Effects of tubular daylight guidance systems on the daylighting performance and energy savings in office buildings under different climate zones

Author(s):  
Hnalin Li ◽  
Dan Wu ◽  
Jinzhi Zhou
Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 749
Author(s):  
John H. Scofield ◽  
Susannah Brodnitz ◽  
Jakob Cornell ◽  
Tian Liang ◽  
Thomas Scofield

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.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qadeer Ali ◽  
Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem ◽  
Fahim Ullah ◽  
Samad M. E. Sepasgozar

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.


Author(s):  
Moncef Krarti

This paper analyzes the impact of roof covers on office building energy use for representative US climate zones. In particular, the study presented in the paper investigates the potential annual cooling energy use savings that roof covers could provide using whole-building simulation analysis to evaluate the performance of a 2-story office building in five US locations. Three parameters of the roof covers including their size, height, and transmittance, are considered in the analysis. The simulation results indicate that while roof covers had similar affects on buildings in all climate zones, their impact in reducing cooling energy usage is different and is more pronounced in cooler climates. Specifically, roof covers could potentially achieve cooling energy savings of up to: 25% in Houston, 33% in Atlanta, 31% in Nashville, 38% in Chicago, and 41% in Madison. Based on the detailed simulation analysis results, a simplified calculation model is developed to help the estimation of cooling energy savings as a function of the roof cover size, height, and transmittance.


Solar Energy ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Abd El Mohimen ◽  
George Hanna ◽  
Moncef Krarti

This paper summarizes the results of a simulation analysis to determine the effectiveness of daylighting in reducing electrical energy consumption for office buildings in Egypt. Specifically, the impact on daylighting performance is investigated of window size, building size, daylighting control, and glazing type for three geographical locations in Egypt. It was determined that a window to wall area ratio of 0.20 minimizes the total annual electricity use for office buildings in three Egyptian locations, Cairo, Alexandria, and Aswan. A simplified analysis method is developed based on the analysis results to estimate the annual electrical energy savings attributed to daylighting.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document