Life cycle energy analysis of a metro station building envelope through computer based simulation

Abstract

This study focuses on the energy auditing of a metro terminal station building envelope which is located at a major city in south India. Embodied energy was calculated using the unit embodied energy values and by quantifying major energy consuming material used for the construction of a metro terminal station building. e-Quest, the energy simulation software was used for modelling the terminal station building and thereby calculated the yearly consumption of operational energy. Terminal station building is modelled with a detailed description of the building in e-Quest, which is being analysed with lighting, equipment’s, thermostat settings, hourly scheduling of occupants and climatic data as the inputs to the model. In assessing the life cycle energy of the terminal station building, recurring energy and transportation energy were also calculated. In addition, this study discusses the comparative analysis on operational energy consumption for the same metro station model for three different climatic regions across India. Further, the present study on life cycle energy is compared with the life cycle energies of different types of buildings obtained from the literature, for an understanding of the energy usage demand per year per capita, between a public utility building, a commercial building and different types of residential buildings.