scholarly journals A STRATEGY FOR ENERGY PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AT THE EARLY DESIGN STAGE: PREDICTED VS. ACTUAL BUILDING ENERGY PERFORMANCE

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajla Aksamija
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Energy Usage ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Building Energy Performance ◽  
Software Programs

Developments in information technology are providing methods to improve current design practices, where uncertainties about various design elements can be simulated and studied from the design inception. Energy and thermal simulations, improved design representations and enhanced collaboration using digital media are increasingly being used. With the expanding interest in energy-efficient building design, whole building energy simulation programs are increasingly employed in the design process to help architects and engineers determine which design strategies save energy and improve building performance. The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential of these programs to perform whole building energy analysis during the early stages of architectural design, and compare the results with the actual building energy performance. The research was conducted by simulating energy usage of a fully functional research laboratory building using two different simulation tools that are aimed for early schematic design. The results were compared with utility data of the building to identify the degree of closeness with which simulation results match the actual energy usage of the building. Results indicate that modeled energy data from one of the software programs was significantly higher than the measured, actual energy usage data, while the results from the second application were comparable, but did not correctly predict monthly energy loads for the building. This suggests that significant deviations may exist between modeled and actual energy consumption for buildings, and more importantly between different simulation software programs. Understanding the limitations and suitability of specific simulation programs is crucial for successful integration of performance simulations with the design process.

scholarly journals Impact of Window to Wall Ratio on Energy Loads in Hot Regions: A Study of Building Energy Performance

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1080
Author(s):  
Mamdooh Alwetaishi ◽  
Omrane Benjeddou
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Heating And Cooling

The concern regarding local responsive building design has gained more attention globally as of late. This is due to the issue of the rapid increase in energy consumption in buildings for the purpose of heating and cooling. This has become a crucial issue in educational buildings and especially in schools. The major issue in school buildings in Saudi Arabia is that they are a form of prototype school building design (PSBD). As a result, if there is any concern in the design stage and in relation to the selection of building materials, this will spread throughout the region. In addition to that, the design is repeated regardless of the climate variation within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This research will focus on the influence of the window to wall ratio on the energy load in various orientations and different climatic regions. The research will use the energy computer tool TAS Environmental Design Solution Limited (EDSL) to calculate the energy load as well as solar gain. During the visit to the sample schools, a globe thermometer will be used to monitor the globe temperature in the classrooms. This research introduces a framework to assist architects and engineers in selecting the proper window to wall ratio (WWR) in each direction within the same building based on adequate natural light with a minimum reliance on energy load. For ultimate WWR for energy performance and daylight, the WWR should range from 20% to 30%, depending on orientation, in order to provide the optimal daylight factor combined with building energy efficiency. This ratio can be slightly greater in higher altitude locations.

scholarly journals Sustainable modernization method to increase energy performance of the public buildings using BIM techniques

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jovita Starynina ◽  
Leonas Ustinovičius ◽  
Mantas Vaišnoras
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Public Buildings ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Fast Development

This research represents sustainable building modernization model, which creates knowledge-based decision-making method for old public buildings refurbishment seeking to reach the best energy performance during the design stage. Despite the fast development and spreading standards, challenging research opportunities arise from process automation and BIM adaptation for existing buildings’ requirements. To aid decision-making, building simulation is widely used in the late design stages, but its application is still limited in the early stages in which design decisions have a major impact on final building performance. Building design is a multi-collaborator discipline, where architects influence design decisions, engineers, contractors, and building owners. Using digital systems and simulations this modernization method performs already expected building energy consumption in a quickest and economic way. This model is BIM-based where design and refurbishment are based on pre-built indicators, which allows assessing the building energy demand and eco-building parameters.

scholarly journals Modeling the Impacts of Local Factors for Healthcare Building Energy Performance Improvement in Thailand

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 157-166
Author(s):  
Nuttasit Somboonwit ◽  
Nopadon Sahachaisaeree
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Slight Variation ◽  
Building Energy Performance ◽  
Local Factors

This research aims to perform, compare, and evaluate Integrated Building Design (IBD) processes, collaborating the Building Information Modeling (BIM) with Building Performance Simulation (BPS) applications to perform energy analysis and to improve the building energy performance of a Generalizable Building Design (GBD), an universal application on health care facilities design in Thailand. The IBD processes produce the simulation results in a harmonious direction. Slight variation of building orientation could alter the extent of energy consumption. The integration of the three measures could minimize the energy consumption greatly. The study addresses limitations of the IBDs in the software integration processes. Keywords: Local Factors in Construction ; Energy Performance Improvement ; Generalizable Healthcare Building Design ; Integrated Building Design. eISSN 2514-751X © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. https://doi.org/10.21834/aje-bs.v3i8.288   

Determining a Practically Optimal Overhang Depth for South-Facing Windows in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-88
Author(s):  
Jian Yao ◽  
Rong-Yue Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Total Energy ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Cold Winter ◽  
Aesthetic Appearance ◽  
Daylight Performance

This study investigated the building energy, glare and daylight performance of overhang using building simulation software Energyplus in order to identify an optimal depth in hot summer and cold winter zone. A typical building with different window-to-wall ratios (WWR) was modeled and different overhang depths were considered. Results showed that the optimal overhang depths are 0.9m (WWR=0.15), 1.16m (WWR=0.3) and 1.62m (WWR=0.57), respectively. The total energy savings from overhang design can be ranging from about 3% to 24% depending on WWR and overhang depth. Moreover, the regression relationship between optimal overhang depth and WWR is given to help identify the best overhang dimension at the design stage. The potential energy saving performance for different WWRs then can be roughly inferred according to a total energy saving chart without building energy simulation. In conclusion, to be applicable in buildings, an overhang depth of 0.6-0.8m is suitable in this region since it has a balance in energy performance and aesthetic appearance.

scholarly journals Neural network for indoor airflow prediction with CFD database

2021 ◽  
Vol 2069 (1) ◽  
pp. 012154
Author(s):  
Q Zhou ◽  
R Ooka
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Indoor Airflow ◽  
Building Energy Performance ◽  
Time Consumption

Abstract Energy efficiency and indoor thermal comfort are both important in built environment, making it necessary to simultaneously take into consideration of the two aspects, building energy performance and indoor environmental quality, at the design stage. Coupled simulation between building energy simulation (BES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enables providing each other complementary information with regard to building energy performance and detailed indoor environment conditions; however, the main drawback of CFD in computational cost limits its application. Neural networks (NNs) are considered as promising alternatives for CFD due to their advanced modelling abilities and high-speed computational powers. This research aims to confirm the feasibility of NN for indoor airflow prediction, which extends previous studies from two-dimensional to three-dimensional indoor space for more realistic conditions. The NN receives boundary conditions as input and outputs corresponding velocity and temperature distributions. Comparisons were made between NN predictions and CFD simulations regarding accuracy and time consumption on testing cases. The results show that the NN reproduces indoor airflow and thermal distributions with relative errors less than 12%. Time consumption for predicting the testing cases is reduced by 80% with the NN. The feasibility of NN for fast and accurate indoor airflow prediction is confirmed.

scholarly journals Primary Energy Balance driven Integrated Energy Design Process of Positive Energy Building

2021 ◽  
Vol 246 ◽  
pp. 13001
Author(s):  
Meril Tamm ◽  
Joana Ortiz ◽  
Jordi Pascual ◽  
Jarek Kurnitski ◽  
Martin Thalfeldt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Balance ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Energy Calculation

The ISO 52000–1:2017 is the overarching Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) standard, providing the general framework of the EPB assessment. It is applicable to the assessment of overall energy use of a building, by measurement or calculation, and the calculation of energy performance in terms of primary energy or other energy-related metrics. ISO 52000–1 provides general profound guidelines, but also gives the freedom to adapt the guidelines with national standards and regulations. This article focuses on design stage energy performance assessment in the framework of syn.ikia project, which aims to deliver a blueprint for an Integrated Design Process of sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods, leading the way to plus energy districts and cities. This project has four demonstration sites and the one being in focus of this article is located in Catalonia, Spain. Even though this project and Spanish Technical code both are based on ISO 52000–1, the criteria of calculation boundaries of those two vary in some degree, and that can cause great difference in the primary energy balance. In the calculation of the energy balance the criteria of syn.ikia considers all common energy uses in a building, including heating, cooling, ventilation, dehumidification, domestic hot water and lighting, while the Spanish Technical Code excludes lighting consumption. The main difference however is caused due to the fact that in syn.ikia hypothesis the exported energy is being considered in the calculation of how much non-renewable energy is avoided from the grid, while Spanish Technical Code excludes it. For the evaluation of these differences, a simplified monthly primary energy calculation tool is developed during the evaluation framework of key performance indicators of the project. The analysis of the calculation framework hypothesis is presented, analyzing the effects of the assessment boundaries, different primary energy balance calculation hypothesis and building design alternatives.

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