scholarly journals Energy use in Building Envelope of a Residential Apartment Building in the Warm and Humid Climate of Guwahati, Assam

In recent years, Guwahati city is witnessing a rapid urban growth due to ever-increasing human population sacrificing existing green pockets. This constant increase of built form is resulting in environmental imbalances and microclimate changes, contributing in a rise of indoor air temperature and that ultimately results a gradual increase in the energy consumption to maintain indoor thermal comfort in the inner-city areas. Although the urban growth pattern of Guwahati is controlled by prevailing GMDA building bye-laws, these building parameters are unable to control the organic growth of the city since there is no climate-sensitive approach available in the GMDA bye-laws. This paper aims to discuss the energy use in the building envelope by analysing the energy efficiency of a residential apartment building of Guwahati and reviews most common energy efficient codes that influences the heat gain or loss, natural ventilation, and day lighting, which, in turn, determines indoor temperatures, thermal comfort, and sensible cooling or heating demand inside urban residential buildings. Four relationships of building parameters are studied and analysed their impact on energy use. The amount of heat gain or loss, natural ventilation and day lighting that are allowed by building envelop will be calculated for each relationships and compared. All the relationships specify building envelope design that helps to improve the energy efficiency in residential building, but none suggested a basis for its proportion. This paper analyses the use of daylight and natural ventilation within a building envelope helps to minimise the energy consumption. A climate conscious urban design approach associating common energy codes such as window to floor area (WFR) ratio, Visual light transmittance (VLT) and residential envelope transmittance value (RETV) against average daylight and natural ventilation can be utilised as preliminary urban design techniques in development control regulations especially in the residential zones in the inner-city areas of Guwahati metropolitan development authority (GMDA).

2019 ◽  
Vol 887 ◽  
pp. 335-343
Author(s):  
Nazanin Moazzen ◽  
Mustafa Erkan Karaguler ◽  
Touraj Ashrafian

Energy efficiency has become a crucial part of human life, which has an adverse impact on the social and economic development of any country. In Turkey, it is a critical issue especially in the construction sector due to increase in the dependency on the fuel demands. The energy consumption, which is used during the life cycle of a building, is a huge amount affected by the energy demand for material and building construction, HVAC and lighting systems, maintenance, equipment, and demolition. In general, the Life Cycle Energy (LCE) needs of the building can be summarised as the operational and embodied energy together with the energy use for demolition and recycling processes.Besides, schools alone are responsible for about 15% of the total energy consumption of the commercial building sector. To reduce the energy use and CO2 emission, the operational and embodied energy of the buildings must be minimised. Overall, it seems that choosing proper architectural measures for the envelope and using low emitting material can be a logical step for reducing operational and embodied energy consumptions.This paper is concentrated on the operating and embodied energy consumptions resulting from the application of different architectural measures through the building envelope. It proposes an educational building with low CO2 emission and proper energy performance in Turkey. To illustrate the method of the approach, this contribution illustrates a case study, which was performed on a representative schoold building in Istanbul, Turkey. Energy used for HVAC and lighting in the operating phase and the energy used for the manufacture of the materials are the most significant parts of embodied energy in the LCE analyses. This case study building’s primary energy consumption was calculated with the help of dynamic simulation tools, EnergyPlus and DesignBuilder. Then, different architectural energy efficiency measures were applied to the envelope of the case study building. Then, the influence of proposed actions on LCE consumption and Life Cycle CO2 (LCCO2) emissions were assessed according to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 366-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phan Anh Nguyen ◽  
Regina Bokel ◽  
Andy van den Dobbelsteen

Purpose Refurbishing houses is considered a key measure to improve the energy efficiency of the built environment. However, little is known about the implementation and outcome of housing renovation for energy upgrades in the Vietnamese practice. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the energy performance of the current housing stock in Vietnam and the potential to reduce energy use in households. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a survey with 153 respondents in three major climatic regions of Vietnam. The survey focusses on building characteristics, environmental performance, energy performance and refurbishment activities. Data collected from the survey were statistically analysed to give insight into the current performance of the housing stock and its energy saving potential. Findings This paper concludes that building design and construction, particularly the building envelope, have a significant influence on the occupants’ comfort. However, the energy consumption in houses is not statistically associated with building design and indoor environment. It is suggested that financial status and occupants’ behaviour currently have a strong influence on the household energy use. The survey also showed that refurbishment improves the housing performance, especially if improving the indoor environment was one of the drivers. Originality/value There are very few studies on energy use in households in Vietnam, especially with regards to actual energy consumption. This paper brings insights into the actual energy consumption and reveals the “performance gap” in Vietnamese housing stock.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Arif Budiyanto ◽  
Muhammad Hanzalah Huzaifi ◽  
Simon Juanda Sirait ◽  
Putu Hangga Nan Prayoga

AbstractSustainable development of container terminals is based on energy efficiency and reduction in CO2 emissions. This study estimated the energy consumption and CO2 emissions in container terminals according to their layouts. Energy consumption was calculated based on utility data as well as fuel and electricity consumptions for each container-handling equipment in the container terminal. CO2 emissions were estimated using movement modality based on the number of movements of and distance travelled by each container-handling equipment. A case study involving two types of container terminal layouts i.e. parallel and perpendicular layouts, was conducted. The contributions of each container-handling equipment to the energy consumption and CO2 emissions were estimated and evaluated using statistical analysis. The results of the case study indicated that on the CO2 emissions in parallel and perpendicular layouts were relatively similar (within the range of 16–19 kg/TEUs). These results indicate that both parallel and perpendicular layouts are suitable for future ports based on sustainable development. The results can also be used for future planning of operating patterns and layout selection in container terminals.


Author(s):  
Livio de Santoli

Building sustainability, in term of energy efficiency, low-impact building materials, renewable energy, has experienced significant growth during the past years. In response to the growing dependence on fossil fuels and importations, due in part to the increase of energy consumption in the residential sector (in 2009 46,9 Mtep, 3% more than 2008) and the recent European directives (i.e. EU 2009/28/CE) requiring CO2 emissions cut of up to 13% in 2020, there is interest in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, which are suitable for residential applications. In this paper we present an overview on actions related to minimization of buildings energy consumption in Italy. Prevalent line of action is to improve the energy performances of building envelope (Dlgs 192/05) using insulated frames, walls and roofs and replacing heat generators with condensing boilers. In addition to national directives, ONRE Report 2011 (National Observatory on building regulations) shows that 831 Municipalities (10% more than 2010) establish mandatory targets for insulation, photovoltaic solar panels, solar water heaters, heat pumps use, correct buildings orientation, saving of water resource and local materials use. In addiction an efficient energy rating of the buildings could promote the spread of energy efficiency measurement and consequently facilitate their implementation. The new energy rating system should meet international standards, regarding environment and energy aspects, and respect territorial needs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raimo Simson ◽  
Endrik Arumägi ◽  
Kalle Kuusk ◽  
Jarek Kurnitski

In the member states of the European Union (EU), nearly-Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) are becoming mandatory building practice in 2021. It is stated, that nZEB should be cost-optimal and the energy performance levels should be re-defined after every five years. We conducted cost-optimality analyses for two detached houses, one terraced house and one apartment building in Estonia. The analysis consisted on actual construction cost data collection based on bids of variable solutions for building envelope, air tightness, windows, heat supply systems and local renewable energy production options. For energy performance analysis we used dynamic simulation software IDA-ICE. To assess cost-effectiveness, we used Net Present Value (NPV) calculations with the assessment period of 30 years. The results for cost-optimal energy performance level for detached house with heated space of ~100 m2 was 79 kWh/(m2 a), for the larger house (~200 m2) 87 kWh/(m2 a), for terraced house with heated space of ~600 m2 71 kWh/(m2 a) and for the apartment building 103 kWh/(m2 a) of primary energy including all energy use with domestic appliances. Thus, the decrease in cost-optimal level in a five-year period was ~60% for the detached house and ~40% for the apartment building, corresponding to a shift in two EPC classes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi Smits Anderson

We have spent the last 40–50 years working for energy efficiency in our buildings, and we have done so by increasing the performance of the heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation systems we use. Only recently have we realized the importance of the building envelope in this endeavor. The spaces within a building are created to support the purpose and programs of that building, and it is the envelope made up of the walls, windows, doors, roof, skylights, and floor that protect and shelter those programs and purpose. In this article we will explore various components of the building envelope and discuss ways to achieve optimal energy use.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Chen ◽  
Wei Xu ◽  
Qian Zhou ◽  
Zhixiang Zhou

The phenomena of “large energy consumption, high carbon emission, and serious environmental pollution” are against the goals of “low energy consumption, low emissions” in China’s industrial sector. The key to solving the problem lies in improving total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) and carbon emission efficiency (TFCE). Considering the heterogeneity of different sub-industries, this paper proposes a three-stage global meta-frontier slacks-based measure (GMSBM) method for measuring TFEE and TFCE, as well as the technology gap by combining meta-frontier technology with slacks-based measure (SBM) using data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA can effectively avoid the situation where the technology gap ratio (TGR) is larger than unity. This paper uses the three-stage method to empirically analyze TFEE and TFCE of Anhui’s 38 industrial sub-industries in China from 2012 to 2016. The main findings are as follows: (1) Anhui’s industrial sector has low TFEE and TFCE, which has great potential for improvement. (2) TFEE and TFCE of light industry are lower than those of heavy industry under group-frontier, while they are higher than those of heavy industry under meta-frontier. There is a big gap in TFEE and TFCE among sub-industries of light industry. Narrowing the gap among different sub-industries of light industry is conducive to the overall improvement in TFEE and TFCE. (3) The TGR of light industry is significantly higher than that of heavy industry, indicating that there are sub-industries with the most advanced energy use and carbon emission technologies in light industry. And there is a bigger carbon-emitting technology gap in heavy industry, so it needs to encourage technology spillover from light industry to heavy industry. (4) The total performance loss of industrial sub-industries in Anhui mainly comes from management inefficiency, so it is necessary to improve management and operational ability. Based on the findings, some policy implications are proposed.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 6305
Author(s):  
Haibo Guo ◽  
Lu Huang ◽  
Wenjie Song ◽  
Xinyue Wang ◽  
Hongnan Wang ◽  
...  

As the climate changed in recent years, an increase in summer indoor temperatures in severe cold and cold regions of China has started to affect thermal comfort. However, the local design standard for energy efficiency does not recognize this phenomenon. This paper reports the potential overheating phenomenon in residential buildings and examines the rationale for the current thermal designs adopted in severe cold and cold regions of China. In this study, the two most commonly used building materials, reinforced concrete (RC) and cross laminated timber (CLT), are used separately in the design of an 18-story residential building envelope located in six different cities in the severe cold and cold regions. The energy consumption and indoor operative temperatures during the operation of these buildings are simulated using Integrated Environmental Solutions Virtual Environment (IES VE). The results demonstrate that both the RC and the CLT buildings experience varying degrees of overheating in any climate subregion. The CLT buildings have longer overheating hours compared to the RC buildings, especially in the cold regions. The results also indicate that for apartments on higher stories, the cooling energy consumption and indoor temperature also increase gradually. The research results suggest that the local design standard for energy efficiency needs to be adjusted by adding thermal design methods for summer to reduce the periods of overheating.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Nan Wang ◽  
Thi-Duong Nguyen ◽  
Min-Chun Yu

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo-Eun Choi ◽  
Ji-Hyun Shin ◽  
Jin-Hyun Lee ◽  
Sun-Sook Kim ◽  
Young-Hum Cho

ECO2 (building energy efficiency rating program) and passive energy conservation measures (ECMs) were established as a basic study for targeted methodologies and decision support systems development in Korea to meet national regulations. The primary energy consumption and economic evaluation of nonresidential buildings was performed. Passive ECMs were classified as planning and performance elements. The planning elements are the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and horizontal shading angle. The performance elements are the thermal transmittance (U-value) of the walls, roof, and floor and the U-value and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of windows. This study focused on the window-to-wall ratio and the U-value and solar heat gain coefficient of windows. An economic efficiency database for the constructed alternatives was built; the target building was set and the Passive ECM List for the target building was derived. The energy consumption evaluation and economic evaluation were performed for each of the constructed alternatives, and a methodology for guiding energy efficiency decisions was proposed based on the performance evaluation results, and the optimal Passive ECM List for the target building was derived.


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