ENERGY CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY AUDIT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AS A METHODOLOGICAL TOOL TO IMPROVE THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF THE UNIVERSITY

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. Improving the energy performance of buildings is one of the least expensive ways to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Building energy performance certification increases public knowledge about energy conservation and allows consumers and other decision makers to compare buildings based on their lifetime performance. In addition, energy performance certifications are an incentive for owners to improve the efficiency of existing buildings.METHODS. It is proposed to use in the process of energy certification and energy audit of university buildings collection and evaluation of basic information (including information about local climate, method of use, value of thermal conductivity coefficient and building envelope area, orientation) to determine the level of energy efficiency of the building on a generally accepted scale. In the Certificate of energy efficiency to take into account the calculated results from the assessment of the energy performance of the building.FINDINGS. It is suggested that the results of the energy certification of university buildings be presented in a simple, clear form, to ensure clarity, ease of use and comparability. For the energy certification of university buildings, a comparative labeling from A to G is proposed for use. The scale, on which the current national building standard is at "C," provides ample room for improving the rating of both new and existing buildings. If necessary, the scale should be expanded to add a label such as A1, A2, or A+, A++ when it comes to high-performance buildings.CONCLUSION. Accurate and reliable energy performance certification is a necessary foundation that will help ensure consumer confidence and the success of the certification program. The certification program must be clearly coordinated to ensure a smooth transition of the construction industry to the new rules.

Energy Assessment of a Combined Cycle Power Plant through Empirical and Computational Approaches: A Case Study

Energy management on the demand side is an important practice through which to address the challenge of energy shortage. In Pakistan, power plants have no specific energy management practice and a detail energy audit is normally observed as a one-time estimation that does not give significant information. In this study, an energy audit of a combined-cycle gas turbine power station was conducted and empirical data were compared with those obtained through a model developed in ASPEN, a simulation software that forecasts process performance. Next, an optimization tool was used to modify the ASPEN results and a comparison was drawn to estimate the amount of energy saved. It was found that compressor power consumption can be decreased up to 14.68% by increasing the temperature of compressed air from 320.2 °C to 423.79 °C for gas turbines. The output of gas turbines can be enhanced up to 13.5% and 21.4% with modelled and optimized data, respectively, using a multistage air compressor and multistage expansion. The calculated efficiency of the steam turbine was found to be 30.4%, which is 27.61% less than that of its designed efficiency. Steam turbine efficiency can be increased by 5% using a variable-speed water pump, leading to an estimated energy-saving potential of 8–9%. The combustion efficiency of gas turbines is not only important for higher turbine power output but also for better steam generation through heat-recovery steam generators in case of combined-cycle operations. The overall steam turbine efficiency is estimated to have increased by 19.27%, leading to a 12.68% improvement in combined efficiency.

From Audits to Projects: Evaluating New York State Policy to Encourage Home Retrofit Projects

This research explores socio-spatial characteristics of home retrofit projects in New York State and their association with the state’s free home energy audit program. Prior work by the authors found that zip codes with more elder individuals and higher levels of education are more likely to undertake an energy audit; it was also found that higher incomes may be negatively correlated with audit decisions. Less understood is the follow-up decision after an audit to undertake a retrofit. From a policy and climate perspective, the actionable retrofit decision is far more impactful than the informational audit, making it an important area of further research. This work examines this understudied area using a combination of datasets, including census data, American Community Survey (ACS) data, and retrofits data provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Findings indicate that many of the same socioeconomic characteristics that predict audits are influential in retrofit projects as well (age, education, higher home values). A strong statistical relationship was found between audits per capita and subsequent retrofit projects, which is to be expected, as NYSERDA requires audits of residents desiring efficiency retrofits. However, this also indicates that the role of the audit in information transfers may be highly influential in encouraging home energy efficiency projects. This finding underscores the policy importance of offering low- or no-cost energy audit incentives to encourage greater participation in home retrofit programs.

Energy saving analysis of air fan motor in power plant boiler controlled by variable frequency drive

A reporting of Energy Audit in 2018 by LEMTEK UI has reported that air fan system currently used in Power Plant of PLTU Tanjung Jati B Jepara is inefficient, energy efficiency in FDF is only 32% and PAF efficiency is 49.01%. Inefficiency of the air fan system is an impacted there are waste of electric energy amount of 13,352,929 KWh (13,35 GWh) a year with a financial loss of IDR 13,352,929,140. To overcome this condition, variable frequency drive (VFD) is installed which adjusted air flow as needed so that energy waste can be reduced. MATLAB simulation is proposed to analyze the VFD method. The result shows that by using VFD, 8,233,573.444 KWh (8.45 GWh) can be saved a year. Total cost benefits are IDR 8,233,573,444 as 32.1% of saving cost. Efficiency of FDF is 72.57 % and PAF is 66.84%.

Energy Efficiency Initiatives for A Hospital Building in Malaysia

In the past decades, research about energy consumption reduction has become a trend due to concern of energy wastage that leads to the negative impact on the environment. Commercial sector produces higher energy consumption compared to other sectors in Malaysia and hospital building is one of the highest energy consumptions in the commercial sector. Continuous operation time and complexity of engineering system are some of the reasons for high energy consumptions in hospital buildings that leads to high energy costs. This study examines the electricity load apportioning for a hospital building in Selangor, Malaysia through a detailed energy audit. From the energy audit, several Energy Efficiency Initiatives (EEI) were identified in reducing the energy usage in hospital: room temperature control, efficient lighting system, efficient unit for Air-Conditioning Split Unit (ACSU) and Variable Speed Drive (VSD) installation. The EEIs is expected to produce a total electricity saving of 1,250,692 kWh/year, equivalent to a cost saving of RM 421, 706/year and total emission reduction of 869 tonnes CO2 per year.

Validation and calibration of dynamic energy models: energy audit of a public building

Detailed buildings energy audits require dynamic simulation models based on hourly input data. This paper presents the calibration and validation of an office building energy model for the heating and cooling services. Simulation are carried out by DesignBuilder software. Measured hourly heating and cooling energy supplied by the generation system are used for the calibration of the model. Employee behaviour with reference to occupancy profiles and indoor temperature settings is also considered. A good agreement between measured and simulated data is obtained for both heating and cooling seasons.

Electrical power supply consumption in education sector and energy audit: Case study of University of Jos

Electricity supply has been identified as the key constraint to industrialization and economic development in Nigeria. The unbundling of the power sector was aimed at boosting electricity supply, this effort has yielded some appreciable results, but not very significant. As a result of the low power generation and distribution, Nigeria’s federal government is working towards solving the prevailing problems of inadequate power in some key sectors by building power generating plants in some of the institutions of learning in the country. This paper looks at the determinants of electrical energy consumption and electrical energy audit, a case study of the University of Jos. The load profiles demand survey, load demand forecast and other important factors were investigated. The result revealed that there is available power of 22–23 hours from the national grid and the balance 1–2 hours of power is supplied by the generating sets, good savings in the cost of diesel and maintenance. An annual excess of 2,199,900 kWH is enjoyed by the university over the national per capita power consumption.

Implementation Analysis for Energy Audit Process at MSRTC Bus Station- A Review Research

Energy audit consists of survey, analysis and inspection of the energy flow in the system. Its aim is to find the scope of energy conservation by implementing energy saving procedures without affecting the outputs of the system. One such system which can conserve energy is MSRTC bus station which requires a lot of energy consumption for its everyday activities. Energy audit plays a significant role in finding opportunities to save energy and reduce electricity bills. Energy audit recommends ways to save energy consumption by some changes in the system with emphasis on that there are no negative output by the changes made. The Energy Audit would provide a positive orientation to the energy cost reduction along with preventive maintenance and quality control programs which are vital for production and utility activities.