The office of the future: Operational energy consumption in the post-pandemic era

Understanding how occupants manage their energy use in homes and how their behaviour influence household energy consumption in domestic environments has been challenging. There seems to be several major factors contributing towards achieving optimal performance in designing, constructing and maintaining a sustainable home using Building Information Modelling (BIM) based approaches. This study focuses on investigating the relationship between user behaviour and energy consumption through the in-depth analysis of energy usage patterns collected from a selected affordable terraced house in Prestwick, Scotland, as an initial attempt towards the future integration with BIM systems. For the purpose of this feasibility study, indoor temperature, relative humidity and CO2 sensors, as well as a gas-electricity-water utility monitor were installed in the selected home occupied by a working class nuclear household. The study encompasses the analyses of energy usage patterns in their daily life. It is confirmed that domestic energy consumption is affected by the occupants' presence and behaviour. Moreover, this paper discusses a possibility that the energy prediction approach taken in this study could work alongside BIM systems applied for housing suppliers' design decision-making on the delivery of energy efficient homes of the future.

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The Future of Energy Consumption

Global Carbon Dioxide Recycling - SpringerBriefs in Energy ◽

10.1007/978-981-13-8584-1_6 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 33-35

Author(s):

Koji Hashimoto

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

The Future

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Research on Standard System for “Double Control” of Total Energy Consumption and Energy Intensity

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201911801020 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 118 ◽

pp. 01020

Author(s):

Qing Ding ◽

Haihong Chen ◽

Pengcheng Li ◽

Meng Liu ◽

Ling Lin

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Total Energy ◽

Continuous Improvement ◽

Energy Intensity ◽

Standard System ◽

Total Energy Consumption ◽

Intensity Control ◽

The Future ◽

Consumption Control

The significance of the principles and methods for building the standard system for “double control” was analyzed. A framework of standard system for “double control” was preliminarily built, comprising three subsystems of fundamental common, total energy consumption control and energy intensity control. The features and shortcomings of standards for “double control” was analyzed, as a reference for the continuous improvement of the standard system for “double control”, as well as the research and preparation of key standards in the future.

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Dynamic Trends of Fine Particulate Matter Exposure across 190 Countries: Analysis and Key Insights

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12072910 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 2910

Author(s):

Yu Sang Chang ◽

Byong-Jin You ◽

Hann Earl Kim

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Population Size ◽

Fine Particulate Matter ◽

Weighted Average ◽

Health Issues ◽

Cumulative Energy ◽

Fine Particulate ◽

Global Trend ◽

The Future

Despite the fact that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) causes serious health issues, few studies have investigated the level and annual rate of PM2.5 change across a large number of countries. For a better understanding of the global trend of PM2.5, this study classified 190 countries into groups showing different trends of PM2.5 change during the 2000–2014 period by estimating the progress ratio (PR) from the experience curve (EC), with PM2.5 exposure (PME)–the population-weighted average annual concentration of PM2.5 to which a person is exposed—as the dependent variable and the cumulative energy consumption as the independent variable. The results showed a wide variation of PRs across countries: While the average PR for 190 countries was 96.5%, indicating only a moderate decreasing PME trend of 3.5% for each doubling of the cumulative energy consumption, a majority of 118 countries experienced a decreasing trend of PME with an average PR of 88.1%, and the remaining 72 countries displayed an increasing trend with an average PR of 110.4%. When two different types of EC, classical and kinked, were applied, the chances of possible improvement in the future PME could be suggested in the descending order as follows: (1) the 60 countries with an increasing classical slope; (2) the 12 countries with an increasing kinked slope; (3) the 75 countries with a decreasing classical slope; and (4) the 43 countries with a decreasing kinked slope. The reason is that both increasing classical and kinked slopes are more likely to be replaced by decreasing kinked slopes, while decreasing classical and kinked slopes are less likely to change in the future. Population size seems to play a role: A majority of 52%, or 38 out of the 72 countries with an increasing slope, had a population size of bigger than 10 million inhabitants. Many of these countries came from SSA, EAP, and LAC regions. By identifying different patterns of past trends based on the analysis of PME for individual countries, this study suggests a possible change of the future slope for different groups of countries.

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Hydrogen: A Very Promising Energy Carrier for the Future

Advanced Energy Systems ◽

10.1115/imece2002-33208 ◽

2002 ◽

Author(s):

Xenophon K. Kakatsios

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Global Climate ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Energy System ◽

Primary Energy ◽

Energy Carrier ◽

Current Status ◽

The Future

As we enter the new century, new fuels may be required for both stationary power and transportation to ameliorate the triple threats of local air pollution, global climate change and dependence on unstable nations for imported oil. Shifting away from fossil fuels may be essential within decades if citizens in the developing world achieve even a significant fraction of the per capita energy consumption enjoyed by the industrial nations. Business-as-usual or evolutionary shifts in energy consumption patterns may not be adequate. New paradigms and new energy initiatives may be required to protect the environment while providing the energy services we have come to expect. Hydrogen could play a significant role as a clean energy carrier in the future for both stationary and transportation markets. Produced from renewable energy or nuclear power, hydrogen could become the backbone of a truly sustainable energy future – an energy system that consumes no non-renewable resources and creates no pollution or greenhouse gases of any type during operation. However, to achieve this potential, hydrogen must overcome serious economic, technological and safety perception barriers before it can displace fossil fuels as the primary energy carrier throughout the world. In this paper we explore the current status of hydrogen and fuel cell systems compared to other fuel options for reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and suggest the introduction of hydrogen into the energy economy.

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The Relationship of Causal Factors Affecting the Future Equilibrium Change of Total Final Energy Consumption in Thailand’s Construction Sector under a Sustainable Development Goal: Enriching the SE-VARX Model

Resources ◽

10.3390/resources8010001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Jindamas Sutthichaimethee ◽

Kuskana Kubaha

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Exogenous Variables ◽

Causal Factors ◽

Final Energy ◽

Real Gdp ◽

The Future ◽

Final Energy Consumption ◽

The Relationship

This study aims to analyze the influence of the relationship between causal factors that affect the future equilibrium of the total final energy consumption in the construction sector of Thailand under the sustainable development policy for the period of 10 years (2019–2028). This analysis was achieved with the application of the Structure Equilibrium-Vector Autoregressive with Exogenous Variables model (SE-VARX model). This model was developed to fill research gaps and differs from those of previous studies. In the selection of variables, the study focused on Sustainable Development (SD)-based variables available through the lens of Thailand. The exogenous variables included real GDP, population growth, urbanization rate, industrial structure, oil price, foreign direct investment, international tourist arrivals, and total exports and imports. Every variable had a co-integration at level (1) and was used to structure the SE-VARX model. This particular model can effectively analyze the influence of the direct relationship and meet the criteria of goodness of fit without spuriousness. This SE-VARX model allowed us to discover that every variable in the model had an influence on the equilibrium change, where the real GDP is the fastest variable to adjust to the equilibrium while the total final energy consumption has the slowest adjustment ability. The SE-VARX model can be used to project the total final energy consumption, as verified by the performance test result. The test was measured based on the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and their results were 1.09% and 1.01%, respectively. This performance result had the highest value compared to other models in the past. Thus, the SE-VARX model is suitable for forecasting over the next 10 years (2019–2038). The results of this study reveal that the total final energy consumption in the construction sector of Thailand will exhibit a continuously increasing growth rate from 2019 to 2028, amounting to about 144.29% or equivalent to 364.01 ktoe. In addition, the study also found that future government plans may be difficult to achieve as planned. Therefore, the introduced model should be integrated into national development planning and strategies to achieve sustainable development in the future and to enable its application to other sectors.

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Energy Use Efficiency Past-to-Future Evaluation: An International Comparison

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12193804 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (19) ◽

pp. 3804 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chia-Nan Wang ◽

Thi-Duong Nguyen ◽

Min-Chun Yu

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Energy Efficiency ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Energy Use ◽

The United States ◽

Total Energy Consumption ◽

The Future ◽

The Status ◽

Energy Efficiency Evaluation

Despite the many benefits that energy consumption brings to the economy, consuming energy also leads nations to expend more resources on environmental pollution. Therefore, energy efficiency has been proposed as a solution to improve national economic competitiveness and sustainability. However, the growth in energy demand is accelerating while policy efforts to boost energy efficiency are slowing. To solve this problem, the efficiency gains in countries where energy consumption efficiency is of the greatest concern such as China, India, the United States, and Europe, especially, emerging economies, is central. Additionally, governments must take greater policy actions. Therefore, this paper studied 25 countries from Asia, the Americas, and Europe to develop a method combining the grey method (GM) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) slack-based measure model (SMB) to measure and forecast the energy efficiency, so that detailed energy efficiency evaluation can be made from the past to the future; moreover, this method can be extended to more countries around the world. The results of this study reveal that European countries have a higher energy efficiency than countries in Americas (except the United States) and Asian countries. Our findings also show that an excess of total energy consumption is the main reason causing the energy inefficiency in most countries. This study contributes to policymaking and strategy makers by sharing the understanding of the status of energy efficiency and providing insights for the future.

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