Carbon (CO2) Footprint Reduction Analysis for Buildings through Green Rating Tools in Malaysia

GHG emission reduction performance of state-of-the-art green buildings: Review of two case studies

As part of the Net Zero Carbon Water Cycle Program (NZCWCP) for Victoria state in Australia, we have sought to understand the potential to reduce household energy consumption and related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by influencing water use. Digital metering data disaggregated into 57 million discrete water usage events across 105 households at a resolution of 10 millilitres at 10 second intervals from June 2017 to March 2020, from a previous Yarra Valley Water (Melbourne, Australia) study, was analysed, together with the dynamic relationship between the multiple energy sources (natural gas, grid electricity, solar) used to heat water for showers in each hour of the day. Water-related energy (WRE) use, including water desalination and treatment, pumping, heating, wastewater collection and treatment, comprised 12.6% of Australia’s primary energy use in 2019. Water heating (by natural gas and electricity) comprised the largest component of WRE use for across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Furthermore, 69% of Victoria’s total water usage was by residential customers in 2020-2021. WRE GHG emissions were around 3.8% of Victoria’s total GHG emissions in 2018. Showers (~50% of residential WRE), system losses (~27% of residential WRE), and clothes washers (~9% of residential WRE) are the three largest components of WRE consumption. The main objective of this work is the creation of industry-accessible tools to improve knowledge and management options from the understanding of reductions in cost and GHG emissions from household showering WRE use. Potential options considered, to reduce water and energy use, as well as associated GHG emissions and customer utility bills, include (a) behaviour management such as water and energy pricing to change time of use behaviours, and (b) the adoption of efficient shower head improvements. Shower WRE and GHG emissions were found able to be strongly impacted by small changes in daily routines. GHG emissions reduction from showering could be reduced up to 20 (in summer) - 22% (in winter) by shifting demand time of showering or replacing residential showerheads. Extrapolated to state and Australian scales, reductions in water usage could be up to 14 GL (Victoria) and 144 GL (Australia), and reductions in GHG emissions 1,600 ktCO2eq (Victoria) and 17,300 ktCO2eq (Australia). It provides fundamental new information which could inform a suite of new management options to impact water-related energy from showers, and related GHG emissions and customer water and energy cost.

In persuasion of global commitment of the country on reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission, India’s ‘National Mission on Sustainable Habitat’ has included promotion of energy efficiency in residential and commercial sector and has envisaged that energy use in buildings varies significantly across income groups, building construction typology, climate and several other factors. Though substantial energy savings can be achieved in the housing sector through implementation of various carbon mitigation options, it was stated that the incremental cost of implementing energy efficient measures is estimated to vary between 3 and 5% for residential houses. The challenge before the engineers, architects and other professionals associated with building construction sector is to find out appropriate technologies that will ensure reduction of GHG emission without increasing cost of construction. As majority of construction in government sector will come from construction of small residential house belonging to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) as part of government’s commitment to provide housing for all by 2020, assessment of GHG reduction potential of various cost-effective construction technologies is very essential to provide guidance to the stakeholders. This paper has surveyed various prevalent construction technologies in different parts of the country, analyzed the cost and embodied GHG emission for construction of the building envelope by collecting data through extensive search of literature and information obtained from construction sites. It has been found that there is ample scope of adoption of location-specific, cost-effective and eco-friendly construction technologies for construction of houses for EWS which are capable of reduction of GHG emission without any increase in cost of construction. The technologies can meet the commitment of the country at international level on reduction of GHG emission without any extra burden to state exchequer.

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory expanded the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model and incorporated the fuel economy and electricity use of alternative fuel/vehicle systems simulated by the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) to conduct a well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The WTW results were separately calculated for the blended charge-depleting (CD) and charge-sustaining (CS) modes of PHEV operation and then combined by using a weighting factor that represented the CD vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) share. As indicated by PSAT simulations of the CD operation, grid electricity accounted for a share of the vehicle's total energy use, ranging from 6% for a PHEV 10 to 24% for a PHEV 40, based on CD VMT shares of 23% and 63%, respectively. In addition to the PHEV's fuel economy and type of on-board fuel, the marginal electricity generation mix used to charge the vehicle impacted the WTW results, especially GHG emissions. Three North American Electric Reliability Corporation regions (4, 6, and 13) were selected for this analysis, because they encompassed large metropolitan areas (Illinois, New York, and California, respectively) and provided a significant variation of marginal generation mixes. The WTW results were also reported for the U.S. generation mix and renewable electricity to examine cases of average and clean mixes, respectively. For an all-electric range (AER) between 10 mi and 40 mi, PHEVs that employed petroleum fuels (gasoline and diesel), a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline (E85), and hydrogen were shown to offer a 40-60%, 70-90%, and more than 90% reduction in petroleum energy use and a 30-60%, 40-80%, and 10-100% reduction in GHG emissions, respectively, relative to an internal combustion engine vehicle that used gasoline. The spread of WTW GHG emissions among the different fuel production technologies and grid generation mixes was wider than the spread of petroleum energy use, mainly due to the diverse fuel production technologies and feedstock sources for the fuels considered in this analysis. The PHEVs offered reductions in petroleum energy use as compared with regular hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). More petroleum energy savings were realized as the AER increased, except when the marginal grid mix was dominated by oil-fired power generation. Similarly, more GHG emissions reductions were realized at higher AERs, except when the marginal grid generation mix was dominated by oil or coal. Electricity from renewable sources realized the largest reductions in petroleum energy use and GHG emissions for all PHEVs as the AER increased. The PHEVs that employ biomass-based fuels (e.g., biomass-E85 and -hydrogen) may not realize GHG emissions benefits over regular HEVs if the marginal generation mix is dominated by fossil sources. Uncertainties are associated with the adopted PHEV fuel consumption and marginal generation mix simulation results, which impact the WTW results and require further research. More disaggregate marginal generation data within control areas (where the actual dispatching occurs) and an improved dispatch modeling are needed to accurately assess the impact of PHEV electrification. The market penetration of the PHEVs, their total electric load, and their role as complements rather than replacements of regular HEVs are also uncertain. The effects of the number of daily charges, the time of charging, and the charging capacity have not been evaluated in this study. A more robust analysis of the VMT share of the CD operation is also needed.

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory expanded the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model and incorporated the fuel economy and electricity use of alternative fuel/vehicle systems simulated by the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) to conduct a well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The WTW results were separately calculated for the blended charge-depleting (CD) and charge-sustaining (CS) modes of PHEV operation and then combined by using a weighting factor that represented the CD vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) share. As indicated by PSAT simulations of the CD operation, grid electricity accounted for a share of the vehicle's total energy use, ranging from 6% for a PHEV 10 to 24% for a PHEV 40, based on CD VMT shares of 23% and 63%, respectively. In addition to the PHEV's fuel economy and type of on-board fuel, the marginal electricity generation mix used to charge the vehicle impacted the WTW results, especially GHG emissions. Three North American Electric Reliability Corporation regions (4, 6, and 13) were selected for this analysis, because they encompassed large metropolitan areas (Illinois, New York, and California, respectively) and provided a significant variation of marginal generation mixes. The WTW results were also reported for the U.S. generation mix and renewable electricity to examine cases of average and clean mixes, respectively. For an all-electric range (AER) between 10 mi and 40 mi, PHEVs that employed petroleum fuels (gasoline and diesel), a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline (E85), and hydrogen were shown to offer a 40-60%, 70-90%, and more than 90% reduction in petroleum energy use and a 30-60%, 40-80%, and 10-100% reduction in GHG emissions, respectively, relative to an internal combustion engine vehicle that used gasoline. The spread of WTW GHG emissions among the different fuel production technologies and grid generation mixes was wider than the spread of petroleum energy use, mainly due to the diverse fuel production technologies and feedstock sources for the fuels considered in this analysis. The PHEVs offered reductions in petroleum energy use as compared with regular hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). More petroleum energy savings were realized as the AER increased, except when the marginal grid mix was dominated by oil-fired power generation. Similarly, more GHG emissions reductions were realized at higher AERs, except when the marginal grid generation mix was dominated by oil or coal. Electricity from renewable sources realized the largest reductions in petroleum energy use and GHG emissions for all PHEVs as the AER increased. The PHEVs that employ biomass-based fuels (e.g., biomass-E85 and -hydrogen) may not realize GHG emissions benefits over regular HEVs if the marginal generation mix is dominated by fossil sources. Uncertainties are associated with the adopted PHEV fuel consumption and marginal generation mix simulation results, which impact the WTW results and require further research. More disaggregate marginal generation data within control areas (where the actual dispatching occurs) and an improved dispatch modeling are needed to accurately assess the impact of PHEV electrification. The market penetration of the PHEVs, their total electric load, and their role as complements rather than replacements of regular HEVs are also uncertain. The effects of the number of daily charges, the time of charging, and the charging capacity have not been evaluated in this study. A more robust analysis of the VMT share of the CD operation is also needed.

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), measured as global warming potential, in twelve\ncrop and seven livestock systems were explored using a systems model-based life-cycle analysis of\nenvironmental burdens and resource use. Differences between crops in GHGE per kg product reflected\ndifferences in yield per hectare. Technological changes found to reduce GHGE per kg of crop were: (i)\n20% decrease in total N (all crops except legumes); (ii) no-till (cereals and legumes only) and (iii) no straw\nincorporation (cereals and rape). Reductions in GHGE ranged from 2% (sugar beet) to 15% (cereals).\nGHGE per kg crop were also reduced by increasing crop yields by 20%. The maximum potential to\nreduce livestock GHGE was estimated by identifying for each livestock sector the system which gave the\ngreatest reduction in GHGE per kg of product. Alternative systems were associated with reductions in\nGHGE of between 7% (beef from the dairy herd) and 21% (sheep meat). Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE)\nranged from 48% for oilseed rape to 85% for sugar beet, and from 5.8% for sheep meat to 33% for\npoultry meat production. The results indicate that improvements in productivity and efficiency of\nresource use result in lower GHGE per unit of product and increased NUE.

Statistical analysis of greenhouse gas emissions of South Korean residential buildings

This fact sheet summarizes actions in the areas of light-duty vehicle, non-light-duty vehicle, fuel, and transportation demand that show promise for deep reductions in energy use. Energy efficient transportation strategies have the potential to simultaneously reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project examined how the combination of multiple strategies could achieve deep reductions in GHG emissions and petroleum use on the order of 80%. Led by NREL, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, the project's primary goal was to help inform domestic decisions about transportation energy strategies, priorities, and investments, with an emphasis on underexplored opportunities. TEF findings reveal three strategies with the potential to displace most transportation-related petroleum use and GHG emissions: 1) Stabilizing energy use in the transportation sector through efficiency and demand-side approaches. 2) Using additional advanced biofuels. 3) Expanding electric drivetrain technologies.

Developing a landscape of urban building energy use with improved spatiotemporal representations in a cool-humid climate

Generally, over 35% of global energy use and 40% of carbon emissions are attributed to the built environment while future forecasts indicate that these values may rise much further. In South Africa (SA), building stocks account for 40% of the country’s final energy demand which strains the country's coal-dependent energy grid and oftentimes results in power outages. Optimizing energy efficiency and thermal comfort while attaining the lofty goal of carbon neutrality is essential for all concerned stakeholders in the building sector globally. Meanwhile, green building (GB), being a recognized revolutionary theory and practice in the building industry, is suggested as a solution to SA’s environmental challenges. On this wise, this research aimed to develop energy-efficient models for optimizing green buildings into the design and operation of buildings to allay their environmental impacts. The goal was to enhance energy efficiency, decrease energy consumption, and mitigate carbon emissions across diverse climates, thus benefiting South Africa's built environment. To achieve the study's goals, three primary research objectives were identified and pursued namely: (i) To provide an overview on status-quo of green building development in South Africa with a view to explore the status quo and provide roadmap for improvement; (ii)To examine the energy-saving potential of incorporating building-integrated greenery systems towards climate-resilience in the subtropical climate zone of South Africa; and (iii) To investigate the energy-performance of green building renewable energy utilization systems within South Africa’s hot and arid climate zones. Initially, the study's first objective entailed a comprehensive literature overview integrating climate, sustainability, and building energy modeling within the South African context. This was carried out through a scoping review approach via the PRISMA guideline of reporting Subsequent objectives involved selecting reference buildings and creating hypothesized models as case studies based on six climate zones from the South African National Standard. For the second objective, a thorough and integrative approach that linked building energy modelling and varying climatic change was devised. The numerical parametric simulation and analysis, being a quantitative research approach was adopted as a data collection method. Similarly, the third objective employed numerical parametric simulation as a data gathering method in this research, which is based on a quantitative analysis to explore various design options iteratively. In the second and third objectives, Global climate databases, Meteonorm, Climate Consultant, and energy simulation software such as DesignBuilder, EnergyPlus, and Polysun were used for weather data analysis, climate modeling, and building energy simulation. The findings highlighted that while South Africa boasts notable green construction projects, scientific research progress has not matched international levels. The focus was on promoting green building adoption through standards, certifications, and incentives. However, gaps were observed in optimized energy performance and post-occupancy evaluation of existing buildings. Despite high awareness, the utilization of green building technologies among South African professionals did not meet anticipated levels. For the second objective, the study's findings indicated an increase in extreme heat waves with higher peak temperatures in the future. Building energy use in the study area is projected to rise by 8-24% from 2030 to 2080. Notably, heat gains primarily result from envelope thermal transfer rather than solar radiation. Greenery systems were found to effectively support green building goals and urban sustainability across anticipated seasons. Nature-based solutions proved successful in adapting to climate change compared to non-retrofitted conventional buildings. For the last objective, the study revealed regions with substantial solar irradiance, indicating potential for renewable energy adoption. It emphasized the need for durable BIPV systems in hightemperature conditions. BIPV modules generated more energy in Upington than Nelspruit due to varying solar radiation. Opportunities were identified for BIPV systems to achieve optimal power generation. The study provides a foundation for informed decision-making, policy formulation, and targeted research in sustainable building practices. The study presents practical principles to guide urban planners and policymakers in integrating eco-friendly technology into both new and existing building designs. This promotes sustainable urban development and reduces cities' carbon emissions. Going forward, to showcase the effectiveness of these energy-efficient and climate-responsive systems to the public and industry stakeholders, it is recommended to establish and enhance largescale demonstration projects in South Africa's subtropical, hot and arid regions.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in the electricity sector: Implications of increasing renewable energy penetration in Ghana's electricity generation mix

BackgroundThe availability of feedstock options is a key to meeting the volumetric requirement of 136.3 billion liters of renewable fuels per year beginning in 2022, as required in the US 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. Life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of sorghum-based ethanol need to be assessed for sorghum to play a role in meeting that requirement.ResultsMultiple sorghum-based ethanol production pathways show diverse well-to-wheels (WTW) energy use and GHG emissions due to differences in energy use and fertilizer use intensity associated with sorghum growth and differences in the ethanol conversion processes. All sorghum-based ethanol pathways can achieve significant fossil energy savings. Relative to GHG emissions from conventional gasoline, grain sorghum-based ethanol can reduce WTW GHG emissions by 35% or 23%, respectively, when wet or dried distillers grains with solubles (DGS) is the co-product and fossil natural gas (FNG) is consumed as the process fuel. The reduction increased to 56% or 55%, respectively, for wet or dried DGS co-production when renewable natural gas (RNG) from anaerobic digestion of animal waste is used as the process fuel. These results do not include land-use change (LUC) GHG emissions, which we take as negligible. If LUC GHG emissions for grain sorghum ethanol as estimated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are included (26 g CO2e/MJ), these reductions when wet DGS is co-produced decrease to 7% or 29% when FNG or RNG is used as the process fuel. Sweet sorghum-based ethanol can reduce GHG emissions by 71% or 72% without or with use of co-produced vinasse as farm fertilizer, respectively, in ethanol plants using only sugar juice to produce ethanol. If both sugar and cellulosic bagasse were used in the future for ethanol production, an ethanol plant with a combined heat and power (CHP) system that supplies all process energy can achieve a GHG emission reduction of 70% or 72%, respectively, without or with vinasse fertigation. Forage sorghum-based ethanol can achieve a 49% WTW GHG emission reduction when ethanol plants meet process energy demands with CHP. In the case of forage sorghum and an integrated sweet sorghum pathway, the use of a portion of feedstock to fuel CHP systems significantly reduces fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions.ConclusionsThis study provides new insight into life-cycle energy use and GHG emissions of multiple sorghum-based ethanol production pathways in the US. Our results show that adding sorghum feedstocks to the existing options for ethanol production could help in meeting the requirements for volumes of renewable, advanced and cellulosic bioethanol production in the US required by the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard program.

Renewable energy achievements in CO2 mitigation in Thailand's NDCs

Rapid population growth has led to significant demand for residential buildings around the world. Consequently, there is a growing energy demand associated with increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The residential building energy demand in arid countries such as Saudi Arabia is supplied with fossil fuel. The existing consumption pattern of fossil fuels in Saudi Arabia is less sustainable due to the depletion of fossil fuel resources and resulting environmental impacts. Buildings built in hot and arid climatic conditions demand high energy for creating habitable indoor environments. Enormous energy is required to maintain a cool temperature in hot regions. Moreover, climate change may have different impacts on hot climatic regions and affect building energy use differently. This means that different building interventions may be required to improve the performance of building energy performance in these geographical regions, thereby reducing the emissions of GHGs. In this study, this framework has been applied to Saudi Arabia, a hot and arid country. This research proposes a community–government partnership framework for developing low-carbon energy in residential buildings. This study focuses on both the operational energy demand and a cost-benefit analysis of energy use in the selected geographical regions for the next 30 years (i.e., 2050). The proposed framework primarily consists of four stages: (1) data collection on energy use (2020 to 2050); (2) setting a GHG emissions reduction target; (3) a building intervention approach by the community by considering cost, energy, and GHG emissions using the Technique for Order of Performance by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to select the best combinations in each geographical region conducting 180 simulations; and (4) a clean energy approach by the government using grey relational analysis (GRA) to select the best clean energy system on the grid. The clean energy approach selected six different renewable power generation systems (i.e., PV array, wind turbine, hybrid system) with two storage systems (i.e., battery bank and a combination of electrolyte, fuel cell, and hydrogen tank storage). This approach is designed to identify the best clean energy systems in five geographical regions with thirty scenario analyses to define renewable energy-economy benefits. This framework informs through many engineering tools such as residential building energy analysis, renewable energy analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques, and cost-benefit analysis. Integration between these engineering tools with the set of energy policies and public initiatives is designed to achieve further directives in the effort to reach greater efficiency while downsizing residential energy demands. The results of this paper propose that a certain level of cooperation is required between the community and the government in terms of financial investments and the best combinations of retrofits and clean energy measures. Thus, retrofits and clean energy measures can help save carbon emissions (enhancing the energy performance of buildings) and decrease associated GHG emissions, which can help policy makers to achieve low-carbon emission communities.