Cooling energy consumption and reduction effect for residential buildings in South East Queensland, Australia

Abstract

This paper presents a bottom-up approach to quantify the regional cooling energy consumption in South East Queensland (SEQ), one of the fastest growing regions in the last decade in Australia. This study focuses on addressing the impact of climate change, economic and population growth. This study investigates the sensitivity of regional cooling energy consumption to several key parameters: air temperature, number of households, cooling-system penetration rate, energy efficiency of air conditioners and ceiling insulation. The results show that the four major cities (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast) will constitute 73% of the total SEQ residential cooling energy in 2030 in comparison with their share of 77% in 2005. Due to the anticipated strong growth in the number of households, Ipswich and Scenic Rim will have an energy use increase of 145% and 124%, respectively, for the 25-year period. With a 1°C temperature rise between 2010 and 2030, the SEQ cooling energy consumption in 2030 will be 80% more than that in 2005, compared with 33% without temperature rise. We found from sensitivity analysis that installing ceiling insulation is more effective for reducing residential cooling energy than increasing the energy efficiency of cooling systems or decreasing the penetration rate of cooling systems. The results are useful for the decision makers to formulate future energy policies of the region.