Financial Viability of Energy Conservation Using Natural Light in an Academic Building in Temperate Zone

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja Sharma ◽  
Dibakar Rakshit
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Energy Requirement ◽  
Luminous Flux ◽  
Light Transmittance ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Flux Level ◽  
Academic Building

The environment of a regularly occupied space can be extensively improved by maximum utilization of natural light/daylight, which is available in abundance. In Indian climate, availability of sufficient day light in both direct and diffused form of radiation can lead to reduction in dependency on artificial lighting thus, decreasing energy demand for artificial lighting system. In this study, an institutional building in New Delhi, India is analyzed for its daylighting characteristics. The academic block of a building comprising all categories of regularly spaces is modeled and simulated using Integrated environmental solutions - virtual environment (IES VE). The objective is to analyze the extent of penetration of natural light into these spaces of the building for reducing energy requirement for artificial lighting by studying a room, which performs the worst as per present case parameters. The conclusion puts forth the optimal solutions for utilizing maximum day light in a work space, complying with standards set forth by building construction council by utilizing the principles for increasing luminous flux level through visual light transmittance, window-to-wall ratio, and controlled usage of artificial lighting. Considering all these factors in the analysis, energy savings and carbon mitigation due to these savings in regularly occupied spaces are finally evaluated.

Smart Glass and Its Potential in Energy Savings

2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaufui V. Wong ◽  
Richard Chan
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Suspended Particle ◽  
Light Transmittance ◽  
Voltage Source ◽  
Glass Technology ◽  
Ion Conductor ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages

Smart glass is such that its properties may be changed by application of a potential across it. The change in properties may be engineered to alter the amount of heat energy that can penetrate the glass which provides heating and cooling design options. Therein lies its potential in energy savings. Smart glass may be classified into three types: electrochromic, suspended particle, and polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC). Each of these types has their own mechanisms, advantages, and disadvantages. Electrochromic smart glass is the most popular, currently it utilizes an electrochromic film with an ion storage layer and ion conductor placed between two transparent plates. The electrochromic film is usually made of tungsten oxide, owing to the electrochromic nature of transition metals. An electric potential initiates a redox reaction of the electrochromic film transitioning the color and the transparency of the smart glass. Suspended particle smart glass has needle shaped particles suspended within an organic gel placed between two electrodes. In its off state, the particles are randomly dispersed and have a low light transmittance. Once a voltage is applied, the needle particles will orient themselves to allow for light to pass through. PDLC smart glass works similarly to the suspended particle variety. However, in PDLC smart glass, the central layer is a liquid crystal placed within a polymer matrix between electrodes. Similar in behavior to the suspended particles, in the off position the liquid crystals are randomly dispersed and have low transmittance. With the application of a voltage, the liquid crystals orient themselves, thereby allowing for the transmittance of light. These different smart glasses have many different applications, but with one hindrance. The requirement of a voltage source is a major disadvantage which greatly complicates the overall installation and manufacturing processes. However, the integration of photovoltaic (PV) devices into smart glass technology has provided one solution. Photovoltaic films attached in the smart glass will provide the necessary voltage source. The photovoltaic film may even be designed to produce more voltage than needed. The use a photovoltaic smart glass system provides significant cost savings in regards to heating, cooling, lighting, and overall energy bills. Smart glass represents a technology with a great deal of potential to reduce energy demand. Action steps have been identified to propagate the popular use of smart glass.

scholarly journals Daylight Performance of a Translucent Textile Membrane Roof with Thermal Insulation

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Gürlich ◽  
Amando Reber ◽  
Andreas Biesinger ◽  
Ursula Eicker
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Electricity Demand ◽  
Light Transmittance ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Dimming Control ◽  
Final Energy Demand ◽  
Daylight Performance

Daylight usage in buildings improves visual comfort and lowers the final energy demand for artificial lighting. The question that always occurs is how much conservation can be achieved? New or rare materials and constructions have a lack of information about their application. Therefore, the current investigation quantifies the daylight and energy performance of a rare multi-layer textile membrane roof. A translucent, thermal insulation with a glass fibre fleece between the two roof membranes combines daylight usage and heating demand reduction. A sports hall built in 2017 is used as a case study building with 2300 m2 membrane roof surface. The optical properties of the roof construction were measured with a total visual light transmittance τv of 0.72% for a clean surface. A climate-based annual daylight modelling delivers daylight indicators for different construction scenarios. The results show that, in comparison to only one glass façade, the additional translucent and thermally insulated membrane roof construction increases the annual daylight autonomy (DA700) from 0% to 1.5% and the continuous DA700 from 15% to 38%. In the roof-covered areas of the sport field, this results in a 30% reduction of the electricity demand for artificial lighting from 19.7 kWhel/m2/a to 13.8 kWhel/m2/a, when a dimming control is used. The study also found that the influence of the soiling of one layer decreases its light transmittance by a factor 0.81. Two soiled layers lower τv by a factor of 0.66 to 0.47%. This increases the electricity demand for lighting by only 12%. The results should be very valuable as a comparison and benchmark for planners and future buildings of a similar type.

scholarly journals Daylight Performance of a Translucent Textile Membrane Roof with Thermal Insulation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Gürlich ◽  
Amando Reber ◽  
Andreas Biesinger ◽  
Ursula Eicker
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Light Transmittance ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Demand Reduction ◽  
Final Energy Demand ◽  
Daylight Performance

Daylight usage in buildings improves visual comfort and lowers the final energy demand for artificial lighting. The question always occurs: how much conservation can you achieve? New upcoming or rare materials and constructions have a lack of information about their application. Therefore, the current work investigates the daylight performance of a multi-layer textile membrane roof with 2 300 m² on top of a sports hall. A translucent, thermal insulation with a glass fibre fleece between the roof membranes combines daylight usage and heating demand reduction. A sports hall with built year 2017 is selected as the case study building. The optical properties of the roof construction are measured. The (visual) light transmittance amounts to 0.72 % with a clean surface. An accordingly parametrized climate-based annual daylight modeling delivers daylight indicators for different construction scenarios. The results show that in comparison to only one glass facade, the additional translucent and thermally insulated membrane construction increases the annual daylight autonomy700/ continuous DA700 from 0/ 15 % to 1.5/ 38 %. In the roof covered areas of the sport field, this results in a reduction from 19.7 to 13.8 kWhel/m²/a electricity for the artificial lighting with dim control (30 % savings). Also, the influence of soiling on the light transmittance was determined with a relevant reduction of one layer about a factor 0.81. The novel results are of great value as a comparison and benchmark for planners and future buildings of similar type.

Review of the Current State and Future Development in Standardizing Natural Lighting in Interiors

2018 ◽  
pp. 5-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislav Darula
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Computer Tools ◽  
Natural Lighting ◽  
Current State ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Window Design

Three elements mainly wind, water and sun seemed to determine in ancient ages the basic phenomena of life on Earth. Architectural history documented the importance of sun influence on urban and building construction already in layouts of Mesopotamian and Greek houses. Not only sun radiation but especially daylight played a significant role in the creation of indoor environment. Later, in the 20th century, a search of interaction between human life in buildings and natural conditions were studied considering well­being and energy conscious design recently using computer tools in complex research and more detail interdisciplinary solutions. At the same time the restricted daytime availability of natural light was supplemented by more efficient and continually cheaper artificial lighting of interiors. There are two main approaches to standardize the design and evaluation of indoor visual environment. The first is based on the determination of the minimum requirements respecting human health and visibility needs in all activities while the second emphasizes the behaviour and comfort of occupants in buildings considering year­around natural changes of physical quantities like light, temperature, noise and energy consumption. The new current standardization basis for daylight evaluation and window design criteria stimulate the study of methodology principles that historically were based on the overcast type of sky luminance pattern avoiding yearly availability of sky illuminance levels. New trends to base the daylight standardization on yearly or long­term availability of daylight are using the averages or median sky illuminance levels to characterise local climatological conditions. This paper offers the review and discussion about the principles of the natural light standardization with a short introduction to the history and current state, with a trial to focus on the possible development of lighting engineering and its standards in future.

scholarly journals Control Strategies for Daylight and Artificial Lighting in Office Buildings—A Bibliometrically Assisted Review

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3852
Author(s):  
Daniel Plörer ◽  
Sascha Hammes ◽  
Martin Hauer ◽  
Vincent van Karsbergen ◽  
Rainer Pfluger
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Future Trend ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
Integral Control ◽  
Artificial Lighting

A significant proportion of the total energy consumption in office buildings is attributable to lighting. Enhancements in energy efficiency are currently achieved through strategies to reduce artificial lighting by intelligent daylight utilization. Control strategies in the field of daylighting and artificial lighting are mostly rule-based and focus either on comfort aspects or energy objectives. This paper aims to provide an overview of published scientific literature on enhanced control strategies, in which new control approaches are critically analysed regarding the fulfilment of energy efficiency targets and comfort criteria simultaneously. For this purpose, subject-specific review articles from the period between 2015 and 2020 and their research sources from as far back as 1978 are analysed. Results show clearly that building controls increasingly need to address multiple trades to achieve a maximum improvement in user comfort and energy efficiency. User acceptance can be highlighted as a decisive factor in achieving targeted system efficiencies, which are highly determined by the ability of active user interaction in the automatic control system. The future trend is moving towards decentralized control concepts including appropriate occupancy detection and space zoning. Simulation-based controls and learning systems are identified as appropriate methods that can play a decisive role in reducing building energy demand through integral control concepts.

scholarly journals Energy Performance Assessment of Innovative Building Solutions Coming from Construction and Demolition Waste Materials

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1226
Author(s):  
Beatriz Fraga-De Cal ◽  
Antonio Garrido-Marijuan ◽  
Olaia Eguiarte ◽  
Beñat Arregi ◽  
Ander Romero-Amorrortu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Construction And Demolition Waste ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Demolition Waste ◽  
The Impact

Prefabricated solutions incorporating thermal insulation are increasingly adopted as an energy conservation measure for building renovation. The InnoWEE European project developed three technologies from Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) materials through a manufacturing process that supports the circular economy strategy of the European Union. Two of them consisted of geopolymer panels incorporated into an External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) and a ventilated façade. This study evaluates their thermal performance by means of monitoring data from three pilot case studies in Greece, Italy, and Romania, and calibrated building simulation models enabling the reliable prediction of energy savings in different climates and use scenarios. Results showed a reduction in energy demand for all demo buildings, with annual energy savings up to 25% after placing the novel insulation solutions. However, savings are highly dependent on weather conditions since the panels affect cooling and heating loads differently. Finally, a parametric assessment is performed to assess the impact of insulation thickness through an energy performance prediction and a cash flow analysis.

scholarly journals A Fundamental Study on the Development of New Energy Performance Index in Office Buildings

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2064
Author(s):  
Jin-Hee Kim ◽  
Seong-Koo Son ◽  
Gyeong-Seok Choi ◽  
Young-Tag Kim ◽  
Sung-Bum Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Requirement ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Light Transmittance ◽  
Wall Structure ◽  
Fundamental Study ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
U Value ◽  
The Impact

Recently, there have been significant concerns regarding excessive energy use in office buildings with a large window-to-wall ratio (WWR) because of the curtain wall structure. However, prior research has confirmed that the impact of the window area on energy consumption varies depending on building size. A newly proposed window-to-floor ratio (WFR) correlates better with energy consumption in the building. In this paper, we derived the correlation by analyzing a simulation using EnergyPlus, and the results are as follows. In the case of small buildings, the results of this study showed that the WWR and energy requirement increase proportionally, and the smaller the size is, the higher the energy sensitivity will be. However, results also confirmed that this correlation was not established for buildings approximately 3600 m2 or larger. Nevertheless, from analyzing the correlation between the WFR and the energy requirements, it could be deduced that energy required increased proportionally when the WFR was 0.1 or higher. On the other hand, the correlation between WWR, U-value, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and material property values of windows had little effect on energy when the WWR was 20%, and the highest effect was seen at a WWR of 100%. Further, with an SHGC below 0.3, the energy requirement decreased with an increasing WWR, regardless of U-value. In addition, we confirmed the need for in-depth research on the impact of the windows’ U-value, SHGC, and WWR, and this will be verified through future studies. In future studies on window performance, U-value, SHGC, visible light transmittance (VLT), wall U-value as sensitivity variables, and correlation between WFR and building size will be examined.

Improving Sustainability of Housing in Ghana through Energy Efficient Climate Control Strategies

2012 ◽  
Vol 608-609 ◽  
pp. 1698-1704
Author(s):  
Abdul Manan Dauda ◽  
Hui Gao
Keyword(s):  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Internal Heat ◽  
Climate Control ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Testing Procedures ◽  
Mass Housing ◽  
Design Changes

This paper aims at explaining testing procedures used to evaluate the potential of natural ventilation and daylighting applications to passive design of housing in Ghana. The objectives of research were to reduce energy costs and increase the sustainability of housing. From the results of these experiments actual and potential designs are illustrated and discussed. Mass housing results in multi-storey buildings which require substantial artificial lighting and ventilation. Also, with the increasing usage of glass for windows and doors in Ghana, even the shaded depths of buildings require additional daylight usually resulting in more energy consumption. By supplementing the internal lighting levels with daylight, reducing the internal heat load by shading windows to direct radiation and the utilization of natural ventilation over air conditioning where possible, significant energy savings are could be achieved. The research proposes mass housing design changes such as: delivering daylight above the suspended ceiling into the depths of the building by horizontal light pipes and natural ventilation, utilizing stack effect and wind siphonage, etc.

scholarly journals A Computer Vision-Based Occupancy and Equipment Usage Detection Approach for Reducing Building Energy Demand

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
Paige Wenbin Tien ◽  
Shuangyu Wei ◽  
John Calautit
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Internal Heat ◽  
Electrical Equipment ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Hvac Systems ◽  
Equipment Usage

Because of extensive variations in occupancy patterns around office space environments and their use of electrical equipment, accurate occupants’ behaviour detection is valuable for reducing the building energy demand and carbon emissions. Using the collected occupancy information, building energy management system can automatically adjust the operation of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to meet the actual demands in different conditioned spaces in real-time. Existing and commonly used ‘fixed’ schedules for HVAC systems are not sufficient and cannot adjust based on the dynamic changes in building environments. This study proposes a vision-based occupancy and equipment usage detection method based on deep learning for demand-driven control systems. A model based on region-based convolutional neural network (R-CNN) was developed, trained and deployed to a camera for real-time detection of occupancy activities and equipment usage. Experiments tests within a case study office room suggested an overall accuracy of 97.32% and 80.80%. In order to predict the energy savings that can be attained using the proposed approach, the case study building was simulated. The simulation results revealed that the heat gains could be over or under predicted when using static or fixed profiles. Based on the set conditions, the equipment and occupancy gains were 65.75% and 32.74% lower when using the deep learning approach. Overall, the study showed the capabilities of the proposed approach in detecting and recognising multiple occupants’ activities and equipment usage and providing an alternative to estimate the internal heat emissions.

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