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1
Aquino, Eddie Villanueva. "PREDICTING BUILDING ENERGY PERFORMANCE: LEVERAGING BIM CONTENT FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2013. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1077.
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Reducing and managing the environmental impacts of building structures has become a priority of building stakeholders and within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) community; although, conflicting approaches and methods to combat the issues are present. For example, green building standards are widespread throughout the world; however each one has its own characteristics and consequently its own specific requirements. While all have proven to be effective rating systems and have similar requirements, the distinguishing characteristic that separates them is their treatment of performance and prescriptive metrics. The feature they all severely lack or currently limit is the inclusion of strict engineering evaluation through energy simulations; hence, the reason why they fail to offer procedural steps to meet performance metrics. How can design professionals design energy efficient buildings with such constraints? Fortunately, advances in technology have allowed design professionals access to content found in Building Information Modeling (BIM). However, extracting pertinent information for specific use in energy analysis is problematic because BIM software currently available is filled with interoperability issues when placed in external software for energy analysis and energy analysis software itself is created with many assumptions that affect the tabulated energy results.
This research investigates current building rating systems, determines how current professionals meet energy requirements, and prove that it is possible to create an add-on feature to Autodesk Revit that will allow design professionals to extract the needed information to meet energy goals with actual prescribed methods of mechanical systems selection and evaluation.
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Sjögren, Jan-Ulric. "Energy performance of multifamily buildings : building characteristic and user influence." Licentiate thesis, Umeå University, Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-35598.
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Today many professional property holders use different types of software for monthly energy analyses. The data is however often limited to energy and water use, that is paid for by the property holder. In year 2001, financed by the Swedish Energy Agency, the first steps were taken to create a national web based data base, eNyckeln. A property holder may then enter consumption data together with about 50 other building specific parameters to this data base in order to enable benchmarking and energy performance evaluations. Due to EU-regulations and the increasing awareness of energy and environmental issues there is a large interest in evaluating the energy performance and also to identify effective energy retrofits. The used energy performance indicator is still only the annual energy use for heating per square meter of area to let, kWh/m2,year, despite the fact that monthly data often are available. The main problem with this indicator, which is the stipulated measure, is that it reflects a lot of user influence and that only a part of the total energy use is considered. The main focus of this thesis is to explore the possibilities, based on the national data base, to extract additional energy information about multi family buildings (MFB) using monthly data in combination with different assumed consumption pattern but also to identify potential for energy savings. For the latter a multivariate method was used to identify relations between the energy use and building specific parameters. The analysis gave clear indications that the available area, the area to let, is not appropriate for normalization purposes since the remaining heated area can be significant. Due to this fact, the analysis was mainly limited to qualitative conclusions. As measure of the buildings energy characteristic, the total heat loss coefficient, Ktot,(W/ºK) is determined and the robustness for the estimate of Ktot to different assumptions of user behaviour is investigated. The result shows that the value of Ktot is fairly insensitive to different indoor temperature, use of domestic hot water and household electricity. With the addition of m2 it can of course be used for benchmarking. Using the mentioned measure of the buildings energy characteristic for validating the energy performance has a clear advantage compared to the traditional kWh/m2, since the user behaviour is of minor importance. As a result of this an improved analysis of the energy performance will be obtained. A guarantee for new buildings energy performance based on this method is therefore a challenge for the building sector to develop.
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Kwok-hip, Ngan. "Building energy conservation : an overview of building energy performance in Hong Kong /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1995. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B14723098.
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Fumagalli, Benjamin. "Energy performance assessment of collective housing buildings." Thesis, KTH, Tillämpad termodynamik och kylteknik, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-129240.
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This project has been carried out for the ALEC (Agence Locale de l'Energie et du Climat) of Grenoble urban area, a French energy and climate agency. It has been composed of several missions, all related to energy management in residential buildings. First, an annual energy use assessment have been conducted for two different building samples: the eco-district of De Bonne in Grenoble and a sample of about 25 social housing buildings over the region. These two assessments showed that the average energy performance of newly built buildings is improving every year, notably under the stimulation of innovative projects such as De Bonne. Then, a more precise follow-up of construction and renovation social housing projects enabled to learn more about how to maintain energy facilities and to detect some common technical issues. The global conclusion of this project is that, although buildings are better designed today, energy performance remains fragile notably during construction and operation. To cope with that, some solutions exist and should be more systematically applied in future construction or renovation projects.
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Zaidi, Syed Tabish. "Energy Modeling Existing Large University Buildings." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1561394381779396.
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Stuart, Graeme. "Monitoring energy performance in local authority buildings." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/4964.
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Energy management has been an important function of organisations since the oil crisis of the mid 1970’s led to hugely increased costs of energy. Although the financial costs of energy are still important, the growing recognition of the environmental costs of fossil-fuel energy is becoming more important. Legislation is also a key driver. The UK has set an ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 80% of 1990 levels by 2050 in response to a strong international commitment to reduce GHG emissions globally. This work is concerned with the management of energy consumption in buildings through the analysis of energy consumption data. Buildings are a key source of emissions with a wide range of energy-consuming equipment, such as photocopiers or refrigerators, boilers, air-conditioning plant and lighting, delivering services to the building occupants. Energy wastage can be identified through an understanding of consumption patterns and in particular, of changes in these patterns over time. Changes in consumption patterns may have any number of causes; a fault in heating controls; a boiler or lighting replacement scheme; or a change in working practice entirely unrelated to energy management. Standard data analysis techniques such as degree-day modelling and CUSUM provide a means to measure and monitor consumption patterns. These techniques were designed for use with monthly billing data. Modern energy metering systems automatically generate data at half-hourly or better resolution. Standard techniques are not designed to capture the detailed information contained in this comparatively high-resolution data. The introduction of automated metering also introduces the need for automated analysis. This work assumes that consumption patterns are generally consistent in the short-term but will inevitably change. A novel statistical method is developed which builds automated event detection into a novel consumption modelling algorithm. Understanding these changes to consumption patterns is critical to energy management. Leicester City Council has provided half-hourly data from over 300 buildings covering up to seven years of consumption (a total of nearly 50 million meter readings). Automatic event detection pinpoints and quantifies over 5,000 statistically significant events in the Leicester dataset. It is shown that the total impact of these events is a decrease in overall consumption. Viewing consumption patterns in this way allows for a new, event-oriented approach to energy management where large datasets are automatically and rapidly analysed to produce summary meta-data describing their salient features. These event-oriented meta-data can be used to navigate the raw data event by event and are highly complementary to strategic energy management.
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Howell, P. J. L. "Modelling the thermal performance of intensive pig buildings." Thesis, University of Reading, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.356233.
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Weber, Tim. "Energy performance of buildings / methodologies for experimental verification." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Byggvetenskap, 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-3753.
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Ngan, Kwok-hip, and 顔國協. "Building energy conservation: an overview of building energy performance in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1995. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31253234.
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Tsave, A. "Energy performance regulations and methodologies of energy saving in office buildings in southern Europe." Thesis, Brunel University, 2009. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/3281.
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The Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on energy performance of buildings entered into force on 4th January 2003, setting the minimum requirements of energy performance. All Member States had to incorporate the requirements of the new directive in national legislation by January 2006 and build up relevant systems and measures to transpose and implement these requirements. The stage of Directive’s implementation in the countries of Southern Europe is reported because of the similar climatic conditions and the geographical location for a future enforcement in Greece, as the building code in Greece is still under development. As energy use in buildings accounts for about 40% of the final energy demand in the European Union, the application of building standards can achieve a reduction in electric energy consumption and therefore an increase in energy performance of buildings. A record of the electric energy consumption of office buildings in the four Prefectures of Crete is implemented aiming at a future energy saving, which may be obtained by either through increased efficiency or by reducing electric energy consumption.
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Hamad, Samar. "Influence of Energy Benchmarking Policies on the Energy Performance of Existing Buildings." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5196.
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Energy benchmarking and disclosure policies exist in several local and state governments to manage the energy consumption of existing buildings and encourage energy efficient retrofits and upgrades, yet little is known about whether these efforts have improved overall energy efficiency. The purpose of this repeated-measures study was to examine the influence of New York City's (NYC's) Benchmarking Law (LL84) on the energy performance of the city's existing commercial buildings through investigating whether the energy performance of the city's existing commercial buildings significantly improved after the implementation of this policy. The study was based on Ostrom's institutional analysis and development framework. Paired-sample t tests were performed to statistically analyze the annually disclosed energy benchmarking data for 1,072 of NYC's existing commercial buildings that were benchmarked in both 2011 and 2016. Compared to 2011, the study results revealed statistically significant improvements in the energy performance of NYC's commercial buildings by 2016. On average, their site energy use intensity (EUI) significantly reduced by 5%, source EUI significantly decreased by 10%, greenhouse gas emissions significantly dropped by 12%, and ENERGY STAR performance rating significantly improved by 5%. However, these improvements were primarily achieved in 2012, 1 year after the city's energy benchmarking data were publicly disclosed. Additional measures should be considered to maintain continuous energy savings and greenhouse gas mitigation patterns. Positive social change implications include the potential to promote energy-efficient upgrades and inspire the adoption of sustainable building concepts.
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Quigley, Ella S. "The energy and thermal performance of UK modular residential buildings." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2017. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/25127.
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This research concerns the in-use performance of light-gauge steel modular construction used for residential purposes. The aim was to investigate ways to reduce the in-use energy consumption of new buildings, while ensuring thermal comfort. Data were collected from two case study buildings in the UK, one in Loughborough and the other in London, using a variety of methods including building measurement, building monitoring, inspections, and a detailed review of the construction documentation. The case study buildings were monitored using EnOcean enabled wireless sensor networks and standalone temperature sensors. Monitoring data included electricity consumption in individual rooms, often by end use, space heating use, internal temperature and relative humidity, and external temperature. Building measurements included blower door tests to measure fabric air leakage rates, infrared thermal imaging to identify fabric defects and weaknesses, and ventilation system flowrate measurements. Inspections and the review of documentation allowed problems with design, manufacture and construction to be identified. A particular concern for thermally lightweight construction is the risk of overheating, therefore overheating analyses were undertaken. The research identified weaknesses in the design, construction and operation of the case study buildings resulting in increased energy use and poor thermal comfort, particularly overheating. The modular construction studied requires specific design changes to improve the fabric and building services, in order to reduce energy use. There are also specific recommendations for quality control on site to ensure critical stages are correctly completed, such as installing rigid insulation. There are also more general recommendations for how a company operates because this can influence performance; there ought to be greater attention to holistic design and greater collaboration with suppliers and contractors to determine robust solutions. Overheating was a problem in the London case study, and more research is required to understand the scale of the problem. Avoidance of overheating must be a focus in the design of new buildings. The findings suggest that once the problems with the design and quality control on site are rectified, offsite modular construction can be used to consistently and reliably provide low energy homes.
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Gamalath, Isuru Madhushan. "Energy performance assessment for existing multi unit residential buildings." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/61942.
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Climate change is a major challenge in today’s world. Energy use is directly correlated to greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in climate change. As the residential sector is a major energy consumer, improving the energy performance of the residential building stock is imperative in mitigating this issue. Evaluation of building energy performance, life cycle impacts, and economic burdens of building energy use can facilitate improved decision making in operations of existing building stock. Hence, as the primary objective of this study, a life cycle thinking-based energy assessment tool was developed for multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs).
A comprehensive review of popular building energy rating systems revealed the need to incorporate life cycle thinking in evaluating building energy performance. Further, based on a comprehensive review it was identified that current rating systems do not consider the uncertainty and vagueness associated with data used for performance assessments. Most of the existing energy rating systems focus only on energy consumption when assigning the rating. Energy rating systems rarely consider the factors affecting energy use and the impacts of energy use in assigning their score/rating for the building. An assessment tool with indicators representing the impacts of energy use and factors affecting operational energy use of buildings was developed to address the identified issues.
A questionnaire survey was conducted to obtain expert views on the proposed assessment tool from professionals associated with MURBs. MURB owners, managers, designers, engineers, researchers, and government and other external stakeholders were the target audience of this survey. Feedback from this survey was used to refine the proposed tool and determine weights for indicators.
In the proposed method, fuzzy set theory was used to consider the uncertainties and vagueness associated with qualitative and quantitative assessments of the identified indicator data. Fuzzy synthetic evaluation was used to aggregate the indicator value. The proposed approach extends the current body of knowledge on building energy ratings by integrating asset performance and operational performance through lifecycle thinking. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the application of the energy assessment tool. A java-based web tool was developed to assist the proposed assessment process.Applied Science, Faculty of
Engineering, School of (Okanagan)
Graduate
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Danielski, Itai. "Energy performance of residential buildings : projecting, monitoring and evaluating." Doctoral thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Avdelningen för ekoteknik och hållbart byggande, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-27175.
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Energy security and climate change mitigation have been discussed in Sweden since the oil crisis in the 1970s. Sweden has since then increased its share of renewable energy resources to reach the highest level among the EU member states, but is still among the countries with the highest primary energy use per capita. Not least because of that, increasing energy efficiency is important and it is part of the Swedish long term environmental objectives. Large potential for improving energy efficiency can be found in the building sector, mainly in the existing building stock but also in new constructions. Buildings hold high costs for construction, service and maintenance. Still, their energy efficiency and thermal performance are rarely validated after construction or renovation. As energy efficiency become an important aspects in building design there is a need for accurate tools for assessing the energy performance both before and after building construction. In this thesis criteria for energy efficiency in new residential buildings are studied. Several building design aspects are discussed with regards to final energy efficiency, energy supply-demand interactions and social aspects. The results of this thesis are based on energy modelling, energy measurements and one questionnaire survey. Several existing residential buildings were used as case studies. The results show that pre-occupancy calculations of specific final energy demand in residential buildings is too rough an indicator to explicitly steer towards lower final energy use in the building sector. Even post occupancy monitoring of specific final energy demand does not always provide a representative image of the energy efficiency of buildings and may result with large variation among buildings with similar thermal efficiency. A post occupancy method of assessing thermal efficiency of building fabrics using thermography is presented. The thermal efficiency of buildings can be increased by design with low shape factor. The shape factor was found to have a significant effect on the final energy demand of buildings and on the use of primary energy. In Nordic climates, atria in multi-storey apartment buildings is a design that have a potential to increase both energy efficiency (by lower shape factor) and enhance social interactions among the occupants.
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Robinson, Darren. "Integrated building environmental performance monitoring." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.263988.
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Nordström, Gustav. "Use of energy-signature method to estimate energy performance in single-family buildings." Licentiate thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Byggkonstruktion och -produktion, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-26730.
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The renewal of the existing housing stock is a slow progress and theexisting is quite old. The existing housing stock represents a largeamount of the bought energy need for heating and a simple method forquickly determining the energy performance is needed.There are many different methods for estimating the energyperformance of buildings. In this report the feasibility of using asingle-variate steady state method to investigate energy performancehas been tested. Bought energy need in single-family houses in a coldclimate has been observed during the cold period. The observationshave been made with the help of a measurement system requiring aminimal installation. The heat loss factor of the observed buildingshas been determined using the energy signature approach and differenttime scales have been tried.The result shows that to determine the heat loss factor of single-familybuildings, a single-variate method is valid. Daily averages are a goodtime scale for houses using radiators under the windows to heat thebuilding. Buildings with floor heating in concrete slab need to have alonger time scale, around 3 days.The method does not account for occupancy levels and separateenergy use in specific installations is not easy to estimate with theminimalized measurement setup. A combination of heat sources suchas district heating, electrical heating, heat recovery and/or fire stove isproblematic to handle with the energy signature method if enoughobservations for al heat sources can be achieved.Godkänd; 2014; 20140916 (ysko); Nedanstående person kommer att hålla licentiatseminarium för avläggande av teknologie licentiatexamen. Namn: Gustav Nordström Ämne: Träbyggnad/Timber Structures Uppsats: Use of energy-signature method to estimate energy performance in single-family buildings Examinator: Biträdande professor Helena Lidelöw, Institutionen för Samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Diskutant: Teknologie doktor Jutta Schade, avd. för Byggproduktion, Institutionen för Samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Fredag den 31 oktober 2014 kl 10.00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet
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Hasan, M. Mahmudul. "Investigation of energy efficient approaches for the energy performance improvement of commercial buildings." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2013. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61050/1/M._Hasan_Thesis.pdf.
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Energy efficiency of buildings is attracting significant attention from the research community as the world is moving towards sustainable buildings design. Energy efficient approaches are measures or ways to improve the energy performance and energy efficiency of buildings. This study surveyed various energy-efficient approaches for commercial building and identifies Envelope Thermal Transfer Value (ETTV) and Green applications (Living wall, Green facade and Green roof) as most important and effective methods. An in-depth investigation was carried out on these energy-efficient approaches. It has been found that no ETTV model has been developed for sub-tropical climate of Australia. Moreover, existing ETTV equations developed for other countries do not take roof heat gain into consideration. Furthermore, the relationship of ETTV and different Green applications have not been investigated extensively in any literature, and the energy performance of commercial buildings in the presence of Living wall, Green facade and Green roof has not been investigated in the sub-tropical climate of Australia. The study has been conducted in two phases. First, the study develops the new formulation, coefficient and bench mark value of ETTV in the presence of external shading devices. In the new formulation, roof heat gain has been included in the integrated heat gain model made of ETTV. In the 2nd stage, the study presents the relationship of thermal and energy performance of (a) Living wall and ETTV (b) Green facade and ETTV (c) Combination of Living wall, Green facade and ETTV (d) Combination of Living wall, Green Roof and ETTV in new formulations. Finally, the study demonstrates the amount of energy that can be saved annually from different combinations of Green applications, i.e., Living wall, Green facade; combination of Living wall and Green facade; combination of Living wall and Green roof. The estimations are supported by experimental values obtained from extensive experiments of Living walls and Green roofs.
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Marmoux, Pierre-Benoît. "Energy services for high performance buildings and building clusters - towards better energy quality management in the urban built environment." Thesis, KTH, Byggvetenskap, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-98798.
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With an increasing awareness of energy consumption and CO 2emission in the population, several initiatives to reduce CO2emissions have been presented all around the world. The main part of these initiatives is a reduction of the energy consumption for existing buildings, while the others concern the building of eco-districts with low-energy infrastructures and even zero-energy infrastructures. In this idea of reducing the energy consumption and of developing new clean areas, this master thesis will deal with the high energy quality services for new urban districts. In the scope of this master thesis project, the new concept of sustainable cities and of clusters of buildings will be approached in order to clearly understand the future challenges that the world’s population is going to face during this century. Indeed, due to the current alarming environmental crisis, the need to reduce human impacts on the environment is growing more and more and is becoming inescapable. We will present a way to react to the current situation and to counteract it thanks to new clean technologies and to new analysis approaches, like the exergy concept. Through this report, we are going to analyze the concepts of sustainable cities and clusters of buildings as systems, and focus on their energy aspects in order to set indoor climate parameters and energy supply parameters to ensure high energy quality services supplies to high performance buildings. Thanks to the approach of the exergy concept, passive and active systems such as nocturnal ventilation or floor heating and cooling systems have been highlighted in order to realize the ‘energy saving’ opportunities that our close environment offers. This work will be summarized in a methodology that will present a way to optimize the energy use of all services aspects in a building and the environmental friendly characteristics of the energy resources mix, which will supply the buildings’ low energy demands.
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Ramkrishnan, Karthik. "Optimal Investment Strategy for Energy Performance Improvements in Existing Buildings." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/19855.
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Current global efforts for energy conservation and optimization are focused on improvements in energy supply and production systems, and on encouraging the adoption of energy-efficient devices and equipment. However, systematic assessments of economic and technical implications when adopting energy-efficient alternative systems in buildings have not yet been explored thoroughly. The uncertainty about the consequences of investing in alternative energy-efficient systems has led to a prolonged utilization of obsolete building systems (underperforming HVAC systems, inefficient lighting systems, badly maintained and equipment, and so forth). This has led to overall poor energy efficiency, creating considerable burden on the building operation budget.
This research discusses the procedure for formulating an investment strategy to improve existing building energy performance. The approach is suitable for large building portfolios where a plethora of potential refurbishment interventions can be considered. This makes our approach especially suited for use on university campuses and most of this report will focus on that particular application utilization protocols especially for use on campuses. This investment model only looks at the energy related savings versus investments; it is well understood that the ultimate selection of the optimal set of improvement options of a portfolio will be determined by additional considerations, such as overall value, occupant satisfaction, productivity improvements, aesthetics, etc. Nevertheless, many campus managers are confronted with the question how much energy they can save with a given investment amount. This is exactly what our approach helps to answer.
The investment optimization strategy is implemented in software "InvEnergy," which systematically calculates the costs and benefits of all possible building-technology pairings, taking uncertainties in the saving/investment calculations and estimates into account. This tool empowers decision makers in facility management to make complex investment decisions during continuous building commissioning.
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Karaguzel, Omer Tugrul. "The Effects Of Passive Solar Energy Systems On The Thermal Performance Of Residential Buildings." Master's thesis, METU, 2003. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/4/1104900/index.pdf.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of windows and building
envelope materials on the thermal performance of residential buildings, for
the climatic conditions of Ankara.
The effects of the thermal mass of the building envelope, together with the
effects of glazing type and shading conditions of south-facing windows on
thermal performance were investigated using two computer-based thermal
analysis programs called: ECOTECT 5.0 and ENERGY-10. The
hypothetical building model used for computer simulations was based on the
sample residential building defined in the Turkish Standards on the
Regulations for Building Insulation, TSE 825, as prepared by the Türk Standartlari Enstitü
sü
(TSE, Turkish Standards Institute). Simulation studies were first conducted with ECOTECT 5.0, but since the results did not conform to earlier researches and, since this discrepancy could not be explained even by the support forum prepared by the authors of this software, it was decided to continue the simulations with ENERGY-10, which proved to be more consistent. The results of 240 program runs of ENERGY- 10 were explained through graphical and statistical analysis on the basis of annual heating, cooling, and total energy needs of the building model. The study showed that building envelope materials having high thermal storage capacities together with high-performance glazing, in terms of increased thermal resistance, provided significant energy savings, which could be augmented by increasing the size of south-facing windows. The study also revealed that shading devices in the form of fixed overhangs applied to a south-facing window of any size did not provide substantial reductions in the energy demands of residential buildings, when annual total energy demands were considered for the climatic conditions of Ankara.
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Schade, Jutta. "A design process perspective on the energy performance of buildings." Doctoral thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Byggkonstruktion och -produktion, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-25984.
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From a sustainable development perspective, buildings should be designed to be as energy-efficient as possible, as the contribution of buildings to total energy consumption has steadily increased, reaching between 20% and 40% in the developed countries. One of the main challenges for achieving this goal is to develop more cost-effective systems and processes for energy renovation and modernising of the building stock of Europe. This challenge is addressed in this thesis. The research presented herein has had the overall purpose to identify and explore obstacles in the design process of constructing more energy-efficient buildings. Three research questions have guided the research work: (1) How can life cycle cost be used to predict the cost benefits of energy efficient buildings?; (2) How can the handling of energy performance requirements in the design process for buildings be improved?; (3) How do client requirements, political governance and regulations affect the design of energy performance in buildings? The research is based on literature reviews, interviews and surveys, as well as case and computational studies. A computational study was performed with three different building types situated in Finland using three different energysaving design concepts for each building. Energy consumption and construction costs were analysed for each case and the financial viability was analysed using the discounted payback method. Individual interviews were carried out to determine to what extent life cycle cost calculations are used in the construction sector and how energy performance is taken into account in model-based design processes for buildings. A decision-making framework and an axiomatic design model for a performance-based design process was then developed and the conceptual model was compared with a real case of low energy design in Sweden. Finally, a survey explored energy conservation strategies in the design of buildings in Germany and Sweden and a longitudinal investigation of key policy instrument regarding energy conservation in Germany and Sweden was conducted to support the main findings of the survey. The main results of the research work show that: * There is no evidence that the design of energy performance is considered differently in the design process for buildings in Sweden and Germany, even if regulations and building codes differ between the two countries. However, the somewhat steeper reduction in space heating in Germany compared with Sweden could be due to the stricter regulation in the building codes in Germany over the last decade. * The transparency of the design and the associated decision-making about energy performance can be improved by using the requirement management model developed, which is based on axiomatic principles and the proposed decision-making framework for evaluating, structuring and detailing the requirements from the conceptual to the detailed design stages. * Energy performance design can give cost benefits over a specific time for a building, as measured by the resulting life cycle costs. In general, life cycle cost analysis can be a tool for evaluating cost benefits over time and provide support for the decision-makers, but the challenges and uncertainties of its use have to be taken into account in the decision-making process. To conclude, the "energy gap" between regulations and what is technologically possible can be reduced to a certain extent by facilitating the energy design process with a performance-based design process and decision-making tools that support the evaluation of life cycle performance. However, it seems that regulation is a more important driver for the development of technology for low energy housing than market forces so the regulatory limit should therefore be set with respect to what is possible and not with respect to current practice.Godkänd; 2013; 20121121 (jutsch); Disputation Ämne: Byggproduktion/Construction Engineering Opponent: Professor Johnny Kronvall, Strusoft AB/Malmö högskola, Malmö Ordförande: Professor Ove Lagerqvist, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Torsdag den 7 februari 2013, kl 10.30 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet
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Fan, Yuling. "Optimal energy-efficiency retrofit and maintenance planning for existing buildings considering green building policy compliance." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66191.
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Reducing global energy consumption is a common challenge faced by the human race due to the energy shortage and growing energy demands. The building sector bears a large responsibility for the total energy consumption throughout the world. In particular, it was concluded that existing buildings, which are usually old and energy-inefficient, are the main reason for the high energy consumption of the building sector, in view of the low replacement rate (about 1%-3% per year) of existing buildings by new energy-efficient buildings. Therefore, improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings is a feasible and effective way to reduce energy consumption and mitigate the environmental impact of the building sector. The high energy intensity and requirements of a green building policy are the main motivation of this study, which focuses on finding cost-effective solutions to green building retrofit and maintenance planning to reduce energy consumption and ensure policy compliance. As about 50% of the total energy usage of a general building is caused by its envelope system, this study first proposes a multi-objective optimization approach for building envelope retrofit planning in Chapter 2. The purpose is to maximize the energy savings and economic benefits of an investment by improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings with the optimal retrofit plans obtained from the proposed approach. In the model formulation, important indicators for decision makers to evaluate an investment, including energy savings, net present value and the payback period, are taken into consideration. In addition, a photovoltaic (PV) power supply system is considered to reduce the energy demand of buildings because of the adequate solar resource in South Africa. The performance degradation of the PV system and corresponding maintenance cost are built into the optimization process for an accurate estimation of the energy savings and payback period of the investment so that decision makers are able to make informed decisions. The proposed model also gives decision makers a convenient way to interact with the optimization process to obtain a desired optimal retrofit plan according to their preferences over different objectives. In addition to the envelope system, the indoor systems of a general building also account for a large proportion of the total energy demand of a building. In the literature, research related to building retrofit planning methods aiming at saving energy examines either the indoor appliances or the envelope components. No study on systematic retrofit plan for the whole building, including both the envelope system and the indoor systems, has been reported so far. In addition, a systematic whole-building retrofit plan taking into account the green building policy, which in South Africa is the energy performance certificate (EPC) rating system, is urgently needed to help decision makers to ensure that the retrofit is financially beneficial and the resulting building complies with the green building policy requirements. This has not been investigated in the literature. Therefore, Chapter 4 of this thesis fills the above-mentioned gaps and presents a model that can determine an optimal retrofit plan for the whole building, considering both the envelope system and indoor systems, aiming at maximizing energy savings in the most cost-effective way and achieving a good rating from the EPC rating system to comply with the green building policy in South Africa. As reaching the best energy level from the EPC rating system for a building usually requires a high amount of investment, resulting in a long payback period, which is not attractive for decision makers in view of the vulnerable economic situation of South Africa, the proposed model treats the retrofit plan as a multi-year project, improving efficiency targets in consecutive years. That is to say, the model breaks down the once-off long-term project into smaller projects over multiple financial years with shorter payback periods. In that way, the financial concerns of the investors are alleviated. In addition, a tax incentive program to encourage energy saving investments in South Africa is considered in the optimization problem to explore the economic benefits of the retrofit projects fully. Considering both the envelope system and indoor systems, many systems and items that can be retrofitted and massive retrofit options available for them result in a large number of discrete decision variables for the optimization problem. The inherent non-linearity and multi-objective nature of the optimization problem and other factors such as the requirements of the EPC system make it difficult to solve the building retrofit problem. The complexity of the problem is further increased when the target buildings have many floors. In addition, there is a large number of parameters that need to be obtained in the building retrofit optimization problem. This requires a detailed energy audit of the buildings to be retrofitted, which is an expensive bottom-up modeling exercise. To address these challenges, two simplified methods to reduce the complexity of finding the optimal whole-building retrofit plans are proposed in Chapter 4. Lastly, an optimal maintenance planning strategy is presented in Chapter 5 to ensure the sustainability of the retrofit. It is natural that the performance of all the retrofitted items will degrade over time and consequently the energy savings achieved by the retrofit will diminish. The maintenance plan is therefore studied to restore the energy performance of the buildings after retrofit in a cost-effective way. Maintenance planning for the indoor systems is not considered in this study because it has been thoroughly investigated in the literature. In addition, a maintenance plan for the PV system involved in the retrofit of this study is investigated in Chapter 2.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
PhD
Unrestricted
23
Khoshbakht, Iradmoosa Maryam. "Building Performance Studies for Higher Education Campus Buildings: Energy Use, Occupant Satisfaction and Thermal Comfort." Thesis, Griffith University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/385602.
Full textAbstract:
Universities play a significant role in creating a sustainable future, and green campus buildings can make a valuable contribution to the spread of sustainability education. Due to the variety and complexity of uses, performance evaluation of campus buildings has become a challenge. Using campus buildings as case studies, this thesis aims to understand the patterns of use, and to benchmark the performance of higher education buildings including several factors such as energy use, occupant satisfaction and thermal comfort. The campus building benchmarks and performance evaluation provide a guideline for university authorities to promote sustainability principles and enhance efficiency by evaluating building performances, determining feasible green initiative techniques, and forecasting future building performances.
Based on a thesis by paper, this research has developed quantitative and qualitative approaches. Specifically, the methodology included a set of post-occupancy evaluations of buildings in use, based on case studies from Queensland universities including Griffith University, the University of Queensland, and Bond University. The study addresses three areas of building environmental performance assessment criteria: energy use (Chapter 2), occupant satisfaction (Chapter 3), and thermal comfort (Chapter 4) in higher education buildings.
In Chapter 2, an energy benchmark system was developed for each campus building type in terms of both discipline and activity. A set of energy benchmark tables was developed to provide a guideline for university authorities and promote energy efficiency by evaluating building energy use and determining feasible energy saving techniques.
In Chapter 3, green campus buildings are compared with non-green counterparts, and some areas of strength and weakness in the design and operation of green building strategies are identified. The research showed that occupant satisfaction is not necessarily higher in green buildings than that of non-green structures when comparing all building parameters. The study revealed the weaknesses of green buildings to be noise, ventilation, and artificial lighting.
Chapter 4 focuses on promoting mixed-mode ventilation to enhance both energy performance and occupant satisfaction in campus buildings. Mixed-mode ventilation is a system that uses a combination of natural and artificial ventilation. Thermal comfort models for three types of mixed-mode buildings were developed in order to promote the use of mixed-mode systems in higher education buildings.
Finally, a set of frameworks and policy implications in terms of investment decision making, facility management, operational quality control, and planning and design are proposed (Chapter 5) to improve the effectiveness of green building initiatives at higher education buildings. This study sheds light on performance evaluation of campus buildings, which could be used as a reference for the design, construction and operation of sustainable campus buildings.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Eng & Built Env
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
Full Text
24
Sun, Yuming. "Closing the building energy performance gap by improving our predictions." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/52285.
Full textAbstract:
Increasing studies imply that predicted energy performance of buildings significantly deviates from actual measured energy use. This so-called "performance gap" may undermine one's confidence in energy-efficient buildings, and thereby the role of building energy efficiency in the national carbon reduction plan. Closing the performance gap becomes a daunting challenge for the involved professions, stimulating them to reflect on how to investigate and better understand the size, origins, and extent of the gap. The energy performance gap underlines the lack of prediction capability of current building energy models. Specifically, existing predictions are predominantly deterministic, providing point estimation over the future quantity or event of interest. It, thus, largely ignores the error and noise inherent in an uncertain future of building energy consumption. To overcome this, the thesis turns to a thriving area in engineering statistics that focuses on computation-based uncertainty quantification. The work provides theories and models that enable probabilistic prediction over future energy consumption, forming the basis of risk assessment in decision-making. Uncertainties that affect the wide variety of interacting systems in buildings are organized into five scales (meteorology - urban - building - systems - occupants). At each level both model form and input parameter uncertainty are characterized with probability, involving statistical modeling and parameter distributional analysis. The quantification of uncertainty at different system scales is accomplished using the network of collaborators established through an NSF-funded research project. The bottom-up uncertainty quantification approach, which deals with meta uncertainty, is fundamental for generic application of uncertainty analysis across different types of buildings, under different urban climate conditions, and in different usage scenarios. Probabilistic predictions are evaluated by two criteria: coverage and sharpness. The goal of probabilistic prediction is to maximize the sharpness of the predictive distributions subject to the coverage of the realized values. The method is evaluated on a set of buildings on the Georgia Tech campus. The energy consumption of each building is monitored in most cases by a collection of hourly sub-metered consumption data. This research shows that a good match of probabilistic predictions and the real building energy consumption in operation is achievable. Results from the six case buildings show that using the best point estimations of the probabilistic predictions reduces the mean absolute error (MAE) from 44% to 15% and the root mean squared error (RMSE) from 49% to 18% in total annual cooling energy consumption. As for monthly cooling energy consumption, the MAE decreases from 44% to 21% and the RMSE decreases from 53% to 28%. More importantly, the entire probability distributions are statistically verified at annual level of building energy predictions. Based on uncertainty and sensitivity analysis applied to these buildings, the thesis concludes that the proposed method significantly reduces the magnitude and effectively infers the origins of the building energy performance gap.
25
Molinari, Marco. "Exergy Analysis in Buildings : A complementary approach to energy analysis." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Civil and Architectural Engineering, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-11537.
Full textAbstract:
Though mandatory to be pursued, improved energy efficiency is not the only target to reach. The quality of energy has to be assessed as well. Most of the overall energy use in residential building is for low temperature heat, i.e. temperatures relatively close to the outdoor conditions. From a thermodynamic point of view, this is a degraded form of energy with low potential to be converted into work. On the other hand energy demand is mostly met with high quality energy, such as electricity and natural gas. There is a mismatch between supply and demand, which is not clearly shown by the sole energy analysis. Target of this thesis is to analyze the energy use in buildings from the point of view of its quality, to provide effective theoretical and calculation tools to investigate this mismatch, to assess its magnitudo and to propose improvements aiming at a more rational use of the energy. The idea behind the quality is clarified with the concept of exergy.
The potential for improvement in space heating is shown. In no heating system the overall exergy efficiency is above 20%, with fossil fuels. Using direct electricity heating results in exergy efficiency below 7%. Most of the household appliances processes have low-exergy factors but still are supplied with electricity. This results in poor exergy efficiencies and large exergy losses.
Systems are poorly performing because little consideration is explicitly given to energy quality. Policies to lower the energy demand, though vital as first step towards an improved use of energy, should not neglect the exergy content.
The problem is then shifted to find suitable supplies. Electricity can be exploited with low exergy losses with high-COP heat pumps. Use of fossil fuels for heating purposes should be avoided. District heating from cogeneration and geothermal proves to be a suitable solution at the building level. The issues connected to its exploitation forces to shift the boundary layers of the analysis from the building level to the community level. A rational use of energy should address the community level. The system boundaries have to be enlarged to a dimension where both the energy conversion and use take place with reduced energy transportation losses. This is a cost-effective way to avoid the waste of the exergy potential of the sources with exergy cascade and to make it possible the integration of with renewable sources. Exergy efficiency of the buildings is a prerequisite for a better of energy in this field.
IEA ECBCS Annex 49: Low Exergy Systems for High Performance Buildings and Communities
ESF Cost C24: Analysis and Design of Innovative Systems for Low-EXergy in the Built Environment: COSTeXergy
26
Fung, Yu Yan. "Energy performance of semi-transparent PV modules for applications in buildings." online access from Digital Dissertation Consortium, 2006. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/er/db/ddcdiss.pl?3241058.
Full text
27
Bonde, Magnus. "Green Buildings : Exploring performance and thresholds." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Bygg- och fastighetsekonomi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-184874.
Full textAbstract:
The overall aim of this research project is to study green/energy-efficient real estate from an economic perspective. The thesis summarizes the results from five different studies with a connection to green/energy-efficient real estate.The aim of the first paper (paper A) is to study how tenants perceive the indoor environment in green-rated premises, and to compare these results with tenants’ perception of a conventional building’s indoor environment. The main result is that the tenants in the green-rated building are more satisfied with the indoor environment than the tenants in the conventional building.Papers B and C assess whether energy efficiency has an impact on buildings’ income and market values using Swedish real-estate data. The key result is that although there is a small impact on building-related income, this does not seem to translate into a higher market value.The last two papers included in this thesis study hindrances to a more energy-efficient building sector. In paper D, two office buildings are used as baseline cases to provide insights into the difficulties that can arise when trying to upgrade a building to make it more energy efficient. The results indicate that changing existing leases is a prohibitive process and that it is often difficult to evaluate the final impact of an energy upgrade. The last paper focuses on why it may be rational to postpone green refurbishments even if they are profitable. The main result is that it may be rational to postpone such refurbishments. However, by introducing different financial penalties and/or subsidies, these investments could be triggered today.To sum up, the results indicate that green buildings are preferred by tenants, but that there still appear to be economic barriers to a greener building sector.Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är att studera grön/energieffektiva byggnader ur ett ekonomiskt perspektiv. Avhandlingen består av en kappa och fem separata studier, vilka belyser tre olika forskningsfrågor. Syftet med den första studien är att studera hur hyresgäster upplever inomhusmiljön i gröna byggnader. I studien jämförs inomhusmiljön i en grön byggnad med inomhusmiljön i en likvärdig konventionell byggnad. Resultatet visar, på det stora hela, att hyresgästerna är mer nöjda med inomhusmiljön i den gröna byggnaden. De nästföljande studierna, B respektive C, undersöker om byggnadens energiprestanda har någon inverkan på dess hyra respektive marknadsvärde. Resultaten visar på en liten signifikant hyrespåverkan, dock verkar denna inte ha någon effekt på byggnadernas marknadsvärdebedömningar. Skälet till detta kan vara att hyrespremien anses för liten för att ha någon signifikant inverkan på byggnadens marknadsvärde, alternativt att fastighetsvärderare inte beaktar energiprestanda när en fastighet värderas. De två sista studierna studerar varför vissa, tillsynes lönsamma, energiinvesteringar inte genomförs. Resultaten från studie D visar på svårigheterna med att ingå ett samarbetsavtal (för att eliminera felaktiga incitament) mellan hyresgäst och hyresvärd. Sådana avtal tar lång tid att förhandla fram och det uppkommer ofta svårigheter med att utvärdera de tänkta energiinvesteringarnas ekonomiska utfall. Studie E utgår ifrån en realoptionsmodell, vilken används för att utvärdera när ”gröna” renoveringar bör genomföras i en befintlig byggnad. Studien visar att det kan vara rationellt att vänta trots att investeringen idag är lönsam. Vidare visar resultaten att det är möjligt att via byggsubventioner/finansiella ”straff” påverka aktörer att tidigarelägga energieffektiviseringsåtgärder. Dock är det viktigt att dessa utformas korrekt så att det inte skapar några snedvridna incitament. Övergripande visar resultaten att gröna byggnader är att föredra ur ett brukarperspektiv men att det fortfarande finns ekonomiska hinder för en mer hållbar byggsektor. Nyckelord: gröna byggnader, energieffektiva byggnader, EPC, inomhusmiljö, Realoptioner, fastighetsekonomi.
QC 20160407
28
Sheppard, Barbara Dorothea. "Assessing the environmental performance of building developments : the Green Building Tool." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ENV/09envs549.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Bibliography: p. 119-122. Aims to show how the GB Tool (Green BuildingTool) can be used to access the environmental performance of residential building developments, with a focus on South Australia. Describes the history of, and rationale for, the GB Tool; and its practical implementation. Identifies some theoretical short comings of the GB Tool, as well as some practical difficulties with using it.
29
Dunn, Gavin Neil. "Air conditioning in UK office buildings : measured energy and carbon performance." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2005. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/55391/.
Full textAbstract:
The research has shown that cooling in UK Office buildings can be undertaken far more efficiently than generally occurs at present, by combining the selection highly efficient air conditioning systems, such as chilled ceilings, and by ensuring building design and operation is undertaken in an energy efficient manner. The potential energy consumption, carbon emissions and running cost savings appear to be comfortably over 50% compared to current practice.
30
Blush, Aaron. "Impact of ASHRAE standard 189.1-2009 on building energy efficiency and performance." Kansas State University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/6909.
Full textAbstract:
Master of ScienceDepartment of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science
Fred L. Hasler
The purpose of this report is to provide an introduction to the new ASHRAE Standard 189.1-2009, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings. The report will include an overview of the standard to detail what the purpose, scope and requirements for high-performance buildings will be. The entire standard will be overviewed, but the focus of this paper is in the areas of energy efficiency and building performance. Next, the report will examine further impacts that the standard will have on the building design and construction industry. Chapter 3 includes the impact on other standards, specification writing and coordination of the design and construction teams. A case study of an office building is performed to compare a baseline building meeting ASHRAE Standard 90.1 to a building meeting the minimum standards of ASHRAE Standard 189.1. The case study compares the total annual energy use of the two projects to determine an expected energy savings. Based on this information, recommendations about the new standard will be discussed. Universities and government entities should require ASHRAE Standard 189.1 for new construction projects, to show willingness to provide sustainability in buildings. Finally, conclusions about how the standard will change and impact industry will be addressed. These conclusions will include issues with adopting ASHRAE Standard 189.1 as code as well as discussion on the LEED rating system.
31
Allard, Ingrid. "Achieving building energy performance : requirements and evaluation methods for residential buildings in Sweden, Norway, and Finland." Licentiate thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för tillämpad fysik och elektronik, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-103749.
Full textAbstract:
Building energy performance has always been important in the cold climate of Sweden, Norway and Finland. To meet the goal that all new buildings should be nearly zero-energy buildings by 2020, set in the EU directive 2010/31/EU [1] on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD recast), the building sector in Europe now faces a transition towards buildings with improved energy performance. In such a transition, a discussion is needed about the objective of the improvement – why, or to what end, the building energy performance should be improved. The objective of improving building energy performance is often a political decision, but scientific research can contribute with knowledge on how the objectives can be achieved. This thesis addresses how the indicators used in the requirements used to achieve building energy performance in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, and the methods used to evaluate these requirements, reflect building energy performance. It also addresses difficulties in achieving comparable and verifiable indicators in evaluations of building energy performance. The research objective has two parts: to review, compare, and discuss (i) requirements and (ii) evaluation methods used to achieve energy performance of residential buildings in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The work in this thesis includes reviews of the requirements used in national building codes and passive house criteria to achieve building energy performance, of methods used to evaluate compliance with such requirements, and of methods used specifically to evaluate the indicator Envelope Air Tightness. The results show that different sets of indicators are used to achieve building energy performance in the studied building codes and passive house criteria. The methods used to evaluate compliance with requirements used to achieve building energy performance are also different, but calculation methods are generally more often used than measurement methods. The calculation- and measurement methods used are often simple. A methodology to analyze the deviation between predictions- and measurements of building energy performance (the performance gap) was developed, to investigate the effects of different evaluation methods on different indicators used to achieve building energy performance. The methodology was tested in a case-study. This study indicated that the choice of method affects which parts of the performance gap reflected in the indicators Supplied Energy (see Terminology), Net Energy (see Terminology), and Overall U-value. Among the reviewed methods to evaluate air tightness, the Fan/Blower Door Pressurization is well known and preferred by professionals in the field. The results in this thesis may be useful when choosing indicators and evaluation methods to achieve different objectives of improving building energy performance and in the quest towards comparable and verifiable indicators used to achieve building energy performance.Increasing Energy Efficiency in Buildings (IEEB)
Sustainable Buildings for the High North (SBHN)
32
Wagoner, Jared Wesley. "Performance Evaluation of PCM-in-Walls of Residential Buildings for Energy Conservation." OpenSIUC, 2019. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/2636.
Full textAbstract:
Phase Change Materials have been the subject of increased research in modern times. Phase Change Materials, abbreviated as PCMs, are being used in a variety of applications in the energy conservation world. In this study, the effect of PCMs on a residential building’s energy consumption was evaluated at different locations across the United States and compared to the standard building at the same locations. An average American residential building was designed and modeled in SketchUp software. The building was evaluated for energy consumption at different locations across the United States using weather data for each chosen location. After the baseline results were collected, the building was re-evaluated, under the same conditions, with a Heptadecane embedded in the exterior walls as the chosen PCM for this study. The results of this study show that Phase Change Materials have a wide-ranging effect on the energy consumption of the designed building. Addition of the PCM to the building walls decreased total energy usage, over the course of a year, by 3.02 – 6.72%, depending on the location.
33
Davaki, Maria. "Analysis of energy use in typical Greek residential buildings and proposed retrofit strategies." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/44922.
Full textAbstract:
In each country, the concept of housing exists in relationship between the ways people live, the local climate, the social and political factors that affect the evolution of architecture and the actual structure of the house. The economic developments of the countries and the political situations and regulations have all affected the rise of the residential market. In Greece, where the majority of the residential buildings were constructed between 1960 and 1990, residential buildings represent an important sector in the energy consumption and economic growth of the country.
Global warming and changes in the climate system has an important impact in building stock. The European Union is concerned about the scale of the consequences and has encouraged energy efficiency in buildings by mandating the Energy Performance Building Directive for all European countries [1].
In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the architect to address the impact of existing residential buildings by retrofitting solutions with the aim of reducing the energy consumption and eventually improving the quality of life. Architects, in collaboration with energy experts, can work properly to provide effective solutions. With the guidance of the new directive, along with their personal knowledge and experience in energy efficiency they can help bring about increased energy building performance.
In order to demonstrate how architects can implement such an energy retrofit plan, this thesis presents a short description of residential buildings constructed between 60's - 80'by presenting a typical building representing the current state of the Greek building stock, and by studying its energy consumption. An energy performance simulation of the building with different energy simulation software considers different scenarios and describes a way to reduce energy demand and increase comfort in these buildings. The primary software tools used in the study was TEE KENAK, developed by the Greek chamber in accordance with the European energy rating tools for the implementation of the Energy Performance Building Directive. Additional software tools, including ECOtect, and the "Energy Performance Calculator", developed by the department of High Performance Buildings at the Georgia Institute of Technology in order to verify the information provided by the actual energy bills and the TEE KENAK. The results presented in this study estimate the building retrofit and energy saving, making appropriate decisions in terms of energy conservation and improvement in the existing residential building considering energy cost savings, payback from retrofit investments, along with architectural design considerations.
34
Korolija, Ivan. "Heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system energy demand coupling with building loads for office buildings." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/5501.
Full textAbstract:
The UK building stock accounts for about half of all energy consumed in the UK. A large portion of the energy is consumed by nondomestic buildings. Offices and retail are the most energy intensive typologies within the nondomestic building sector, typically accounting for over 50% of the nondomestic buildings’ total energy consumption. Heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are the largest energy end use in the nondomestic sector, with energy consumption close to 50% of total energy consumption. Different HVAC systems have different energy requirements when responding to the same building heating and cooling demands. On the other hand, building heating and cooling demands depend on various parameters such as building fabrics, glazing ratio, building form, occupancy pattern, and many others. HVAC system energy requirements and building energy demands can be determined by mathematical modelling. A widely accepted approach among building professionals is to use building energy simulation tools such as EnergyPlus, IES, DOE2, etc. which can analyse in detail building energy consumption. However, preparing and running simulations in such tools is usually very complicated, time consuming and costly. Their complexity has been identified as the biggest obstacle. Adequate alternatives to complex building energy simulation tools are regression models which can provide results in an easier and faster way. This research deals with the development of regression models that enable the selection of HVAC systems for office buildings. In addition, the models are able to predict annual heating, cooling and auxiliary energy requirements of different HVAC systems as a function of office building heating and cooling demands. For the first part of the data set development used for the regression analysis, a data set of office building simulation archetypes was developed. The four most typical built forms (open plan sidelit, cellular sidelit, artificially lit open plan and composite sidelit cellular around artificially lit open plan built form) were coupled with five types of building fabric and three levels of glazing ratio. Furthermore, two measures of reducing solar heat gains were considered as well as implementation of daylight control. Also, building orientation was included in the analysis. In total 3840 different office buildings were then further coupled with five different HVAC systems: variable air volume system; constant air volume system; fan coil system with dedicated air; chilled ceiling system with embedded pipes, dedicated air and radiator heating; and chilled ceiling system with exposed aluminium panels, dedicated air and radiator heating. The total number of models simulated in EnergyPlus, in order to develop the input database for regression analysis, was 23,040. The results clearly indicate that it is possible to form a reliable judgement about each different HVAC system’s heating, cooling and auxiliary energy requirements based only on office building heating and cooling demands. High coefficients of determination of the proposed regression models show that HVAC system requirements can be predicted with high accuracy. The lowest coefficient of determination among cooling regression models was 0.94 in the case of the CAV system. HVAC system heating energy requirement regression models had a coefficient of determination above 0.96. The auxiliary energy requirement models had a coefficient of determination above 0.95, except in the case of chilled ceiling systems where the coefficient of determination was around 0.87. This research demonstrates that simplified regression models can be used to provide design decisions for the office building HVAC systems studied. Such models allow more rapid determination of HVAC systems energy requirements without the need for time-consuming (hence expensive) reconfigurations and runs of the simulation program.
35
Ordoñez, García Arturo. "Effects of architectural design variables on energy and environmental performance of office buildings." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/395212.
Full textAbstract:
Aquesta
tesi
aborda
la
comprensió
dels
efectes
que
les
principals
variables
de
disseny
arquitectònic
tenen
en
les
prestacions
energètiques,
mediambientals
i
econòmiques
dels
edificis
d'oficines,
mitjançant
l'exploració
d'alguns
dels
mètodes
d'anàlisi
que
ofereixen
un
major
potencial
en
l'actualitat.
Busca
contribuir
al
desenvolupament
d'enfocaments,
mètodes
i
eines
que
facilitin
la
presa
de
decisions
durant
el
procés
de
disseny
arquitectònic,
especialment
en
les
primeres
etapes.
També
està
dirigit
a
generar
informació
que
ajudi
a
millorar
els
criteris
aplicats
en
el
desenvolupament
de
codis
energètics
i
sistemes
de
certificació
de
sostenibilitat.
La
investigació
ha
consistit
en
quatre
parts
principals:
•
La
primera
part
consisteix
en
el
desenvolupament
d'un
projecte
paramètric
basat
en
els
programes
EnergyPlus
i
jEPlus.
•
La
segona
part
consisteix
en
una
anàlisi
d'optimització
mitjançant
algoritmes
evolutius.
L'anàlisi
es
va
realitzar
amb
el
programa
jEPlus
+
EA,
i
està
destinat
a
identificar
les
solucions
de
disseny
arquitectònic
que
produeixen
impactes
mediambientals
i
econòmics
més
baixos.
•
La
tercera
part
consisteix
en
l'aplicació
dels
dos
mètodes
d'anàlisi
de
sensibilitat,
Morris
i
Sobol,
per
tal
d'establir
la
importància
relativa
de
cada
variable
de
disseny
arquitectònic
en
les
prestacions
dels
edificis.Esta tesis aborda el estudio de los efectos que las principales variables de diseño arquitectónico tienen en el desempeño energético, medioambiental y económico de los edificios de oficinas, mediante la exploración de algunos de los métodos de análisis que ofrecen un mayor potencial en la actualidad. Busca contribuir al desarrollo de enfoques, métodos y herramientas que faciliten la toma de decisiones durante el proceso de diseño arquitectónico, especialmente en las primeras etapas. También busca generar información que ayude a mejorar los criterios aplicados en el desarrollo de códigos energéticos y sistemas de certificación de sostenibilidad. La investigación consistió en cuatro partes principales: • Desarrollo de un proyecto paramétrico basado en los programas EnergyPlus y jEPlus, con el objeto de identificar y caracterizar las variables de diseño arquitectónico más significativas • Aplicación de un análisis de optimización mediante algoritmos evolutivos. El análisis se realizó con el programa jEPlus + EA. • Ejecución de dos métodos de análisis de sensibilidad, Morris y Sobol, con el fin de establecer la importancia relativa de cada variable de diseño arquitectónico en el desempeño energético, medioambiental y económico de los edificios
This thesis addresses the understanding of the effects that main architectural design variables have on energy, environmental and economic performance of office buildings, exploring some of the analytical methods that offer greater potential nowadays. It is aimed to contribute to the development of approaches, methods and tools that facilitate the decision-making during the architectural design processes, especially in the early stages. It is also aimed to generate information that helps to improve the criteria applied in the development of building energy codes and sustainability certifications. The research consisted of four major parts: • Development of a parametric project based on the programs EnergyPlus and jEPlus software. • Implementation of Optimization analysis by means of evolutionary algorithms. The analysis is performed with the program jEPlus+EA. • Application of two sensitivity analysis methods, Morris and Sobol, in order to investigate the relative importance of each architectural design variable. • Implementation of artificial neural networks to create meta-models that are able to predict, with reasonable accuracy, the energy, environmental and economic performance of buildings
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Eriksson, Linnea. "The impact of calculation methods on the gap between predicted and actual energy performance of buildings : Using a thermal simulation model of a building." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Fakulteten för hälsa, natur- och teknikvetenskap (from 2013), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-33225.
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The building sector is responsible for almost a quarter of the total carbon dioxide emissions. The urgency to reduce the emissions is reflected in the stricter guidelines which have been set all over the world. To reduce the building sector’s emissions the energy consumption need to be reduced, which can be done in two ways: building new energy efficient buildings or retrofitting of current buildings. Due to the life expectancy of current building stock the largest savings before 2030 will be made through retrofits. For this reliable computational tools are required, and currently there is a gap between the predicted and actual performance of retrofitted buildings. This thesis is going to look into how the computational method is contributing to the performance gap. A building at the RMIT campus in Melbourne, Australia, which is going to be retrofitted through retrofits designed by Siemens, is used. A thermal simulation model of the building was built, and tuned to reflect the pre-retrofit building, and compared against the measured energy performance of the building. The retrofits were then implemented in the simulation model and the gap in the predictions between the simpler computational method used by Siemens in designing the retrofits, and the extensive simulation model was compared. The gap between the computational methods were analysed in order to see how Siemens calculation method contribute to the performance gap. The conclusions which have been drawn are that the simulation model is reflecting the energy use of the building well considering the access of data available during the study. Especially the electricity use is reflected well both in the total annual use, approximately 4 % gap to measured value, and the monthly variation over the year. The total natural gas use is under predicting the annual use, approximately 40 % gap to the measured value, but shows a good correlation to the monthly variation. The electricity use is relatively stable in the simulation model, where the natural gas was sensitive for direct changes to the heating system. The input parameters which have the largest impact in the electricity use are internal gain profiles and the electrical internal gains energy use. Siemens calculation method are contributing to the performance gap through the lack of interaction between the different retrofits, the light retrofit have a noticeable impact on the heating and cooling system of the building. To only use one single period in the regression models can also easily lead to incorrect predictions. The strength of the simulation model is its ability to see the retrofits influence on each other and the possibility for scenario analysis.Byggnadssektorn är ansvarig för nästan en fjärdedel av de totala globala koldioxidutsläppen. Viljan att minska utsläppen kan ses i de allt striktare riktlinjer som sätts över hela världen. För att reducera utsläppen finns det två sätt: bygga nya energieffektiva byggnader eller ombyggnation av nuvarande byggnader. Livslängden på nuvarande byggnadsbestånd innebär att de största besparingarna innan 2030 kommer att ske inom ombyggnationer. För detta krävs tillförlitliga verktyg, och i nuläget finns det ett gap mellan byggnaders förutspådda och verkliga energiprestanda. I denna examensuppsatts kommer beräkningsmetodens inflytande över detta gap att undersökas. En byggnad på RMIT:s campus i Melbourne, Australien, som kommer att undergå en ombyggnation som designats av Siemens har använts. En termisk simuleringsmodell av byggnaden skapades och avstämdes mot den verkliga byggnaden, och jämfördes mot uppmätta värden av byggnadens energiprestanda. Ombyggnationerna var sedan implementerade och skillnaden mellan den förutspådda prestandan av byggnaden, genom den omfattande simuleringsmodellen och den enklare beräkningsmetoden som användes av Siemens, jämfördes. Genom att analysera gapet mellan de olika beräkningsmetoderna kunde slutsatser dras angående hur de kan bidra till gapet i energiprestanda. Slutsatserna från arbetet är att simuleringsmodellen ger en bra bild av energianvändningen av byggnaden, med hänsyn till informationen som varit tillänglig. Byggnadens totala uppmätta elektricitetsanvändning är speciellt väl överrensstämmande med simuleringsmodellens resultat både i den årliga användningen, ca 4 % skillnad från uppmätta värden, och variationen över ett år. Den totala användningen av naturgas enligt simuleringsmodellen är under de uppmätta värdena med en skillnad på ca 40 %, men med en god överrensstämmelse med den årliga variationen. Användningen av elektricitet i modellen är relativt stabil, användningen av naturgas är känslig för direkta ändringar till uppvärmningssystemet. Inputparametrarna som har störst inverkan på elanvändningen är interna, energiproducerande och konsumerande, enheters användningsprofil (PC, personer, ljus m.m.), el konsumtion, och latenta samt sensibla värme. Siemens beräkningsmetod bidrar till gapet mellan förutspådda och verkliga energiprestanda genom brist på samverkan mellan de olika delarna i ombyggnationen. Ombyggnationen som innebär uppgradering av byggnadens belysning innebär exempelvis märkbara skillnader i byggnadens uppvärmnings- och kylsystem. Användningen av endast en period i skapandet av regressionsmodeller för att förutspå vattenkokarnas och kylarnas användning leder även till en missledande framtida energiproduktion. Styrkan i simuleringsmodellen är möjligheten till samverkan mellan olika ombyggnationer påverkan på varandra samt möjligheten till scenarioanalys.
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Gerrish, Tristan. "Exploring the effectiveness of BIM for energy performance management of non-domestic buildings." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2017. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/25094.
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Following several years of research and development around the subject of BIM, its impact on the design and handover of buildings is now becoming visible across the construction industry. Changes in design procedures and information management methods indicate the potential for greater utilisation of a Common Data Environment in areas other than design. To identify how these changes are influencing the engineering design process, and adapt this process to the needs and requirements of building performance management requires consideration of multiple factors, relating mainly to the stakeholders and processes employed in these procedures. This thesis is the culmination of a four year Engineering Doctorate exploring how BIM could be used to support non-domestic building energy performance management. It begins with an introduction to the research aim and objectives, then presents a thorough review of the subject area and the methodologies employed for the research. Research is split between eight sequential tasks using literature review, interviews, data analysis and case-study application from which findings, conclusions and key recommendations are made. Findings demonstrate disparity between different information environments and provide insight into the necessary steps to enable connection between BIM and monitored building energy performance information. They highlight the following factors essential to providing an information environment suitable for BIM applied performance management: Skills in handling information and the interface between various environments; Technology capable of producing structured and accurate information, supporting efficient access for interconnection with other environments; and Processes that define the standards to which information is classified, stored and modified, with responsibility for its creation and modification made clear throughout the building life-cycle. A prototype method for the linking of BIM and monitored building energy performance data is demonstrated for a case-study building, encountering many of the technical barriers preventing replication on other projects. Methodological challenges are identified using review of existing building design and operation procedures. In conclusion the research found that BIM is still in its infancy, and while efforts are being made to apply it in novel ways to support efficient operation, several challenges remain. Opportunities for building energy performance improvement may be visualised using the modelling environment BIM provides, and the ability to interface with descriptive performance data suggests the future potential for BIM utilisation post-handover.
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Norbert, Harmati. "Energy performance optimization of administrative buildings in the function of occupant comfort." Phd thesis, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Fakultet tehničkih nauka u Novom Sadu, 2015. http://www.cris.uns.ac.rs/record.jsf?recordId=94816&source=NDLTD&language=en.
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The research is aimed in order to increase the efficiency and improve theenergy performance of multi-level administrative buildings in temperateclimate conditions. Special emphasis is on achieving and maintainingacceptable indoor environmental standards and thermal comfort ofoccupants. The investigation is based on a complex multi-criteria optimizationutilizing the most contemporary technology of dynamic energy simulations.The developed methodology for energy performance evaluation andimprovement in the function of occupant comfort will have the possibility ofapplication on similar and newly designed buildings. The formulated modelalso possesses flexibility and adaptability for further improvement andapplication in different climatic conditions.Истраживање је усмерено на повећање ефикасности и унапређење енергетских перформанси вишеспратних административних зграда у умереним климатским условима. Посебан нагласак је на постизању и одржавању прихватљивих унутрашњих микроклиматских стандарда и термичког комфора корисника. Истраживања су заснована на комплексној вишекритеријумској оптимизацији уз примену најсавременије технологије динамичке енергетске симулације. Развијена је методологија, флексибилна и прилагодљива, за вредновање и унапређење енергетских перформанси у функцији корисничког комфора, за примене и на друге сличне и новопројектоване објекте. Формулисан модел је подобан за даља унапређења и примену у различитим климатским условима.
Istraživanje je usmereno na povećanje efikasnosti i unapređenje energetskih performansi višespratnih administrativnih zgrada u umerenim klimatskim uslovima. Poseban naglasak je na postizanju i održavanju prihvatljivih unutrašnjih mikroklimatskih standarda i termičkog komfora korisnika. Istraživanja su zasnovana na kompleksnoj višekriterijumskoj optimizaciji uz primenu najsavremenije tehnologije dinamičke energetske simulacije. Razvijena je metodologija, fleksibilna i prilagodljiva, za vrednovanje i unapređenje energetskih performansi u funkciji korisničkog komfora, za primene i na druge slične i novoprojektovane objekte. Formulisan model je podoban za dalja unapređenja i primenu u različitim klimatskim uslovima.
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Xuan, Yang. "Evaluation of energy performance and cost of different energy saving solutions in residential buildings of China." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekologi, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-32805.
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This report reviewed Chinese building energy and related codes, directives and guidelines and compared them with Swedish ones. It also provides general information on residential buildings in China (area, height, layout, etc.) and describes building envelope insulation status and market there (window, exterior walls and roof) and energy related characteristics (heating, heating fee system, cooling and ventilation). This report is targeted towards governmental organizations in Wuhai city in Inner Mongolia of China since this thesis is project (Sino-Swe project) based research and Wuhai city is the place where the project is being carried out. A one week trip to Wuhai city was done during the research time and information concerning aspects such as market, energy saving status and residents’ attitudes were collected through interviews, organized meetings and on-site investigation. Data collected from national level and Wuhai city are combined to support simulation of energyperformance of a model building in Wuhai. Two tools are employed to calculate energyconsumption. One is Dest, developed by Institute of Building Environment and Building Services,Tsinghua University, Beijing, China and has been used in various prestige large structures such as State Grand Theatre. The second one is Standardized Method, proposed by Heating, ventilation and air conditioning design code. It is a traditional and simple energy calculation method and can be realized by Excel. Nowadays, instead of directly using it, its calculation concepts and steps are integrated into different commercial calculation softwares but in a more complex way. Different envelope types, heating methods, ventilation systems are evaluated and building energy consumption for heating and corresponding initial investment and operation cost are calculated. Then life cycle cost methodology is applied to compare different alternatives and those alternatives, according to their payback time, are located into different categories. From the calculation the following figure is obtained and suggestions are made.www.ima.kth.se
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Schmode, Michelle M. "Performance of Energy Management Control Systems (EMCS) in selected Texas LoanSTAR buildings." Thesis, Springfield, Va. : Available from National Technical Information Service, 1995. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA298561.
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Konidari, Afroditi-Maria. "The influence of architects on the operational performance of low energy buildings." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2017. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/104653/.
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This thesis investigates the role of the Architect in the operational performance of non-domestic buildings claiming to be low energy. The study used mixed research methods and built on the author’s previous work with the IEE-funded iSERV project to understand and quantify the influence architects exercise on the operational performance of low energy buildings. The mixed research methods comprised literature based research and a comparative case study investigation of two well monitored buildings,one constructed before and one after energy efficiency became a focal point of building regulations and energy policy. The later building promoted its low energy design aspirations. The comparative case study investigation traced the energy flows in the selected case studies at building, system, component, space and activity level. It also examined the indoor environmental quality achieved and occupant-perceived satisfaction with the indoor environment. The study demonstrated how energy was used in the selected case study buildings and quantified the influence of stakeholders on their energy performance. The thesis concluded that architects have only a partial influence on the non-performance of low energy buildings, with occupant behaviour and facility management also influencing a significant portion of the total energy consumption. The findings of this research suggested that the architect’s design decisions influenced approximately 23% to 28% of the total annual electricity use and nearly the total heat energy use in the recent low energy building studied. For the conventional existing building studied, these proportions became approximately 43% to 47% of the total annual electricity use and 94% to 97% of the annual heat energy use.
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Salmon, Spencer Mark. "A Comparative Analysis of Energy ModelingMethods for Commercial Buildings." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2013. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3703.
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This thesis researched the accuracy of measured energy data in comparison to estimated hand calculation data and estimated building energy performance simulation data. In the facility management industry, there is minimal evidence that building energy performance software is being used as a benchmark against measured energy usage within a building. Research was conducted to find examples of measured energy data compared to simulated data. The study examined the accuracy of a simulation software and hand calculations to measured energy data. Data suggests that comparisons may be made between building energy performance simulated data and measured data, though comparisons are solely based on each individual case. Data suggests that heating load simulation data is more accurate for benchmarks than cooling load simulation data. Importing models into Autodesk Green Building Studio (GBS) was not as successful as was expected. When only four of the initial ten building models chosen imported successfully, the remaining twenty-five other building models were imported. Only two of the twenty-five models successfully imported into GBS. The sample size of this research changed from ten to six. The results of this study show that GBS simulated data was close to actual data for the heating loads. For the cooling loads, however, GBS simulated data was consistently low in comparison to the actual data. The results of this study show that hand calculations were consistently low and not as close as GBS simulated data when compared to the actual data for the heating loads. The opposite was true with the cooling loads as hand calculations were consistently high in comparison to actual data.
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Panayiotou, Gregoris. "Thermal performance of dwellings in Cyprus and approaches for energy conservation." Thesis, Brunel University, 2014. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/9204.
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Energy has always been the dominant driving force for the socio-economic development of mankind. Nowadays, the global energy system is highly depended on fossil fuels. A great share of the final energy consumption, over 40%, in the EU-27 is consumed by the existing building stock whereas dwellings account for 66.62% of this. Thus, the need to increase the energy performance of dwellings is an important instrument in the efforts to lessen Europe’s energy dependency. In order to define measures to increase the energy performance of dwellings a deeper understanding of their characteristics should be gained. Unfortunately, in Cyprus there is a gap in knowledge on this aspect. In this thesis the characteristics of the dwellings in Cyprus are defined through a sample of 500 dwellings. The results revealed that more than 80% of dwellings in Cyprus do not have thermal insulation installed on their envelope. From this it is clear that the definition of the optimum thermal insulation material to be applied in dwellings is very important. Thus, the commercially available thermal insulation materials and topologies used in Cyprus were reviewed and defined through a market survey and the typical dwelling was modelled. The effect of the application of thermal insulation to its energy behaviour was simulated using TRNSYS. This resulted in the definition of the optimum thermal insulation materials and topologies to be applied in both new and existing dwellings. Accordingly, the application of advanced commercially available materials such as Phase Change Materials (PCM) to the envelope of the typical dwelling was investigated. The energy savings achieved by the addition of a PCM layer on the envelope of the typical dwelling was found to be 28.6%. The optimum PCM case was also combined with the optimum thermal insulation combination and an energy saving of 68% was predicted. The incorporation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) to the typical dwelling was also simulated and studied. Specifically, two types of standalone RES systems were initially evaluated; a solely photovoltaic (PV) system and a hybrid PV-Wind system. The results showed that the solely PV system is a much better option due to the very high solar potential of Cyprus in comparison to the poor wind profile of the island. Subsequently, a grid-connected PV system was also evaluated and the results showed that when a RES system is grid-connected the cost of the system is reduced to half of that of the standalone cases. This research has revealed that the optimum topology combinations to be applied in both new and existing dwellings in Cyprus is thermal insulation plaster or thermal insulation bricks (only for new dwellings) on the external walls combined with expanded polystyrene on the roof. These results will provide valuable information that will assist both engineers and architects in the efficient design of dwellings in Cyprus. The investigation of the application of macroencapsulated PCM showed that these materials are not yet an economically viable solution for application in Cyprus The findings also show that a solely PV system is the optimum RES system to be applied in Cyprus especially when it is grid-connected. The findings of this project are useful for individuals, house builders and designers as well as policy makers for the design of energy saving subsidy schemes.
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Song, Suwon. "Development of new methodologies for evaluating the energy performance of new commercial buildings." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1731.
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Costanzo, Vincenzo. "Cool Roofs for improving thermal performance of existing EU office buildings." Doctoral thesis, Università di Catania, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10761/3822.
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Cool materials are characterized by having a high solar reflectance - which is able to reduce heat gains during daytime - and a high thermal emissivity that enables them to dissipate the heat absorbed throughout the day during night.
Despite the concept of cool roofs - i.e. the application of cool materials to roof surfaces - is well known in US since 1990s, many studies focused on their performance in both residential and commercial sectors under various climatic conditions for US countries, while only a few case studies are analyzed in EU countries.
The present thesis work aims at analyzing the thermal benefits due to their application to existing office buildings located in EU countries. Indeed, due to their weight in the existing buildings stock, as well as the very low rate of new buildings construction, the retrofit of office buildings is a topic of great concern worldwide.
After an in-depth characterization of the existing buildings stock in the EU, the thesis gives an insight into roof energy balance due to different technological solutions, showing in which cases and to what extent cool roofs are preferable.
A detailed description of the physical properties of cool materials and their availability on the market provides a solid background for the parametric analysis carried out by means of detailed numerical models that aims at evaluating cool roofs performance for various climates and office buildings configurations.
With the help of dynamic simulations, the thermal behavior of representative office buildings of the existing EU buildings stock is assessed in terms of thermal comfort and energy needs for air conditioning. The results, which consider several variations of building features that may affect the resulting energy balance, show how cool roofs are an effective strategy for reducing overheating occurrences and thus improving thermal comfort in any climate. On the other hand, potential heating penalties due to a reduction in the heat fluxes passing through the roof are taken into account, as well as the aging process of cool materials.
Finally, an economic analysis of the best performing models shows the boundaries for their economic convenience.
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Charitar, Deepti. "Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20100.
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Building ventilation is crucial for improving the indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Nowadays, mechanical ventilation systems such as air conditioning and fans are most commonly used in buildings. However, these devices consume a lot of electricity which is mainly generated from the combustion of fossil fuels, resulting in the release of greenhouse gases and thereby contributing to climate change. Consequently, it is essential to switch to natural ventilation systems which are environmentally friendly as they are based on renewable sources of energy. One such type of natural ventilation system is the solar chimney which can either be roof-mounted or wall-mounted in buildings. The aim of this study was to develop a mathematical model for assessing the thermal performance of roof-mounted (inclined) and wall-mounted (vertical) solar chimneys. The model was validated using numerical simulations in MATLAB. Different configurations of solar chimneys were designed and modelled in MATLAB in order to compare their performances, in terms of the ventilation rate expressed as the number of air changes per hour, ACH. Raw climatic data, including the intensities of global and diffuse solar radiation on a horizontal plane, wind speed and ambient temperature were obtained for Stellenbosch, located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This was used for the MATLAB modelling of the solar chimneys. The effects of inclination angle, air gap, chimney height and view factor on the thermal performance of solar chimneys were explored in this study.
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Wheatley, A. "Modelling and performance analysis of a sub-dew point chilled beam in mixed mode buildings." Thesis, Loughborough University, 1999. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/7176.
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Prompted by the energy crisis in the 1970's, European level fiscal and financial measures encourage energy efficient building design. "Mixed mode" strategies can be employed in buildings with moderate thermal loads, this approach can reduce building energy usage, and by inference, reduce C02 emissions. A mixed mode approach might employ chilled surfaces with displacement ventilation. This thesis investigates the performance and integration of one form of chilled surface design, (a sub-dew point chilled beam), within mixed mode strategies. Sub-dew point chilled beams have a surface temperature that is at or below the zone saturation temperature, this increases the cooling capacity of the chilled beam and consequently produces a latent heat transfer addition due to condensation mass transfer. This thesis describes the sensible and latent modelling approach which models the zone, sub-dew point chilled beam and mixed mode strategy thermal plant response to external disturbances. The thesis describes the use of an Enclosure Comfort Performance Indicator that acts as the objective function for the optimization of the mixed mode strategies with and without the integration of the sub-dew point chilled beam. The implementation of the Complex method for finding the operational optimums of the mixed mode strategy is described, and its effectiveness at finding the optimum solution evaluated. Normalised energy, cost and comfort performance indicators are used to assess the overall performance and integration of the sub-dew point chilled beam for different mixed mode strategies, for the ambient test conditions and for different thermal weights of building construction.
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Kojok, Farah. "Performance study of hybrid cooling systems for the utilization in buildings." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016AIXM4381/document.
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La thèse est une contribution à la réduction de la consommation d'énergie primaire et à une meilleure utilisation des sources d'énergie renouvelables dans le cadre des systèmes de refroidissement utilisés dans le bâtiment. Après un état de l'art sur les systèmes de refroidissement, un modèle dynamique d'un système de rafraîchissement solaire à base de machine à absorption est développé et simulé. Ensuite, un facteur d'efficacité pour comparer la pertinence de ce système dans différentes régions du monde est défini. Dans la troisième partie, la notion des systèmes de refroidissement hybride -une méthode efficace contribuant à la réduction de la consommation d'énergie primaire- est présentée. Puis, les systèmes hybrides de refroidissement sont classés en catégories et sont comparés avec les systèmes de refroidissement individuels. Ensuite, un schéma permettant de sélectionner le meilleur système de refroidissement hybride dans des conditions données est proposé. Dans la dernière partie, une méthode de dimensionnement d’un système hybride à base d’énergies renouvelables est établie. Ainsi, le dimensionnement est réalisé en tenant compte de la région spécifique d’utilisation. Pour ce faire, un système de refroidissement hybride, conçu pour une maison standard, est modélisé puis simulé en utilisant le logiciel Trnsys. Finalement, et pour illustrer la méthode proposée, la problématique de dimensionnement est considérée pour deux régions différentes du globe; à savoir Marseille-France et Beyrouth-Liban. Le but est d’évaluer les performances de la méthode, à travers des données effectives, pour diverses conditions climatiques, prix des composants et tarif d'électricitéThis thesis is a contribution towards the reduction of primary energy consumption and a better use of the renewable energy sources within the cooling system for building use. After a state of the art of the cooling machines for building use, a dynamic model for a solar absorption cooling system is developed and simulated. Then, an effectiveness factor (EF) for the comparison of solar absorption chiller suitability in different locations is defined. In the third chapter, the concept of hybrid cooling system -an efficient method contributing to the reduction of primary energy consumption- is presented. Hybrid cooling systems are categorized and reviewed, with the improvement achieved compared to standalone technologies. Then, a scheme for the selection of the best hybrid cooling system for given conditions is proposed. In the last part, an optimal sizing method that defines, in a specific region, a hybrid cooling energy system, economically feasible with maximum renewable energy share is presented. Thereby, the sizing method is performed taking into account the region where it will be used. For this purpose, a hybrid cooling system, used for a standard residential house, is designed. The system is modeled and simulated using a transient system simulation program, called Trnsys. Finally, the problem of sizing is studied for different case studies; namely Marseilles-France and Beirut-Lebanon. The aim is to assess the proposed method according to diverse climatic conditions, component prices and electricity costs
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Doylend, Nicholas. "Evaluating building energy performance : a lifecycle risk management methodology." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2015. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/18022.
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There is widespread acceptance of the need to reduce energy consumption within the built environment. Despite this, there are often large discrepancies between the energy performance aspiration and operational reality of modern buildings. The application of existing mitigation measures appears to be piecemeal and lacks a whole-system approach to the problem. This Engineering Doctorate aims to identify common reasons for performance discrepancies and develop a methodology for risk mitigation. Existing literature was reviewed in detail to identify individual factors contributing to the risk of a building failing to meet performance aspirations. Risk factors thus identified were assembled into a taxonomy that forms the basis of a methodology for identifying and evaluating performance risk. A detailed case study was used to investigate performance at whole-building and sub-system levels. A probabilistic approach to estimating system energy consumption was also developed to provide a simple and workable improvement to industry best practice. Analysis of monitoring data revealed that, even after accounting for the absence of unregulated loads in the design estimates, annual operational energy consumption was over twice the design figure. A significant part of this discrepancy was due to the space heating sub-system, which used more than four times its estimated energy consumption, and the domestic hot water sub-system, which used more than twice. These discrepancies were the result of whole-system lifecycle risk factors ranging from design decisions and construction project management to occupant behaviour and staff training. Application of the probabilistic technique to the estimate of domestic hot water consumption revealed that the discrepancies observed could be predicted given the uncertainties in the design assumptions. The risk taxonomy was used to identify factors present in the results of the qualitative case study evaluation. This work has built on practical building evaluation techniques to develop a new way of evaluating both the uncertainty in energy performance estimates and the presence of lifecycle performance risks. These techniques form a risk management methodology that can be applied usefully throughout the project lifecycle.
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Ahmad, Sabarinah Sh. "A study on thermal comfort and energy performance of urban multistorey residential buildings in Malaysia /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2004. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe.pdf.
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