The Energy Savings Impact of the Existing Building Commissioning Process by Building Type

There is a distinct lack of building design literature specific to the Central Asian region. This perhaps, could be one of reasons for the only slight improvement of new building designs and construction. One does observe the highly glazed buildings are a particularly popular feature here in Astana, as like anywhere else in the world. However, excessively glazed surfaces combined with the weather extremes leads to adverse internal conditions and skyrocketing energy bills. The work presented in this paper is a part of continuing efforts to identify analyze and promote the design of ‘low energy, green and sustainable buildings with special reference to the Kazakhstan locality. In the present context, low energy buildings’ refers to buildings inherently low energy consuming by careful passive design, utilizing intelligent building technologies to automate building services and minimize wastage of energy and by incorporation of renewable technologies for its energy supply. Demonstration of improved environmental conditions and impact on energy savings will be outlined through a cause study incorporating application of passive design approach and detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis for an existing building complex. The results indicated that there is a considerable influence of passive design and orientation on energy efficiency, wind comfort and safety.

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Energy Efficiency in French Social Housing Renovations via Design-Build-Maintain

Open House International ◽

10.1108/ohi-02-2014-b0007 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 48-56

Author(s):

Tadeo Baldiri Salcedo Rahola ◽

Ad Straub ◽

Angela Ruiz Lázaro ◽

Yves Galiègue

Keyword(s):

Social Housing ◽

Energy Savings ◽

High Energy ◽

Substantial Improvement ◽

Building Stock ◽

Delivery Methods ◽

Existing Building ◽

Design Build ◽

Bonuses And Penalties ◽

Design Bid Build

The renovation of existing building stock is seen as one the most practical ways to achieve the high energy savings targets for the built environment defined by European authorities. In France, the Grenelle environmental legislation addresses the need to renovate the building stock and specifically stresses the key role of social housing organisations. In recent years, French procurement rules have been modified in order to allow social housing organisations to make use of integrated contracts such as Design-Build-Maintain. These contracts have a greater potential to deliver energy savings in renovation projects than do traditional project delivery methods, like Design-bid-Build. This is because they facilitate collaboration between the various actors and boost their commitment to the achievement of project goals. In order to evaluate the estimated potential of such contracts to achieve energy savings, two renovation projects (carried out by two French social housing organisations) were analysed from their inception until the end of construction work. The analysis is based on written tender documents, technical evaluation reports, observations of the negotiation phase (in one of the cases) and interviews with the main actors involved. Findings show that Design-Build-Maintain contracts do indeed offer substantial energy savings. Both projects achieved higher energy targets than those initially required. Furthermore, the energy results are guaranteed by the contractor, through a system of bonuses and penalties. Other results demonstrate that, compared to previous Design-bid-Build renovation projects, these projects were completed in less time (from project inception to completion of the work) and at virtually the same cost. There has also been a substantial improvement in cooperation between the actors involved.

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Modeling of an Aerogel-Based “Thermal Break” for Super-Insulated Window Frames

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings10030060 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 60 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alessandro Cannavale ◽

Francesco Martellotta ◽

Umberto Berardi ◽

Chiara Rubino ◽

Stefania Liuzzi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Potential Role ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Building Stock ◽

Insulating Materials ◽

Existing Building ◽

Heating And Cooling ◽

Research Activities ◽

Optimal Exploitation ◽

Indoor Comfort ◽

Window Frames

Research activities in the field of innovative fixtures are continuously aiming at increasing their thermal and optical performances to offer optimal exploitation of daylight and solar gains, providing effective climate screen, according to increasing standards for indoor comfort and energy saving. Within this work, we designed an innovative aerogel-based “thermal break” for window frames, so as to consistently reduce the frame conductance. Then, we compared the performance of this new frame both with currently used and obsolete frames, present in most of the existing building stock. Energy savings for heating and cooling were assessed for different locations and confirmed the potential role played by super-insulating materials in fixtures for extremely rigid climates.

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CO2-based grey-box model to estimate airflow rate and room occupancy

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201911104036 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 111 ◽

pp. 04036

Author(s):

Sebastian Wolf ◽

Maria Justo Alonso ◽

Davide Calì ◽

John Krogstie ◽

Hans Martin Mathisen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Differential Equations ◽

Measurement Errors ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Box Model ◽

Airflow Rate ◽

Building Stock ◽

Deterministic Models ◽

Existing Building ◽

Controlled Ventilation ◽

Demand Controlled Ventilation

In the existing building stock, heating, cooling and ventilation often run on fixed schedules assuming maximal occupancy. However, fitting the control of the HVAC system to the building’s real demand offers large potential for energy savings over the status quo. Building occupants’ presence as well as mechanically supplied and infiltrated airflow rates provide information that enables to define tailored strategies for demand-controlled ventilation. Hence, real-time estimations of these quantities are a valuable input to demand-controlled built environments. In this work, the use of stochastic differential equations (SDE) to estimate the room occupancy, infiltration air-rate and ventilation air-rate is investigated. In particular, a grey-box model based on a carbon dioxide (CO2) mass balance equation is presented. The model combines knowledge about the physical system with statistical, data-driven parameter estimation. Furthermore, the proposed model contains uncertainty parameters. This is in contrast to purely deterministic models based on ordinary differential equations, where uncertainty is usually disregarded. The suggested model has been tested in a naturally ventilated and in a mechanically ventilated environment; the performance in these two cases has been compared. We show that the ability to address measurement errors and non-homogeneous conditions in the room air implies that the suggested SDE-based grey-box approach is suitable in the context of demand-controlled ventilation.

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Retrofit Strategy in Existing Building for Implementing Energy Conservation Building Code in India

European Journal of Engineering and Technology Research ◽

10.24018/ejers.2021.6.5.2535 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (5) ◽

pp. 134-140

Author(s):

Anil K. Berwal ◽

Manisha Yadav

Keyword(s):

Energy Conservation ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Minimum Energy ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Building Code ◽

Regulatory Regime ◽

Existing Buildings ◽

Commercial Building ◽

Existing Building ◽

The Government

The expanding commercial building sector and urbanization in India leads to an increase in demand of energy many folds. Consequently, it is the need of the current scenario to define some regulatory regime or policy to harness the enormous potential of energy savings. Under the Energy Conservation Act 2001, the Government of India under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency launched the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) on a voluntary basis. ECBC sets the standards of minimum energy performance for “large commercial buildings. These norms were for both new and existing buildings. Retrofitting of existing buildings offers noteworthy opportunities for reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper provides a systematic approach to review the application of energy conservation building codes in existing buildings and identification of the best retrofit strategies to stimulate the implementation of ECBC in the country.

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Improving Occupant Wellness in Commercial Office Buildings through Energy Conservation Retrofits

10.32920/14640783 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

J. J. McArthur ◽

Chris Jofeh ◽

Ann-Marie Aguilar

Keyword(s):

Energy Savings ◽

Financial Analysis ◽

Operating Cost ◽

Illustrative Case ◽

Indoor Environmental Quality ◽

Commercial Building ◽

Building Stock ◽

Productivity Cost ◽

Existing Building ◽

Voluntary Standards

There is increasing literature demonstrating the link between building indoor environmental quality, and occupant health and productivity, driving the corporate real estate industry to investigate how to integrate wellness features in both new and existing building stock. Meanwhile, new voluntary standards to promote occupant health are becoming adopted alongside sustainability standards. As commercial building owners and tenants seek to improve occupant conditions and incorporate wellness, apparently conflicting priorities must be balanced, particularly improving indoor environmental conditions has the potential to increase energy. This paper presents a framework to consider retrofits holistically and considering the benefit of improved conditions both qualitatively and quantitatively. Where poor conditions exist, published literature demonstrates a lost productivity cost that exceeds typical building energy costs, and this is quantified in the financial analysis presented. Energy retrofits provide a unique opportunity to integrate wellness-enabling features because the energy savings can offset marginal energy or operating cost increases for particular wellness interventions. This paper presents a flexible, customizable framework to develop potential retrofit bundles and evaluate them considering economic, sustainability, wellness, risk and occupant experience factors to identify the optimal zone of retrofit. An illustrative case study using real building data demonstrates how the framework might be applied to a real project and customized to achieve unique stakeholder priorities.

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Albanian Building Stock Typology and Energy Building Code in Progress Towards National Calculation Methodology of Performance on Heating and Cooling.

European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies ◽

10.26417/ejms.v5i1.p13-35 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 13 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gjergji Simaku

Keyword(s):

Energy Savings ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Building Code ◽

Building Stock ◽

Minimum Requirement ◽

Building Type ◽

Heating And Cooling ◽

Calculation Methodology

The expertise on building stock typology used openly available data from the Albanian statistical office. As the CENSUS was not especially designed for gathering data for the energetic evaluation of the building stock, some data were not available on the required level of detail. Estimations were necessary to extrapolate data to the existing stock. Technically, the study selected and described twenty representative categories of residential buildings typology for Albania. Were identified the level and the structure of final energy consumption at present and in the future by building age category, building type, climate zone, and energy end-use. Using an original template excel data sheet, were conducted the calculations of their thermal energy performance in three climate zones, designed standardized retrofit packages, calculated possible energy savings, and investment required by building type. The engineering principle of the Regulation in force, regarding to the legislative act of Energy Building Code in Albania, is beyond any doubt correct and carefully studied. The act is a rule book or the Regulation (energy building code - here The Code) which contains information that is sufficient to perform calculations of the different insulating layers for new construction after the year 2003. Also, the Regulation’s algorithms are still relevant in terms of calculation to provide Energy for heating demands in Albania. After 12 years, the Code remains the same and could provide either an optimal potential energy savings to the existing buildings, or an optimal cost-effective of building’s insulation without imposing a burden of high financial housing builders to multifamily prospective buyers. Based today Europe’s developments on Energy Performance of Buildings, the study is found relevant to provide a methodology for calculation of the energy performance in buildings (kWh/ m2a) based on volumetric coefficient heat losses (Gvt) for heating only, the existing indicator of the existing Code. The following study deals with the possibility of transposing the methodology used to the Code into an energy Performance based on minimum requirement for a new Regulation and/or EP Calculation Methodology based on efficient use of energy for heating and cooling purposes.

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Building Stock Energy Models and ICT Solutions for Urban Energy Systems

Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering - Handbook of Research on Developing Smart Cities Based on Digital Twins ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-7091-3.ch022 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 490-514

Author(s):

Ilaria Ballarini ◽

Vincenzo Corrado ◽

Matteo Piro

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Energy Systems ◽

Environmental Indicators ◽

Information And Communications Technology ◽

Building Stock ◽

Existing Building ◽

Energy Flows ◽

Urban Energy ◽

The Right

The existing building stock presents a high potential of energy savings and CO2 emissions reductions. To this purpose, literature provides novel city-scale building-oriented studies, aimed at developing suitable tools for stakeholders, city planners, and decision-makers. To achieve an effective urban energy planning, urban energy systems (UES) models are developed; they employ a multi-domain approach, embracing the complex interactions in urban areas, such as energy flows, environmental indicators, social and economic factors. To perform an advanced modelling and to simulate the complexity of the UES, ICT (information and communications technology) represents nowadays the right answer to the needs of integration of data, tools, and actors in different domains. The chapter investigates the current studies in the field of building stock energy modeling and the application of advanced technologies to develop UES models. As an exemplification, the technological approach followed in the SEMANCO project to support urban scale energy modelling is presented.

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Retrofitting an Existing Office Building in the UAE Towards Achieving Low-Energy Building

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12062573 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 2573

Author(s):

Maatouk Khoukhi ◽

Abeer Fuad Darsaleh ◽

Sara Ali

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Lower Energy ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Building Design ◽

Office Building ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Base Case ◽

Hvac System ◽

Existing Buildings ◽

Existing Building

Retrofitting an existing building can oftentimes be more cost-effective than building a new facility. Since buildings consume a significant amount of energy, particularly for heating and cooling, and because existing buildings comprise the largest segment of the built environment, it is important to initiate energy conservation retrofits to reduce energy consumption and the cost of heating, cooling, and lighting buildings. However, conserving energy is not the only reason for retrofitting existing buildings. The goal should be to create a high-performance building by applying an integrated, whole-building design process to the project during the planning phase that ensures that all key design objectives are met. This paper presents a real case study of the retrofitting of an existing building to achieve lower energy consumption. Indeed, most of the constructed buildings in the UAE are unsuitable for the region, which is characterized by a very harsh climate that causes massive cooling loads and energy consumption due to an appropriate selection of design parameters at the design level. In this study, a monthly computer simulation of energy consumption of an office building in Sharjah was carried out under UAE weather conditions. Several parameters, including the building orientation, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, external shading, window-to-wall ratio, and the U-values of the walls and the roof, were investigated and optimized to achieve lower energy consumption. The simulation shows that the best case is 41.7% more efficient than the real (original) case and 30.6% more than the base case. The most sensitive parameter in the retrofitting alternatives is the roof component, which affects the energy savings by 8.49%, followed by the AC system with 8.34% energy savings if well selected using the base case. Among the selected five components, a new roof structure contributed the most to the decrease in the overall energy consumption (approximately 38%). This is followed by a new HVAC system, which leads to a 37% decrease, followed by a new wall type with insulation, resulting in a 20% decrease.

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Novel Methodology toward Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) Renovation: Cost-Effective Balance Approach as a Pre-Step to Cost-Optimal Life Cycle Cost Assessment

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11094141 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 4141

Author(s):

Yovko Ivanov Antonov ◽

Per Kvols Heiselberg ◽

Michal Zbigniew Pomianowski

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Cost ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Cost Effective ◽

The European Union ◽

Zero Energy ◽

Building Stock ◽

Existing Building ◽

Zero Energy Building ◽

Selection Of

Reaching environmental targets set by the European Union (EU) requires a constant renovation of the existing building stock to nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) in a cost-optimal manner. Studies show that the renovation rate of the existing building stock is more than two times less than what is necessary to reach the targets. Furthermore, the majority of performed renovations across the EU reach just a small amount of energy savings, whereas NZEB renovations are rarely achieved. This paper proposes a methodology for the evaluation of renovation measures, aiming to provide decision support related to the selection of what to renovate and to what extent. The proposed method is rooted in the well-established cost-optimal methodology, yet it suggests a pre-step to package evaluation. This is done by means of a simplified cost-effective parameter (CEP), linking cost, lifetime, and energy savings. The methodology is demonstrated using a case study building in Denmark. The results show that the CEP provides good grounds for the compilation of single actions to packages. Further developments could focus on the sensitivity of the model inputs and integration of additional evaluation parameters to cost, such as environmental, architectural, comfort, risk, etc.

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