scholarly journals Retrofitting an Existing Office Building in the UAE Towards Achieving Low-Energy Building

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2573
Author(s):  
Maatouk Khoukhi ◽  
Abeer Fuad Darsaleh ◽  
Sara Ali
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Lower Energy ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Hvac System ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Existing Building

Retrofitting an existing building can oftentimes be more cost-effective than building a new facility. Since buildings consume a significant amount of energy, particularly for heating and cooling, and because existing buildings comprise the largest segment of the built environment, it is important to initiate energy conservation retrofits to reduce energy consumption and the cost of heating, cooling, and lighting buildings. However, conserving energy is not the only reason for retrofitting existing buildings. The goal should be to create a high-performance building by applying an integrated, whole-building design process to the project during the planning phase that ensures that all key design objectives are met. This paper presents a real case study of the retrofitting of an existing building to achieve lower energy consumption. Indeed, most of the constructed buildings in the UAE are unsuitable for the region, which is characterized by a very harsh climate that causes massive cooling loads and energy consumption due to an appropriate selection of design parameters at the design level. In this study, a monthly computer simulation of energy consumption of an office building in Sharjah was carried out under UAE weather conditions. Several parameters, including the building orientation, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, external shading, window-to-wall ratio, and the U-values of the walls and the roof, were investigated and optimized to achieve lower energy consumption. The simulation shows that the best case is 41.7% more efficient than the real (original) case and 30.6% more than the base case. The most sensitive parameter in the retrofitting alternatives is the roof component, which affects the energy savings by 8.49%, followed by the AC system with 8.34% energy savings if well selected using the base case. Among the selected five components, a new roof structure contributed the most to the decrease in the overall energy consumption (approximately 38%). This is followed by a new HVAC system, which leads to a 37% decrease, followed by a new wall type with insulation, resulting in a 20% decrease.

scholarly journals Using Residential and Office Building Archetypes for Energy Efficiency Building Solutions in an Urban Scale: A China Case Study

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 3210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Ding ◽  
Nan Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Power Density ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Stochastic Simulations ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Building Energy Consumption

Building energy consumption accounts for 36% of the overall energy end use worldwide and is growing rapidly as developing countries continue to urbanize. Understanding the energy use at urban scale will lay the foundation for identification of energy efficiency opportunities to be deployed at speed. China has almost half of global new constructions and plays an important role in building suitability. However, an open source national building energy consumption database is not available in China. To provide data support for building energy consumptions, this paper used a simulation method to develop an urban building energy consumption database for a pilot city in Wuhan, China. First, residential, small, and large office building archetype energy models were created in EnergyPlus to represent typical building energy consumption in Wuhan. The baseline reference model simulation results were further validated using survey data from the literature. Second, stochastic simulations were conducted to consider different design parameters and occupants’ energy usage intensity scenarios, such as thermal properties of the building envelope, lighting power density, equipment power density, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) schedule, etc. A building energy consumption database was generated for typical building archetypes. Third, data-driven regression analysis was conducted to support quick building energy consumption prediction using key high- level building information inputs. Finally, a web-based urban energy platform and an interface were developed to support further third-party application development. The research is expected to provide fast energy efficiency building design solutions for urban planning, new constructions as well as building retrofits.

scholarly journals Energy Monitoring System for Existing Buildings in Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 01003
Author(s):  
Sentagi Sesotya Utami ◽  
Faridah ◽  
Na’im A. Azizi ◽  
Erlin Kencanawati ◽  
M. Akbar Tanjung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Performance Testing ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Energy Monitoring ◽  
Building Permit ◽  
Significant Difference

Current studies conducted by JICA, AMPRI and IFC-World Bank, reported that large commercial buildings in Indonesia are not energy and water efficient. One of the cause is the lack of regulation. Meanwhile, effective regulations to reduce energy and water consumption are the concern mostly in a new building to obtain a building permit. This strategy is understandable as retrofitting existing buildings are often more difficult to be implemented, and enforcement is still a major issue in Indonesia. Local governments are currently working on streamlining building permit process as well as developing an online monitoring system for existing buildings. By applying a Building Energy Management System (BEMS) enables to reduce energy consumption up to 15%. An energy monitoring system was designed and installed through this research for Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics (DNEEP) building, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada. It is a 20 years old two-story building used for educational activities, which consist of classrooms, laboratories, offices and storage spaces. An audit energy was done recently in 2015 where an energy consumption of 261.299,636 kWh/year.m2 was reported. In the existing condition, a power meter is inaccessible and therefore, the only feedback of occupancy behavior in the energy consumption is through the electricity bill. The previous study has shown that building occupants would behave more efficiently if the amount of energy used is notified, and the amount of energy savings are recorded. However, these energy monitoring systems are considered expensive and uniquely tailored for every building. This research aims to design and install a cost effective BEMS based on occupant’s satisfactory assessment of the lighting, acoustics, and air conditioning quality. The data will be used as a decision supporting system (DSS) by building management through the use of a GUI. The design of the interface was based on a survey result from the prospective users. Installed energy monitoring system uses a current sensor with an accuracy of 98% and a precision of 0.04 A while the voltage sensor with an accuracy of 98% and a precision of 0.58 V. The performance testing shows that the number of web clients influences delay of data transmission. The result of the survey shows that GUI is categorized as fair in design without a significant difference between the perceptions of users with and without survey supervision.

scholarly journals Basic Passive Side-Day lighting Considerations for High Rise office Building

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 78-87
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Building Design ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Office Building ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
System A ◽  
Modern Era

High rise office building design is one of the essential buildings in construction industry due to the limited space especially in the urban area. After home, a high rise office building is an important space for human in modern era. Due to the issue of high energy consumption especially inefficient artificial light strategy, side-day lighting becomes the best solution for a high rise office building design. Despite providing efficient energy consumption, side-day lighting creates a positive impact to the worker as well as the office's indoor environment. Hence, this paper aims to explore the basic passive side-day lighting considerations that educate people especially for those who are involved in the building construction industry. Beside, this paper focuses on the passive design considerations due to the various advantages that not involved especially with complex electrical and mechanical system. A systematic literature review is the main methodology for this paper to identify the basic passive side-day lighting considerations for a high rise office building design. Base on this research, it revealed that eight elements for building design considerations should be applied to provide a better day lighting impact for a high rise office building design. Considerations for non-building design aspects should also need to be applied since those aspects contribute to produce a better day lighting impact for a high rise office building design.

CFD Investigation of the Effect of Building Passive Design Strategy on Energy Efficiency and Wind Comfort in Extreme Weather Conditions in Astana, Kazakhstan

2012 ◽  
Vol 253-255 ◽  
pp. 658-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serik Tokbolat ◽  
Raikhan Tokpatayeva ◽  
Sarim Al-Zubaidy
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Weather Extremes ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Passive Design ◽  
Low Energy Buildings ◽  
Wind Comfort

There is a distinct lack of building design literature specific to the Central Asian region. This perhaps, could be one of reasons for the only slight improvement of new building designs and construction. One does observe the highly glazed buildings are a particularly popular feature here in Astana, as like anywhere else in the world. However, excessively glazed surfaces combined with the weather extremes leads to adverse internal conditions and skyrocketing energy bills. The work presented in this paper is a part of continuing efforts to identify analyze and promote the design of ‘low energy, green and sustainable buildings with special reference to the Kazakhstan locality. In the present context, low energy buildings’ refers to buildings inherently low energy consuming by careful passive design, utilizing intelligent building technologies to automate building services and minimize wastage of energy and by incorporation of renewable technologies for its energy supply. Demonstration of improved environmental conditions and impact on energy savings will be outlined through a cause study incorporating application of passive design approach and detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis for an existing building complex. The results indicated that there is a considerable influence of passive design and orientation on energy efficiency, wind comfort and safety.

scholarly journals Lessons learned from recommissioning a public office building

2018 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 04029
Author(s):  
Yuyang Miao ◽  
Chenggang Liu ◽  
Xinjiang Huang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Water System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Hvac System ◽  
Public Office ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
Actual Energy Consumption

Energy consumption of HVAC system play a big role on the whole building energy usage. Recommissioning on HVAC system can improve build comfort and its performance. Taking the recommissioning of public office as an example, the issue of the energy consumption of HVAC system was found, control scheme of chilled and hot water system and AHUs was optimized, the new energy saving control scheme was determined, and the actual energy consumption was analysed. The result show that recommissioning for the public office building achieved obviously effect, and the rate of energy saving is 18%, 33% and 10% for chilled water, hot water and electricity, respectively.

Relationship between heating/cooling period and changing temperature conditions in the urban areas of Hungary

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Csenge Dian ◽  
Attila Talamon ◽  
Rita Pongrácz ◽  
Judit Bartholy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Extreme Values ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Temperature Time Series ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Daily Average ◽  
Temperature Time

<p>Climate change, extreme weather conditions, and local scale urban heat island (UHI) effect altogether have substantial impacts on people’s health and comfort. The urban population spends most of its time in buildings, therefore, it is important to examine the relationship between weather/climate conditions and indoor environment. The role of buildings is complex in this context. On the one hand UHI effect is mostly created by buildings and artificial surfaces. On the other hand they account for about 40% of energy consumption on European average. Since environmental protection requires increased energy efficiency, the ultimate goal from this perspective is to achieve nearly zero-energy buildings. When estimating energy consumption, daily average temperatures are taken into account. The design parameters (e.g. for heating systems) are determined using temperature-based criteria. However, due to climate change, these critical values are likely to change as well. Therefore, it is important to examine the temperature time series affecting the energy consumption of buildings. For the analysis focusing on the Carpathian region within central/eastern Europe, we used the daily average, minimum and maximum temperature time series of five Hungarian cities (i.e. Budapest, Debrecen, Szeged, Pécs and Szombathely). The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of changing daily average temperatures and the rising extreme values on building design parameters, especially heating and cooling periods (including the length and average temperatures of such periods).</p>

Experimental Study of PCM Inclusion in Different Building Envelopes

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Castellón ◽  
A. Castell ◽  
M. Medrano ◽  
I. Martorell ◽  
L. F. Cabeza
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Temperature Oscillation ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Hvac System ◽  
Small House ◽  
Trombe Wall ◽  
Insulation Effect

The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate experimentally that it is possible to improve the thermal comfort and reduce the energy consumption of a building without substantial increase in the weight of the construction materials with the inclusion of phase change materials (PCM). PCM are a suitable and promising technology for this application. This paper presents an experimental setup to test PCM with various typical insulation and construction materials in real conditions in Puigverd de Lleida (Lleida, Spain). Nine small house-sized cubicles were constructed: two with concrete, five with conventional brick, and two with alveolar brick. PCM was added in one cubicle of each typology. For each type of construction specific experiments were done. In all cubicles, free-floating temperature experiments were performed to determine the benefits of using PCM. A Trombe wall was added in both concrete cubicles and its influence was investigated. All brick cubicles were equipped with domestic heat pumps as Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system; therefore, the energy consumption was registered, providing real information about the energy savings. Results were very good for the concrete cubicles, since temperature oscillation were reduced by up to 4°C through the use of PCM and also peak temperatures in the PCM cubicle were shifted in later hours. In the brick cubicles, the energy consumption of the HVAC system in summer was reduced by using PCM for set points higher than 20°C. During winter an insulation effect of the PCM is observed, keeping the temperatures of the cubicles warmer, especially during the cold hours of the day.

scholarly journals Identifying Retrofitting Strategies to Achieve Energy Efficient Building Design in Existing Buildings

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadi Salah ◽  
Merve Tuna Kayılı
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Design ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
The North ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Energy Efficient Building

Reducing the energy needs of existing buildings has a significant place in reducing global energy demands. High energy savings can be achieved with passive renovation suggestions in existing buildings. In this study, the effect of the proposed renovations for an educational structure in Safranbolu on the heating and cooling demands of the building was determined with a simulation program. Energy improvements of up to 70 percent have been achieved through passive improvement designs in orientation and insulation material. The highest energy saving (69.31 %) was realized through a scenario of rearranging spaces from the north side to the south side where the number of users is relatively high and selecting a 20 cm aerogel thermal insulation material. While the heating and cooling load, in accordance with the definition of a zero-energy building, could not be reached in this scenario, the study showed the importance of holistic decisions taken in the design phase of the building with respect to energy-efficient building design.

scholarly journals Heating and cooling requirement of an office building and urban rooftop greenhouse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Vickers
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Thermal Mass ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Several Variables ◽  
Potential Impact

Urban agriculture is an important step towards food security in cities where rooftop space is abundant, and underused. This research addresses the potential impact of adding a rooftop greenhouse to a six storey, detached office building on the total heating and cooling energy consumption of both structures operated year‐round, using IES‐VE simulation software. Several variables including the level of insulation between the office building and greenhouse, additional thermal mass, the greenhouse envelope and greenhouse internal loads were tested to observe trends that suggest an impact on the system’s conditioning energy due to the presence of the greenhouse. Overall, it was found to be most likely that the greatest energy savings for an integrated office building and rooftop greenhouse would be achieved with the highest resistance greenhouse envelope possible, which may be limited by the light needs of plants grown in the greenhouse, and incorporation of thermal mass in the greenhouse.

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