How the commitment to disclose in-use performance can transform energy outcomes for new buildings

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 711-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Cohen ◽  
Barry Austin ◽  
Paul Bannister ◽  
Bill Bordass ◽  
Roderic Bunn
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Technology Improvement ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Performance Target

The paper describes the transformation that has taken place over the last 15 years in the energy efficiency of new office buildings constructed in Australia and considers if and how the UK could follow suit. The success in Australia has been greatest for the ‘base building’: the energy performance of the HVAC services in tenanted spaces and of all end uses in the common parts. It embraces a ‘ design for performance’ culture, supported by the NABERS ‘Commitment Agreement’, where developers and their teams sign up to an in-use performance target. The process is underpinned by advanced simulation, strategic sub-metering and fine-tuning post occupation to help eliminate wasteful deviations. The paper considers the opportunity for the UK to introduce a Commitment Agreement process for new office buildings, integrated with the Soft Landings Framework. It is argued that from a technical perspective base building energy performance in new UK offices could be as good as it is in Australia. However, there are non-technical drivers missing in the UK. To compete with their Australian peers, the UK property and construction industries need a base building energy measurement and rating system, creating the ability to set a performance target and disclose the outcome. Practical application: Design for performance uses a much more realistic building simulation model at the design stage. Although this requires a lot more inputs (details of the building’s proposed chillers, AHUs, ducts and valves, etc. and their controls), it enables the designers to capitalise from computer-aided-design to improve energy efficiency. This process deploys the technology improvement template by which much of the modern world has progressed so fast, and enables innovation to flourish. The more advanced HVAC model can predict target energy budgets for each sub-system (boilers, chillers, fans, pumps, etc.) against which the actual energy used, as measured with sub-meters, can be compared to inform fine tuning during early operation. Although a model’s predictions can be considered the ideal energy performance of the as-built system, there’s an expectation that the base building’s real performance should turn out to be within around 10% of that anticipated from the modelling.

scholarly journals Influence of User Behavior on Energy Consumption and Its Relation With Comfort. A Case Study Based on Sensor and Crowd-Sensed Data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Rusek ◽  
Joaquim Melendez Frigola ◽  
Joan Colomer Llinas
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Crowd Sensing

Abstract BackgroundIn recent years monitoring of user behavior became an imperative for building energy optimization. Very often there is a significant discrepancy between predicted building energy performance at the design stage and the actual one rendered during the building operation. This stems from the difference in users’ behavior. In spite of that, users’ interaction and feedback is rarely taken into account and evidence of the impact of occupants’ behavior on energy consumption is still scarce. Thus, the purpose of this study is to apply crowd-sensing techniques to understand how energy is consumed, define appropriate performance indicators, and provide inputs for building operations on more efficient use of resources.MethodsMonitoring strategies were implemented in an office lab with controlled variables to collect quality data on occupancy patterns, ambient factors and energy consumption. In addition, crowd-sensing techniques were applied to model user behavior at different ambient conditions over time and to contrast this behavior with energy consumption patterns combined with new inquiry tools to identify how occupants perceive their comfort level. Also, a set of energy efficiency indicators was used to compare energy performance in different periods. ResultsIt was found out, that there is a strong relation between users’ behavior and energy consumption, however, more than 50% of energy was consumed when no users’ activity was registered. Energy performance indicators revealed that measuring energy efficiency in terms of kWh per surface area encourages less efficient use of space and therefore including coefficient of person hours is advised. It was also found out that users do not relay fully on feedback mechanism and they rather prefer to take an action to adapt the ambient conditions instead of simply expressing their opinion. Analysis of energy usage during the covid-19 lock down revealed substantial use of energy unlike it was expected. It was because home computers were used only as terminals, while the actual tasks were performed on the lab computers with remote desktop connection turned on 24/7. In addition, energy consumed by each employee at their home has to be taken into account. Moreover, a set of practical recommendations was formulated.

Investigation of Façade Contribution in Energy Efficiency of a Low Rise Office Building in Mediterranean Climate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagham Yahya ◽  
◽  
Rania Al-Ali ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Building Facade ◽  
The Mediterranean

The way that buildings are designed and constructed today has a negative impact on building energy consumption. Facade components are essential in determining the building energy demand during the operational phase. This paper aims to investigate what role the building façade plays in improving the energy efficiency of a low rise office buildings in a Mediterranean climate. Verification of the façade energy performance for one of the Eastern Mediterranean University buildings in Northern Cyprus, namely Rector’s Office Building is the second phase of the study. To conduct the present study, a literature review is used, as well as, an analyze for a group of contemporary low rise office buildings with LEED certification from the Mediterranean climatic zone is achieved to attain the investigation and to set the verification checklist. The study has established the important role that building facade can play to reduce the annual building demand for energy in the Mediterranean low rise office buildings through a set of strategies. Different techniques were used to apply these strategies. According to the verification, the study revealed an attempt to achieve an energy efficient building through the façade design by using specific techniques. Some suggestions have been recommended in order to improve the facade energy performance for this type of buildings.

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 Impact of Window to Wall Ratio on Energy Loads in Hot Regions: A Study of Building Energy Performance

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1080
Author(s):  
Mamdooh Alwetaishi ◽  
Omrane Benjeddou
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Heating And Cooling

The concern regarding local responsive building design has gained more attention globally as of late. This is due to the issue of the rapid increase in energy consumption in buildings for the purpose of heating and cooling. This has become a crucial issue in educational buildings and especially in schools. The major issue in school buildings in Saudi Arabia is that they are a form of prototype school building design (PSBD). As a result, if there is any concern in the design stage and in relation to the selection of building materials, this will spread throughout the region. In addition to that, the design is repeated regardless of the climate variation within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This research will focus on the influence of the window to wall ratio on the energy load in various orientations and different climatic regions. The research will use the energy computer tool TAS Environmental Design Solution Limited (EDSL) to calculate the energy load as well as solar gain. During the visit to the sample schools, a globe thermometer will be used to monitor the globe temperature in the classrooms. This research introduces a framework to assist architects and engineers in selecting the proper window to wall ratio (WWR) in each direction within the same building based on adequate natural light with a minimum reliance on energy load. For ultimate WWR for energy performance and daylight, the WWR should range from 20% to 30%, depending on orientation, in order to provide the optimal daylight factor combined with building energy efficiency. This ratio can be slightly greater in higher altitude locations.

Net zero carbon: Energy performance targets for offices

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-369
Author(s):  
Robert Cohen ◽  
Karl Desai ◽  
Jennifer Elias ◽  
Richard Twinn
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Minimum Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Extensive Consultation ◽  
Operational Energy ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
The Uk

The UKGBC Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework was published in April 2019 following an industry task group and extensive consultation process. The framework acts as guidance for achieving net zero carbon for operational energy and construction emissions, with a whole life carbon approach to be developed in the future. In consultation with industry, further detail and stricter requirements are being developed over time. In October 2019, proposals were set out for industry consultation on minimum energy efficiency targets for new and existing commercial office buildings seeking to achieve net zero carbon status for operational energy today, based on the performance levels that all buildings will be required to achieve by 2050. This was complemented by modelling work undertaken by the LETI network looking into net zero carbon requirements for new buildings. In January 2020 UKGBC published its guidance on the levels of energy performance that offices should target to achieve net zero and a trajectory for getting there by 2035. This paper describes the methodology behind and industry perspectives on UKGBC’s proposals which aim to predict the reduction in building energy intensity required if the UK’s economy is to be fully-powered by zero carbon energy in 2050. Practical application: Many developers and investors seeking to procure new commercial offices or undertake major refurbishments of existing offices are engaging with the ‘net zero carbon’ agenda, now intrinsic to the legislative framework for economic activity in the UK. A UKGBC initiative effectively filled a vacuum by defining a set of requirements including energy efficiency thresholds for commercial offices in the UK to be considered ‘net zero carbon’. This paper provides all stakeholders with a detailed justification for the level of these thresholds and what might be done to achieve them. A worked example details one possible solution for a new office.

scholarly journals Integrating GIS-Based Point of Interest and Community Boundary Datasets for Urban Building Energy Modeling

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1049
Author(s):  
Zhang Deng ◽  
Yixing Chen ◽  
Xiao Pan ◽  
Zhiwen Peng ◽  
Jingjing Yang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Energy Modeling ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Building Energy Modeling ◽  
Downtown Area ◽  
Point Of Interest

Urban building energy modeling (UBEM) is arousing interest in building energy modeling, which requires a large building dataset as an input. Building use is a critical parameter to infer archetype buildings for UBEM. This paper presented a case study to determine building use for city-scale buildings by integrating the Geographic Information System (GIS) based point-of-interest (POI) and community boundary datasets. A total of 68,966 building footprints, 281,767 POI data, and 3367 community boundaries were collected for Changsha, China. The primary building use was determined when a building was inside a community boundary (i.e., hospital or residential boundary) or the building contained POI data with main attributes (i.e., hotel or office building). Clustering analysis was used to divide buildings into sub-types for better energy performance evaluation. The method successfully identified building uses for 47,428 buildings among 68,966 building footprints, including 34,401 residential buildings, 1039 office buildings, 141 shopping malls, and 932 hotels. A validation process was carried out for 7895 buildings in the downtown area, which showed an overall accuracy rate of 86%. A UBEM case study for 243 office buildings in the downtown area was developed with the information identified from the POI and community boundary datasets. The proposed building use determination method can be easily applied to other cities. We will integrate the historical aerial imagery to determine the year of construction for a large scale of buildings in the future.

The Use of BIM Technology in Analyzing Building Energy and EconomicFeasibility of Solar Panel

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammadiya Rifqi ◽  
Heni Fitriani ◽  
Puteri Kusuma Wardhani
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Building Information

Buildings contribute more than 40% of world energy consumption, so it is feared that it will cause energy problems in thefuture, especially in the construction sector. One solution to reducing this problem is by analyzing energy use at the initialdesign stage and utilizing solar energy as one of the solar power plants (PLTS) in office buildings. To analyze the use ofenergy in buildings, Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used. The purpose of this research is to analyze the annualenergy level of office buildings in Palembang using BIM software, namely Autodesk Revit. The number of solar panels aswell as the amount of energy were also identified using web-based software (HelioScope) resulting the economic feasibilityas indicated by the installation of solar panels as a component of PV mini-grid. The results showed that the use of BIMtechnology in analyzing building energy can provide a detailed description of the building model at the design stage. Revitanalysis indicates that the building consumed electrical energy per year for about 3,647,713 kWh with a roof area of 1,657m2. In addition, based on the HelioScope analysis, the use of renewable energy from the installation of PLTS was 152,900kWh/year. Meanwhile, for economic feasibility analysis, the installation of PLTS in office buildings can provide a positive NetPresent Value (NPV), indicating a feasible project.

scholarly journals Application of Urban Scale Energy Modelling and Multi-Objective Optimization Techniques for Building Energy Renovation at District Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11554
Author(s):  
Fahad Haneef ◽  
Giovanni Pernigotto ◽  
Andrea Gasparella ◽  
Jérôme Henri Kämpf
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Efficiency Measures ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Efficiency Measures

Nearly-zero energy buildings are now a standard for new constructions. However, the real challenge for a decarbonized society relies in the renovation of the existing building stock, selecting energy efficiency measures considering not only the energy performance but also the economic and sustainability ones. Even if the literature is full of examples coupling building energy simulation with multi-objective optimization for the identification of the best measures, the adoption of such approaches is still limited for district and urban scale simulation, often because of lack of complete data inputs and high computational requirements. In this research, a new methodology is proposed, combining the detailed geometric characterization of urban simulation tools with the simplification provided by “building archetype” modeling, in order to ensure the development of robust models for the multi-objective optimization of retrofit interventions at district scale. Using CitySim as an urban scale energy modeling tool, a residential district built in the 1990s in Bolzano, Italy, was studied. Different sets of renovation measures for the building envelope and three objectives —i.e., energy, economic and sustainability performances, were compared. Despite energy savings from 29 to 46%, energy efficiency measures applied just to the building envelope were found insufficient to meet the carbon neutrality goals without interventions to the system, in particular considering mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Furthermore, public subsidization has been revealed to be necessary, since none of the proposed measures is able to pay back the initial investment for this case study.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY RETROFITTING IN MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-136
Author(s):  
Chaitali Basu ◽  
Virendra Kumar Paul ◽  
M.G. Matt Syal
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
A Priority

The energy performance of an existing building is the amount of energy consumed to meet various needs associated with the standardized use of a building and is reflected in one or more indicators known as Building Energy Performance Indicators (EnPIs). These indicators are distributed amongst six main factors influencing energy consumption: climate, building envelope, building services and energy systems, building operation and maintenance, occupants' activities and behaviour, and indoor environmental quality. Any improvement made to either the existing structure or the physical and operational upgrade of a building system that enhances energy performance is considered an energy efficiency retrofit. The main goal of this research is to support the implementation of multifamily residential building energy retrofits through expert knowledge consensus on EnPIs for energy efficiency retrofit planning. The research methodology consists of a comprehensive literature review which has identified 35 EnPIs for assessing performance of existing residential buildings, followed by a ranking questionnaire survey of experts in the built-environment to arrive at a priority listing of indicators based on mean rank. This was followed by concordance analysis and measure of standard deviation. A total of 280 experts were contacted globally for the survey, and 106 completed responses were received resulting in a 37.85% response rate. The respondents were divided into two groups for analysis: academician/researchers and industry practitioners. The primary outcome of the research is a priority listing of EnPIs based on the quantitative data from the knowledge-base of experts from these two groups. It is the outcome of their perceptions of retrofitting factors and corresponding indicators. A retrofit strategy consists of five phases for retrofitting planning in which the second phase comprises an energy audit and performance assessment and diagnostics. This research substantiates the performance assessment process through the identification of EnPIs.

scholarly journals A Study on Energy and Cost Efficiency for Existing Hotel Buildings in Turkey

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03037
Author(s):  
Merve Atmaca ◽  
Zerrin Yýlmaz
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
Global Cost ◽  
Optimum Solution

In Turkey, according to TUİK Sectoral Energy Consumption Statistics (2006), the hotel buildings with the highest share, constitute 35% of the total building energy consumption. Energy needs and consumption behaviours differ according to the typology of the building. Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) has been adapted to the conditions of Turkey to increase energy and cost efficiency, to reduce the environmental and economic negative effects. The energy consumption and the global cost were investigated under different conditions in an existing hotel building. The paper is unique in its ability to deliver optimum solution through comparison by evaluating energy and cost efficiency at the same time considering sectoral, climatic, technological and economic national conditions when the literature research detailed in the present works about the problem is evaluated in detail. All findings have been compared simultaneously under different climate regions of seasonal and yearly working conditions of selected test hotel to obtain the energy and cost efficiency. Among the proposed improvement scenarios, the optimum scenario is determined in terms of cost and energy efficiency in S18 which has the highest energy efficiency. In this case, both insulation material type and thickness as well as glass type can be bent and through multiple measures can be achieved by 25.7% improvement for energy efficiency.

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