Comparative energy analysis of a laboratory building with different materials using eQUEST simulation software

Abstract

In the context of global warming and climate change issues, the building sector is one of the major contributors to energy consumption and Green House Gas emissions. In view of this, the building concepts are shifting from the standard structures to the low-energy consumption structures through use of passive and active systems to save energy during the life expectancy of the buildingswithout compromising quality and comfort levels. The main aim of this study is to investigate the passive strategies (by using non-energy strategies) to achieve energy-efficient buildings. The work has been carried out for a laboratory building at Nitte, India. The laboratory with Galvanized Iron (GI) sheet roofing and concrete walls, due to which has an uncomfortable living space, has been used for the study. The US department of energy’s eQUEST (The Quick Energy Simulation Tool) software has been used for the simulations. The results show that it is possible to improve the human comfort to the acceptable standards by using the concept of economic thickness of insulation such as the use of 5 mm coconut pith insulation board on the wall and 5 mm jute fiber below the roof with 0.3 m air gap and also by using low emissivity glass window. The Temperature maintained is 75 to 80 ˚F (24 ˚C to 27 ˚C) for maximum number of hours and relative humidity is found to be in between 40 and 49 percent for maximum number of hours, both of which otherwise used to be much outside these comfortable limits.