A Preliminary Analysis of Energy Consumption in Academic Buildings

Abstract

Current technological advancement and pressing environmental issues emphasise the need for better energy management to minimise wasting depleting resources. Energy consumption can generally be divided into two, namely residential and commercial. Commercial energy consumption involves commercial buildings that include, but not limited to, banks, hotels, offices and academic buildings. While awareness on optimising energy use is more evident now, there is still a lack of understanding of the parametric values that are crucial in analysing the energy consumption of a commercial building that is unique to the building’s function. This study aims to identify the relationships between a number of identified variables and the overall building energy consumption. The study intended to become the preliminary case study in identifying the correlations between selected variables and energy consumption. The analysis was carried out using covariance matrix on identified variables such as electricity consumption, user traffics, the maximum outdoor temperature of the month and the academic term. This study identified positive relationships between electricity consumption, user traffic, and maximum outdoor temperature.