Investigation of Energy Performance of a High-Rise Residential Building in Kolkata Through Performance Levels of Energy Conservation Building Code, 2017

Abstract

The building sector in India consumes over 30% of the total electricity consumed in the country annually and out of that residential buildings consume about 75% of total electricity used by building sector. Further rise of multistoried buildings in urban areas with increased use of decentralized room-based air conditioning units adds pressure on energy requirements for residential buildings. This increased demand also offers opportunity for energy saving, and hence, Bureau of Energy Efficiency has established energy codes for new buildings as an essential administrative tool in order to ensure energy efficiency in the building sector. This paper aims to explore energy saving potential of high-rise residential building based on performance-level approach of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017. The building models were designed as per ECBC guideline with focus on envelop and HVAC system. Energy performance analyses were carried out using e-QUEST energy simulation tool for actual design, ECBC baseline, ECBC+ and ECBC super. The results revealed that the improved levels of design help to reduce the space cooling load along with overall energy requirements of the building. Further exploration of the energy performance of the residential buildings in light of the ECBC Residential Code is deemed necessary for better understanding of the process.