Evaluation of Energy Usage for a Teaching and Research Complex

Author(s):  
M. Feng ◽  
Y.-X. Tao ◽  
E. Inclan ◽  
R. Bartra

The evaluation of energy performance for a teaching and research complex located in South Florida was carried out by auditing the energy bills, on-site data monitoring, and numerical simulation by computer. To facilitate the process of on-site data monitoring, a remotely controlled, wireless thermal monitoring system was deployed in the building. The system can automatically collect the temperature, relative humidity ratio, illumination intensity, and building electricity usage data for analysis. The contribution and savings potential of each energy consumption component is analyzed for the whole building. From the audit result it is obvious that laboratory equipment is the dominant electricity consumption factor. The fluctuation pattern of electricity usage due to artificial lighting demonstrates the effectiveness of occupancy sensors for energy saving during evenings, weekends and holidays. The trend of HVAC chilled water consumption rate follows closely with the indoor and outdoor temperature difference. Since the HVAC coil load represents the building's total cooling requirement, the ratio between chilled water rate and temperature difference reflects the building's comprehensive thermal resistance. This coefficient can be used as a new building energy index for future energy audits of similar buildings. Finally, computer software simulates several proposed energy saving scenarios, e.g. reducing the HVAC fresh air percentage, adding energy wheel to recycle the wasted cooling, etc. The result shows that installing energy wheel can save more cooling load than other methods, however such benefit is compromised by its extra motor electricity usage.

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-293
Author(s):  
Jan Kaselofsky ◽  
Ralf Schüle ◽  
Marika Rošā ◽  
Toms Prodaņuks ◽  
Anda Jekabsone ◽  
...  

AbstractNon-residential buildings in the European Union consume more than one third of the building sector’s total. Many non-residential buildings are owned by municipalities. This paper reports about an energy saving competition that was carried out in 91 municipal buildings in eight EU member states in 2019. For each public building an energy team was formed. The energy teams’ activities encompassed motivating changes in the energy use behaviour of employees and small investments. Two challenges added an element of gamification to the energy saving competition. To assess the success of the energy saving competition, an energy performance baseline was calculated using energy consumption data of each public building from previous years. Energy consumption in the competition year was monitored on a monthly base. After the competition the top energy savers from each country were determined by the percentage-based reduction of energy consumption compared to the baseline. On average, the buildings had an electricity and heat consumption in 2019 that was about 8 % and 7 %, respectively, lower than the baseline. As an additional data source for the evaluation, a survey among energy team members was conducted at the beginning and after the energy competition. Support from superiors, employee interest and motivation and behaviour change as assessed by energy team members show a positive, if weak or moderate, correlation with changes in electricity consumption, but not with changes in heat consumption.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony CW Lo ◽  
Phil Jones ◽  
Francis WH Yik

In this paper, a hypothetical district representing the typical urban districts in Hong Kong was considered and a district cooling system model was designed for this district. Mathematical models were tailor-designed for all the major district cooling system equipment to simulate the effects of changing the pumping station’s configuration on the energy performance of the district cooling system. The measures included the use of multiple pumping stations and an unequal number of pumps in each station. In view of the vast number of pumping station combinations possible for analysis, a hydraulic gradient evaluation method was adopted to assist a quick assessment and exploration of those combinations that would be technically feasible. Furthermore, the energy performance of all these technically feasible combinations was evaluated to identify an optimum design that would lead to the lowest electricity consumption. Practical application: In a district cooling system where there is only one main pumping station for distributing chilled water to all the buildings in the district, the chilled water flow rate and pressure head are very high. Adding booster pumping stations can help to reduce pressure head, pump size and hence power demand of the main pumping station. In this paper, the effects of different pumping station configurations on the energy performance of a district cooling system were investigated. The configuration that could mitigate the impacts of a low delta-T on the energy performance of the district cooling system was also identified.


2022 ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
MARYNA SHOVKALIUK ◽  
ROMAN VASHCHYSHYN

There are many approaches to assessing the energy performance of buildings. In Ukraine, previously, when developing the energy passport of buildings, a method based on stationary calculations using degree-days of the heating period was used. Then, for the tasks of energy certification of buildings, a national calculation method based on the monthly quasi-stationary method was introduced. The simplified hourly method of calculation allows to consider thermal inertia of protections. In recent years, the methods of dynamic energy modeling using software packages have become increasingly relevant, because it allows at the preliminary design stage to estimate energy costs for different building needs before and after the implementation of energy efficiency projects and provides the ability to create 3D models based on geometric and thermal parameters, tasks of different configurations and types of engineering systems of the building. To build an energy model, a training building was chosen to determine energy consumption indicators and identify measures that have the greatest impact on the energy performance of the building.Purpose. Evaluation of energy characteristics of the educational building of a higher education institution with modeling of energy consumption in specialized software, technical and economic evaluation of opportunities to increase energy efficiency.Research methods. Energy inspection of the object of research and technical and economic analysis with the use of engineering methods of calculation, experimental measurements of the parameters of the microclimate of the building with the use of laboratory equipment were performed. Simulations are used in specialized software products RETScreen, EnergyPlus, DesignBuilder.Result. With the help of the developed models the structure of energy consumption of the educational building is obtained and the assessment of energy saving potential is carried out; in case of implementation of the proposed measures it is expected to reduce the consumption of energy resources and monetary costs for their payment, as well as improve the quality of educational services. The research was conducted as part of a master's thesis.Scientific novelty. The technical potential of this software for modeling the energy performance of a building of complex configuration on the example of the educational building of the educational institution, analyzed the methods of processing initial data for programs, comparative analysis of calculation results for the actual condition of the building, baseline and after implementing energy saving measures.Practical significance. As a result of the research, the potential of using different software packages to perform applied research of the master's dissertation was determined and a project of complex thermal modernization of the building of the educational building was developed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 71-78 ◽  
pp. 1973-1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Pei Sung ◽  
Tzai Tang Tsai ◽  
Hsien Jung Wang ◽  
Ming Der Chen

The main objective of this on-site study is to use a full-scale HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning) system installed in an office building in Taiwan for comparing the power consumption, energy-saving, and CO2reduction by variable primary flow (VPF) chilled water systems for controlling the HVAC. The on-site experimental results indicate that average power consumptions are 44,935 kWh for the constant volume (CV) chilled water systems, and 39,025 kWh for the VPF system. Approximately 19% of the maximum energy-saving rate can be achieved if the HVAC system is operated as a VPF system. Additionally, the reduced quantity of accumulated CO2emission varies from 0 to 44,186 kg with 0.623 kg-CO2kwh-1emission factor during the office hours of 08:00 (a.m.) to 20:00 (p.m.). The results demonstrate that switching the operation of an office building HVAC system from CV to VPF will significantly enhance energy savings and CO2reduction. This study is will offer useful information for evaluating an indoor environmental policy with respect to energy savings and CO2emission reduction for office HVACs used in subtropical regions.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3608
Author(s):  
Yang Yuan ◽  
Neng Zhu ◽  
Haizhu Zhou ◽  
Hai Wang

To enhance the energy performance of a central air-conditioning system, an effective control method for the chilled water system is always essential. However, it is a real challenge to distribute exact cooling energy to multiple terminal units in different floors via a complex chilled water network. To mitigate hydraulic imbalance in a complex chilled water system, many throttle valves and variable-speed pumps are installed, which are usually regulated by PID-based controllers. Due to the severe hydraulic coupling among the valves and pumps, the hydraulic oscillation phenomena often occur while using those feedback-based controllers. Based on a data-calibrated water distribution model which can accurately predict the hydraulic behaviors of a chilled water system, a new Model Predictive Control (MPC) method is proposed in this study. The proposed method is validated by a real-life chilled water system in a 22-floor hotel. By the proposed method, the valves and pumps can be regulated safely without any hydraulic oscillations. Simultaneously, the hydraulic imbalance among different floors is also eliminated, which can save 23.3% electricity consumption of the pumps.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1056 ◽  
pp. 128-130
Author(s):  
Fu Yun Yang

Doors and windows of the building is an important part of the building envelope. AS the transparent and open envelope of the building, doors and windowsare the weakest part in the winter and summer heat preservation. It directly affects the energy performance of buildings. Therefore, do a good job of building doors and windows energy saving is an important way to optimize the indoor environment and realize energy saving.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariangela De Vita ◽  
Paolo Beccarelli ◽  
Eleonora Laurini ◽  
Pierluigi De Berardinis

The aim of this research, carried out in collaboration with Maco Technology Inc., was to analyse the energy performance of temporary textile structures that are often used to host itinerant events. This paper illustrates the dynamic simulations carried on the Ducati Pavilion, designed by Maco Technology, which hosted Ducati staff during the different stages of the Superbike World Championship. Specific aspects relating to the structural/constructive system of the project were also analysed. The theme of energy saving and carbon reduction is of great importance in temporary and itinerant structures and environmental sustainability in relation to the materials used, storage, re-use, mode of transport and ability to respond efficiently to the climatic conditions of the installation sites is an important aspect. The Ducati Pavilion was modelled and analysed from an energy point of view using Design Builder software. Ways of improving performance were analysed under summer conditions. The paper focuses on the importance of optimizing the performance of textile envelopes: the methodology proposed allows visible savings in terms of energy consumption and achieves good levels of environmental comfort in temporary buildings with low thermal mass structure.


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