scholarly journals Analyzing the Performance and Control of a Hydronic Pavement System in a District Heating Network

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 2078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Blomqvist ◽  
Shahnaz Amiri ◽  
Patrik Rohdin ◽  
Louise Ödlund

A hydronic pavement system (HPS) is an alternative method to clear snow and ice, which avoids the use of salt, sand, and fossil fuel in conventional snow clearance, and minimizes the risk of accidents. The aim is to analyze the performance of different control strategies for a 35,000 m2 HPS utilizing heat from a district heating and cooling (DHC) system. The key performance indicators are (1) energy performance of the HPS, and (2) primary energy use, (3) electricity production and (4) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the DHC system. The methodology uses a simulation model of the HPS and an optimization model of the DHC system. Three operational strategies are analyzed: A reference scenario based on the current control strategy, and scenarios where the HPS is shut down at temperatures below −10 °C and −5 °C. The study shows that the DHC return temperature is suitable for use. By operational strategies, use during peak demand in the DHC system can be avoided, resulting in reduced use of fossil fuel. Moreover, the energy use of the HPS could be reduced by 10% and the local GHG emissions by 25%. The study emphasizes that the HPS may have positive effects on global GHG emissions, as it enables electricity production from renewable resources.

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia MIRABELLA ◽  
Martin RÖCK ◽  
Marcella Ruschi Mendes SAADE ◽  
Carolin SPIRINCKX ◽  
Marc BOSMANS ◽  
...  

Globally, the building sector is responsible for more than 40% of energy use and it contributes approximately 30% of the global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This high contribution stimulates research and policies to reduce the operational energy use and related GHG emissions of buildings. However, the environmental impacts of buildings can extend wide beyond the operational phase, and the portion of impacts related to the embodied energy of the building becomes relatively more important in low energy buildings. Therefore, the goal of the research is gaining insights into the environmental impacts of various building strategies for energy efficiency requirements compared to the life cycle environmental impacts of the whole building. The goal is to detect and investigate existing trade-offs in current approaches and solutions proposed by the research community. A literature review is driven by six fundamental and specific research questions (RQs), and performed based on two main tasks: (i) selection of literature studies, and (ii) critical analysis of the selected studies in line with the RQs. A final sample of 59 papers and 178 case studies has been collected, and key criteria are systematically analysed in a matrix. The study reveals that the high heterogeneity of the case studies makes it difficult to compare these in a straightforward way, but it allows to provide an overview of current methodological challenges and research gaps. Furthermore, the most complete studies provide valuable insights in the environmental benefits of the identified energy performance strategies over the building life cycle, but also shows the risk of burden shifting if only operational energy use is focused on, or when a limited number of environmental impact categories are assessed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deva Siva Veylan

Detached accessory dwelling units are a building typology that, when built to passive design standards, can help reduce GHG emissions while addressing the socioeconomic pressures facing many housing markets. Energy performance metrics like those used in passive design standards are based on per unit of floor area and lead to a size-bias against smaller housing typologies. A life cycle assessment of cost-optimal passive house sizes ranging from 230 m² (2,500 ft²) to 30 m² (300 ft²) is performed to understand their total life cycle energy use and GHG emissions implications. Additionally, an analysis using BEopt examines operational energy use for 10 cost-optimal passive house sizes ranging from 230 m² (2,500 ft²) to 30 m² (300 ft²) across all 17 climate zones and examines how cost-optimal passive design changes with house size. The results show that per-occupant energy use and GHG emissions are similar or better for small house sizes and that cost-optimal passive design does not change significantly with house size.


2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 06009
Author(s):  
Tymofii Tereshchenko, ◽  
Dmytro Ivanko ◽  
Natasa Nord ◽  
Igor Sartori

Widespread introduction of low energy buildings (LEBs), passive houses, and zero emission buildings (ZEBs) are national target in Norway. In order to achieve better energy performance in these types of buildings and successfully integrate them in energy system, reliable planning and prediction techniques for heat energy use are required. However, the issue of energy planning in LEBs currently remains challenging for district heating companies. This article proposed an improved methodology for planning and analysis of domestic hot water and heating energy use in LEBs based on energy signature method. The methodology was tested on a passive school in Oslo, Norway. In order to divide energy signature curve on temperature dependent and independent parts, it was proposed to use piecewise regression. Each of these parts were analyzed separately. The problem of dealing with outliers and selection of the factors that had impact of energy was considered. For temperature dependent part, the different methods of modelling were compared by statistical criteria. The investigation showed that linear multiple regression model resulted in better accuracy in the prediction than SVM, PLS, and LASSO models. In order to explain temperature independent part of energy signature the hourly profiles of energy use were developed.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4954
Author(s):  
Mohammad AlHashmi ◽  
Gyan Chhipi-Shrestha ◽  
Kh Md. Nahiduzzaman ◽  
Kasun Hewage ◽  
Rehan Sadiq

Rapid population growth has led to significant demand for residential buildings around the world. Consequently, there is a growing energy demand associated with increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The residential building energy demand in arid countries such as Saudi Arabia is supplied with fossil fuel. The existing consumption pattern of fossil fuels in Saudi Arabia is less sustainable due to the depletion of fossil fuel resources and resulting environmental impacts. Buildings built in hot and arid climatic conditions demand high energy for creating habitable indoor environments. Enormous energy is required to maintain a cool temperature in hot regions. Moreover, climate change may have different impacts on hot climatic regions and affect building energy use differently. This means that different building interventions may be required to improve the performance of building energy performance in these geographical regions, thereby reducing the emissions of GHGs. In this study, this framework has been applied to Saudi Arabia, a hot and arid country. This research proposes a community–government partnership framework for developing low-carbon energy in residential buildings. This study focuses on both the operational energy demand and a cost-benefit analysis of energy use in the selected geographical regions for the next 30 years (i.e., 2050). The proposed framework primarily consists of four stages: (1) data collection on energy use (2020 to 2050); (2) setting a GHG emissions reduction target; (3) a building intervention approach by the community by considering cost, energy, and GHG emissions using the Technique for Order of Performance by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to select the best combinations in each geographical region conducting 180 simulations; and (4) a clean energy approach by the government using grey relational analysis (GRA) to select the best clean energy system on the grid. The clean energy approach selected six different renewable power generation systems (i.e., PV array, wind turbine, hybrid system) with two storage systems (i.e., battery bank and a combination of electrolyte, fuel cell, and hydrogen tank storage). This approach is designed to identify the best clean energy systems in five geographical regions with thirty scenario analyses to define renewable energy-economy benefits. This framework informs through many engineering tools such as residential building energy analysis, renewable energy analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques, and cost-benefit analysis. Integration between these engineering tools with the set of energy policies and public initiatives is designed to achieve further directives in the effort to reach greater efficiency while downsizing residential energy demands. The results of this paper propose that a certain level of cooperation is required between the community and the government in terms of financial investments and the best combinations of retrofits and clean energy measures. Thus, retrofits and clean energy measures can help save carbon emissions (enhancing the energy performance of buildings) and decrease associated GHG emissions, which can help policy makers to achieve low-carbon emission communities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 100-112
Author(s):  
Lemma Beressa ◽  
Battula Vijaya Saradhi

The use of imported fuel in the Ethiopian cement industry increased the cost of production and the environmental burden, necessitating intervention. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, energy usage intensity, and resource exploitation of Ethiopian cement production were evaluated using the life cycle impact assessment (LCA) tool, aiming to recommend improvements. The LCA study used cumulative energy demand (CED) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. For the case study of Mugher cement factory (MCF), the results on energy use intensities showed 3.74, 3.67, and 2.64 GJ/ton of clinker, Ordinary Portland cement (OPC), Pozzolana Portland cement (PPC), respectively. The result revealed MCF's energy use intensity was within the global range of 3.32 to 5.11 GJ/ton of cement production using similar kiln technology. The results on the GHG emissions were 0.87, 0.84, and 0.59 tons of CO2-equivalent/ton of clinker, OPC, and PPC, respectively. Process emissions accounted for 60% of overall CO2 emissions, with energy-related emissions accounting for the remaining 40%. CO2 emissions of MCF are below the global limit of 0.9 tons/ton of clinker, where all energy sources are fossil fuels. However, it is higher than the 0.65 ton/ton of clinker from a moderate rotary kiln in China. MCF used 70% of its total energy sources from imported fossil fuels, and transportation of the imported fuel added 1.2% CO2 to total emissions. A suggested fossil fuel use improvement scenario for MCF, where coffee husk replaces 50% of the imported coal improved the energy intensity, GHG emissions, and total cost of coal in clinker production by 1.2%, 14%, 36%, respectively.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Scott Roest ◽  
Kevin R Gurney ◽  
Scot M Miller ◽  
Jianming Liang

Abstract Background: Cities contribute more than 70% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and are leading the effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through sustainable planning and development. However, urban greenhouse gas mitigation often relies on self-reported emissions estimates that may be incomplete and unverifiable via atmospheric monitoring of GHGs. We present the Hestia Scope 1 fossil fuel CO2 (FFCO2) emissions for the city of Baltimore, Maryland – a gridded annual and hourly emissions data product for 2010 through 2015 (Hestia-Baltimore v1.6). We also compare the Hestia-Baltimore emissions to overlapping Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions in Baltimore’s self-reported inventory for 2014. Results: The Hestia-Baltimore emissions in 2014 totaled 1487.3 kt C (95% confidence interval of 1,158.9 – 1,944.9 kt C), with the largest emissions coming from onroad (34.2% of total city emissions), commercial (19.9%), residential (19.0%), and industrial (11.8%) sectors. Scope 1 electricity production and marine shipping were each generally less than 10% of the city’s total emissions. Baltimore’s self-reported Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions included onroad, natural gas consumption in buildings, and some electricity generating facilities within city limits. The self-reported Scope 1 FFCO2 total of 1,182.6 kt C was similar to the sum of matching emission sectors and fuels in Hestia-Baltimore v1.6. However, 20.5% of Hestia-Baltimore’s emissions were in sectors and fuels that were not included in the self-reported inventory. Petroleum use in buildings were omitted and all Scope 1 emissions from industrial point sources, marine shipping, nonroad vehicles, rail, and aircraft were categorically excluded.Conclusions: The omission of petroleum combustion in buildings and categorical exclusions of several sectors resulted in an underestimate of total Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions in Baltimore’s self-reported inventory. Accurate Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions, along with Scope 2 and 3 emissions, are needed to inform effective urban policymaking for system-wide GHG mitigation. We emphasize the need for comprehensive Scope 1 emissions estimates for emissions verification and measuring progress towards Scope 1 GHG mitigation goals using atmospheric monitoring.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Scott Roest ◽  
Kevin R Gurney ◽  
Scot M Miller ◽  
Jianming Liang

Abstract Background Cities contribute more than 70% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and are leading the effort to reduce GHG emissions through sustainable planning and development. However, urban greenhouse gas mitigation often relies on self-reported emissions estimates that may be incomplete and unverifiable via atmospheric monitoring. We present the Hestia Scope 1 fossil fuel CO2 emissions for the city of Baltimore, Maryland – a gridded annual and hourly emissions data product for 2010 through 2015.Results The emissions in the base year of 2011 totaled 1431.5 kt C, with the largest emissions coming from onroad (35.0% of total city emissions), commercial (18.3%), residential (16.7%), and industrial (12.6%) sectors. Scope 1 electricity production and marine shipping were each generally less than 10% of the city’s total emissions. Baltimore’s self-reported Scope 1 emissions of 1,182.6 kt C were 22.8% lower than Hestia-Baltimore emission in 2014, largely due to the omission of petroleum consumption in buildings and several sectors that largely fall outside the city’s regulatory purview – industrial point sources, marine shipping, nonroad vehicles, rail, and aircraft.Conclusions We emphasize the need for comprehensive, Scope 1-only emissions estimates for emissions verification and measuring progress towards greenhouse gas mitigation goals using atmospheric monitoring, but we also acknowledge that city planners may desire a greater mix of scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions with an emphasis on activities under local policy control.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Bin Qian ◽  
Tao Yu ◽  
Haiquan Bi ◽  
Bo Lei

In recent years, the energy performance of public buildings has attracted substantial attention due to the significant energy-saving potential. As a semi-open high-space building, the high-speed railway station is obviously different from other public buildings and even traditional stations in terms of energy consumption and internal environment. This paper investigates the current energy consumption situation and environmental quality of 15 high-speed railway passenger stations in China. Results show that the energy consumption of the high-speed railway station is between 117–470 kWh/(m2·a). The energy consumption of the station is related to the area and the passenger flow. The energy use of the station using district heating is higher than that of the station without district heating in the same region. The higher glazing ratio induces good natural lighting in the station, but the uniformity of the lighting in the station is not good. The acceptable temperature range of passengers in winter is larger than that in summer. The average air change rate of the high-speed railway station is 3.2 h−1 in winter and 1.8 h−1 in summer, which is the main reason of high energy consumption of the HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) system in this kind of building.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Coburn

There is significant in the GTA for GHG emissions reduction through energy retrofit measures of the more than 2000 post-war multi-unit residential buildings. Overcladding is an effective energy reduction strategy; however, it is crucial to properly detail window installation to avoid thermal bridging in a retrofit situation, as there may be excessive heat loss and condensation at this junction. This paper examines the thermal bridging potential at the window-wall interface in an EIFS overcladding retrofit scenario for a typical MURB retrofit. The research used the software THERM to compare influence of three typical window-wall interface on the energy performance of the window and wall. The analysis examined the position of the window within the frame, insulation placement around the window perimeter. It was found that window placement within the wall section and detailing at the opening do significantly affect the wall’s overall thermal performance, determining that design improvement should be considered and quantified in retrofit energy reduction strategies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 460-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motasem Saidan ◽  
Hussam J. Khasawneh ◽  
Hassan Aboelnga ◽  
Sureyya Meric ◽  
Ioannis Kalavrouziotis ◽  
...  

Abstract This study presents a baseline assessment of carbon emissions in water utilities in Madaba, Jordan. The Energy Performance and Carbon Emissions Assessment and Monitoring Tool (ECAM) is applied in the present study in order to reduce indirect and direct emissions. Input data for the assessment included inter alia, population, water volumes, energy consumption, and type of wastewater treatment. The methodology focuses on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use that is directly associated with the utility operations covering the whole water cycle. The ECAM's Quick Assessment revealed that 89.7% of the energy is consumed in abstraction and distribution systems of water supply, whereas wastewater collection, treatment, and discharge consumed only 10.3% in Madaba. The detailed ECAM tool assessment results showed that total GHG emissions from the entire water and wastewater system in Madaba are approximately 28.122 million kg CO2/year. The water supply is the major contributor to GHG accounting for 62.4%, while 37.6% of GHG emissions result from sewage treatment, and are associated with treatment process requirements considered in this work, in addition to sludge transport from septic tanks to the wastewater treatment plant. The findings of this work can help the utility to undertake energy efficiency and GHG reduction measures.


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