Analysis of the Energy Saving Potentials for Near-Zero Energy Buildings in Shanghai

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Huang ◽  
Donghyun Seo ◽  
Moncef Krarti
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Energy Usage ◽  
Ground Source Heat Pumps ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Building Models

The Changning District in Shanghai has expressed interest to becoming a green neighborhood and has asked for recommendations on how to reduce the energy usage in public buildings in their district. The objective of this short study is to identify the likely range of further reductions in the energy use and carbon emissions of new buildings through energy-efficiency improvements and the use of renewable energy, i.e., solar hot water (SHW), photovoltaics (PV), and ground-source heat pumps (GSHP), as compared to buildings that meet the current public building energy code in Shanghai. This analysis is done using DOE-2.1E computer simulations of three prototypical building models — an office, a hotel, and a mixed-use retail/office building — that have been calibrated against measured energy data from such buildings in the Changning District. After the building models have been calibrated, they are then used to establish the baseline energy use for code-compliant buildings, and to calculate the energy savings for 16 potential EEMs (Energy Efficiency Measures) that exceed the building energy code. A LCC (Life-Cycle Cost) analysis is done to compare the energy cost reductions to the capital costs for the EEMs, with the result that some EEMs are rejected as being not cost-effective over a 25 year period. The usage of the EEMs accepted as cost-effective is found to reduce the energy usage of the three building types by 30–40% in the office, 43–46% in the hotel, and 35% in the retail, depending on the assumed discount rate. If all the EEMs are considered regardless of cost, the energy savings increase to 44% in the office, 47% in the hotel, and 36% in the retail.

scholarly journals Displacing air conditioning in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An evaluation of ‘fabric first’ design integrated with hybrid night radiant and ground pipe cooling systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Hijazi ◽  
Stirling Howieson
Keyword(s):  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Reduce Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Cooling Loads

This paper presents an investigation into the viability of ‘fabric first’ intelligent architectural design measures, in combination with a hybrid cooling system.The specific aim is to displace air conditioning (AC) and reduce carbon dioxide, while maintaining thermal comfort, in a typical housing block in KSA. The results of thermal modelling and prototype field trials suggest that passive design measures combined with night radiant cooling and supply ventilation via ground pipes, can negate the requirement for a standard AC system. Such a strategy may also have a remarkably short payback period when energy savings, in use, are set against the additional capital costs associated with improved building fabric performance. Practical application: This study suggests that a significant proportion of AC cooling energy can be displaced by improving building fabric performance in combination with supply ventilation via ground pipes. As radiometer readings fell as low as 2.8℃ when the night sky is clear, roof-mounted high emissivity hydronic radiant panels can also provide a significant opportunity for additional heat flushing. In hybrid combination, these strategies have the potential to lower the carbon footprint of a typical housing block in KSA by over 80% and these measures and strategies will be equally applicable and cost-effective in all geographic regions of the world where cooling loads represent the predominant domestic energy use.

scholarly journals How Much Energy Do Building Energy Codes Save? Evidence from California Houses

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (10) ◽  
pp. 2867-2894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arik Levinson
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Codes ◽  
New Buildings ◽  
Building Energy Codes

Regulations governing the energy efficiency of new buildings have become a cornerstone of US environmental policy. California enacted the first such codes in 1978 and has tightened them every few years since. I evaluate the resulting energy savings three ways: comparing energy used by houses constructed under different standards, controlling for building and occupant characteristics; examining how energy use varies with outdoor temperatures; and comparing energy used by houses of different vintages in California to that same difference in other states. All three approaches yield estimated energy savings significantly short of those projected when the regulations were enacted. (JEL Q48, Q51, Q52)

scholarly journals Improving the Energy Efficiency of Buildings Based on Fluid Dynamics Models: A Critical Review

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5384
Author(s):  
Xiaoshu Lü ◽  
Tao Lu ◽  
Tong Yang ◽  
Heidi Salonen ◽  
Zhenxue Dai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Building Energy Systems ◽  
Dynamics Models

The built environment is the global sector with the greatest energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, building energy savings can make a major contribution to tackling the current energy and climate change crises. Fluid dynamics models have long supported the understanding and optimization of building energy systems and have been responsible for many important technological breakthroughs. As Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, fluid dynamics models are proving to be more essential than ever for exploring airborne transmission of the coronavirus indoors in order to develop energy-efficient and healthy ventilation actions against Covid-19 risks. The purpose of this paper is to review the most important and influential fluid dynamics models that have contributed to improving building energy efficiency. A detailed, yet understandable description of each model’s background, physical setup, and equations is provided. The main ingredients, theoretical interpretations, assumptions, application ranges, and robustness of the models are discussed. Models are reviewed with comprehensive, although not exhaustive, publications in the literature. The review concludes by outlining open questions and future perspectives of simulation models in building energy research.

scholarly journals Estimation of Energy Savings Potential in Higher Education Buildings Supported by Energy Performance Benchmarking: A Case Study

Environments ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermano Bernardo ◽  
Filipe Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Energy Usage ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Performance Benchmarking ◽  
End Use

This paper presents results of work developed in the field of building energy benchmarking applied to the building stock of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal, based on a thorough energy performance characterisation of each of its buildings. To address the benchmarking of the case study buildings, an energy efficiency ranking system was applied. Following an energy audit of each building, they were grouped in different typologies according to the main end-use activities developed: Pedagogic buildings, canteens, residential buildings and office buildings. Then, an energy usage indicator was used to establish a metric to rank the buildings of each typology according to their energy efficiency. The energy savings potential was also estimated, based on the reference building energy usage indicator for each typology, and considering two different scenarios, yielding potential savings between 10% and 34% in final energy consumption.

scholarly journals Energy and Greenhouse Gas Savings for LEED-Certified U.S. Office Buildings

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 749
Author(s):  
John H. Scofield ◽  
Susannah Brodnitz ◽  
Jakob Cornell ◽  
Tian Liang ◽  
Thomas Scofield
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Ghg Emission ◽  
Site Energy ◽  
New Construction

In this work, we present results from the largest study of measured, whole-building energy performance for commercial LEED-certified buildings, using 2016 energy use data that were obtained for 4417 commercial office buildings (114 million m2) from municipal energy benchmarking disclosures for 10 major U.S. cities. The properties included 551 buildings (31 million m2) that we identified as LEED-certified. Annual energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission were compared between LEED and non-LEED offices on a city-by-city basis and in aggregate. In aggregate, LEED offices demonstrated 11% site energy savings but only 7% savings in source energy and GHG emission. LEED offices saved 26% in non-electric energy but demonstrated no significant savings in electric energy. LEED savings in GHG and source energy increased to 10% when compared with newer, non-LEED offices. We also compared the measured energy savings for individual buildings with their projected savings, as determined by LEED points awarded for energy optimization. This analysis uncovered minimal correlation, i.e., an R2 < 1% for New Construction (NC) and Core and Shell (CS), and 8% for Existing Euildings (EB). The total measured site energy savings for LEED-NC and LEED-CS was 11% lower than projected while the total measured source energy savings for LEED-EB was 81% lower than projected. Only LEED offices certified at the gold level demonstrated statistically significant savings in source energy and greenhouse gas emissions as compared with non-LEED offices.

scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CO2-BASED DEMAND-CONTROLLED VENTILATION STRATEGY USING ENERGYPLUS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behrang Chenari ◽  
Francisco Bispo Lamas ◽  
Adélio Rodrigues Gaspar ◽  
Manuel Gameiro da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Environmental Condition ◽  
Ventilation Strategy ◽  
Controlled Ventilation ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Demand Controlled Ventilation ◽  
Air Conditioning Systems

A significant amount of energy is being used by ventilation and air conditioning systems to maintain the indoor environmental condition in a satisfactory and comfortable level. Many buildings, either new or existing (throughout their renovation process) are subjected to energy efficiency requirements but these must not be in the expenses of indoor environmental conditions. For instance, indoor air quality (IAQ) has to be considered while improving energy efficiency, otherwise occupants might be exposed to inappropriate indoor environment.Demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) is a method that provides comfortable IAQ level with lowest energy use. In this paper, the main objective is developing a new CO2-based DCV strategy and simulating it using EnergyPlus. The IAQ and energy consumption associated to this strategy have been compared with the results of CO2-based DCV strategies previously developed by the same authors in another article. The comparison shows that the new strategy performs better, both in energy use and IAQ. The recorded energy savings ranged between 6-14% comparing with the previously developed strategies while IAQ slightly improved.

Encouraging residential energy efficiency

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Real World ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Residential Energy ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Residential Energy Efficiency

Programs that encouraged investments in residential energy efficiency had limited returns in several impact evaluations in real-world settings. Relatively small impacts on energy savings coupled with low take-up meant that encouraging these investments through information campaigns and subsidies was not a cost-effective strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

scholarly journals The Performance Gap in Energy-Efficient Office Buildings: How the Occupants Can Help?

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qadeer Ali ◽  
Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem ◽  
Fahim Ullah ◽  
Samad M. E. Sepasgozar
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Occupant Behavior ◽  
Energy Usage ◽  
Performance Gap ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings

Rising demand and limited production of electricity are instrumental in spreading the awareness of cautious energy use, leading to the global demand for energy-efficient buildings. This compels the construction industry to smartly design and effectively construct these buildings to ensure energy performance as per design expectations. However, the research tells a different tale: energy-efficient buildings have performance issues. Among several reasons behind the energy performance gap, occupant behavior is critical. The occupant behavior is dynamic and changes over time under formal and informal influences, but the traditional energy simulation programs assume it as static throughout the occupancy. Effective behavioral interventions can lead to optimized energy use. To find out the energy-saving potential based on simulated modified behavior, this study gathers primary building and occupant data from three energy-efficient office buildings in major cities of Pakistan and categorizes the occupants into high, medium, and low energy consumers. Additionally, agent-based modeling simulates the change in occupant behavior under the direct and indirect interventions over a three-year period. Finally, energy savings are quantified to highlight a 25.4% potential over the simulation period. This is a unique attempt at quantifying the potential impact on energy usage due to behavior modification which will help facility managers to plan and execute necessary interventions and software experts to develop effective tools to model the dynamic usage behavior. This will also help policymakers in devising subtle but effective behavior training strategies to reduce energy usage. Such behavioral retrofitting comes at a much lower cost than the physical or technological retrofit options to achieve the same purpose and this study establishes the foundation for it.

A Study on the Influence of Planar Mechanism Design on Energy Use During Controlled Movements

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Myszka ◽  
Austin M. Fischer ◽  
Andrew P. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Degree Of Freedom ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Energy Usage ◽  
Multiple Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Low Degree ◽  
Robotic Devices ◽  
Actuator Control

This paper presents a study on the energy utilization of planar automation mechanisms that operate with controlled moves. Designers of factory automation for pick & place tasks often select multiple degree-of-freedom robotic devices. With multiple degrees-of-freedom, task flexibility is available, but many operations require little or no flexibility. The majority of research on the energy usage of these robot devices for pick & place tasks focuses on path planning. The study presented in this paper explores the energy savings in using low degree-of-freedom devices and the influence of design parameter selection. Energy predictor equations are developed and confirmed through experimentation. Various positioning mechanisms of differing dimensions are studied for trends in energy utilization. Lastly, an actuator control strategy is proposed for further reducing energy requirements. The study concludes that energy usage can be substantially decreased in pick & place applications by reducing the degrees of freedom of the device, implementing a prudent mechanism architecture, ideally selecting mechanism dimensions and optimally controlling the actuator(s).

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