The impacts of climate zones on the energy performance of existing Thai buildings

While it is well-known that cool roofs can efficiently reduce cooling demand in buildings, their overall energy performance in mixed and cold climates has been a topic of debate. This paper presents a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate the combined impact of roof reflectivity, insulation level, and construction type (adhered vs attached) on annual energy demand and energy costs in the United States, for different buildings and climate zones. EnergyPlus was used to model three building types (retail, office, and school buildings) for the 16 most climate-representative locations in the US using typical reflectivity and insulation values. The results show that (i) roof reflectivity is equally important to roof insulation in warm climates; (ii) for low-rise offices and schools, the benefits of reflective roofs vs dark-colored roofs are clear for all US climatic zones, with higher savings in warm climates; (iii) for big-box-retail buildings, reflective roofs perform better except for cold climate zones 7–8; (iv) dark-colored, mechanically attached roofs achieve slightly better performance than reflective roofs in mixed and cold climates. Decision makers should consider building type, climatic conditions, roof insulation levels, and durability performance, along with roof reflectivity, when assessing the overall potential benefits of cool roofs.

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STUDY THE NEED OF BASELINE ENERGY USE BENCH MARKING OF BUILDINGS IN DIFFERENT CLIMATE ZONES OF INDIA

EPRA International Journal of Environmental Economics, Commerce and Educational Management ◽

10.36713/epra7416 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 12-17

Author(s):

Mr. Kishan Khatri ◽

Dr. Shweta Choudhary

Keyword(s):

Energy Use ◽

Minimum Energy ◽

National Level ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Management Program ◽

Current Status ◽

Climate Zones ◽

Energy Star ◽

Performance Benchmarking ◽

Portfolio Manager

The aim of research is to identify a need of a baseline energy use for benchmarking the minimum energy performance of the buildings for different climate zones of India. Its objective is to provide information and create awareness among customers on energy performance so that consumers can make informed decisions while purchasing appliances, selecting the ECMs and in creating a sustainable home. This study will help in the identification of underperforming buildings to target for efficiency improvements, identify best practices from efficient buildings, set investment priorities, verify savings and prevent snapback, share and report performance, earn recognition, continuous monitoring and implement a comprehensive management program. There are rating system available in India i.e. BEE Star Labelling program and GRIHA Baseline Energy Use to support these requirements. However, there are some limitation in the terms of Climate Zones and Standardization. The baseline energy use differs with each other on a certain parameter, which can create a misinterpretation for the building owners to rely on any standard. There is a need of knowing the current status/performance of the building as comparison to the similar type of buildings in India in respective climate zones. There is a further need to getting recognized by the authority at national level providing the status of the building energy performance. Enormous studies have been made and have suggested to follow the best Energy Conservation Measures (ECM’s) in the buildings. However, there is no portal or tool which can guide what further energy performance is needed to choose the ECMs accordingly. There is an online portal called Energy Star Portfolio Manager in USA which looks closer to the need and for the same a research has been carried out including all the stakeholders, engineers, architects, consultants to come up with the need of online benchmarking tool, accessible for all the building holders. Further, the expertise of BEE Certified Energy Auditors and Energy Managers can be helpful in the identification of this eco system of energy use benchmarking for the different climate zones of India. KEYWORDS: Energy Use; Green Buildings; Climate Zones; Energy Performance Benchmarking; Energy Star Portfolio Manager

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A Data-driven Approach for Sustainable Building Retrofit—A Case Study of Different Climate Zones in China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12114726 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 4726 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Qiong He ◽

S. Thomas Ng ◽

Md. Uzzal Hossain ◽

Godfried L. Augenbroe

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Large Scale ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Data Driven ◽

Total Energy Consumption ◽

Climatic Zones ◽

Climate Zones ◽

Cold Zone ◽

High Rise

This study presents a data-driven retrofitting approach by systematically analyzing the energy performance of existing high-rise residential buildings using a normative calculation logic-based simulation method. To demonstrate the practicality of the approach, typical existing buildings in five climate zones of China are analyzed based on the local building characteristics and climatic conditions. The results show that the total energy consumption is 544 kWh/m2/year in the severe cold zone, which is slightly higher than that in the cold zone (519 kWh/m2/year), but double that in the hot summer and cold winter zone, three times higher than that in the warm zone, and five times above that in the temperate zone. The dominant energy needs in different climatic zones are distinctive. The identified potentially suitable retrofitting measures are important in reducing large-scale energy consumption and can be used in supporting sustainable retrofit decisions for existing high-rise residential buildings in different climatic zones.

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