Office of the Future: Advanced Lighting Control Strategies

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian James ◽  
Paul Delaney ◽  
Doug Avery
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Lighting Design ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Open Area ◽  
Pilot Projects ◽  
Office Space ◽  
The Future ◽  
Lighting Systems

The Office of the Future (OTF) program is a new energy efficiency approach supported by a consortium of some of the nation’s largest and most progressive energy utilities. OTF targets existing multi-tenant commercial office buildings with packages of advanced energy efficiency strategies that can be applied at the tenant level for building owners. The overall goal is to assemble technical guidelines to office renovation projects that specify performance requirements for different attributes of the office (lighting, plug loads, etc.) and whole building that result in 25% and 50% savings better than code. Three pilot projects were conducted: 1. Executive office space 2. Open area office space 3. Office space with five private offices, a conference room, lobby, kitchen, and corridor The executive offices provided an opportunity to measure energy use in a 1,360 square-meters (m2) office and to undertake a relighting project that met the architectural, aesthetic, and functional demands of the space while employing current energy-efficient products and design techniques. The open area office space consisted of 745 m2 of primarily cubicle office space — half of the 12th floor of a federal building in Santa Monica, CA. The project was highly representative of the challenges and complications faced in retrofit projects in everyday office buildings. The office space with private offices involved renovating the lighting and lighting controls in a 147 m2 office space in the 41,156 m2 building, and summarized the performance of the lighting design in accordance with the OTF Technical Guidelines. In addition, this project included details regarding the pre- and post-lighting systems and controls, compares the actual metered power and energy performance of the 2008 Title 24 code baseline, presents the code calculation basis, and reveals some of the complexities associated with this approach. These pilot projects had three primary goals: 1) examine the performance characteristics of highly-controlled lighting systems in a real office environment compared to existing lighting and applicable codes, 2) monitor plug load energy use, and 3) provide measured and technical data back to OTF consortium members to inform the OTF process. The measured results of the open area office space project revealed that a high-performance lighting design with controls delivers savings considerably beyond code-calculated estimates. In fact, results show that during daytime occupied hours, the average site usage is 43% less power than code calculations. The new system reduced the connected load by 56%. Similar results were found for the other two pilot projects.

scholarly journals ENERGY RETROFITS FOR IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS: A REVIEW OF HVAC AND LIGHTING SYSTEMS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Amjath ◽  
◽  
H. Chandanie ◽  
S.D.I.A. Amarasinghe ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Energy Auditing ◽  
Lighting Systems ◽  
Effective Decision Making ◽  
And Performance

It has been observed that inefficient buildings consume three to five times more energy than efficient buildings. Subsequently, improving the Energy Efficiency (EE) of existing buildings, which account for a significant portion of the energy consumption of the building sector, has become a top priority. Also, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and lighting systems typically account for three-quarters of a building's energy consumption. Hence, focus on the energy efficiency improvements associated with these subsystems is entailed to optimise the energy use of buildings in comparison to other energy consumers. Energy Retrofit (ER) is defined as the main approach in improving the energy efficiency of buildings to achieve energy reduction goals. Nevertheless, there is a general lack of awareness regarding ER. Thus, the purpose of this article is to bridge this research gap by critically reviewing the applicable literature on ER. The paper first analysed the role of retrofits in buildings concerning optimising energy performance. The paper also discusses the implementation process of ER, which includes five steps viz. pre-retrofit survey, energy auditing, and performance assessment, identification of suitable and feasible retrofit options, site implementation and commissioning, and validation and verification. Further, different types of ER applicable to HVAC and lighting systems are discussed. In their endeavor to enhance the EE of existing buildings, practitioners could apply the findings of this study, as a basis to understand the available ER types and as a measure to gauge the efficiency of existing buildings, which will facilitate effective decision-making.

Design Optimization of Energy Efficient Office Buildings in Tunisia

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pyeongchan Ihm ◽  
Moncef Krarti
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Optimization Approach ◽  
Heating And Cooling

Optimal and cost-effective energy efficiency design and operation options are evaluated for office buildings in Tunisia. In the analysis, several design and operation features are considered including orientation, window location and size, high performance glazing types, wall and roof insulation levels, energy efficient lighting systems, daylighting controls, temperature settings, and energy efficient heating and cooling systems. First, the results of the optimization results from a sequential search technique are compared against those obtained by a more time consuming brute-force optimization approach. Then, the optimal design features for a prototypical office building are determined for selected locations in Tunisia. The optimization results indicate that utilizing daylighting controls, energy efficient lighting fixtures, and low-e double glazing, and roof insulation are required energy efficiency measures to design high energy performance office buildings throughout climatic zones in Tunisia. In particular, it is found that implementing these measures can cost-effectively reduce the annual energy use by 50% compared to the current design practices of office buildings in Tunisia.

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.

A method for energy efficiency assessment during urban energy planning

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Regina de Casas Castro Marins
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Urban Morphology ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Energy Planning ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Urban Energy

Purpose – Energy use in urban areas has turned a subject of local and worldwide interest over the last few years, especially emphasized by the correlated greenhouse gases emissions. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the overall energy efficiency potential and emissions resulting from integrated solutions in urban energy planning, in the scale of districts and neighbourhoods in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is based on the description and the application of a method to analyse energy performance of urban areas and support their planning. It is a quantitative bottom-up method and involves urban morphology, urban mobility, buildings and energy supply systems. Procedures are applied to the case study of Agua Branca urban development area, located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Findings – In the case of Agua Branca area, energy efficiency measures in buildings have shown to be very important mostly for the buildings economies themselves. For the area as a whole, strategies in promoting public transport are more effective in terms of energy efficiency and also to decrease pollutant emissions. Originality/value – Literature review has shown there is a lack of approaches and procedures able to support urban energy planning at a community scale. The bottom-up method presented in this paper integrates a plenty of disaggregated and multisectoral parameters at the same stage in urban planning and shows that is possible to identify the most promising actions by building overall performance indexes.

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.

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

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3804 ◽  
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.

A step towards the optimization of the indoor luminous environment by genetic algorithms

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 590-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Mattoni ◽  
P. Gori ◽  
F. Bisegna
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Genetic Algorithms ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Lighting Design ◽  
Luminous Flux ◽  
Light Sources ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Indoor Lighting ◽  
Optimal Configurations

Buildings are heavily responsible for energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Increasing their energy efficiency is in the direction of the EU strategies; and this is consistent with EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD 2010/31/EU), 2010. In this view the design and management of daylight and artificial light can play a fundamental role. In this paper, a method to optimize indoor lighting design from energy efficiency, economic and environmental viewpoints is presented. The optimization was developed through the Genetic Algorithms technique and the optimal layout in terms of number, location and mounting heights of luminaires in a generic office room was evaluated. Solutions with different types of light sources, nominal luminous flux and photometric distribution curves were compared and the cost effectiveness of these alternatives was also considered. The systems resulting from the optimization show increased uniformity of illuminance, a reduction of the number of luminaires and a decrease of the maximum UGR values, proving the effectiveness of the technique in the lighting design field. Results show that current methods for lighting design can still be improved to achieve optimal configurations in terms of energy efficiency and cost effectiveness.

scholarly journals Energy and economic analysis of environmental upgrading of existing office buildings

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinh Manh Nguyen ◽  
Grace Ding ◽  
Göran Runeson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
Motion Sensors ◽  
Improve Energy Efficiency ◽  
Mandatory Requirement

Over many decades, buildings have been recognised as a significant area contributing to the negative impacts on the environment over their lifecycle, accelerating climate change. In return, climate change also impacts on buildings with extreme heatwaves occurring more frequently and raising the earth’s temperature. The operation phase is the most extended period over a building’s lifespan. In this period, office buildings consume most energy and emit the highest amount of greenhouse gas pollution into the environment. Building upgrading to improve energy efficiency seems to be the best way to cut pollution as the existing building stock is massive. The paper presents an economic analysis of energy efficiency upgrade of buildings with a focus of office buildings. The paper identifies upgrading activities that are commonly undertaken to upgrade energy efficiency of office buildings and a case study of three office buildings in Sydney, Australia has been used to analyse the results. The upgrading activities can improve the energy performance of the case study buildings from 3 stars to 5 stars NABERS energy rating in compliance with the mandatory requirement in the Australian government’s energy policy. With the potential increase in energy price, energy efficiency upgrading will become more affordable, but currently, most of them, except solar panels and motion sensors show a negative return and would not be undertaken if they did not also contribute to higher rental income and an increased life span of the building. The upgrading discussed in the paper represent a potentially attractive alternative to demolition and building anew.

scholarly journals Achieving a More Sustainable and Fair Society: How Individual and Collective Action Shape the Energy Efficiency of Buildings / Conseguindo uma Sociedade Mais Sustentável e Justa: Como a Ação Individual e Coletiva Molda a Eficiência Energética dos Edifícios

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Parejo-Navajas
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Energy Performance Of Buildings ◽  
Use Behavior ◽  
Development Objective

AbstractThe behavior of occupants in buildings has an enormous impact on their energy consumption. Despite the efforts to improve the energy efficiency in buildings, there are still many barriers that need to be overcome. Behavior change measures -to improve the energy performance of buildings- are focused on both, the design and the use and operation of buildings. If we are really committed to achieving the sustainable development objective to improve our society’s well-being, special attention should be put into energy use behavior as it has been proven to be an effective way for improvement. ResumoO comportamento dos ocupantes em edifícios tem um enorme impacto no seu consumo de energia. Apesar dos esforços para melhorar a eficiência energética nos edifícios, ainda há muitas barreiras que precisam ser superadas. Medidas de mudança de condutas - para melhorar o desempenho energético dos edifícios - são focadas tanto no design como na utilização e operação de edifícios. Se estamos realmente empenhados em alcançar o objetivo de desenvolvimento sustentável para melhorar o bem-estar da nossa sociedade, uma atenção particular deve ser proporcionada em relação as condutas que influem no uso cotidiano de energia, uma vez que se provou ser um meio eficaz de progresso.

Evaluation of Cooling, Heating, and Power (CHP) Systems Based on Building Energy-Rating

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Fumo ◽  
P. J. Mago ◽  
L. M. Chamra
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Energy Star ◽  
Star Rating ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings

Cooling, Heating and Power (CHP) systems are a form of distributed generation that uses internal combustion prime-power engines to generate electricity while recovering heat for other uses. CHP is a promising technology for increasing energy efficiency through the use of distributed electric and thermal energy recovery-delivery systems at or near end-user sites. Although this technology seems to be economically feasible, the evaluation and comparison of CHP systems cannot be restricted to economical considerations only. Standard economic analysis, such as life cycle economic analysis, does not take in consideration all the benefits that can be obtained from this technology. For this reason, several aspects to perform a non-conventional evaluation of CHP systems have to be considered. Among the aspects to be included in a non-conventional evaluation are: power reliability, power quality, environmental quality, energy-efficient buildings, fuel source flexibility, brand and marketing benefits, protection from electric rate hikes, and benefits from promoting energy management practices. Some benefits of these non-economical evaluations can be transferred into an economic evaluation but others give intangible potential to the technology. This paper focus on a non-conventional evaluation based on energy-efficient buildings, which is associated to energy conservation and improvement of the building energy performance rating for government energy programs like Energy Star and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Results show that the use of CHP systems could improve the Energy Star Rating in more than 50 points. The Energy Star Rating is significant on the LEED Rating as a building can score up to 10 points of the 23 available in the Energy & Atmosphere category on energy efficiency alone. As much as 8 points can be obtained in this category due to the Energy Star rating increment from the use of CHP systems. Clearly the use of CHP systems will help building owners to reach the benefits from these energy programs while improving the overall energy use and energy cost.

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