energy efficiency

This paper presents a model-based supervisory control strategy for online control of building central cooling water systems to enhance their energy efficiency. Simplified chiller and cooling tower models are developed and used to predict the system energy performance, environment quality as well as the system response to the changes of control settings. A novel and simple optimization technique, named as PMES method, is developed and used to seek the optimal control settings under the given working conditions.

This paper presents a new methodology for largescale commercial buildings energy consumption data analysis. This methodology relies on a unified energy consumption classification structure and on a set of index models and estimating models. All these elements have been combined into a data model that is presented in this article. This new methodology has been applied successfully to 4 office buildings, two of them being Chinese and two of them being French.

This paper aims to analyze an office building energy performance at Rio de Janeiro. Electrical power consumption profile of a building, resulting from a simulation using building energy-use simulation software, is obtained during a typical year and is shown on an hourly basis and pursuant to final uses. Thus, power consumption figures are obtained through the following final uses: lighting, office equipments, air conditioning and others.

This article presents a simulation study comparing the thermal interior comfort performance, the energy consumption and the efficiency of (i) nighttime ventilation concepts considering varying air change rates, (ii) three thermo-active building systems (TABS) and (iii) ceiling mounted radiant cooling panels in a low energy office building for a chosen climate of the Test Reference Year (TRY) weather database as well as for the hot summer 2003 in South-West Germany.

There is an increasing demand for energy efficient and environment-friendly buildings with a high  thermal comfort. On the other hand, the Kyoto protocol binds the developed countries to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases at least by 5% by 2008-2012.

The paper discusses the concept of an adaptive thermal comfort design methodology and its impact on the selection, design and performance of climate control systems for large public spaces with transient occupancy in hot and humid climates. It outlines the design methodology which is based on providing localised comfort conditions to zones within a building based on its occupancy patterns, activity of occupants and acceptable thermal comfort criteria. The methodology focuses on quantifying the collective impact of space operating parameters on the thermal comfort of its occupants.

Taking into account Mediterranean climate particularities for Barcelona, Spain, a whole year study using TAS simulation software was carried out for a Double Skin Façade corporative office building. It is a typical office building with an extended working hours schedule for acclimatization.

This paper discusses a combination of a dynamic thermal model (HTB2) and a regional energy and emission auditing tool (Energy and environmental prediction model) to analyze the energy efficiency potential of different design strategies, in new or renovated projects. The main aim of the model is to enable decision-makers and other sectors in built environment to predict and account for energy use within a region so that overall strategies and schemes could be made beforehand to reduce energy and carbon dioxide emissions.

Cool roof is a well-documented passive cooling strategy for buildings in several climate conditions. The mechanism consists of the reduction of the heat load entering the roof, which is characterized by high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance. The purpose of this paper is to study the coupled effect produced by such a technology. First, the passive cooling contribution is quantified, then, the “active” contribution is investigated.

Universities’ campuses can be viewed as small communities considering their size, users and mixed complex activities. The energy and environmental impact caused by universities due to activities and operations in teaching and research could be considerably reduced by an effective choice of organizational and managerial measures. In addition, there is considerable room for improvement and research potential in energy management, when leaving from the single building aspect and moving towards a “district” approach, where a set of different buildings and outdoor spaces are considered.