulation programs. The comparison is based on information provided by the program developers in the following categories: general modeling features; zone loads; building envelope and daylighting and solar; infiltration, ventilation and multizone airflow; renewable energy systems; electrical systems and equipment; HVAC systems; HVAC equipment; environmental emissions; economic evaluation; climate data availability, results reporting; validation; and user interface, links to other programs, and availability. (author)

Time series analytics using sliding window metaheuristic optimization-based machine learning system for identifying building energy consumption patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chou, Jui-Sheng; Ngo, Ngoc-Tri

2016-01-01

Highlights: • This study develops a novel time-series sliding window forecast system. • The system integrates metaheuristics, machine learning and time-series models. • Site experiment of smart grid infrastructure is installed to retrieve real-time data. • The proposed system accurately predicts energy consumption in residential buildings. • The forecasting system can help users minimize their electricity usage. - Abstract: Smart grids are a promising solution to the rapidly growing power demand because they can considerably increase building energy efficiency. This study developed a novel time-series sliding window metaheuristic optimization-based machine learning system for predicting real-time building energy consumption data collected by a smart grid. The proposed system integrates a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model and metaheuristic firefly algorithm-based least squares support vector regression (MetaFA-LSSVR) model. Specifically, the proposed system fits the SARIMA model to linear data components in the first stage, and the MetaFA-LSSVR model captures nonlinear data components in the second stage. Real-time data retrieved from an experimental smart grid installed in a building were used to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of the proposed system. A k-week sliding window approach is proposed for employing historical data as input for the novel time-series forecasting system. The prediction system yielded high and reliable accuracy rates in 1-day-ahead predictions of building energy consumption, with a total error rate of 1.181% and mean absolute error of 0.026 kW h. Notably, the system demonstrates an improved accuracy rate in the range of 36.8–113.2% relative to those of the linear forecasting model (i.e., SARIMA) and nonlinear forecasting models (i.e., LSSVR and MetaFA-LSSVR). Therefore, end users can further apply the forecasted information to enhance efficiency of energy usage in their buildings, especially

Goodbye Passive House, Hello Energy Flexible Building?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mlecnik, E.; LaRoche, P.; Schiler, M.

2016-01-01

The volume uptake of highly energy-efficient buildings is challenged by transformations in the energy system and the introduction of demand response strategies. In the near future buildings will be able to manage their demand and generation according to local climate conditions, user needs and

Research and application of active hollow core slabs in building systems for utilizing low energy sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Xinhua; Yu, Jinghua; Wang, Shengwei; Wang, Jinbo

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A review on the development and modeling of active hollow core slab is presented. • The applications and performance evaluation of the slab in building are reviewed. • Finite element or finite difference method is often used in multidimensional model. • Performance evaluations of building using active slabs for ventilation are limited. • More works on the active hollow core slab are worthwhile. - Abstract: The society and the building professionals have paid much concern in recent years on building energy efficiency and the development and applications of low energy technologies for buildings/green buildings allowing the elimination, or at least reduction of dependence on electricity or fossil fuel while maintaining acceptable indoor environment. Utilizations of favorable diurnal temperature difference and ground thermal source for air conditioning are among these low energy technologies. Utilization of the hollow cores in the prefabricated slab for ventilation and the mass of the slab for thermal storage is widely used in building systems in Europe by exploiting the low energy source of the ambient air. These hollow core slabs aim at enlarging the heat transfer surface between the slab mass and the air in the core, which permits substantial heat flows even for relatively small temperature differences. This, in turn, allows the use of low energy cooling or heating sources, such as the ground, outside air or recovered process heat. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the research and application of active hollow core slabs in building systems for utilizing low energy sources. The principle and development of active hollow core slabs in building systems for leveling the indoor temperature fluctuation by ventilation air passing the cores are described. Calculation models of the active hollow core concrete slab as well as the practical applications and performance evaluation of the slab applied in building systems for air

Renewable energy and conservation measures for non-residential buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Grossman, Andrew James

The energy demand in most countries is growing at an alarming rate and identifying economically feasible building retrofit solutions to decrease the need for fossil fuels so as to mitigate their environmental and societal impacts has become imperative. Two approaches are available for identifying feasible retrofit solutions: 1) the implementation of energy conservation measures; and 2) the production of energy from renewable sources. This thesis focuses on the development of retrofit software planning tools for the implementation of solar photovoltaic systems, and lighting system retrofits for mid-Michigan institutional buildings. The solar planning tool exploits the existing blueprint of a building's rooftop, and via image processing, the layouts of the solar photovoltaic arrays are developed based on the building's geographical location and typical weather patterns. The resulting energy generation of a PV system is estimated and is utilized to determine levelized energy costs. The lighting system retrofit analysis starts by a current utilization assessment of a building to determine the amount of energy used by the lighting system. Several LED lighting options are evaluated on the basis of color correlation temperature, color rendering index, energy consumption, and financial feasibility, to determine a retrofit solution. Solar photovoltaic installations in mid-Michigan are not yet financially feasible, but with the anticipated growth and dynamic complexity of the solar photovoltaic market, this solar planning tool is able to assist building proprietors make executive decisions regarding their energy usage. Additionally, a lighting system retrofit is shown to have significant financial and health benefits.

Building Environment Analysis Based on Temperature and Humidity for Smart Energy Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kwang-Ho Won

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a new HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning control strategy as part of the smart energy system that can balance occupant comfort against building energy consumption using ubiquitous sensing and machine learning technology. We have developed ZigBee-based wireless sensor nodes and collected realistic temperature and humidity data during one month from a laboratory environment. With the collected data, we have established a building environment model using machine learning algorithms, which can be used to assess occupant comfort level. We expect the proposed HVAC control strategy will be able to provide occupants with a consistently comfortable working or home environment.

Building environment analysis based on temperature and humidity for smart energy systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Jaeseok; Won, Kwang-Ho

2012-10-01

In this paper, we propose a new HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) control strategy as part of the smart energy system that can balance occupant comfort against building energy consumption using ubiquitous sensing and machine learning technology. We have developed ZigBee-based wireless sensor nodes and collected realistic temperature and humidity data during one month from a laboratory environment. With the collected data, we have established a building environment model using machine learning algorithms, which can be used to assess occupant comfort level. We expect the proposed HVAC control strategy will be able to provide occupants with a consistently comfortable working or home environment.

US-China Clean Energy Research Center on Building Energy Efficiency: Materials that Improve the Cost-Effectiveness of Air Barrier Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hun, Diana E. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-12-01

The US–China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) was launched in 2009 by US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, and Chinese National Energy Agency Administrator Zhang Guobao. This 5-year collaboration emerged from the fact that the United States and China are the world’s largest energy producers, energy consumers, and greenhouse gas emitters, and that their joint effort could have significant positive repercussions worldwide. CERC’s main goal is to develop and deploy clean energy technologies that will help both countries meet energy and climate challenges. Three consortia were established to address the most pressing energy-related research areas: Advanced Coal Technology, Clean Vehicles, and Building Energy Efficiency (BEE). The project discussed in this report was part of the CERC-BEE consortia; its objective was to lower energy use in buildings by developing and evaluating technologies that improve the cost-effectiveness of air barrier systems for building envelopes.

ENERGY STAR and Green Buildings--Using ENERGY STAR Resources for Green Building Rating Systems: LEED[R], Green Globes[R] and CHPS

Science.gov (United States)

Utebay, Kudret

2011-01-01

Every building, from the smallest school to the tallest skyscraper, uses energy. This energy is most often generated by burning fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Existing commercial buildings offer a significant opportunity for low-cost, immediate emissions and energy cost…

Simulated thermal energy demand and actual energy consumption in refurbished and non-refurbished buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Ilie, C. A.; Visa, I.; Duta, A.

2016-08-01

The EU legal frame imposes the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) status to any new public building starting with January 1st, 2019 and for any other new building starting with 2021. Basically, nZEB represents a Low Energy Building (LEB) that covers more than half of the energy demand by using renewable energy systems installed on or close to it. Thus, two steps have to be followed in developing nZEB: (1) reaching the LEB status through state- of-the art architectural and construction solutions (for the new buildings) or through refurbishing for the already existent buildings, followed by (2) implementing renewables; in Romania, over 65% of the energy demand in a building is directly linked to heating, domestic hot water (DHW), and - in certain areas - for cooling. Thus, effort should be directed to reduce the thermal energy demand to be further covered by using clean and affordable systems: solar- thermal systems, heat pumps, biomass, etc. or their hybrid combinations. Obviously this demand is influenced by the onsite climatic profile and by the building performance. An almost worst case scenario is approached in the paper, considering a community implemented in a mountain area, with cold and long winters and mild summers (Odorheiul Secuiesc city, Harghita county, Romania). Three representative types of buildings are analysed: multi-family households (in blocks of flats), single-family houses and administrative buildings. For the first two types, old and refurbished buildings were comparatively discussed.

Tropical Zero Energy Office Building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reimann, Gregers Peter; Kristensen, Poul Erik

2006-01-01

The new headquarter for Pusat Tenaga Malaysia is designed to be a Zero Emission Office Building (ZEO). A full range of passive and active energy efficiency measures are implemented such that the building will need no more electricity than what can be produced via its own Building Integrated PV...... lighting. These measures include the use of high efficient lighting controlled according to demand, high efficiency pumps and fans, a high efficiency chiller, and use of energy efficient office equipment. The buildings PV system is connected to the grid. Solar electricity is exported to the grid during...... of 24 – 26 oC can be maintained throughout the office hours. The PV roof of the building serves multiple purposes. During daytime, the roof becomes the powerplant of the building, and during nighttime, the PV roof becomes the “cooling tower” for the chiller. The roof will be covered by a thin water film...

Rev-Changes in Primary Energy Use and CO2 Emissions—An Impact Assessment for a Building with Focus on the Swedish Proposal for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mattias Gustafsson

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In the European Union’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the energy efficiency goal for buildings is set in terms of primary energy use. In the proposal from the National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning, for nearly zero energy buildings in Sweden, the use of primary energy is expressed as a primary energy number calculated with given primary energy factors. In this article, a multi-dwelling building is simulated and the difference in the primary energy number is investigated when the building uses heat from district heating systems or from heat pumps, alone or combined with solar thermal or solar photovoltaic systems. It is also investigated how the global CO2 emissions are influenced by the different energy system combinations and with different fuels used. It is concluded that the calculated primary energy number is lower for heat pump systems, but the global CO2 emissions are lowest when district heating uses mostly biofuels and is combined with solar PV systems. The difference is up to 140 tonnes/year. If the aim with the Swedish building code is to decrease the global CO2 emissions then the ratio between the primary energy factors for electricity and heat should be larger than three and considerably higher than today.

Energy Information Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Home > Building Energy Information Systems and Performance Monitoring (EIS-PM) Building Energy evaluate and improve performance monitoring tools for energy savings in commercial buildings. Within the and visualization capabilities to energy and facility managers. As an increasing number of

The building network energy statistics 2004[Norway]; Bygningsnettverkets energistatistikk 2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

The energy statistics for 2004 is the 8th in a row from the building network. The report presents analysis and statistics for various building energy use and technical installations. There are 1907 building objects included in the statistics situated in 254 of the counties in the country. In all this includes 9.3 mill. square meters heated area. Out of this 2.5 % residences is mainly constituted of department buildings. The rest is non-residential buildings in total 7.6 % of the entire building mass in Norway. The total energy consumption in the selection in 2004 is approx. 2.4 TWh. The climate in Norway in 2004 was the 6th warmest since the measurements started for 138 years ago. The report includes energy gradient figures and energy use from various climatic zones. The report shows the energy consumption distributed on various building types, variations in the energy consumption depending on the type of heating system, cooling, building sizes, ages and other factors. Figures for the energy consumption related to building function are included. Approx. 60 % of the buildings is new since the last yearly report. Those that were included in the 2003 report show a reduction in the temperature corrected specific energy consumption of 4.7 % from 2003 to 2004. The oil consumption has been reduced the most. Several building types have reduced the oil consumption with 50% and the total reduction is about 11 mill. litres of oil. The reasons are partly a switch to electric heating systems and partly a general reduction of the energy consumption. The report also includes statistics regarding technical conditions in the buildings such as heating system types, energy carriers, cooling, ventilation, energy flexibility, utilization and other factors. (tk)

Economic assessment of energy storage for load shifting in Positive Energy Building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dumont, Olivier; Carmo, Carolina; Georges, Emeline

2016-01-01

Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) and Positive Energy Buildings (PEB) are gaining more and more interest. In this paper, the impact of the integration of a battery in a positive energy building is assessed in order to increase its self-consumption of electricity. Parametric studies are carried out......-in tariff and a 5 kWh battery. Finally, simple correlations (based on the feed-in tariff, the annual electrical consumption and production) to predict the optimal size of battery and the lowest payback period are proposed.......Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) and Positive Energy Buildings (PEB) are gaining more and more interest. In this paper, the impact of the integration of a battery in a positive energy building is assessed in order to increase its self-consumption of electricity. Parametric studies are carried out...... by varying the building envelope characteristics, the power supply system, the climate, the lightning and appliances profiles, the roof tilt, the battery size and the electricity tariffs, leading to 3200 cases. The analysis is performed on an annual basis in terms of self-consumption rate, shifted energy...

Energy Conservation of the Designated Government Buildings in Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wangskarn Prapat

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The designated government buildings have implemented and administered energy program under the energy development and promotion Act 2007 for many years continuously until 2015. Appointment person responsible for energy, performing energy management and implementing the energy conservation work plan and measures are legal requirements for the designated buildings. Therefore, the ministry of Energy has launched the project to support the implementation of energy management. The aim of the project was to create the energy management system in the designated government buildings, and to reduce energy consumption. In this paper, the evaluation of the project has been presented from the achievements of 839 designated government buildings. The energy saving is more than 440 ktoe/year. This is about 3% of energy consumptions of buildings.

Results. Building integrated energy supply; Resultater. Bygningsintegreret energiforsyning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, Rasmus L.; Noergaard, J.; Daniels, O.; Justesen, R.O.

2011-08-15

In the future, buildings will not only act as consumers of energy but as producers as well. For these ''prosumers'', energy production by use of solar panels, photovoltaics and heat pumps etc will be essential. The objective of this project was to find the most optimal combinations of building insulation and use of renewable energy sources in existing buildings in terms of economics and climate impacts. Five houses were analyzed based on different personal load, consumption profiles, solar orientation and proposed building envelope improvements and use of combinations of renewable energy systems. The analysis was conducted by making a large number of simulations of which the best combinations were selected. The final result takes form of a single top-50 list with the best combinations of energy systems according to CO{sub 2} emission, energy consumption and economics. The present report contains the conclusions of and comments on the project's results. (ln)

Creating high performance buildings: Lower energy, better comfort

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brager, Gail; Arens, Edward

2015-01-01

Buildings play a critical role in the challenge of mitigating and adapting to climate change. It is estimated that buildings contribute 39% of the total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1] primarily due to their operational energy use, and about 80% of this building energy use is for heating, cooling, ventilating, and lighting. An important premise of this paper is about the connection between energy and comfort. They are inseparable when one talks about high performance buildings. Worldwide data suggests that we are significantly overcooling buildings in the summer, resulting in increased energy use and problems with thermal comfort. In contrast, in naturally ventilated buildings without mechanical cooling, people are comfortable in much warmer temperatures due to shifting expectations and preferences as a result of occupants having a greater degree of personal control over their thermal environment; they have also become more accustomed to variable conditions that closely reflect the natural rhythms of outdoor climate patterns. This has resulted in an adaptive comfort zone that offers significant potential for encouraging naturally ventilated buildings to improve both energy use and comfort. Research on other forms for providing individualized control through low-energy personal comfort systems (desktop fans, foot warmed, and heated and cooled chairs) have also demonstrated enormous potential for improving both energy and comfort performance. Studies have demonstrated high levels of comfort with these systems while ambient temperatures ranged from 64–84°F. Energy and indoor environmental quality are inextricably linked, and must both be important goals of a high performance building

Regulation proposal for voluntary energy efficiency labelling of commercial buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamberts, Roberto; Goulart, Solange; Carlo, Joyce; Westphal, Fernando

2006-01-01

Despite of Brazil not being between the major world energy consumers, the consumption of electricity has significantly increased in the late years. The National Energy Balance of 2005, published by the Brazilian Ministry of Energy, showed an increasing of the participation of electricity in the final energy consumption of 15.7% in 2002 to 16.2% in 2004. Initially, a brief review of the initiatives taken by Brazilian Government aiming to limit and control the energy consumption in buildings is presented. Then, the regulation proposal containing the technical requirements to classify the energy efficiency level of buildings is shown. The purpose of this voluntary regulation is to provide conditions to certify the energy efficiency level of Brazilian buildings (commercial and public). It specifies the methods for energy efficiency rating of buildings and includes requirements to attend energy conservation measures in three main issues: lighting system; air conditioning system and envelope. The regulation applies to large buildings (minimum total area of 500 m 2 or when the energy demand is greater than or equal to 2,3 kV, including: Conditioned buildings; Partially conditioned buildings and Naturally ventilated buildings. (author)

Energy Metrics for State Government Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Michael, Trevor

Measuring true progress towards energy conservation goals requires the accurate reporting and accounting of energy consumption. An accurate energy metrics framework is also a critical element for verifiable Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Energy conservation in government can reduce expenditures on energy costs leaving more funds available for public services. In addition to monetary savings, conserving energy can help to promote energy security, air quality, and a reduction of carbon footprint. With energy consumption/GHG inventories recently produced at the Federal level, state and local governments are beginning to also produce their own energy metrics systems. In recent years, many states have passed laws and executive orders which require their agencies to reduce energy consumption. In June 2008, SC state government established a law to achieve a 20% energy usage reduction in state buildings by 2020. This study examines case studies from other states who have established similar goals to uncover the methods used to establish an energy metrics system. Direct energy consumption in state government primarily comes from buildings and mobile sources. This study will focus exclusively on measuring energy consumption in state buildings. The case studies reveal that many states including SC are having issues gathering the data needed to accurately measure energy consumption across all state buildings. Common problems found include a lack of enforcement and incentives that encourage state agencies to participate in any reporting system. The case studies are aimed at finding the leverage used to gather the needed data. The various approaches at coercing participation will hopefully reveal methods that SC can use to establish the accurate metrics system needed to measure progress towards its 20% by 2020 energy reduction goal. Among the strongest incentives found in the case studies is the potential for monetary savings through energy efficiency. Framing energy conservation

Designing of zero energy office buildings in hot arid climate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdel-Gwad, Mohamed

2011-07-01

The designing of office buildings by using large glass areas to have a transparent building is an attractive approach in the modern office building architecture. This attitude increases the energy demand for cooling specially in the hot arid region which has long sun duration time, while the use of small glazing areas increases the energy demand for lighting. The use of uncontrolled natural ventilation increases the rate of hot ambient air flow which increases the building energy demand for cooling. At the same time, the use of mechanical ventilation to control the air change rate may increase the energy demand for fans. Some ideas such as low energy design concept are introduced for improving the building energy performance and different rating systems have been developed such as LEED, BREEAM and DGNB for evaluating building energy performance system. One of the new ideas for decreasing the dependence on fossil fuels and improving the use of renewable energy is the net zero-energy building concept in which the building generates enough renewable energy on site to equal or exceed its annual energy use. This work depends on using the potentials of mixing different energy strategies such as hybrid ventilation strategy, passive night cooling, passive chilled ceiling side by side with the integrating of photovoltaic modules into the building facade to produce energy and enrich the architectural aesthetics and finally reaching the Net Zero Energy Building. There are different definitions for zero energy buildings, however in this work the use of building-integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) to provide the building with its annual energy needs is adopted, in order to reach to a Grid-Connected Net-Zero Energy Office Building in the hot arid desert zone represented by Cairo, Egypt. (orig.)

Barriers' and policies' analysis of China's building energy efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yurong; Wang, Yuanfeng

2013-01-01

With the rapid economic growth and the improvement of people's living standards, China's building energy consumption has kept rising during the past 15 years. Under the effort of the Chinese government and the society, China's building energy efficiency has made certain achievements. However, the implementation of building energy efficiency in China is still far from its potential. Based on the analysis of the existing policies implemented in China, the article concluded that the most essential and the most effective ways to promote building energy efficiency is the government's involvement as well as economic and financial incentives. In addition, the main barriers in the process of promoting building energy efficiency in China are identified in six aspects. It has been found that the legal system and administrative issues constitute major barriers, and the lack of financial incentives and the mismatching of market mechanism also hamper the promotion of building energy efficiency. Finally, in view of the existing policies and barriers analysis, three corresponding policy proposals are presented. -- Highlights: •The existing policies implemented in China from three aspects are presented and analysed. •The Government's involvement is the most essential effective way to promote building-energy efficiency. •Six aspects of barriers in promoting building energy efficiency in China are identified. •The legal system and administrative issues constitute the major barriers. •Three policy proposals to further promote building energy efficiency in China are proposed

Building regulations in energy efficiency: Compliance in England and Wales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Wei; Garmston, Helen

2012-01-01

There is an international pragmatic shift towards the use of building energy regulations, standards and codes to reduce building energy consumption. The UK Government revised Building Regulations in 2002, 2006 and 2010, towards more stringent energy efficiency standards and ultimately the target of ‘zero carbon’ new homes from 2016. This paper aims to: reveal levels of compliance with energy Building Regulations of new-build dwellings in England and Wales; explore underlying issues; and identify possible solutions. In total 376 new-build dwellings were investigated. The compliance revealed was poor, at a level of 35%; accompanied by 43% ‘grey compliance’ and 21% ‘grey non-compliance’ (due to insufficient evidence of achieving required carbon emissions reductions). It is a serious concern when building control approves so many dwellings when insufficient evidence of compliance has been received. Underlying issues were centred on: incorrect compilation and/or insufficient submission of carbon emissions calculations by builders/developers; inappropriate timings of such submissions; and a paucity of proper checks by building control. Exploring these issues reveals a complex system of factors influencing energy regulations compliance, which involves a wide range of stakeholders. The findings should inform the formulation and implementation of energy efficiency building regulations and policy in the future. - Highlights: ► The compliance with energy Building Regulations (England and Wales) was poor. ► The problematic implementation of energy Building Regulations is a serious concern. ► Identified issues suggest a lack of knowledge of builders and building control. ► There is a complex system of factors influencing energy regulations compliance. ► A systems approach is needed to improve compliance, while training is crucial.

Co-Simulation of Building Energy and Control Systems with the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wetter, Michael

2010-08-22

This article describes the implementation of the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB). The BCVTB is a software environment that allows connecting different simulation programs to exchange data during the time integration, and that allows conducting hardware in the loop simulation. The software architecture is a modular design based on Ptolemy II, a software environment for design and analysis of heterogeneous systems. Ptolemy II provides a graphical model building environment, synchronizes the exchanged data and visualizes the system evolution during run-time. The BCVTB provides additions to Ptolemy II that allow the run-time coupling of different simulation programs for data exchange, including EnergyPlus, MATLAB, Simulink and the Modelica modelling and simulation environment Dymola. The additions also allow executing system commands, such as a script that executes a Radiance simulation. In this article, the software architecture is presented and the mathematical model used to implement the co-simulation is discussed. The simulation program interface that the BCVTB provides is explained. The article concludes by presenting applications in which different state of the art simulation programs are linked for run-time data exchange. This link allows the use of the simulation program that is best suited for the particular problem to model building heat transfer, HVAC system dynamics and control algorithms, and to compute a solution to the coupled problem using co-simulation.

Change-over natural and mechanical ventilation system energy consumption in single-family buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Kostka, Maria; Szulgowska-Zgrzywa, Małgorzata

2017-11-01

The parameters of the outside air in Poland cause that in winter it is reasonable to use a mechanical ventilation equipped with a heat recovery exchanger. The time of spring, autumn, summer evenings and nights are often characterized by the parameters of the air, which allow for a natural ventilation and reduce the electricity consumption. The article presents the possibilities of energy consumption reduction for three energy standards of buildings located in Poland, ventilated by a change-over hybrid system. The analysis was prepared on the assumption that the air-to-water heat pump is the heat source for the buildings.

Energy - efficient buildings in pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sohail, M.; Qureshi, M.U.D.

2011-01-01

Pakistan is one of the countries with the highest energy consumption for domestic use. Annual energy consumption by the domestic sector is 45.9 % of the total, while the industrial sector, consumes about 27.5%. About half of the total energy consumed is used in buildings and/or heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and lighting appliances. The energy consumed for the same purposes in China and UK is 25 to 30 % and 40 %, respectively, even in extreme weather conditions. Energy deficiency in Pakistan is approximately 5,000 MWe, which results in worst load-shedding in summers and, lately, even in winters. Building new energy sources like dams, coal power plants and renewable energy power projects are some possible solutions, but these are time taking and need at least 2 to 6 years to complete, depending upon the nature of the project. Fast development of energy-efficient buildings is, therefore, necessary to deal with exacerbating energy-crisis and related environmental impact in Pakistan. Innovations in the prevailing building-design will help the country in reducing the energy burden. These innovations may include improved architectural designs, energy-efficient building materials, electrical appliances and implementation of building energy-efficiency codes. In 1987, the National Energy Conservation Centre (ENERCON), was established under Ministry of Environment, Government of Pakistan, with the aim to build awareness among the masses for energy conservation, and to make policies regarding energy-conservation structures in the country. But no policy regarding building energy codes has been introduced by ENERCON till now. In collaboration with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), ENERCON has recently finalized the Building Energy Code of Pakistan Energy Provisions 2011 for which statutory notification is under process for necessary amendment in the building by-laws. The implementation of this Energy Code will result in 25 to 30 % of energy savings in the

Development of mechanical ventilation system with low energy consumption for renovation of buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Terkildsen, Søren

in reducing CO2-emmissions. Over the last decade, initiatives have been taken to reduce its energy consumption e.g. by the European Union, national governments or NGOs. The initiatives have mostly focused on improving the thermal properties of the building envelope to reduce heat losses. Building services......A general reduction in total energy consumption is needed, due to the increasing concerns about climate change caused by CO2-emmissions from fossil fuels. In 2004, the building sector accounted for 40% of the total energy consumption in the EU and the US and therefore must play a crucial role....... The goal was to develop a mechanical system with an SFP-value of 0.5 kJ/m3 and a heat recovery efficiency of 85% that can meet current indoor environment requirements without discomfort in terms of thermal, acoustic and draught issues. The concept was developed for a temperate climate, such as Denmark...

Energy consumption, energy savings, and emission analysis in Malaysian office buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saidur, R.

2009-01-01

This paper is concerned with the estimation of energy use in office buildings in Malaysia and with the energy use of major equipment. Energy intensity (EI) - a measure of a building's energy performance - is estimated for Malaysia and compared with a number of selected countries. Air conditioners are shown to be the major energy users (57%) in office buildings, followed by lighting (19%), lifts and pumps (18%) and other equipment (6%). It is estimated that 77,569 MWh of energy can be saved and a huge reduction of emissions achieved through the application of advance glazing, compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), insulation, housekeeping, and by raising thermostat set point temperature of air conditioners, and reducing EI. It is also estimated that a very substantial amount of energy can be saved by making use of energy-efficient motors in building systems with different motor loading percentages. Finally, it can be shown that the use of variable speed drives (VSDs) and energy-efficient motors leads to substantial energy savings and an enormous reduction in emissions.

Using Dashboards to Improve Energy and Comfort in Federal Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Marini, Kyle; Ghatikar, Girish; Diamond, Richard

2011-02-01

Federal agencies are taking many steps to improve the sustainability of their operations, including improving the energy efficiency of their buildings, promoting recycling and reuse of materials, encouraging carpooling and alternative transit schemes, and installing low flow water fixture units are just a few of the common examples. However, an often overlooked means of energy savings is to provide feedback to building users about their energy use through information dashboards connected to a building?s energy information system. An Energy Information System (EIS), broadly defined, is a package of performance monitoring software, data acquisition hardware, and communication systems that is used to collect, store, analyze, and display energy information. At a minimum, the EIS provides the whole-building energy-use information (Granderson 2009a). We define a ?dashboard? as a display and visualization tool that utilizes the EIS data and technology to provide critical information to users. This information can lead to actions resulting in energy savings, comfort improvements, efficient operations, and more. The tools to report analyzed information have existed in the information technology as business intelligence (Few 2006). The dashboard is distinguished from the EIS as a whole, which includes additional hardware and software components to collect and storage data, and analysis for resources and energy management (Granderson 2009b). EIS can be used for a variety of uses, including benchmarking, base-lining, anomaly detection, off-hours energy use evaluation, load shape optimization, energy rate analysis, retrofit and retro-commissioning savings (Granderson 2009a). The use of these EIS features depends on the specific users. For example, federal and other building managers may use anomaly detection to identify energy waste in a specific building, or to benchmark energy use in similar buildings to identify energy saving potential and reduce operational cost. There are

Usage of NASA's Near Real-Time Solar and Meteorological Data for Monitoring Building Energy Systems Using RETScreen International's Performance Analysis Module

Science.gov (United States)

Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.; Charles, Robert W.; Chandler, William S.; Hoell, James M.; Westberg, David; Zhang, Taiping; Ziegler, Urban; Leng, Gregory J.; Meloche, Nathalie; Bourque, Kevin

2012-01-01

This paper describes building energy system production and usage monitoring using examples from the new RETScreen Performance Analysis Module, called RETScreen Plus. The module uses daily meteorological (i.e., temperature, humidity, wind and solar, etc.) over a period of time to derive a building system function that is used to monitor building performance. The new module can also be used to target building systems with enhanced technologies. If daily ambient meteorological and solar information are not available, these are obtained over the internet from NASA's near-term data products that provide global meteorological and solar information within 3-6 days of real-time. The accuracy of the NASA data are shown to be excellent for this purpose enabling RETScreen Plus to easily detect changes in the system function and efficiency. This is shown by several examples, one of which is a new building at the NASA Langley Research Center that uses solar panels to provide electrical energy for building energy and excess energy for other uses. The system shows steady performance within the uncertainties of the input data. The other example involves assessing the reduction in energy usage by an apartment building in Sweden before and after an energy efficiency upgrade. In this case, savings up to 16% are shown.

Compliance with building energy regulations for new-build dwellings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, Wei; Garmston, Helen

2012-01-01

Despite increasingly stringent building energy regulations worldwide, non-compliance exists in practice. This paper examines the profile of compliance with building energy regulations for new-build dwellings. In total 404 new-build dwellings completed in the UK from 2006 to 2009 were investigated. Only a third of these dwellings were evidenced as being compliant with Building Regulations Part L (England and Wales). Such low compliance casts a serious concern over the achievability of the UK Government's target for all new-build homes to be ‘zero carbon’ from 2016. Clearly evidenced was a lack of knowledge of Part L and its compliance requirements among the supply and building control sides of new-build dwellings. The results also indicate that the compliance profile was influenced by factors including Standard Assessment Procedure (UK Government's methodology for energy efficiency) calculation submissions, learning and experience of builders and building controls with Part L, use of Part L1A checklist, the introduction of energy performance certificate (EPC), build method, dwelling type, and project size. Better compliance was associated with flats over houses and timber frame over masonry. The use of EPC and Part L1A checklist should be encouraged. Key to addressing the lack of compliance with building energy regulations is training. -- Highlights: ► There exists a lack of compliance, worldwide, with building energy regulations. ► The implementation of England and Wales building energy regulations is problematic. ► Training, learning and experience of builders and building control are critical. ► Energy performance certificate and Part L 2006 checklist helped achieve compliance. ► Flats achieved better compliance over houses; and timber frame over masonry.

The Consortium of Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) - A Building America Energy Efficient Housing Partnership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robb Aldrich; Lois Arena; Dianne Griffiths; Srikanth Puttagunta; David Springer

2010-12-31

This final report summarizes the work conducted by the Consortium of Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) (http://www.carb-swa.com/), one of the 'Building America Energy Efficient Housing Partnership' Industry Teams, for the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010. The Building America Program (BAP) is part of the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program (BTP). The long term goal of the BAP is to develop cost effective, production ready systems in five major climate zones that will result in zero energy homes (ZEH) that produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis by 2020. CARB is led by Steven Winter Associates, Inc. with Davis Energy Group, Inc. (DEG), MaGrann Associates, and Johnson Research, LLC as team members. In partnership with our numerous builders and industry partners, work was performed in three primary areas - advanced systems research, prototype home development, and technical support for communities of high performance homes. Our advanced systems research work focuses on developing a better understanding of the installed performance of advanced technology systems when integrated in a whole-house scenario. Technology systems researched included: - High-R Wall Assemblies - Non-Ducted Air-Source Heat Pumps - Low-Load HVAC Systems - Solar Thermal Water Heating - Ventilation Systems - Cold-Climate Ground and Air Source Heat Pumps - Hot/Dry Climate Air-to-Water Heat Pump - Condensing Boilers - Evaporative condensers - Water Heating CARB continued to support several prototype home projects in the design and specification phase. These projects are located in all five program climate regions and most are targeting greater than 50% source energy savings over the Building America Benchmark home. CARB provided technical support and developed builder project case studies to be included in near-term Joule Milestone reports for the following community scale projects: - SBER Overlook at

Building Energy Monitoring and Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Tianzhen; Feng, Wei; Lu, Alison; Xia, Jianjun; Yang, Le; Shen, Qi; Im, Piljae; Bhandari, Mahabir

2013-06-01

This project aimed to develop a standard methodology for building energy data definition, collection, presentation, and analysis; apply the developed methods to a standardized energy monitoring platform, including hardware and software, to collect and analyze building energy use data; and compile offline statistical data and online real-time data in both countries for fully understanding the current status of building energy use. This helps decode the driving forces behind the discrepancy of building energy use between the two countries; identify gaps and deficiencies of current building energy monitoring, data collection, and analysis; and create knowledge and tools to collect and analyze good building energy data to provide valuable and actionable information for key stakeholders.

Low-energy district heating in energy-efficient building areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalla Rosa, A.; Christensen, J.E.

2011-01-01

This paper presents an innovative low-energy district heating (DH) concept based on low-temperature operation. The decreased heating demand from low-energy buildings affects the cost-effectiveness of traditionally-designed DH systems, so we carried out a case study of the annual energy performance of a low-energy network for low-energy houses in Denmark. We took into account the effect of human behaviour on energy demand, the effect of the number of buildings connected to the network, a socio-economic comparison with ground source heat pumps, and opportunities for the optimization of the network design, and operational temperature and pressure. In the north-European climate, we found that human behaviour can lead to 50% higher heating demand and 60% higher heating power than those anticipated in the reference values in the standard calculations for energy demand patterns in energy-efficient buildings. This considerable impact of human behaviour should clearly be included in energy simulations. We also showed that low-energy DH systems are robust systems that ensure security of supply for each customer in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way in areas with linear heat density down to 0.20 MWh/(m year), and that the levelized cost of energy in low-energy DH supply is competitive with a scenario based on ground source heat pumps. The investment costs represent up to three quarters of the overall expenditure, over a time horizon of 30 years; so, the implementation of an energy system that fully relies on renewable energy needs substantial capital investment, but in the long term this is sustainable from the environmental and socio-economic points of view. Having demonstrated the value of the low-energy DH concept, we evaluated various possible designs with the aim of finding the optimal solution with regard to economic and energy efficiency issues. Here we showed the advantage of low supply and return temperatures, their effect on energy efficiency and that

Ethernet TCP/IP based building energy management system in a university campus in Saudi Arabia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jomoah, Ibrahim M. [Department of Industrial Engineering, King Abdulaziz University Jeddah-21589 (Saudi Arabia); Kumar, R. Sreerama; Abdel-Shafi, Nabil Yassien [Saudi Electricity Company Chair for DSM and EE, Vice Presidency for Projects, King Abdulaziz University Jeddah 21589 (Saudi Arabia); Al-Abdulaziz, Abdulaziz Uthman M.; Obaid, Ramzy R. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, King Abdulaziz University Jeddah-21589 (Saudi Arabia)

2013-07-01

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the Building Energy Management System (BMS) installed in the typical buildings in the main campus of King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. As the domestic electricity and hence the oil consumption in Saudi Arabia is increasing at a very alarming rate compared to the other countries in the world, it is of paramount importance to resort to urgent measures in various industrial, commercial and residential sectors in the country to implement energy conservation measures. The major electrical load in the buildings in the University corresponds to air-handling units and lighting. If the Hajj period, during which millions of pilgrims visit Holy Makah, coincides with the summer, the electricity demand in the country further increases. Considering these issues, the university has taken initiatives to minimize energy consumption in the campuses through the various energy conservation measures. Towards this end, BMS is installed in a few of the typical classrooms and office buildings utilizing the existing campus Ethernet TCP/IP. The data analysis is performed over the period from April to September as it is the peak load period due to summer season. The effectiveness of the BMS in the minimization of the energy consumption in these buildings is established by comparing the results of data analysis with BMS against those before the installation of BMS over the peak period. The investigations reveal that appreciable saving in energy consumption can be achieved with the installation of BMS, the magnitude being dependent upon factors such as building characteristics, type of building, its utilization and period of use.

Energy and exergy assessments for an enhanced use of energy in buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Goncalves, Pedro Manuel Ferreira

Exergy analysis has been found to be a useful method for improving the conversion efficiency of energy resources, since it helps to identify locations, types and true magnitudes of wastes and losses. It has also been applied for other purposes, such as distinguishing high- from low-quality energy sources or defining the engineering technological limits in designing more energy-efficient systems. In this doctoral thesis, the exergy analysis is widely applied in order to highlight and demonstrate it as a significant method of performing energy assessments of buildings and related energy supply systems. It aims to make the concept more familiar and accessible for building professionals and to encourage its wider use in engineering practice. Case study I aims to show the importance of exergy analysis in the energy performance assessment of eight space heating building options evaluated under different outdoor environmental conditions. This study is concerned with the so-called "reference state", which in this study is calculated using the average outdoor temperature for a given period of analysis. Primary energy and related exergy ratios are assessed and compared. Higher primary exergy ratios are obtained for low outdoor temperatures, while the primary energy ratios are assumed as constant for the same scenarios. The outcomes of this study demonstrate the significance of exergy analysis in comparison with energy analysis when different reference states are compared. Case study II and Case study III present two energy and exergy assessment studies applied to a hotel and a student accommodation building, respectively. Case study II compares the energy and exergy performance of the main end uses of a hotel building located in Coimbra in central Portugal, using data derived from an energy audit. Case study III uses data collected from energy utilities bills to estimate the energy and exergy performance associated to each building end use. Additionally, a set of energy

Integrated application of combined cooling, heating and power poly-generation PV radiant panel system of zero energy buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Baoquan

2018-02-01

A new type of combined cooling, heating and power of photovoltaic radiant panel (PV/R) module was proposed, and applied in the zero energy buildings in this paper. The energy system of this building is composed of PV/R module, low temperature difference terminal, energy storage, multi-source heat pump, energy balance control system. Radiant panel is attached on the backside of the PV module for cooling the PV, which is called PV/R module. During the daytime, the PV module was cooled down with the radiant panel, as the temperature coefficient influence, the power efficiency was increased by 8% to 14%, the radiant panel solar heat collecting efficiency was about 45%. Through the nocturnal radiant cooling, the PV/R cooling capacity could be 50 W/m2. For the multifunction energy device, the system shows the versatility during the heating, cooling and power used of building utilization all year round.

The potential of net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) concept at design stage for healthcare buildings towards sustainable development

Science.gov (United States)

Hazli Abdellah, Roy; Asrul Nasid Masrom, Md; Chen, Goh Kai; Mohamed, Sulzakimin; Omar, Roshartini

2017-11-01

The focus on net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) has been widely analysed and discussed particularly when European Union Parliament are progressively moving towards regulation that promotes the improvement of energy efficiency (EE). Additionally, it also to reduce energy consumption through the recast of the EU Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) in which all new buildings to be “nearly Zero-Energy” Buildings by 2020. Broadly, there is a growing trend to explore the feasibility of net zero energy in healthcare sector as the level energy consumption for healthcare sector is found significantly high. Besides that, healthcare buildings energy consumption also exceeds of many other nondomestic building types, and this shortcoming is still undetermined yet especially for developing countries. This paper aims to review the potential of NZEBs in healthcare buildings by considering its concept in design features. Data are gathered through a comprehensive energy management literature review from previous studies. The review is vital to encourage construction players to increase their awareness, practices, and implementation of NZEBs in healthcare buildings. It suggests that NZEBs concept has a potential to be adapted in healthcare buildings through emphasizing of passive approach as well as the utilization of energy efficiency systems and renewable energy systems in buildings. This paper will provide a basis knowledge for construction key players mainly architects to promote NZEBs concept at design stage for healthcare buildings development.

Mobilisation of the potential for the renewal of energy systems in existing buildings; Mobilisierung der energetischen Erneuerungspotenziale im Wohnbaubestand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ott, W.; Baur, M.; Kaufmann, Y. [econcept AG, Zuerich (Switzerland); Jakob, M.; Ott, A. [Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE), ETH Zuerich, Zuerich (Switzerland)

2005-07-01

This comprehensive report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) summarises the findings of an energy-policy project that looked into the potential for the renewal of energy systems in existing buildings. The report presents an analysis of the situation as far as buildings, their ownership and the development of renovation work is concerned. Also, the results of a survey made under the owners of buildings and managers of real estate with respect to building renovation aspects are presented and discussed. Further, an analysis of problems arising from deficits in the renewal of energy-relevant components is provided and background and motivation for the renewal of buildings are looked at. Also, economic aspects and sustainability issues are considered. A further chapter covers strategies and measures that can be used to mobilise the renewal potential, including legislature and labelling systems.

Optimising building net energy demand with dynamic BIPV shading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayathissa, P.; Luzzatto, M.; Schmidli, J.; Hofer, J.; Nagy, Z.; Schlueter, A.

2017-01-01

Highlights: •Coupled analysis of PV generation and building energy using adaptive BIPV shading. •20–80% net energy saving compared to an equivalent static system. •The system can in some cases compensate for the entire heating/cooling/lighting load. •High resolution radiation simulation including impacts of module self shading. -- Abstract: The utilisation of a dynamic photovoltaic system for adaptive shading can improve building energy performance by controlling solar heat gains and natural lighting, while simultaneously generating electricity on site. This paper firstly presents an integrated simulation framework to couple photovoltaic electricity generation to building energy savings through adaptive shading. A high-resolution radiance and photovoltaic model calculates the photovoltaic electricity yield while taking into account partial shading between modules. The remaining solar irradiation that penetrates the window is used in a resistance-capacitance building thermal model. A simulation of all possible dynamic configurations is conducted for each hourly time step, of which the most energy efficient configuration is chosen. We then utilise this framework to determine the optimal orientation of the photovoltaic panels to maximise the electricity generation while minimising the building’s heating, lighting and cooling demand. An existing adaptive photovoltaic facade was used as a case study for evaluation. Our results report a 20–80% net energy saving compared to an equivalent static photovoltaic shading system depending on the efficiency of the heating and cooling system. In some cases the Adaptive Solar Facade can almost compensate for the entire energy demand of the office space behind it. The control of photovoltaic production on the facade, simultaneously with the building energy demand, opens up new methods of building management as the facade can control both the production and consumption of electricity.

Energy performance requirements for new buildings in 11 countries from Central Europe. Exemplary comparison of three buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loga, Tobias; Knissel, Jens; Diefenbach, Nikolaus

2008-12-05

The objective of the present comparison study is to show which energy efficiency require-ments have to be complied in different European countries when a new building is going to be constructed. For this purpose three Model Buildings were defined: a single-family house, a multi-family house and a school building. For each involved country (or region) the energy quality of the thermal envelope was determined which is necessary in order to just comply with the building code. Due to requirements on the overall energy performance the requested envelope quality usually depends also on the type of heat supply system or energy carrier. Therefore the systems were varied in a parameter study. The main result for each of the three Model Buildings is a comparison table which shows the heat transfer coefficient by transmission (a sort of mean U-value) for the different countries differenti-ated by supply system types. In a final step the primary energy demand according to the German regulation (EnEV 2007) was calculated for every envelope/system combination of the different countries. This allows a comparison of buildings with different supply systems. The study was performed by experts from 11 European member states: Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. (orig.)

Commercial Building Energy Asset Score Program Overview and Technical Protocol (Version 1.1)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Na; Goel, Supriya; Makhmalbaf, Atefe

2013-08-09

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is developing a voluntary national scoring system for commercial buildings to help building owners and managers assess a building’s energy-related systems independent of operations. The goal of the score is to facilitate cost-effective investment in energy efficiency improvements of commercial buildings. The system, known as the Commercial Building Energy Asset Score, will allow building owners and managers to compare their building infrastructure against peers and track building upgrades over time. The system will also help other building stakeholders (e.g., building investors, tenants, financiers, and appraisers) understand the relative efficiency of different buildings in a way that is independent from operations and occupancy. This report outlines the technical protocol used to generate the energy asset score, explains the scoring methodology, and provides additional details regarding the energy asset scoring tool. The alternative methods that were considered prior to developing the current approach are described in the Program Overview and Technical Protocol Version 1.0.

Building application of solar energy. Study no. 2: Representative buildings for solar energy performance analysis and market penetration

Science.gov (United States)

Hirshberg, A. S.

1975-01-01

The following topics are discussed: (1) Assignment of population to microclimatic zones; (2) specifications of the mix of buildings in the SCE territory; (3) specification of four typical buildings for thermal analysis and market penetration studies; (4) identification of the materials and energy conserving characteristics of these typical buildings; (5) specifications of the HVAC functions used in each typical building, and determination of the HVAC systems used in each building; and (6) identification of the type of fuel used in each building.

UP-report. Buildings in the energy system. Basis of the Development platform. Build to the Swedish Energy Agency's strategy work FOKUS; UP-rapport. Byggnader i energisystemet. Underlag fraan Utvecklingsplattformen. Bygg till Energimyndighetens strategiarbete FOKUS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-11-01

The report serves as input to the Swedish Energy Agency's strategies and priorities for research and innovation in the thematic area buildings in the energy system for the period 2011 - 2016. The report has been compiled by members of the development platform Build. This report provides background and the conditions of the area buildings in the energy system, and proposed priorities and activities for future efforts in this area. The development platform has contributed with valuable experience and knowledge which enabled the Swedish Energy Agency to then develop a strategy that meets the needs of the society and business.

The Role of Energy Storage in Commercial Building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kintner-Meyer, Michael CW; Subbarao, Krishnappa; Prakash Kumar, Nirupama; Bandyopadhyay, Gopal K.; Finley, C.; Koritarov, V. S.; Molburg, J. C.; Wang, J.; Zhao, Fuli; Brackney, L.; Florita, A. R.

2010-09-30

Motivation and Background of Study This project was motivated by the need to understand the full value of energy storage (thermal and electric energy storage) in commercial buildings, the opportunity of benefits for building operations and the potential interactions between a building and a smart grid infrastructure. On-site or local energy storage systems are not new to the commercial building sector; they have been in place in US buildings for decades. Most building-scale storage technologies are based on thermal or electrochemical storage mechanisms. Energy storage technologies are not designed to conserve energy, and losses associated with energy conversion are inevitable. Instead, storage provides flexibility to manage load in a building or to balance load and generation in the power grid. From the building owner's perspective, storage enables load shifting to optimize energy costs while maintaining comfort. From a grid operations perspective, building storage at scale could provide additional flexibility to grid operators in managing the generation variability from intermittent renewable energy resources (wind and solar). To characterize the set of benefits, technical opportunities and challenges, and potential economic values of storage in a commercial building from both the building operation's and the grid operation's view-points is the key point of this project. The research effort was initiated in early 2010 involving Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to quantify these opportunities from a commercial buildings perspective. This report summarizes the early discussions, literature reviews, stakeholder engagements, and initial results of analyses related to the overall role of energy storage in commercial buildings. Beyond the summary of roughly eight months of effort by the laboratories, the report attempts to substantiate the importance of

The building network energy statistics 2002[Norway]; Bygningsnettverkets energistatistikk 2002

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

The report surveys a Norwegian network within the construction business and the energy utilization particularly in various buildings. There are sections on the network structure, the energy use in 2002, the building aspects and various project types. The emphasis is on energy conservation aspects. Various technologies and energy systems as well as building types, are discussed. (tk)

Building Energy Monitoring and Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Tianzhen; Feng, Wei; Lu, Alison; Xia, Jianjun; Yang, Le; Shen, Qi; Im, Piljae; Bhandari, Mahabir

2013-06-01

U.S. and China are the world’s top two economics. Together they consumed one-third of the world’s primary energy. It is an unprecedented opportunity and challenge for governments, researchers and industries in both countries to join together to address energy issues and global climate change. Such joint collaboration has huge potential in creating new jobs in energy technologies and services. Buildings in the US and China consumed about 40% and 25% of the primary energy in both countries in 2010 respectively. Worldwide, the building sector is the largest contributor to the greenhouse gas emission. Better understanding and improving the energy performance of buildings is a critical step towards sustainable development and mitigation of global climate change. This project aimed to develop a standard methodology for building energy data definition, collection, presentation, and analysis; apply the developed methods to a standardized energy monitoring platform, including hardware and software, to collect and analyze building energy use data; and compile offline statistical data and online real-time data in both countries for fully understanding the current status of building energy use. This helps decode the driving forces behind the discrepancy of building energy use between the two countries; identify gaps and deficiencies of current building energy monitoring, data collection, and analysis; and create knowledge and tools to collect and analyze good building energy data to provide valuable and actionable information for key stakeholders.

System-Level Monitoring and Diagnosis of Building HVAC System

OpenAIRE

Wu, Siyu

2013-01-01

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is an indoor environmental technology that is extensively instrumented for large-scale buildings. Among all subsystems of buildings, the HVAC system dominates the energy consumption and accounts for 57% of the energy used in U.S. commercial and residential buildings. Unfortunately, the HVAC system may fail to meet the performance expectations due to various faults, including not only complete hardware failures, but also non-optimal operations....

Advanced, Integrated Control for Building Operations to Achieve 40% Energy Saving

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Yan; Song, Zhen; Loftness, Vivian; Ji, Kun; Zheng, Sam; Lasternas, Bertrand; Marion, Flore; Yuebin, Yu

2012-10-15

We developed and demonstrated a software based integrated advanced building control platform called Smart Energy Box (SEB), which can coordinate building subsystem controls, integrate variety of energy optimization algorithms and provide proactive and collaborative energy management and control for building operations using weather and occupancy information. The integrated control system is a low cost solution and also features: Scalable component based architecture allows to build a solution for different building control system configurations with needed components; Open Architecture with a central data repository for data exchange among runtime components; Extendible to accommodate variety of communication protocols. Optimal building control for central loads, distributed loads and onsite energy resource; uses web server as a loosely coupled way to engage both building operators and building occupants in collaboration for energy conservation. Based on the open platform of SEB, we have investigated and evaluated a variety of operation and energy saving control strategies on Carnegie Mellon University Intelligent Work place which is equipped with alternative cooling/heating/ventilation/lighting methods, including radiant mullions, radiant cooling/heating ceiling panels, cool waves, dedicated ventilation unit, motorized window and blinds, and external louvers. Based on the validation results of these control strategies, they were integrated in SEB in a collaborative and dynamic way. This advanced control system was programmed and computer tested with a model of the Intelligent Workplace's northern section (IW_n). The advanced control program was then installed in the IW_n control system; the performance was measured and compared with that of the state of the art control system to verify the overall energy savings great than 40%. In addition advanced human machine interfaces (HMI's) were developed to communicate both with building

Building energy governance in Shanghai

Science.gov (United States)

Kung, YiHsiu Michelle

With Asia's surging economies and urbanization, the region is adding to its built environment at an unprecedented rate, especially those population centers in China and India. With numerous existing buildings, plus a new building boom, construction in these major Asian cities has caused momentous sustainability challenges. This dissertation focuses on China's leading city, Shanghai, to explore and assess its existing commercial building energy policies and practices. Research estimates that Shanghai's commercial buildings might become a key challenge with regard to energy use and CO2 emissions as compared to other major Asian cities. Relevant building energy policy instruments at national and local levels for commercial buildings are reviewed. In addition, two benchmarks are established to further assess building energy policies in Shanghai. The first benchmark is based on the synthesis of relevant criteria and policy instruments as recommended by professional organizations, while the second practical benchmark is drawn from an analysis of three global cities: New York, London and Tokyo. Moreover, two large-scale commercial building sites - Shanghai IKEA and Plaza 66 - are selected for investigation and assessment of their efforts on building energy saving measures. Detailed building energy savings, CO2 reductions, and management cost reductions based on data availability and calculations are presented with the co-benefits approach. The research additionally analyzes different interventions and factors that facilitate or constrain the implementation process of building energy saving measures in each case. Furthermore, a multi-scale analytical framework is employed to investigate relevant stakeholders that shape Shanghai's commercial building energy governance. Research findings and policy recommendations are offered at the close of this dissertation. Findings and policy recommendations are intended to facilitate commercial building energy governance in Shanghai and

Energy system investment model incorporating heat pumps with thermal storage in buildings and buffer tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hedegaard, Karsten; Balyk, Olexandr

2013-01-01

Individual compression heat pumps constitute a potentially valuable resource in supporting wind power integration due to their economic competitiveness and possibilities for flexible operation. When analysing the system benefits of flexible heat pump operation, effects on investments should be taken into account. In this study, we present a model that facilitates analysing individual heat pumps and complementing heat storages in integration with the energy system, while optimising both investments and operation. The model incorporates thermal building dynamics and covers various heat storage options: passive heat storage in the building structure via radiator heating, active heat storage in concrete floors via floor heating, and use of thermal storage tanks for space heating and hot water. It is shown that the model is well qualified for analysing possibilities and system benefits of operating heat pumps flexibly. This includes prioritising heat pump operation for hours with low marginal electricity production costs, and peak load shaving resulting in a reduced need for peak and reserve capacity investments. - Highlights: • Model optimising heat pumps and heat storages in integration with the energy system. • Optimisation of both energy system investments and operation. • Heat storage in building structure and thermal storage tanks included. • Model well qualified for analysing system benefits of flexible heat pump operation. • Covers peak load shaving and operation prioritised for low electricity prices

Implementation of the EU directive on the energy performance of buildings: Development of the Latvian Scheme for energy auditing of buildings and inspection of boilers. Project document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

'Development of the Latvian Scheme for energy auditing of buildings and inspection of boilers' includes major steps in implementing the EU EPB directive in Latvia. The EPB directive includes a number of efforts: 1. A methodology for calculation of the integrated energy performance of buildings 2. Application of minimum requirements on the energy performance for new buildings 3. Application of minimum requirements on the energy performance for larger existing buildings subject to major renovation 4. Energy performance certification (energy labelling) of buildings 5. Regular inspection of boilers and of air-conditioning systems in buildings, and assessment of heating installations in older systems. The present project includes activities connected to point 4 and point 5. The results will include 4 steps in implementing the EU EPB directive: 1) A Latvian training of certified independent energy auditors to be active conducting energy audits and issuing energy performance certificates. Including a handbook in energy auditing. 2) A Latvian training of certified independent experts for inspection of boilers, air-con systems and assessing older heating systems. Including a handbook in boiler inspection. 3) A proposal for the institutional set-up for a connected scheme for energy auditing and a scheme for boiler inspection 4) Initial information on the scheme of energy auditors and of the boiler inspection. (au)

Edificio project: A neuro-fuzzy approach to building energy management systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Galata, A.; Bakker, L.G.; Morel, N.; Michel, J.B.; Karki, S.; Joergl, H.P.; Franceschini, A.; Martinez, A.

1998-01-01

It is well known that building installations for indoor climate control, consume a substantial part of the total energy consumption and that at present these installations use much more energy than required due to inadequate settings and poor control and management strategies. European building

Intelligent multi-objective optimization for building energy and comfort management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pervez Hameed Shaikh

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The rapid economic and population growth in developing countries, effective and efficient energy usage has turned out to be crucial due to the rising concern of depleting fossil fuels, of which, one-third of primary energy is consumed in buildings and expected to rise by 53% up to 2030. This roaring sector posing a challenge, due to 90% of people spend most of their time in buildings, requires enhanced well-being of indoor environment and living standards. Therefore, building operations require more energy because most of the energy is consumed to make the indoor environment comfortable. Consequently, there is the need of improved energy efficiency to decrease energy consumption in buildings. In relation to this, the primary challenge of building control systems is the energy consumption and comfort level are generally conflicting to each other. Therefore, an important problem of sustainable smart buildings is to effectively manage the energy consumption and comfort and attain the trade-off between the two. Thus, smart buildings are becoming a trend of future construction that facilitates intelligent control in buildings for the fulfillment of occupant’s comfort level. In this study, an intelligent multi-objective system has been developed with evolutionary multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA optimization method. The corresponding case study simulation results for the effective management of users’ comfort and energy efficiency have been carried out. The case study results show the management of energy supply for each comfort parameter and maintain high comfort index achieving balance between the energy consumption and comfort level. Keywords: Energy, Buildings, Comfort, Management, Optimization, Trade-off

How much information disclosure of building energy performance is necessary?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, David

2014-01-01

Many different governments have begun to require disclosure of building energy performance, in order to allow owners and prospective buyers to incorporate this information into their investment decisions. These policies, known as disclosure or information policies, require owners to benchmark their buildings and sometimes conduct engineering audits. However, given substantial variation in the cost to disclose different types of information, it is natural to ask: how much and what kind of information about building energy performance should be disclosed, and for what purposes? To answer this question, this paper assembles and cleans a comprehensive panel dataset of New York City multifamily buildings, and analyzes its predictive power using a Bayesian multilevel regression model. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals that building-level variation is the most important factor in explaining building energy use, and that there are few, if any, relationships of building systems to observed energy use. This indicates that disclosure laws requiring benchmarking data may be relatively more useful than engineering audits in explaining the observed energy performance of existing buildings. These results should inform the further development of information disclosure laws. - Highlights: • A comprehensive panel dataset of energy performance and building characteristics was assembled and cleaned. • The effectiveness of the disclosed information to predict building energy performance was tested using a regression model. • Building-level variation has a greater effect than any building characteristic or systems. • Benchmarking data alone predicts energy performance equally as well as both benchmarking and engineering audit data together, and better than audit data alone

Economic assessment of electric energy storage for load shifting in positive energy building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dumont, Olivier; Do Carmo, Carolina Madeira Ramos; Georges, Emeline

2017-01-01

Net zero energy buildings and positive energy buildings are gaining more and more interest. This paper evaluates the impact of the integration of a battery in a positive energy building used to increase its self-consumption of electricity. Parametric studies are carried out by varying the buildin...... and a 3.7 kWh battery. Finally, simple correlations (based on the feed-in tariff, the annual electrical consumption and production) to predict the optimal size of battery and the lowest payback period are proposed.......Net zero energy buildings and positive energy buildings are gaining more and more interest. This paper evaluates the impact of the integration of a battery in a positive energy building used to increase its self-consumption of electricity. Parametric studies are carried out by varying the building...... envelope characteristics, the power supply system, the climate, the lighting and appliances profiles, the roof tilt angle, the battery size and the electricity tariffs, leading to 3200 cases. The analysis is performed on an annual basis in terms of self-consumption and self-production rate and payback...

Energy savings in CSFR - building sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobsen, F.R.

1993-01-01

The Czechoslovak/Danish project on energy savings in buildings proves that it is possible to save up to 30% of the energy in buildings. 10% can be saved at an investment of 27 bill KCS. The total investment that is needed to save 30% is 140 bill KCS. Further energy savings can be obtained through more energy efficient supply systems. Information dissemination is important for the energy saving programme as are economic incentives. Investments in energy savings should be profitable for the investor, but this is not the case in the Czech and Slovak republics today. Changes are needed. Energy prices are still to low, compared to investment costs. Financial possibilities are not satisfactory for private investors. Price systems are not favourable to investment in energy savings. Training is needed for boiler men and energy consultants. Legislation is essential for the support of the full range of activities in the energy sector. Research and Development activities must back up the development of the sector. Pilot projects can illuminate the savings potential. The production of technical equipment for control and metering and production of insulation materials must be promoted. (AB)

Emerging Energy-Efficient Technologies in Buildings Technology Characterizations for Energy Modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hadley, SW

2004-10-11

The energy use in America's commercial and residential building sectors is large and growing. Over 38 quadrillion Btus (Quads) of primary energy were consumed in 2002, representing 39% of total U.S. energy consumption. While the energy use in buildings is expected to grow to 52 Quads by 2025, a large number of energy-related technologies exist that could curtail this increase. In recent years, improvements in such items as high efficiency refrigerators, compact fluorescent lights, high-SEER air conditioners, and improved building shells have all contributed to reducing energy use. Hundreds of other technology improvements have and will continue to improve the energy use in buildings. While many technologies are well understood and are gradually penetrating the market, more advanced technologies will be introduced in the future. The pace and extent of these advances can be improved through state and federal R&D. This report focuses on the long-term potential for energy-efficiency improvement in buildings. Five promising technologies have been selected for description to give an idea of the wide range of possibilities. They address the major areas of energy use in buildings: space conditioning (33% of building use), water heating (9%), and lighting (16%). Besides describing energy-using technologies (solid-state lighting and geothermal heat pumps), the report also discusses energy-saving building shell improvements (smart roofs) and the integration of multiple energy service technologies (CHP packaged systems and triple function heat pumps) to create synergistic savings. Finally, information technologies that can improve the efficiency of building operations are discussed. The report demonstrates that the United States is not running out of technologies to improve energy efficiency and economic and environmental performance, and will not run out in the future. The five technology areas alone can potentially result in total primary energy savings of between 2 and

Energy Performance of a Novel System Combining Natural Ventilation with Diffuse Ceiling Inlet and Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yu, Tao

and thermally activated building systems (TABS) for cooling and ventilation in future Danish office buildings. The new solution would have the special potential of using natural ventilation all year round even in the extremely cold seasons without any draught risk. The main focuses of this study are the energy...

Joint China-United States Report for Year 1 Insulation Materials and Systems Project Area Clean Energy Research Center Building Energy Efficiency (CERC-BEE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stovall, Therese K [ORNL; Biswas, Kaushik [ORNL; Song, Bo [China Academy of Building Research; Zhang, Sisi [China Academy of Building Research

2012-08-01

In November of 2009, the presidents of China and the U.S. announced the establishment of the Clean Energy Research Center (CERC). This broad research effort is co-funded by both countries and involves a large number of research centers and universities in both countries. One part of this program is focused on improving the energy efficiency of buildings. One portion of the CERC-BEE was focused on building insulation systems. The research objective of this effort was to Identify and investigate candidate high performance fire resistant building insulation technologies that meet the goal of building code compliance for exterior wall applications in green buildings in multiple climate zones. A Joint Work Plan was established between researchers at the China Academy of Building Research and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Efforts in the first year under this plan focused on information gathering. The objective of this research program is to reduce building energy use in China via improved building insulation technology. In cold regions in China, residents often use inefficient heating systems to provide a minimal comfort level within inefficient buildings. In warmer regions, air conditioning has not been commonly used. As living standards rise, energy consumption in these regions will increase dramatically unless significant improvements are made in building energy performance. Previous efforts that defined the current state of the built environment in China and in the U.S. will be used in this research. In countries around the world, building improvements have typically followed the implementation of more stringent building codes. There have been several changes in building codes in both the U.S. and China within the last few years. New U.S. building codes have increased the amount of wall insulation required in new buildings. New government statements from multiple agencies in China have recently changed the requirements for buildings in terms of energy efficiency and

Model calibration for building energy efficiency simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustafaraj, Giorgio; Marini, Dashamir; Costa, Andrea; Keane, Marcus

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Developing a 3D model relating to building architecture, occupancy and HVAC operation. • Two calibration stages developed, final model providing accurate results. • Using an onsite weather station for generating the weather data file in EnergyPlus. • Predicting thermal behaviour of underfloor heating, heat pump and natural ventilation. • Monthly energy saving opportunities related to heat pump of 20–27% was identified. - Abstract: This research work deals with an Environmental Research Institute (ERI) building where an underfloor heating system and natural ventilation are the main systems used to maintain comfort condition throughout 80% of the building areas. Firstly, this work involved developing a 3D model relating to building architecture, occupancy and HVAC operation. Secondly, the calibration methodology, which consists of two levels, was then applied in order to insure accuracy and reduce the likelihood of errors. To further improve the accuracy of calibration a historical weather data file related to year 2011, was created from the on-site local weather station of ERI building. After applying the second level of calibration process, the values of Mean bias Error (MBE) and Cumulative Variation of Root Mean Squared Error (CV(RMSE)) on hourly based analysis for heat pump electricity consumption varied within the following ranges: (MBE) hourly from −5.6% to 7.5% and CV(RMSE) hourly from 7.3% to 25.1%. Finally, the building was simulated with EnergyPlus to identify further possibilities of energy savings supplied by a water to water heat pump to underfloor heating system. It found that electricity consumption savings from the heat pump can vary between 20% and 27% on monthly bases

Advancement of DOE's EnergyPlus Building Energy Simulation Payment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gu, Lixing [Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL (United States); Shirey, Don [Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL (United States); Raustad, Richard [Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL (United States); Nigusse, Bereket [Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL (United States); Sharma, Chandan [Florida Solar Energy Center, Cocoa, FL (United States); Lawrie, Linda [DHL Consulting, Bonn (Germany); Strand, Rick [Univ. of Illinois, Champaign, IL (United States); Pedersen, Curt [COPA, Panama City (Panama); Fisher, Dan [Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States); Lee, Edwin [Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States); Witte, Mike [GARD Analytics, Arlington Heights, IL (United States); Glazer, Jason [GARD Analytics, Arlington Heights, IL (United States); Barnaby, Chip [Wrightsoft, Lexington, MA (United States)

2011-09-30

EnergyPlus{sup TM} is a new generation computer software analysis tool that has been developed, tested, and commercialized to support DOE's Building Technologies (BT) Program in terms of whole-building, component, and systems R&D (http://www.energyplus.gov). It is also being used to support evaluation and decision making of zero energy building (ZEB) energy efficiency and supply technologies during new building design and existing building retrofits. The 5-year project was managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory and was divided into 5 budget period between 2006 and 2011. During the project period, 11 versions of EnergyPlus were released. This report summarizes work performed by an EnergyPlus development team led by the University of Central Florida's Florida Solar Energy Center (UCF/FSEC). The team members consist of DHL Consulting, C. O. Pedersen Associates, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Oklahoma State University, GARD Analytics, Inc., and WrightSoft Corporation. The project tasks involved new feature development, testing and validation, user support and training, and general EnergyPlus support. The team developed 146 new features during the 5-year period to advance the EnergyPlus capabilities. Annual contributions of new features are 7 in budget period 1, 19 in period 2, 36 in period 3, 41 in period 4, and 43 in period 5, respectively. The testing and validation task focused on running test suite and publishing report, developing new IEA test suite cases, testing and validating new source code, addressing change requests, and creating and testing installation package. The user support and training task provided support for users and interface developers, and organized and taught workshops. The general support task involved upgrading StarTeam (team sharing) software and updating existing utility software. The project met the DOE objectives and completed all tasks successfully. Although the EnergyPlus software was enhanced

California commercial building energy benchmarking

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kinney, Satkartar; Piette, Mary Ann

2003-07-01

Building energy benchmarking is the comparison of whole-building energy use relative to a set of similar buildings. It provides a useful starting point for individual energy audits and for targeting buildings for energy-saving measures in multiple-site audits. Benchmarking is of interest and practical use to a number of groups. Energy service companies and performance contractors communicate energy savings potential with ''typical'' and ''best-practice'' benchmarks while control companies and utilities can provide direct tracking of energy use and combine data from multiple buildings. Benchmarking is also useful in the design stage of a new building or retrofit to determine if a design is relatively efficient. Energy managers and building owners have an ongoing interest in comparing energy performance to others. Large corporations, schools, and government agencies with numerous facilities also use benchmarking methods to compare their buildings to each other. The primary goal of Task 2.1.1 Web-based Benchmarking was the development of a web-based benchmarking tool, dubbed Cal-Arch, for benchmarking energy use in California commercial buildings. While there were several other benchmarking tools available to California consumers prior to the development of Cal-Arch, there were none that were based solely on California data. Most available benchmarking information, including the Energy Star performance rating, were developed using DOE's Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), which does not provide state-level data. Each database and tool has advantages as well as limitations, such as the number of buildings and the coverage by type, climate regions and end uses. There is considerable commercial interest in benchmarking because it provides an inexpensive method of screening buildings for tune-ups and retrofits. However, private companies who collect and manage consumption data are concerned that the

Net Zero Energy Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marszal, Anna Joanna; Bourrelle, Julien S.; Gustavsen, Arild

2010-01-01

and identify possible renewable energy supply options which may be considered in calculations. Finally, the gap between the methodology proposed by each organisation and their respective national building code is assessed; providing an overview of the possible changes building codes will need to undergo......The international cooperation project IEA SHC Task 40 / ECBCS Annex 52 “Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings”, attempts to develop a common understanding and to set up the basis for an international definition framework of Net Zero Energy Buildings (Net ZEBs). The understanding of such buildings...

An overview of solar energy applications in buildings in Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Papamanolis, Nikos

2016-09-01

This work classifies and describes the main fields of solar energy exploitation in buildings in Greece, a country with high solar energy capacities. The study focuses on systems and technologies that apply to residential and commercial buildings following the prevailing design and construction practices (conventional buildings) and investigates the effects of the architectural and constructional characteristics of these buildings on the respective applications. In addition, it examines relevant applications in other building categories and in buildings with increased ecological sensitivity in their design and construction (green buildings). Through its findings, the study seeks to improve the efficiency and broaden the scope of solar energy applications in buildings in Greece to the benefit of their energy and environmental performance.

Establishing a commercial building energy data framework for India

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iyer, Maithili [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Kumar, Satish [Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy, New Delhi (India); Mathew, Sangeeta [Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy, New Delhi (India); Stratton, Hannah [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Mathew, Paul A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Singh, Mohini [Synurja, Inc. (India)

2018-04-18

Buildings account for over 40% of the world’s energy consumption and are therefore a key contributor to a country’s energy as well as carbon budget. Understanding how buildings use energy is critical to understanding how related policies may impact energy use. Data enables decision making, and good quality data arms consumers with the tools to compare their energy performance to their peers, allowing them to differentiate their buildings in the real estate market on the basis of their energy footprint. Good quality data are also essential for policy makers to prioritize their energy saving strategies and track implementation. The United States’ Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is an example of a successful data framework that is highly useful for governmental and nongovernmental initiatives related to benchmarking energy forecasting, rating systems and metrics, and more. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in India developed the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and launched the Star Labeling program for a few energy-intensive building segments as a significant first step. However, a data driven policy framework for systematically targeting energy efficiency in both new construction and existing buildings has largely been missing. There is no quantifiable mechanism currently in place to track the impact of code adoption through regular reporting/survey of energy consumption in the commercial building stock. In this paper we present findings from our study that explored use cases and approaches for establishing a commercial buildings data framework for India.

Energy and Environmental Research in the Building Area; Forschen und Bauen im Kontext von Energie und Umwelt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Binz, A. [Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (HABG-IEB), Muttenz (Switzerland); Chianese, D. [Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana, Dipartimento Ambiente Costruzioni e Design, Instituto di Sostenibilita Applicata all' Ambiente Costruito (SUPSI-DACD-ISAAC), Canobbio (Switzerland); Filleux, Ch. [Basler und Hofmann, Zuerich (Switzerland); Gaegauf, Ch. [Oekozentrum Langenbruck, Langenbruck (Switzerland); Gugerli, H. [Amt fuer Hochbauten der Stadt Zuerich, Zuerich (Switzerland); Menti, U.-P. [Hochschule Luzern, Technik und Architektur, Horw (Switzerland); Rommel, M. [Hochschule fuer Technik, Institut fuer Solartechnik (SPF), Rapperswil (Switzerland); Schwehr, P. [brenet, building and renewable energies network of technology, HTA Luzern, Horw (Switzerland); Zimmermann, M. [Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Duebendorf (Switzerland)

2010-07-01

These proceedings of the 16{sup th} Swiss Status Seminar held in September 2010 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, present a comprehensive overview of the two-day event on Swiss energy and environmental topics in the building area. A total of 55 lectures in ten sessions covered architectural and building topics. The main lectures at the beginning of the seminar covered models for sustainable city development, building for the 2000-watt society and design principles. Also the 'Tropical House' project, the 'Self' autonomous house, the new Monte Rosa mountaineers hut and the Swiss Village project in Masdar were presented. The presentations were divided into nine thematic areas: The house as a 'power station', building renewal, energy management, heat pumps, processes, innovative building and renovation, city districts, building technologies, ventilation and the building as a system. Twenty poster contributions completed the seminar. Themes addressed in the 'house as a power station' set looked at the local generation of power, buildings that generate or even export energy and low-energy consumption buildings. Building renewal topics discussed included grey energy and legal topics, energy management contributions dealt with control, hot water preparation and energy efficiency. The heat pump section dealt with theory and practice of heating and cooling, multi-functional and low-exergy systems and related calculation aids. The processes section included contributions on infra-red analysis, solar-assisted systems, modelling, eco-balances and the City of Zurich's resource strategy for mineral building materials. Innovative building and renovation topics included renovation with prefabricated elements, integrated photovoltaic modules, retrofits as well as financing topics. The topics covered in the district development set included contributions on sustainable (re-)development, the 2000-watt

Intelligent analysis of energy consumption in school buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raatikainen, Mika; Skön, Jukka-Pekka; Leiviskä, Kauko; Kolehmainen, Mikko

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Electricity and heating energy consumptions of six school buildings were compared. • Complex multivariate data was analysed using modern computational methods. • Variation in electricity consumption cost is considerably low between study schools. • District heating variation is very slight in two new study schools. • District heating cost describes energy efficiency and state of building automation. - Abstract: Even though industry consumes nearly half of total energy production, the relative share of total energy consumption related to heating and operating buildings is growing constantly. The motivation for this study was to reveal the differences in electricity use and district heating consumption in school buildings of various ages during the working day and also during the night when human-based consumption is low. The overall aim of this study is to compare the energy (electricity and heating) consumption of six school buildings in Kuopio, Eastern Finland. The selected school buildings were built in different decades, and their ventilation and building automation systems are also inconsistent. The hourly energy consumption data was received from Kuopion Energia, the local energy supply company. In this paper, the results of data analysis on the energy consumption in these school buildings are presented. Preliminary results show that, generally speaking, new school buildings are more energy-efficient than older ones. However, concerning energy efficiency, two very new schools were exceptional because ventilation was on day and night in order to dry the building materials in the constructions. The novelty of this study is that it makes use of hourly smart metering consumption data on electricity and district heating, using modern computational methods to analyse complex multivariate data in order to increase knowledge of the buildings’ consumption profiles and energy efficiency.

Energy modelling and capacity building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

The Planning and Economic Studies Section of the IAEA's Department of Nuclear Energy is focusing on building analytical capacity in MS for energy-environmental-economic assessments and for the elaboration of sustainable energy strategies. It offers a variety of analytical models specifically designed for use in developing countries for (i) evaluating alternative energy strategies; (ii) assessing environmental, economic and financial impacts of energy options; (iii) assessing infrastructure needs; (iv) evaluating regional development possibilities and energy trade; (v) assessing the role of nuclear power in addressing priority issues (climate change, energy security, etc.). These models can be used for analysing energy or electricity systems, and to assess possible implications of different energy, environmental or financial policies that affect the energy sector and energy systems. The models vary in complexity and data requirements, and so can be adapted to the available data, statistics and analytical needs of different countries. These models are constantly updated to reflect changes in the real world and in the concerns that drive energy system choices. They can provide thoughtfully informed choices for policy makers over a broader range of circumstances and interests. For example, they can readily reflect the workings of competitive energy and electricity markets, and cover such topics as external costs. The IAEA further offers training in the use of these models and -just as important- in the interpretation and critical evaluation of results. Training of national teams to develop national competence over the full spectrum of models, is a high priority. The IAEA maintains a broad spectrum of databanks relevant to energy, economic and environmental analysis in MS, and make these data available to analysts in MS for use in their own analytical work. The Reference Technology Data Base (RTDB) and the Reference Data Series (RDS-1) are the major vehicles by which we

Development of an exergy-electrical analogy for visualizing and modeling building integrated energy systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saloux, E.; Teyssedou, A.; Sorin, M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The exergy-electrical analogy is developed for energy systems used in buildings. • This analogy has been developed for a complete set of system arrangement options. • Different possibilities of inter-connections are illustrated using analog switches. • Adaptability and utility of the diagram over traditional ones are emphasized. - Abstract: An exergy-electrical analogy, similar to the heat transfer electrical one, is developed and applied to the case of integrated energy systems operating in buildings. Its construction is presented for the case of space heating with electric heaters, heat pumps and solar collectors. The proposed analogy has been applied to a set of system arrangement options proposed for satisfying the building heating demand (space heating, domestic hot water); different alternatives to connect the units have been presented with switches in a visualization scheme. The analogy for such situation has been performed and the study of a solar assisted heat pump using ice storage has been investigated. This diagram directly permits energy paths and their associated exergy destruction to be visualized; hence, sources of irreversibility are identifiable. It can be helpful for the comprehension of the global process and its operation as well as for identifying exergy losses. The method used to construct the diagram makes it easily adaptable to others units or structures or to others models depending on the complexity of the process. The use of switches could be very useful for optimization purposes

Energy monitoring and the 'energy passport' for buildings - Preliminary study; Energie-Monitoring Gebaeude und Gebaeude-Energiepass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baumgartner, A.; Menti, U.-P. [Amstein and Walthert AG, Zuerich (Switzerland); Sigg, R.; Besser, U. [Intep Integrale Planung GmbH, Zuerich (Switzerland)

2004-07-01

This preliminary study for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) examines the situation in Switzerland with regard to the creation of an energy-consumption rating system for buildings. Present and future developments in Europe in this area are examined. This preliminary study provides the basis for a main study in that it defines the main questions to be looked at. Present-day data collection on the energy consumption of buildings is looked at critically. The authors suggest the integration of an energy-consumption data bank in the existing building and apartment register. The situation in Europe, where specific ideas on the introduction of national 'energy passports' for buildings are being looked at, is considered. The work that will have to be done in Switzerland in this area is reviewed, and the essential prerequisites for the implementation of such an energy-monitoring system are discussed.

Simulation of an active solar energy system integrated in a passive building in order to obtain system efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Ceacaru, Mihai C.

2012-11-01

In this work we present a simulation of an active solar energy system. This system belongs to the first passive office building (2086 square meters) in Romania and it is used for water heating consumption. This office building was opened in February 2009 and was built based on passive house design solutions. For this simulation, we use Solar Water Heating module, which belongs to the software RETSCREEN and this simulation is done for several cities in Romania. Results obtained will be compared graphically.

Energy research program: energy in buildings for the years 2008-2011; Energieforschungsprogramm. Energie in Gebaeuden fuer die Jahre 2008-2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Filleux, Ch.

2009-08-15

In Switzerland, existing buildings account for approximately 50% of primary energy consumption. Climate change, as well as the demand on supply, require that Swiss construction practices be immediately adapted. For new buildings, innovative technologies are now widely available. However, their integration into new construction is still too slow due to the fact that current construction practices still lack a holistic approach. Today there also lacks practical solutions for renovations of existing buildings. Therefore, the great challenge for research and development today are 1.5 million pre-existing buildings, which will dictate the future energy consumption for decades. The Federal Energy Research Commission (CORE) has recognized the situation and has considered these issues in its 2008 - 2011 concept for federal energy research. The present research programme Energy in Buildings of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy focuses on the long-term objectives of CORE. This results in the following actions in the building sector: (a) Reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency; (b) Integration of renewable energy sources; (c) Reduction of CO{sub 2} emissions through the use of improved technologies. The research programme is therefore focused on concepts and technologies that have long-term objectives, without neglecting the short and medium term goals. The objectives for the period 2008 - 2011 are: (i) Concepts for buildings and housing developments concerning the development of construction methods that are compatible with the goal of a 2,000-watt society (preservation of architectural diversity, use of passive solar energy and daylight); (ii) Concepts, technologies and planning tools for the improvement of energy systems in buildings; (iii) Heating, cooling and ventilation systems in buildings that are compatible with the goal of a 2,000-watt society (efficient cooling systems, heat pumps, etc.); (iv) Increase in efficient use of electricity in

Decision process for the retrofit of municipal buildings with solar energy systems: a technical guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Licciardello, Michael R.; Wood, Brian; Dozier, Warner; Braly, Mark; Yates, Alan

1980-11-01

As a background for solar applications, the following topics are covered: solar systems and components for retrofit installations; cost, performance, and quality considerations; and financing alternatives for local government. The retrofit decision process is discussed as follows: pre-screening of buildings, building data requirements, the energy conservation audit, solar system sizing and economics, comparison of alternatives, and implementation. Sample studies are presented for the West Valley Animal Shelter and the Hollywood Police Station. (MHR)

Multi-Criteria Analysis of Alternative Energy Supply Solutions to Public Nearly Zero Energy Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giedrius Šiupšinskas

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes energy supply alternatives for modernised public nearly zero energy buildings. The paper examines alternative energy production systems such as heat pumps (air-water and ground-water, solar collectors, adsorption cooling, biomass boiler, solar photovoltaic, wind turbines and combinations of these systems. The simulation of the analysed building energy demand for different energy production alternatives has been performed using TRNSYS modelling software. In order to determine an optimal energy supply variant, the estimated results of energy, environmental, and economic evaluation have been converted into non-dimensional variables (3E using multi-criteria analysis.Article in Lithuanian

75 FR 20833 - Building Energy Codes

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-21

...-0012] Building Energy Codes AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of... the current model building energy codes or their equivalent. DOE is interested in better understanding... codes, Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (or...

Optimal balance between energy demand and onsite energy generation for robust net zero energy buildings considering future scenarios

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kotireddy, R.R.; Hoes, P.; Hensen, J.L.M.

2015-01-01

Net-zero energy buildings have usually very low energy demand, and consequently heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are designed and controlled to meet this low energy demand. However, a number of uncertainties in the building use, operation and external conditions such as

Energy Efficiency Requirements in Building Codes, Energy Efficiency Policies for New Buildings. IEA Information Paper

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laustsen, Jens

2008-03-15

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse current approaches to encourage energy efficiency in building codes for new buildings. Based on this analysis the paper enumerates policy recommendations for enhancing how energy efficiency is addressed in building codes and other policies for new buildings. This paper forms part of the IEA work for the G8 Gleneagles Plan of Action. These recommendations reflect the study of different policy options for increasing energy efficiency in new buildings and examination of other energy efficiency requirements in standards or building codes, such as energy efficiency requirements by major renovation or refurbishment. In many countries, energy efficiency of buildings falls under the jurisdiction of the federal states. Different standards cover different regions or climatic conditions and different types of buildings, such as residential or simple buildings, commercial buildings and more complicated high-rise buildings. There are many different building codes in the world and the intention of this paper is not to cover all codes on each level in all countries. Instead, the paper details different regions of the world and different ways of standards. In this paper we also evaluate good practices based on local traditions. This project does not seek to identify one best practice amongst the building codes and standards. Instead, different types of codes and different parts of the regulation have been illustrated together with examples on how they have been successfully addressed. To complement this discussion of efficiency standards, this study illustrates how energy efficiency can be improved through such initiatives as efficiency labelling or certification, very best practice buildings with extremely low- or no-energy consumption and other policies to raise buildings' energy efficiency beyond minimum requirements. When referring to the energy saving potentials for buildings, this study uses the analysis of recent IEA

Heat demand profiles of energy conservation measures in buildings and their impact on a district heating system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundström, Lukas; Wallin, Fredrik

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Energy savings impact on an low CO 2 emitting district heating system. • Heat profiles of eight building energy conservation measures. • Exhaust air heat pump, heat recovery ventilation, electricity savings etc. • Heat load weather normalisation with segmented multivariable linear regression. - Abstract: This study highlights the forthcoming problem with diminishing environmental benefits from heat demand reducing energy conservation measures (ECM) of buildings within district heating systems (DHS), as the supply side is becoming “greener” and more primary energy efficient. In this study heat demand profiles and annual electricity-to-heat factors of ECMs in buildings are computed and their impact on system efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions of a Swedish biomass fuelled and combined heat and power utilising DHS are assessed. A weather normalising method for the DHS heat load is developed, combining segmented multivariable linear regressions with typical meteorological year weather data to enable the DHS model and the buildings model to work under the same weather conditions. Improving the buildings’ envelope insulation level and thereby levelling out the DHS heat load curve reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves primary energy efficiency. Reducing household electricity use proves to be highly beneficial, partly because it increases heat demand, allowing for more cogeneration of electricity. However the other ECMs considered may cause increased greenhouse gas emissions, mainly because of their adverse impact on the cogeneration of electricity. If biomass fuels are considered as residuals, and thus assigned low primary energy factors, primary energy efficiency decreases when implementing ECMs that lower heat demand.

Actual building energy use patterns and their implications for predictive modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heidarinejad, Mohammad; Cedeño-Laurent, Jose G.; Wentz, Joshua R.; Rekstad, Nicholas M.; Spengler, John D.; Srebric, Jelena

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Developed three building categories based on energy use patterns of campus buildings. • Evaluated implication of temporal energy data granularity on predictive modeling. • Demonstrated importance of monitoring daily chilled water consumption. • Identified interval electricity data as an indicator of building operation schedules. • Demonstrated a calibration process for energy modeling of a campus building. - Abstract: The main goal of this study is to understand the patterns in which commercial buildings consume energy, rather than evaluating building energy use based on aggregate utility bills typically linked to building principal tenant activity or occupancy type. The energy consumption patterns define buildings as externally-load, internally-load, or mixed-load dominated buildings. Penn State and Harvard campuses serve as case studies for this particular research project. The buildings in these two campuses use steam, chilled water, and electricity as energy commodities and maintain databases of different resolutions to include minute, hourly, daily, and monthly data instances depending on the commodity and available data acquisition system. The results of this study show monthly steam consumption directly correlates to outdoor environmental conditions for 88% of the studied buildings, while chilled water consumption has negligible correlation to the outdoor environmental conditions. Thus, in terms of monthly chilled water consumption, 86% of buildings are internally-load and mixed-load dominated, respectively. Chilled water consumption is better suited for the daily analyses compared to the monthly and hourly analyses. While the influence of building operation schedules affects the analyses at the hourly level, the monthly chilled water consumptions are not good indicators of the building energy consumption patterns. Electricity consumption at the monthly (or seasonal) level can support the building energy simulation tools for the

Energy and behavioral impacts of integrative retrofits for residential buildings: What is at stake for building energy policy reforms in northern China?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Peng; Xu, Tengfang; Shen, Pengyuan

2013-01-01

Based upon the results from extensive building monitoring and surveys on occupant’s behaviors in a representative nine-story apartment building in northern China, building energy simulations were performed to evaluate the impacts of integrative retrofits implemented. Integrative retrofits required by the newer building energy standard produced significant heating-energy savings (i.e., 53%) when compared with baseline buildings commonly built in early 1980s. Taking into account district-heating-system upgrades as part of integrative retrofit measures, a representative apartment building was 66% more efficient than the baseline building. Contrary to expectation, little behavioral change was found in response to the provisions of monetary incentive, billing-method reform, or metering of heating energy use in individual apartment units. Yet this paper identified sizable energy savings potential if occupants’ behavioral changes were to actually happen. This indicates that provisions of financial incentives or individual metering were insufficient for triggering substantial behavioral changes leading toward more energy savings in the current buildings. It is recommended that innovative energy policies, technology upgrades, and education would be needed to promote behavioral changes toward additional energy savings. Finally, measures and strategies to further enhance thermal integrity criteria (e.g., insulations of roof and balcony) are recommended in China’s future building energy policy reforms. - Highlights: ► Integrative retrofits significantly reduce residential heating energy in north China. ► Energy effects of retrofits, incentive, billing and behavioral changes were studied. ► Monetary incentive, control or metering technologies did not lead to behavior change. ► Potential energy savings due to occupants’ behavioral changes are sizable. ► Thermal integrity needs to be enhanced in future building standards and policies.

Estimation of energy efficiency of residential buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glushkov Sergey

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Increasing energy performance of the residential buildings by means of reducing heat consumption on the heating and ventilation is the last segment in the system of energy resources saving. The first segments in the energy saving process are heat producing and transportation over the main lines and outside distribution networks. In the period from 2006 to 2013. by means of the heat-supply schemes optimization and modernization of the heating systems. using expensive (200–300 $US per 1 m though hugely effective preliminary coated pipes. the economy reached 2.7 mln tons of fuel equivalent. Considering the multi-stage and multifactorial nature (electricity. heat and water supply of the residential sector energy saving. the reasonable estimate of the efficiency of the saving of residential buildings energy should be performed in tons of fuel equivalent per unit of time.

Towards Energy Demand Reduction in Social Housing Buildings: Envelope System Optimization Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula M. Esquivias

2012-07-01

Full Text Available This work evaluates the potential for the reduction of energy demand in residential buildings by acting on the exterior envelope, both in newly constructed buildings and in the retrofitting of existing stock. It focuses on analysing social housing buildings in Mediterranean areas and on quantifying the scope of that reduction in the application of different envelope design strategies, with the purpose of prioritizing their application based on their energy efficiency. The analyses and quantifications were made by means of the generation of energy models with the TRNSYS tool for simple or combined solutions, identifying possible potentials for reduction of the energy demand from 20% to 25%, basically by acting on the windows. The case study was a newly built social housing building of a closed block type located in Seville (Spain. Its constructive techniques and the insulation level of its envelope are standardized for current buildings widespread across Mediterranean Europe.

Building-integrated renewable energy policy analysis in China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

姚春妮; 郝斌

2009-01-01

With the dramatic development of renewable energy all over the world,and for purpose of adjusting energy structure,the Ministry of Construction of China plans to promote the large scale application of renewable energy in buildings. In order to ensure the validity of policy-making,this work firstly exerts a method to do cost-benefit analysis for three kinds of technologies such as building-integrated solar hot water (BISHW) system,building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology and ground water heat pump (GWHP). Through selecting a representative city of every climate region,the analysis comes into different results for different climate regions in China and respectively different suggestion for policy-making. On the analysis basis,the Ministry of Construction (MOC) and the Ministry of Finance of China (MOF) united to start-up Building-integrated Renewable Energy Demonstration Projects (BIREDP) in 2006. In the demonstration projects,renewable energy takes place of traditional energy to supply the domestic hot water,electricity,air-conditioning and heating. Through carrying out the demonstration projects,renewable energy related market has been expanded. More and more relative companies and local governments take the opportunity to promote the large scale application of renewable energy in buildings.

Modeling and Control of AHUs in Building HVAC Systems

OpenAIRE

Liang, Wei

2014-01-01

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) is a mechanical system that provides thermal comfort and accepted indoor air quality often instrumented for large-scale buildings. The HVAC system takes a dominant portion of overall building energy consumption and accounts for 50% of the energy used in the U.S. commercial and residential buildings in 2012. The performance and energy saving of building HVAC systems can be significantly improved by the implementation of better and smarter contro...

Energy Efficiency, Building Productivity and the Commercial Buildings Market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, D.W.

2002-05-16

The energy-efficiency gap literature suggests that building buyers are often short-sighted in their failure to apply life-cycle costing principles to energy efficient building technologies, with the result that under investment in these advanced technology occurs. This study examines the reasons this behavior may occur, by analyzing the pressures that market forces place on purchasers of buildings. Our basic conclusion is that the fundamental manner in which the buildings sector does business creates pressures to reduce initial capital outlays and to hedge against a variety of risks, including the ability of building owners to capture benefits from energy efficiency. Starting from the position that building buyers' willingness to pay drives choices over building attributes, we examine basic market principles, the structure of the buildings market, including the role of lenders, and policies that promote penetration of energy efficient technologies. We conclude that greater attention to buyers, and to the incentives and constraints they face, would promote a better understanding of building investment choices and contribute to better policies to promote the penetration of these technologies into markets.

Energy management handbook for building operating engineers student workbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1979-09-01

The handbook provides operating engineers with the basic information needed to implement specific energy conservation opportunities, and additional information is presented relative to the formulation and development of the energy management plan. Chapters are entitled: The Need for Energy Management (International Factors, The US Energy Situation, Energy and the Building Owner); The Fundamentals of Energy Consumption in Buildings (Energy Basics, Heat Basics, Heat Flow and the Building Envelope, Air and Comfort, Factors Affecting Energy Use In Buildings); Principles of Energy Conservation (Building Energy Consumption Characteristics); Planning the Energy Management Program (Obtaining Commitment and Support, Establishing the Energy Use Index, Organizing to Develop the Plan, Developing and Implementing the Plan); Conducting a Survey of Facilities and Operations (The Energy Audit, Preparation of Building and Systems Profile, Measurement and Instrumentation); Guidelines for Energy Conservation (Operator ECO's, Owner ECO'S); Developing the Draft Final Plan (Analyze Survey Findings, Putting the Plan on Paper, Review and Submit); Implementing the Program (Developing the Final Plan, Implementing the Plan, Monitoring and Updating the Program). A glossary is included and specific information on degree days and cooling hours for some selected cities and a computer energy study data for the New York Hilton are included in appendices. (MCW)

Solar energy in buildings; L'energie solaire dans le batiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

This document gathers the presentations given at the first French national meetings of solar energy for the development of solar systems in buildings. The meeting was organized over two days. The first day comprises 4 workshops about: urbanism and planning, cultural acceptability of solar energy in buildings (the OPAC 38 housing association, point of view on an energy information point, the Freiburg (Germany) solar region and marketing examples), technical integration to the structure (Clipsol solutions), and economical criteria (compared impacts of R and D public photovoltaic programs (USA, Japan, Germany, France, Italy), financing of rehabilitation projects, global approach of solar photovoltaic energy, technical solutions and strategy of products development, why and how to make an economical analysis of solar energy applications in the building industry). The second day comprises a plenary session and a round table: global status of solar energy development in Europe, status of French programs, renewable energies in Europe, the experience of Alsace region (Eastern France), the success of German solar markets, and the tools for the launching of solar energy. Two syntheses for these two days of meetings complete the document. (J.S.)

Energy Analysis at a Near Zero Energy Building. A Case-Study in Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier M. Rey-Hernández

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper develops an energy analysis for an existing near Zero Energy (nZEB and Zero Carbon Emissions building called LUCIA, located at the university campus in Valladolid (Spain. It is designed to supply electricity, cooling and heating needs through solar energy (Photovoltaic Systems, PV, biomass and an Earth–Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE, besides a Combined Heat Power (CHP. It is currently among the top three buildings with the highest LEED certification in the World. The building model is simulated with DesignBuilder version 5. The results of the energy analysis illustrate the heating, cooling and lighting consumptions expected, besides other demands and energy uses. From this data, we carried out an energy balance of the nZEB, which will help to plan preventive actions when compared to the actual energy consumptions, improving the management and control of both the building and its systems. The primary energy indicator obtained is 67 kWh/m2 a year, and 121 kWh/m2 a year for renewable energy generation, with respect to 55 kWh/m2 and 45 kWh/m2 set as reference in Europe. The Renewable Energy Ratio (RER is 0.66. These indicators become a useful tool for the energy analysis of the nZEB according to the requirements in the European regulations and for its comparison with further nZEB.

Experimental building with new types of building envelope structures. Part 1: Structures/systems. Building system: Brick walls; Forsoegshus med nye typer klimaskaermskonstruktioner. Del 1: Konstruktioner/systemer - Byggesystem: Fuldmuret

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

The house described in this report is one of several experimental houses forming part of the project 'Experimental buildings with new types of building envelope structures'. One purpose of the project is to demonstrate that it is possible to build typical single-family houses with an energy consumption that meets expected increased building regulations. Furthermore, it is important that the houses can be made securely as regards construction technology and within reasonable financial limits. Thus, the purpose is also to contribute to strengthen the development of improved building envelope structures. Another purpose is to carry out detailed measurements of energy consumption in order to validate thermal performance of future building envelope structures. The report describes the constructive design and energy systems of the house plus heat loss calculations and expected energy consumption. (BA)

Thermal comfort and building energy consumption implications – A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Liu; Yan, Haiyan; Lam, Joseph C.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We review studies of thermal comfort and discuss building energy use implications. • Adaptive comfort models tend to have a wider comfort temperature range. • Higher indoor temperatures would lead to fewer cooling systems and less energy use. • Socio-economic study and post-occupancy evaluation of built environment is desirable. • Important to consider future climate scenarios in heating, cooling and power schemes. - Abstract: Buildings account for about 40% of the global energy consumption and contribute over 30% of the CO 2 emissions. A large proportion of this energy is used for thermal comfort in buildings. This paper reviews thermal comfort research work and discusses the implications for building energy efficiency. Predicted mean vote works well in air-conditioned spaces but not naturally ventilated buildings, whereas adaptive models tend to have a broader comfort temperature ranges. Higher indoor temperatures in summertime conditions would lead to less prevalence of cooling systems as well as less cooling requirements. Raising summer set point temperature has good energy saving potential, in that it can be applied to both new and existing buildings. Further research and development work conducive to a better understanding of thermal comfort and energy conservation in buildings have been identified and discussed. These include (i) social-economic and cultural studies in general and post-occupancy evaluation of the built environment and the corresponding energy use in particular, and (ii) consideration of future climate scenarios in the analysis of co- and tri-generation schemes for HVAC applications, fuel mix and the associated energy planning/distribution systems in response to the expected changes in heating and cooling requirements due to climate change

Walmart - Saving Energy, Saving Money Through Comprehensive Retrofits, Commercial Building Energy Efficiency (Fact Sheet); Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-03-01

Walmart partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2009 to develop and demonstrate energy retrofits for existing buildings. The goal was to reduce energy consumption by at least 30% versus ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007, as part of DOE's Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) Program. The project presented here, the retrofit of a 213,000 square foot store in Centennial, Colorado, withefficiency measures across multiple building systems, is part of Walmart's ongoing environmental sustainability program, which originated in 2005.

Healthy Buildings and Green Building Rating Systems; Gezond bouwen en duurzaamheidslabels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergs, J.; Renes, S. [BenR Adviseurs voor duurzaamheid, Amersfoort (Netherlands)

2010-11-15

The awareness of health issues related to buildings has heightened past decades. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) has been addressed in most Green Building Rating Systems nowadays. This article analyses the scope of IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality) within Rating Systems GPR Gebouw, BREEAM-NL (Dutch version of Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Each Rating System allocates health aspects. However, none of these Rating Systems addresses a complete set of relevant aspects. High ratings do not guarantee healthy buildings. It is concluded that, in general, credits for energy efficiency do not interfere with credits for enhanced indoor environmental quality. [Dutch] Gezondheidsaspecten van gebouwen hebben afgelopen decennia steeds meer en integraler aandacht gekregen. In de instrumenten GPR Gebouw, BREEAM-NL (Nederlandse versien van 'Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method') en LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is gezondheid 1 van de duurzaamheidsthema's, in dit artikel wordt geconcludeerd dat deze instrumenten veel gezondheidsaspecten dekken maar dat geen enkel instrument echt volledig is. De 1 legt meer accent op gezondheid, de ander meer op comfort. Een hoog label biedt geen garantie voor een gezond gebouw. De instrumenten bevatten weinig potentieel strijdige aspecten. Gezond en energiezuinig bouwen gaan volgens deze instrumenten goed samen.

Energy Analysis of a Complementary Heating System Combining Solar Energy and Coal for a Rural Residential Building in Northwest China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhen, Xiaofei; Li, Jinping; Abdalla Osman, Yassir Idris; Feng, Rong; Zhang, Xuemin; Kang, Jian

2018-01-01

In order to utilize solar energy to meet the heating demands of a rural residential building during the winter in the northwestern region of China, a hybrid heating system combining solar energy and coal was built. Multiple experiments to monitor its performance were conducted during the winter in 2014 and 2015. In this paper, we analyze the efficiency of the energy utilization of the system and describe a prototype model to determine the thermal efficiency of the coal stove in use. Multiple linear regression was adopted to present the dual function of multiple factors on the daily heat-collecting capacity of the solar water heater; the heat-loss coefficient of the storage tank was detected as well. The prototype model shows that the average thermal efficiency of the stove is 38%, which means that the energy input for the building is divided between the coal and solar energy, 39.5% and 60.5% energy, respectively. Additionally, the allocation of the radiation of solar energy projecting into the collecting area of the solar water heater was obtained which showed 49% loss with optics and 23% with the dissipation of heat, with only 28% being utilized effectively.

Energy Analysis of a Complementary Heating System Combining Solar Energy and Coal for a Rural Residential Building in Northwest China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaofei Zhen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In order to utilize solar energy to meet the heating demands of a rural residential building during the winter in the northwestern region of China, a hybrid heating system combining solar energy and coal was built. Multiple experiments to monitor its performance were conducted during the winter in 2014 and 2015. In this paper, we analyze the efficiency of the energy utilization of the system and describe a prototype model to determine the thermal efficiency of the coal stove in use. Multiple linear regression was adopted to present the dual function of multiple factors on the daily heat-collecting capacity of the solar water heater; the heat-loss coefficient of the storage tank was detected as well. The prototype model shows that the average thermal efficiency of the stove is 38%, which means that the energy input for the building is divided between the coal and solar energy, 39.5% and 60.5% energy, respectively. Additionally, the allocation of the radiation of solar energy projecting into the collecting area of the solar water heater was obtained which showed 49% loss with optics and 23% with the dissipation of heat, with only 28% being utilized effectively.

Energy Analysis of a Complementary Heating System Combining Solar Energy and Coal for a Rural Residential Building in Northwest China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhen, Xiaofei; Abdalla Osman, Yassir Idris; Feng, Rong; Zhang, Xuemin

2018-01-01

In order to utilize solar energy to meet the heating demands of a rural residential building during the winter in the northwestern region of China, a hybrid heating system combining solar energy and coal was built. Multiple experiments to monitor its performance were conducted during the winter in 2014 and 2015. In this paper, we analyze the efficiency of the energy utilization of the system and describe a prototype model to determine the thermal efficiency of the coal stove in use. Multiple linear regression was adopted to present the dual function of multiple factors on the daily heat-collecting capacity of the solar water heater; the heat-loss coefficient of the storage tank was detected as well. The prototype model shows that the average thermal efficiency of the stove is 38%, which means that the energy input for the building is divided between the coal and solar energy, 39.5% and 60.5% energy, respectively. Additionally, the allocation of the radiation of solar energy projecting into the collecting area of the solar water heater was obtained which showed 49% loss with optics and 23% with the dissipation of heat, with only 28% being utilized effectively. PMID:29651424

Automatic generation and simulation of urban building energy models based on city datasets for city-scale building retrofit analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yixing; Hong, Tianzhen; Piette, Mary Ann

2017-01-01

Highlights: •Developed methods and used data models to integrate city’s public building records. •Shading from neighborhood buildings strongly influences urban building performance. •A case study demonstrated the workflow, simulation and analysis of building retrofits. •CityBES retrofit analysis feature provides actionable information for decision making. •Discussed significance and challenges of urban building energy modeling. -- Abstract: Buildings in cities consume 30–70% of total primary energy, and improving building energy efficiency is one of the key strategies towards sustainable urbanization. Urban building energy models (UBEM) can support city managers to evaluate and prioritize energy conservation measures (ECMs) for investment and the design of incentive and rebate programs. This paper presents the retrofit analysis feature of City Building Energy Saver (CityBES) to automatically generate and simulate UBEM using EnergyPlus based on cities’ building datasets and user-selected ECMs. CityBES is a new open web-based tool to support city-scale building energy efficiency strategic plans and programs. The technical details of using CityBES for UBEM generation and simulation are introduced, including the workflow, key assumptions, and major databases. Also presented is a case study that analyzes the potential retrofit energy use and energy cost savings of five individual ECMs and two measure packages for 940 office and retail buildings in six city districts in northeast San Francisco, United States. The results show that: (1) all five measures together can save 23–38% of site energy per building; (2) replacing lighting with light-emitting diode lamps and adding air economizers to existing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are most cost-effective with an average payback of 2.0 and 4.3 years, respectively; and (3) it is not economical to upgrade HVAC systems or replace windows in San Francisco due to the city’s mild

Analysis of a Residential Building Energy Consumption Demand Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meng Liu

2011-03-01

Full Text Available In order to estimate the energy consumption demand of residential buildings, this paper first discusses the status and shortcomings of current domestic energy consumption models. Then it proposes and develops a residential building energy consumption demand model based on a back propagation (BP neural network model. After that, taking residential buildings in Chongqing (P.R. China as an example, 16 energy consumption indicators are introduced as characteristics of the residential buildings in Chongqing. The index system of the BP neutral network prediction model is established and the multi-factorial BP neural network prediction model of Chongqing residential building energy consumption is developed using the Cshap language, based on the SQL server 2005 platform. The results obtained by applying the model in Chongqing are in good agreement with actual ones. In addition, the model provides corresponding approximate data by taking into account the potential energy structure adjustments and relevant energy policy regulations.

Energy Innovations for Healthy Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bogucz, Edward A. [Syracuse Univ., NY (United States)

2016-09-23

Healthy buildings provide high indoor environmental quality for occupants while simultaneously reducing energy consumption. This project advanced the development and marketability of envisioned healthy, energy-efficient buildings through studies that evaluated the use of emerging technologies in commercial and residential buildings. The project also provided resources required for homebuilders to participate in DOE’s Builders Challenge, concomitant with the goal to reduce energy consumption in homes by at least 30% as a first step toward achieving envisioned widespread availability of net-zero energy homes by 2030. In addition, the project included outreach and education concerning energy efficiency in buildings.

Analysis of Solar Energy Use for Multi-Flat Buildings Renovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kęstutis Valančius

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the energy and financial possibilities to install renewable energy sources (solar energy generating systems when renovating multi-flat buildings. The aim is to analyse solar energy system possibilities for modernization of multi-flat buildings (5-storey, 9-storey and 16-storey, providing detailed conclusions about the appropriateness of the energy systems and financial aspects. It is also intended to determine the optimal technological combinations and solutions to reach the maximum energy benefits. For the research computer simulation tools “EnergyPRO” and “PV*SOL Premium” are chosen. Also actual collected heat and electricity consumption data is used for the analysis.

Challenges of implementing economic model predictive control strategy for buildings interacting with smart energy systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zong, Yi; Böning, Georg Martin; Santos, Rui Mirra

2016-01-01

) strategy for energy management in smart buildings, which can act as active users interacting with smart energy systems. The challenges encountered during the implementation of EMPC for active demand side management are investigated in detail in this paper. A pilot testing study shows energy savings......When there is a high penetration of renewables in the energy system, it requires proactive control of large numbers of distributed demand response resources to maintain the system’s reliability and improve its operational economics. This paper presents the Economic Model Predictive Control (EMPC...

Energy efficiency buildings program, FY 1980

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1981-05-01

A separate abstract was prepared on research progress in each group at LBL in the energy efficient buildings program. Two separate abstracts were prepared for the Windows and Lighting Program. Abstracts prepared on other programs are: Energy Performance of Buildings; Building Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality Program; DOE-21 Building Energy Analysis; and Building Energy Data Compilation, Analysis, and Demonstration. (MCW)

Building energy efficiency in rural China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, Meredydd; Yu, Sha; Song, Bo; Deng, Qinqin; Liu, Jing; Delgado, Alison

2014-01-01

Rural buildings in China now account for more than half of China's total building energy use. Forty percent of the floorspace in China is in rural villages and towns. Most of these buildings are very energy inefficient, and may struggle to provide for basic needs. They are cold in the winter, and often experience indoor air pollution from fuel use. The Chinese government plans to adopt a voluntary building energy code, or design standard, for rural homes. The goal is to build on China's success with codes in urban areas to improve efficiency and comfort in rural homes. The Chinese government recognizes rural buildings represent a major opportunity for improving national building energy efficiency. The challenges of rural China are also greater than those of urban areas in many ways because of the limited local capacity and low income levels. The Chinese government wants to expand on new programs to subsidize energy efficiency improvements in rural homes to build capacity for larger-scale improvement. This article summarizes the trends and status of rural building energy use in China. It then provides an overview of the new rural building design standard, and describes options and issues to move forward with implementation. - Highlights: • Building energy use is larger in rural China than in cities. • Rural buildings are very energy intensive, and energy use is growing with incomes. • A new design standard aims to help rural communities build more efficiently. • Important challenges remain with implementation

Commercial Building Energy Saver: An energy retrofit analysis toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Tianzhen; Piette, Mary Ann; Chen, Yixing; Lee, Sang Hoon; Taylor-Lange, Sarah C.; Zhang, Rongpeng; Sun, Kaiyu; Price, Phillip

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Commercial Building Energy Saver is a powerful toolkit for energy retrofit analysis. • CBES provides benchmarking, load shape analysis, and model-based retrofit assessment. • CBES covers 7 building types, 6 vintages, 16 climates, and 100 energy measures. • CBES includes a web app, API, and a database of energy efficiency performance. • CBES API can be extended and integrated with third party energy software tools. - Abstract: Small commercial buildings in the United States consume 47% of the total primary energy of the buildings sector. Retrofitting small and medium commercial buildings poses a huge challenge for owners because they usually lack the expertise and resources to identify and evaluate cost-effective energy retrofit strategies. This paper presents the Commercial Building Energy Saver (CBES), an energy retrofit analysis toolkit, which calculates the energy use of a building, identifies and evaluates retrofit measures in terms of energy savings, energy cost savings and payback. The CBES Toolkit includes a web app (APP) for end users and the CBES Application Programming Interface (API) for integrating CBES with other energy software tools. The toolkit provides a rich set of features including: (1) Energy Benchmarking providing an Energy Star score, (2) Load Shape Analysis to identify potential building operation improvements, (3) Preliminary Retrofit Analysis which uses a custom developed pre-simulated database and, (4) Detailed Retrofit Analysis which utilizes real-time EnergyPlus simulations. CBES includes 100 configurable energy conservation measures (ECMs) that encompass IAQ, technical performance and cost data, for assessing 7 different prototype buildings in 16 climate zones in California and 6 vintages. A case study of a small office building demonstrates the use of the toolkit for retrofit analysis. The development of CBES provides a new contribution to the field by providing a straightforward and uncomplicated decision

Energy managemant through PCM based thermal storage system for building air-conditioning: Tidel Park, Chennai

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nallusamy, N.; Sampath, S.; Velraj, R.

2006-01-01

Many modern building are designed for air-conditioning and the amount of electrical energy required for providing air-conditioning can be very significant especially in the tropics. Conservation of energy is major concern to improve the overall efficiency of the system. Integration is energy storage with the conventional system gives a lot of potential for energy saving and long-term economics. Thermal energy storage systems can improve energy management and help in matching supply and demand patterns. In the present work, a detailed study has been done on the existing thermal energy storage system used in the air-conditioning system in Tidel Park, Chennai. The present study focuses on the cool energy storage system. The modes of operation and advantages of such a system for energy management are highlighted. The reason for the adoption of combined storage system and the size of the storage medium in the air-conditioning plant are analyzed. The possibility of using this concept in other cooling and heating applications, such as storage type solar water heating system, has been explored

Housing Development Building Management System (HDBMS For Optimized Electricity Bills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weixian Li

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Smart Buildings is a modern building that allows residents to have sustainable comfort with high efficiency of electricity usage. These objectives could be achieved by applying appropriate, capable optimization algorithms and techniques. This paper presents a Housing Development Building Management System (HDBMS strategy inspired by Building Energy Management System (BEMS concept that will integrate with smart buildings using Supply Side Management (SSM and Demand Side Management (DSM System. HDBMS is a Multi-Agent System (MAS based decentralized decision making system proposed by various authors. MAS based HDBMS was created using JAVA on a IEEE FIPA compliant multi-agent platform named JADE. It allows agents to communicate, interact and negotiate with energy supply and demand of the smart buildings to provide the optimal energy usage and minimal electricity costs.  This results in reducing the load of the power distribution system in smart buildings which simulation studies has shown the potential of proposed HDBMS strategy to provide the optimal solution for smart building energy management.

Energy audit role in building planning

Science.gov (United States)

Sipahutar, Riman; Bizzy, Irwin

2017-11-01

An energy audit is one way to overcome the excessive use of energy in buildings. The increasing growth of population, economy, and industry will have an impact on energy demand and the formation of greenhouse gas emissions. Indonesian National Standard (SNI) concerning the building has not been implemented optimally due to the socialization process by a government not yet been conducted. An energy audit of buildings has been carried out at offices and public services. Most electrical energy in buildings used for air refresher equipment or air conditioning. Calculation of OTTV has demonstrated the importance of performing since the beginning of the planning of a building to get energy-efficient buildings.

Technical definition for nearly zero energy buildings nZEB

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kurnitski, Jarek; Allard, Francis; Braham, Derrick

or maximum harmonized requirements as well as details of energy performance calculation framework, it will be up to the Member States to define what these for them exactly constitute. In the definition local conditions are to be obviously taken into account, but the uniform methodology can be used in all......This REHVA Task Force proposes a technical definition for nearly zero energy buildings required in the implementation of the Energy performance of buildings directive recast. Energy calculation framework and system boundaries associated with the definition are provided to specify which energy flows...... in which way are taken into account in the energy performance assessment. The intention of the Task Force is to help the experts in the Member States in defining the nearly zero energy buildings in a uniform way. The directive requires nearly zero energy buildings, but since it does not give minimum...

A Multi-Agent Based Energy Management Solution for Integrated Buildings and Microgrid System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anvari-Moghaddam, Amjad; Rahimi-Kian, Ashkan; Mirian, Maryam S.

2017-01-01

-reflex to complex learning agents are designed and implemented to cooperate with each other to reach an optimal operating strategy for the mentioned integrated energy system (IES) while meeting the system’s objectives and related constraints. The optimization process for the EMS is defined as a coordinated......In this paper, an ontology-driven multi-agent based energy management system (EMS) is proposed for monitoring and optimal control of an integrated homes/buildings and microgrid system with various renewable energy resources (RESs) and controllable loads. Different agents ranging from simple...... distributed generation (DG) and demand response (DR) management problem within the studied environment and is solved by the proposed agent-based approach utilizing cooperation and communication among decision agents. To verify the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed multi-agent based EMS, several...

Integrated Urban System and Energy Consumption Model: Public and Singular Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rocco Papa

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The present paper illustrates the results of the first steps of a study on one aspect investigated as the preliminary step of the definition of the analysis - comprehension model of the relation between: city, buildings, and user behavior, for the reduction of energy consumption within the research project “Smart Energy Master” for the energetic governance of the territory (PON_MIUR n. pos. 04a2_00120 CUP Ricerca: E61H12000130005, at the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering - University of Naples Federico II, principal investigator prof. Carmela Gargiulo.Specifically the literary review aimed at determining if, and in what measure, the presence of public and singular buildings is present in the energy consumption estimate models,  proposed by the scientific community, for the city or neighborhood scale.The difficulties in defining the weight of these singular buildings on the total energy consumption and the impossibility to define mean values that are significant for all subsets and different types as well as for each one, have forced model makers to either ignore them completely or chose a portion of this specific stock to include.

Heat Mismatch of future Net Zero Energy Buildings within district heating areas in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Steffen; Möller, Bernd

The long-term goal for Denmark is to develop an energy system solely based on renewable energy sources (RES) in 2050. To reach this goal energy savings in buildings are essential. Therefore, a focus on energy efficient measures in buildings and net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) have increased...... systems enables them to send or receive energy from these systems. This is beneficial for NZEBs because even though they have an annual net exchange of zero, there is a temporal mismatch in regard to the energy consumption of buildings and the production from the renewable energy units added to them...

Impact of the circulation system on the energy balance of the building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polarczyk Iwona

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The efficiency of the hot water system is one of the factors necessary to determine the overall efficiency of the building. From the calculative point of view, it is easy to make. The article presents how working of the circulation system has an influence on the efficiency of domestic hot water system. The differences in the results was presented and based on calculations of various methods, the measurements results was also taken into account. The attention was especially paid to the possibility of using ultrasonic flowmeter for measuring the flow and energy.

Commercial Building Energy Asset Rating Tool User's Guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Na; Makhmalbaf, Atefe; Matsumoto, Steven W.

2012-05-01

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Commercial Building Energy Asset Rating Tool is a web-based system that is designed to allow building owners, managers, and operators to more accurately assess the energy performance of their commercial buildings. This document provide a step-by-step instruction on how to use the tool.

Establishment of Passive Energy Conservation Measure and Economic Evaluation of Fenestration System in Nonresidential Building of Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo-Eun Choi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available ECO2 (building energy efficiency rating program and passive energy conservation measures (ECMs were established as a basic study for targeted methodologies and decision support systems development in Korea to meet national regulations. The primary energy consumption and economic evaluation of nonresidential buildings was performed. Passive ECMs were classified as planning and performance elements. The planning elements are the window-to-wall ratio (WWR and horizontal shading angle. The performance elements are the thermal transmittance (U-value of the walls, roof, and floor and the U-value and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC of windows. This study focused on the window-to-wall ratio and the U-value and solar heat gain coefficient of windows. An economic efficiency database for the constructed alternatives was built; the target building was set and the Passive ECM List for the target building was derived. The energy consumption evaluation and economic evaluation were performed for each of the constructed alternatives, and a methodology for guiding energy efficiency decisions was proposed based on the performance evaluation results, and the optimal Passive ECM List for the target building was derived.

Building America Residential System Research Results: Achieving 30% Whole House Energy Savings Level in Cold Climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Building Industry Research Alliance (BIRA); Building Science Consortium (BSC); Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB); Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC); IBACOS; National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

2006-08-01

The Building America program conducts the system research required to reduce risks associated with the design and construction of homes that use an average of 30% to 90% less total energy for all residential energy uses than the Building America Research Benchmark, including research on homes that will use zero net energy on annual basis. To measure the program's progress, annual research milestones have been established for five major climate regions in the United States. The system research activities required to reach each milestone take from 3 to 5 years to complete and include research in individual test houses, studies in pre-production prototypes, and research studies with lead builders that provide early examples that the specified energy savings level can be successfully achieved on a production basis. This report summarizes research results for the 30% energy savings level and demonstrates that lead builders can successfully provide 30% homes in Cold Climates on a cost-neutral basis.

Building energy, building leadership : recommendations for the adoption, development, and implementation of a commercial building energy code in Manitoba

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akerstream, T. [Manitoba Hydro, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Allard, K. [City of Thompson, Thompson, MB (Canada); Anderson, N.; Beacham, D. [Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Andrich, R. [The Forks North Portage Partnership, MB (Canada); Auger, A. [Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Office of Energy Efficiency; Downs, R.G. [Shindico Realty Inc., Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Eastwood, R. [Number Ten Architectural Group, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Hewitt, C. [SMS Engineering Ltd., Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Joshi, D. [City of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Klassen, K. [Manitoba Dept. of Energy Science and Technology, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Phillips, B. [Unies Ltd., Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Wiebe, R. [Ben Wiebe Construction Ltd., Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Woelk, D. [Bockstael Construction Ltd., Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Ziemski, S. [CREIT Management LLP, Winnipeg, MB (Canada)

2006-09-15

This report presented a strategy and a set of recommendations for the adoption, development and implementation of an energy code for new commercial construction in Manitoba. The report was compiled by an advisory committee comprised of industry representatives and government agency representatives. Recommendations were divided into 4 categories: (1) advisory committee recommendations; (2) code adoption recommendations; (3) code development recommendations; and (4) code implementation recommendations. It was suggested that Manitoba should adopt an amended version of the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (1997) as a regulation under the Buildings and Mobile Homes Act. Participation in a national initiative to update the Model National Energy Code for Buildings was also advised. It was suggested that the energy code should be considered as the first step in a longer-term process towards a sustainable commercial building code. However, the code should be adopted within the context of a complete market transformation approach. Other recommendations included: the establishment of a multi-stakeholder energy code task group; the provision of information and technical resources to help build industry capacity; the establishment of a process for energy code compliance; and an ongoing review of the energy code to assess impacts and progress. Supplemental recommendations for future discussion included the need for integrated design by building design teams in Manitoba; the development of a program to provide technical assistance to building design teams; and collaboration between post-secondary institutions to develop and deliver courses on integrated building design to students and professionals. 17 refs.

Impact of Weather and Occupancy on Energy Flexibility Potential of a Low-energy Building