Total Annual Energy Consumption Research Articles

A novel hybrid process design for efficient recovery of hydrophilic ionic liquids from dilute aqueous solutions

AbstractIonic liquids (ILs) have received much attention in both academia and industries due to their superior performance in many applications. Efficient recovery/recycling of ILs from their dilute aqueous solutions is essential for the acceptance and implementation of many IL‐based technologies by industry. In this work, a practical and cost‐effective hybrid process design method that combines aqueous two‐phase extraction, membrane separation, and distillation operating at their highest efficiencies is proposed for the recovery of hydrophilic ILs from dilute aqueous solutions. The application of this hybrid process design method is illustrated through case studies of recovering two hydrophilic ILs, n‐butylpyridinium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([C4Py][TfO]) (CAS number: 390423‐43‐5) and 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride ([C4mIm][Cl]) (CAS number: 79917‐90‐1), from their dilute aqueous solutions. For the recovery of 10 wt.% [C4Py][TfO] from aqueous solution, the hybrid process using (NH4)2SO4 as the salting‐out agent could reduce the total annual cost (TAC) and energy consumption by 57% and 91%, respectively, compared with the pure distillation processes. In the case of recovering 10 wt.% [C4mIm][Cl] from aqueous solution, the reduction in TAC and energy savings of the hybrid process with salting‐out agent (NH4)2SO3 could reach 49% and 87%, respectively, compared with the pure distillation process. Furthermore, uncertainty analysis through Monte Carlo simulations show that the proposed hybrid process design is more robust to uncertainties in energy prices and other material (e.g., equipment and solvent) costs.

Process design and 4E analysis of different distillations of ethyl acetate/ethanol/cyclohexane separation based on extractive and pressure-swing properties

In this study, we proposed and compared extractive distillation, extractive pressure-swing distillation (EPSD), and pressure-swing distillation (PSD) techniques for the efficient separation of the ethyl acetate/ethanol/cyclohexane pressure-sensitive azeotropic mixture. Based on the influence of the extractant on the relative volatility and the analysis of the ternary phase diagram, dimethyl sulfoxide was selected as the extractant for extractive distillation. The pressure range for PSD was also determined. We employed the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II to optimize different processes, considering equipment and operation costs as the objective functions. After the multi-objective optimization, the decision solution was selected using the minimum distance method. A heat exchange network was also used to explore the energy-saving effects of different processes. The aforementioned processes were comprehensively evaluated based on economic, energy, environmental, and exergy analyses. The process results were correlated with the phase diagram based on the normal distance. The total annual cost, energy consumption, gas emissions, and energy loss of the improved processes decreased by more than 10%, 15%, 16%, and 3%, respectively, compared to those of the conventional process. Among the conventional and improved processes, EPSD and heat-integrated EPSD were identified as the best, respectively.

Impact of energy conservation measures in residential buildings in very remote communities in Australia

This study investigated the impact of various energy conservation measures (ECMs) on total annual electricity consumption on a single level, two-bedroom residential building in an arid climate and in a very remote area of Australia. Base case scenario of annual energy consumption profiles of the building and its existing systems were modelled and simulated using DesignBuilder software, and the results were validated by on-site measured electricity data. Two categories of ECMs (major intervention and minor intervention) were investigated and analysed. The findings show that the total annual energy consumption of the case study building can be reduced by up to 44% (2 kWh/m2·yr) when compared against the base model and measured data if selected ECMs are implemented. Significant savings from implementing selected ECMs can help alleviate the cost-of-living pressure and stress currently experienced by many households on low incomes especially for residents of very remote communities in Australia.

Experimental investigation of an autonomous liquid-cooled uninterruptible power supply (UPS)

This paper presents a new liquid-cooling technology for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units in which an air-cooling system is combined with an indirect water-cooling system based on direct-chip cooling. This cooling architecture provides more opportunities to use free cooling as the main or only cooling system for optimal data centres (DCs). An experimental investigation was conducted using a 600 kW SOCOMEC UPS to identify the thermal behaviour of the system. Five thermal hydraulic tests were conducted under different thermal conditions, flow rates, and room temperatures. A 20 K temperature difference profile was validated with a safe operation of all UPS electronic equipment with a water flow rate of 13 l/min and inlet water and air room temperatures of 32 and 40 °C, respectively, resulting in a thermal efficiency of 82.27%. The experiments suggest that a DC-facility water-inlet temperature up to 41 °C is acceptable for UPS units. The effects of decreasing the water flow rate and increasing the water and air room temperatures were also analysed. A decrease in inlet water and air temperatures from 41 °C to 32 °C and from 47 °C to 40 °C, respectively, increased the thermal efficiency by 8.64%. A decrease in water flow rate from 20 l/min to 13 l/min reduced the thermal efficiency by 7.7%. Furthermore, an energy performance analysis comparison was performed between air- and water-cooled UPS units at both the UPS and infrastructure levels. A case study of a 600 kW UPS in a data centre in Roubaix, north of France, was investigated. The liquid-cooled UPS reduced the total annual energy consumption of the cooling system by at least 85% compared with an air-cooled UPS.

Impact of Climate Change on the Heating Demand of Buildings. A District Level Approach

In the 21st century, the importance of energy generation and carbon emissions in developing countries is indisputable. In the whole wide world, the building stock is responsible for the two fifths of the total world annual energy consumption. Considering the predictions regarding future climate due to climate change, a good understanding on the energy use due to future climate is required. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of future weather in the heating demand and carbon emissions for a group of buildings at district level, focusing on an area of London in the United Kingdom. The methodological approach involved the use of geospatial data for the case study area, processed with Python and Anaconda through Jupyter notebook, generation of an archetype dataset with energy performance data and TABULA typology and the use of python embedded in QGIS to calculate the heating demand in the reference weather data, 2050 and 2100 in accordance to RCP4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. A validated model was used for the district level heating demand calculation. On the one hand, the results suggest that a mitigation of carbon emissions under the RCP4.5 scenario will generate a small decrease on the heating demand at district level, so slightly similar levels of heating generation must continue to be provided using sustainable alternatives. On the other hand, following the RCP 8.5 scenario of carbon emission carrying on business as usual will create a significant reduction of heating demand due to the rise on temperature but with the consequent overheating in summer, which will shift the energy generation problem. The results suggest that adaptation of the energy generation must start shifting to cope with higher temperatures and a different requirement of delivered energy from heating to cooling due to the effect of climate change.

초등학교 학급 수를 이용한 연간 에너지소비량 모델 구축에 대한 탐색적 연구

This study investigated exploratory research on energy consumption model of elementary schools by using an explanatory variable, number of classes and responsive variable, total annual energy consumption. Totally 18,539 data set of energy consumption in elementary schools are acquired for the analysis. After excluding abnormal data, 18,363 data set was used for the least square method for number of classes and total annual energy consumption. As the result of the study, the developed linear regression model is as follow: Annual total energy consumption (TOE) = 2.6259•X + 15.5 (X: number of classes). The coefficient of determination of this model is 0.7336. The derived coefficient of determination is slightly lower than required value of 0.75 by ASHRAE 2013. However, considering various conditions of 18,363 elementary schools, the derived model is thought to be meaningful enough.

Energy-saving heat pump-assisted extractive-azeotropic dividing wall column with heat exchanger network for separating acetonitrile and water: A techno-economic and inherent safety investigation

In the present paper, a new extractive-azeotropic dividing wall column configuration is designed to recover acetonitrile from wastewater instead of the conventional two-column process. Although the performance of energetic and economic savings is enhanced in the dividing wall column, it is still characterised by high energy consumption. To this end, a methodical framework for designing energy-efficient intensified dividing wall columns is developed to gradually reduce the need for utilities. Results indicate that the reboilers of the extractive-azeotropic dividing wall column can be entirely replaced by the applications of vapour recompressed heat pump and heat exchanger network, which comprehensively improves the energy-saving performance. A multi-criteria evaluation of process sustainability, including energy consumption, total cost, environmental performance, energy efficiency, and inherent safety analysis, is performed among the designs. Results show that the heat-integrated extractive-azeotropic dividing wall column process is inherently safer than the conventional two-column process and reduces at most 51.95%, 89.96%, and 63.58% in total annual cost, CO2 emissions, and total energy consumption, respectively.

Research on a Variable Water Supply Temperature Strategy for a Ground-Source Heat Pump System Based on TRNSYS-GENOPT (TRNOPT) Optimization

An office building located at Jinan equipped with ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system was selected as the research object. The GSHP system model was established using TRNSYS software. With the total energy consumption of the system as the objective function, several control strategies were proposed for the optimization work of water supply temperature at the load side of the heat pump unit. Firstly, a variable water temperature control strategy was adjusted according to the load ratio of the unit. In addition, the TRNSYS-GENOPT (TRNOPT) optimization module in TRNSYS was used to find the optimal water supply temperatures for different load ratios. After simulating and comparing the system’s energy consumption under the three control strategies, we found that the total annual energy consumption under the variable water supply temperature scheme is less than that under the constant water supply temperature scheme by 10,531.41 kWh. The energy saving ratio is about 5.7%. The simulation found that the total annual energy consumption under the optimized water supply temperature based on TRNOPT is lower than that under the variable water supply temperature scheme by 1072.04 kWh, and it is lower than that under the constant water supply temperature scheme by 11,603.45 kWh. The annual energy saving ratio of the system is about 6.3%. It is concluded that the optimized water supply temperature scheme based on TRNOPT has a better energy saving effect than the first two water supply temperature schemes.

Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts

Insulating glass unit (IGU) degradation has been studied extensively. However, there is limited understanding of how present durability evaluation standards relate to product lifetime. Furthermore, there is debate on how to quantify performance of installed windows over time to better understand degradation processes. More knowledge on these topics is required to link durability evaluation to product lifetime projections based on energy performance. Energy models provide helpful estimations of total annual building energy consumption. However, most models are based on “as installed” performance of envelope components and fail to account for performance degradation. This can lead to an underestimation of building lifetime energy consumption. A better understanding of the relationship between durability and energy performance can inform integration of degradation dynamics into energy modeling software. This will improve lifetime building energy consumption estimations as well as inform appropriate retrofit strategies and timing. This paper reviews current durability literature, various standards for window performance ratings and weathering methods, existing in situ IGU energy performance measurement techniques, and whole-building energy effects. The challenges and disparities among various studies are analyzed and discussed. The authors hope that further work in this area will lead to the development of improved in situ test methods to assess IGU degradation in the field and link this knowledge to improved energy performance modeling approaches.

Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Production Optimization in an Educational Building Using the Supported Vector Machine and Ant Colony System

Buildings account for sixty percent of the world’s total annual energy consumption; therefore, it is essential to find ways to reduce the amount of energy used in this sector. The road administration organization in Jakarta, Indonesia, utilized a questionnaire as well as the insights of industry experts to determine the most effective energy optimization parameters. It was decided to select variables such as the wall and ceiling materials, the number and type of windows, and the wall and ceiling insulation thickness. Several different modes were evaluated using the DesignBuilder software. Training the data with a supported vector machine (SVM) revealed the relationship between the inputs and the two critical outputs, namely the amount of energy consumption and CO2 production, and the ant colony algorithm was used for optimization. According to the findings, the ratio of the north and east windows to the wall in one direction is 70 percent, while the ratio of the south window to the wall in the same direction ranges from 35 to 50 percent. When the ratio and percentage of the west window to the west wall is between 60 and 70 percent, the amount of produced energy and CO2 is reduced to negligible levels.

An optimal fractional-order accumulative Grey Markov model with variable parameters and its application in total energy consumption

<abstract> <p>In this paper, we propose an optimal fractional-order accumulative Grey Markov model with variable parameters (FOGMKM (1, 1)) to predict the annual total energy consumption in China and improve the accuracy of energy consumption forecasting. The new model is built upon the traditional Grey model and utilized matrix perturbation theory to study the natural and response characteristics of a system when the structural parameters change slightly. The particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) is used to determine the number of optimal fractional order and nonlinear parameters. An experiment is conducted to validate the high prediction accuracy of the FOGMKM (1, 1) model, with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.51% and 1886.6, respectively, and corresponding fitting values of 0.92% and 6108.8. These results demonstrate the superior fitting performance of the FOGMKM (1, 1) model when compared to other six competitive models, including GM (1, 1), ARIMA, Linear, FAONGBM (1, 1), FGM (1, 1) and FOGM (1, 1). Our study provides a scientific basis and technical references for further research in the finance as well as energy fields and can serve well for energy market benchmark research.</p> </abstract>

Quantifying Energy Reduction and Thermal Comfort for a Residential Building Ventilated with a Window-Windcatcher: A Case Study

Previous studies on window-windcatchers have shown their effectiveness in capturing the prevailing wind and redirecting it into a building, increasing the actual-to-required ventilation ratio by 9%, above what is required by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). However, the effect of implementing the proposed system on energy performance, energy costs, and thermal comfort has not been studied. Therefore, here, we investigate and test the implementation of the window-windcatcher on a typical residential building, using a validated DesignBuilder model. Compared to the base case (no window-windcatcher), the total annual energy consumption of the entire building (Etot,b), and consequently the cost, is reduced by approximately 23.3% (i.e., from 18,143 kWh/year to 13,911 kWh/year) when using the window-windcatcher. The total annual reduction in thermal discomfort hours is estimated to be 290 h, which corresponds to an average monthly reduction of approximately 24 h.

Performance characteristics of a waste-heat recovery water-source heat pump system designed for data centers and residential area in the heating dominated region

Data centers (DCs) have been increasingly constructed owing to the increasing demand for data storage. The performance of the cooling system for DCs should be improved for energy saving owing to a large amount of energy consumption for cooling. A residential area (RA) consumes a large amount of energy for heating, especially in the heating dominated region. A novel waste-heat recovery water-source heat pump (WSHP) system is proposed for the combination of the DC and RA to reduce energy consumption by recovering waste heat from the DC and to suppress the freezing risk of water during the heating season. The performance characteristics of the waste-heat recovery WSHP system were analyzed based on various perspectives including energy consumption and environmental impact. Consequently, the annual average power usage effectiveness for the DC and the system coefficient of performance for the RA showed a significant improvement compared to the conventional system; accordingly, the energy consumptions of the DC and RA decreased by 12.3% and 31.2%, respectively. The energy consumption of the DC decreased by 64.4% in March, and that of the RA reduced by 48.2% during the heating season, which led to an 18.8% decrease in total annual energy consumption of the proposed system. Additionally, the risk of freezing in the evaporator of the WSHP was substantially suppressed under cold winter conditions, increasing the system reliability; the water temperature at the evaporator outlet was maintained at 8–12 °C owing to the waste heat absorbed from the DC. Based on the lifecycle climate performance (LCCP) analysis, the proposed system showed a 28.7% reduction in total CO2 emissions compared with the conventional system. The proposed system can be a good option for reducing the energy consumption and for enhancing system reliability through the combination of the DC and RA. • A waste-heat recovery water-source heat pump system is proposed. • The proposed system is applied to the combination of data center and residential area. • The proposed system reduces energy by 12.3% (data center) and 31.2% (residential area). • The proposed system shows a 28.7% reduction in total CO 2 emissions. • The proposed system improved system reliability by suppressing freezing risk.

Study on Energy Efficiency Using Building Information Modelling (BIM) at Shared Library Pagoh Higher Education Hub

Structures in Malaysia, particularly commercial buildings, have been exceeding the benchmark of building energy usage over the past few years. By maintaining thermal comfort of building under hot climate in Malaysia, air-conditioning system became a basic demand which incessantly operating to fulfil comfort requirement for the occupants in the library. Regards to this, research on energy efficiency using Building Information Modelling (BIM) software by simulating energy analysis was carried out in order to increase energy efficiency of the library. Mineral wool and Polyurethane Foam (P.U.F.) are the materials which proposed to apply in existing wall of building as the thermal insulation layer to increase thermal resistance when external heat transfer through the walls. The Objective of the study is to determine the existing building energy consumption and compare with energy analysis of mineral wool and polyurethane foam. The findings of the building energy analysis simulated by Green Building Studio (GBS) are then compared to discover the most appropriate walls for reducing the building’s energy consumption. P.U.F with its characteristics of high R-value and low U-value, obtain the most effective energy analysis which provide benefits of lowering total annual energy consumption of 294,651 , total annual energy cost of RM 107,645, and energy use intensity (EUI) of 121.7.

Human decision making during eco-feedback intervention in smart and connected energy-aware communities

Heating and cooling (HC) energy use is responsible for about 42% of the total annual energy consumption of the average household in the U.S and it is significantly affected by residents’ energy-related behavior. In this paper, our goal is to realize a new paradigm for energy-aware communities that leverages smart eco-feedback devices and social games to engage residents in understanding and reducing their home HC energy use. Towards this goal, we present a new sociotechnical modeling approach based on utility theory to reveal causal effects in human decision-making and infer attributes affecting the thermostat adjustment behavior of each household during an eco-feedback intervention. Our approach 1) is based on a utility model that quantifies residents’ preferences over indoor temperatures given decision attributes related to their thermal environment and eco-feedback design and 2) incorporates latent parameters that determine the unique behavioral characteristics of each household. For parameter learning, we develop a hierarchical Bayesian model with non-centered parameterization calibrated using field data collected from a multi-unit residential community located in Fort Wayne, IN. The dataset comprises two parts; a baseline period without any behavioral intervention, and an intervention period, where personalized eco-feedback and social games are deployed through resident engagement devices with smart thermostat control capabilities, including a wall-mounted tablet and smart speaker. Through the model calibration, we quantify the impact of the eco-feedback on households’ thermostat-adjustment behaviors. We propose that the utility model developed in this work can serve as the foundation for analyzing resident behavior in connected residential communities with eco-feedback energy-saving programs.

Novel heat pump and heat integration assisted pressure swing distillation for separating methyl cyclohexane and n-butyl alcohol to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions

ABSTRACT Aiming at the problem of high investment and energy consumption in separating the azeotropes, the feasibility and economy of pressure swing distillation processes combined with heat integration and heat pump technology for separating methylcyclohexane and n-butanol alcohol mixture were analyzed and discussed. The CO2 emissions, total annual cost and energy consumption are used as the evaluation indicators to assess the three modified pressure swing distillation processes. To obtain the optimal operation parameters of processes, the sequential iterative program is designed, which aims at the minimum total annual cost. In this work, heat integration pressure swing distillation and heat pump pressure swing distillation processes are compared with conventional pressure swing distillation in economic, energy-saving and ecological performance. The results show that the modified processes, whether heat integration pressure swing distillation or heat pump pressure swing distillation, significantly improves the economy and energy efficiency. Compared to the conventional pressure swing distillation process, the heat integration pressure swing distillation process can reduce CO2 emissions by 32.99%, total energy consumption by 32.99% and total annual cost by 23.61%. The heat pump pressure swing distillation process has the optimal economy and the least energy consumption among the three separation processes, which can reduce the total annual cost by 44.03%, the total energy consumption by 54.27% and the CO2 emission by 89.98%.

Optimal fresh-air utilization strategy for constant temperature and humidity air-conditioning system based on isocost line

The constant temperature and humidity air-conditioning systems extensively applied in buildings and spaces, such as clean rooms and manufacturing facilities, are considerably energy intensive. To provide thermal comfort, ensure working efficiency, or maintain positive pressures in a workshop, a large amount of fresh air must be supplied indoors. The reasonable use of fresh air can reduce the cost (such as energy, CO2 emission, or money cost) of the air-handling process. An optimal fresh-air utilization strategy was developed to minimize the cost of operation based on considerations of the different costs for different handling processes in all working conditions. Straightforward isocost lines were developed to determine the optimal fresh-air ratio. Using this method, the performances of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems in a workshop were simulated and tested. Results demonstrate that the proposed optimal strategy exhibits superior performance in terms of cost savings. Compared with commonly used strategies, the optimal strategy can reduce the total annual primary energy consumption by 8.3%–9.7%; and the reduction can be as high as 35% in the transition seasons. When the optimal fresh-air utilization strategy is applied in the field, the primary energy consumption is reduced by 6.4%–9.8% on typical days.

Sustainability Assessment of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC): Environmental, Social, Economic, and Cultural Analysis

This article presents an assessment of sustainability conducted post the opening of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), which underwent vast development that had significant impacts, not only on the global level but also on the international attention towards Egypt’s great civilization. The study investigates the impact of the NMEC’s environmental, social, and economic sustainability and cultural value. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted. The qualitative includes a preliminary study followed by site visits for collecting data and mapping the four sustainability pillars: environmental, social, economic, and cultural. The quantitative approach has been conducted by exploiting 33 indicators to measure five sustainability dimensions in addition to the UNESCO 15 Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda; the impact of NMEC on social media using the data scraping technique exploiting GitHub. Energy audit results illustrate that the total annual energy consumption is 491,376.00 kWh (79% in the ground fl. & 21% in the Mummies fl.), as well as 19.98 kWh/m2 (Gr. fl.) and 144 kWh/m2 (Mummies fl.); the first matches RIBA’s benchmark for museums, well below the ranking ‘Good’ (50 kWh/m2). Social sustainability impacts indicate that the word count’s effect on social media is 27%, 31%, and 42% on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, respectively, while the number of followers is 92%, 7%, and 1%. On Google, it is 1275 and ranks 4.7, whereas the number of posts is 231, 350, and 258. Economic sustainability assessment has been addressed by calculating the revenues throughout one year since the grand opening, and the total revenues amount to USD 2,794,047. The cultural sustainability assessment showed a positive response to the evaluation recorded for 9 out of 15 indicators. The sustainability assessment of the NMEC plays a key role in assuring livable and regenerative cities.

Impact of U-Values in Evaluation of Implemented Energy Efficiency Measures and Energy Savings in Public Buildings in Context of Kosovo Legislation

The purpose of this paper is to articulate the immediate need for review and improvement of Kosovo Building Regulations and Codes in the field of implementation of EE measures and specifically reducing U-values for all building envelope elements, to be comparable to European Standards, and present a specific contribution for EE measures in public building stock in Kosovo as the real potential for huge energy savings. In this paper the results of the several years’ long research on the impact of implemented energy efficiency measures in the 70 selected public buildings are presented, in light of calculated U-values with a brief description of the constituent elements of the building envelope and their corresponding U-values, such as external walls, windows, doors, floors and roofs, comparing their impact in the phases before and after the implementation of Energy Efficiency measures. A building designed to use the minimum quantity of thermal energy for heating and cooling to achieve a healthy environment and thermal comfort is considered an Energy Efficient building. The U-values of the building envelope are the dominant factors in its thermal performance and play an important role in reducing the energy consumption of buildings. Many studies confirm that in cold climates, from the total annual energy consumption for heating and air conditioning of public buildings, approximately 50% of the energy is consumed through the heat transmission of the building envelope. The achieved results after implementation of EE measures have shown significant improvement of U-values for both opaque parts of building envelope and belonging fenestration compared with the referent values set in Kosovo Technical Regulation which is actually in use for designers in Kosovo. Depending on wall thickness and installed insulation achieved, results of U-values for external walls were 0.31-0.35 W/m2K, much lower than recommended in old technical Regulations, lower than recommended by ANA_IAE, but still higher than values from Finish and Norwegian building codes. Calculations have shown that in the case of implementation of improved U-values according to the Finish building code the impact of walls on U-values in overall energy savings is around 36.86%. Windows and doors look the sensitive part of the building envelope and show that it is more than the required strengthening of requirements in future Kosovo Building code reducing the U-values for doors and windows at 0.8 W/m2K. Analysis has shown huge improvement and potential increase of energy savings with 55.25 % for part of fenestration. Detailed analysis of the collected U-values data for roofs has shown that there is sufficient space for improvements in Building codes and it is a highly recommended change of existing criteria and at least application of the values from EU building codes. With this change, potential energy savings in part of roof covers might be 44.24%. Working as an EE expert in Kosovo Energy Efficiency Agency (KEEA) and World Bank (WB) and European Union (EU) projects, the author has identified the necessity of improvement of actual Kosovo legislation in the field of EE policies for public buildings, addressing the importance of the appropriate building envelope’s thermal insulation to reduce its thermal losses and stipulating the impact of the U-values in the evaluation of implemented energy efficiency measures and energy savings in public buildings. The overall energy savings with applied EE measures and potential energy savings in case of improvements of Kosovo Technical Regulation according to recommended standards and EU countries’ experiences are presented in a separate table showing economic net savings, an average payback period and overall potential reductions of CO2 emissions. The presented results indicate a recommendation for further studies that may include other building typologies and may disclose additional differences between the energy performance criteria in the analysed building codes.

Influencing of the Building Energy Policies upon the Efficiency of Energy Consumption: The Case of Courthouse Buildings in South Korea

As Korea has declared to realize a net-zero emission by 2050 in the Paris Agreement, the country has begun to implement national energy efficiency policies through the Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design (G-SEED) certification and revision of building insulation thickness standard. However, some studies have reported the ineffectiveness of G-SEED certification and insulation thickness standard in reducing the energy consumption in certain buildings. Therefore, this study investigated the effectiveness of G-SEED certification and the revision of buildings’ insulation thickness standard, and evaluated the energy consumption of courthouse buildings. In addition, this study investigated the total annual energy consumption (electricity, gas, and heating energy) per gross floor area of courthouse buildings located in the central and southern regions of South Korea. Although many studies about the energy consumption analysis of non-residential buildings have been performed previously, a study evaluating the effectiveness of green certification and building insulation thickness standard on the energy consumption of courthouse buildings was performed for the first time. The results revealed that the revision of building insulation thickness standard and G-SEED certification resulted in an energy consumption efficiency of 34.61 and 31.14%, respectively. These results indicated the effectiveness of G-SEED certification and the revision of the building insulation thickness standard for enhancing energy efficiency in Korean courthouse buildings. However, some negative results were observed in the southern area, indicating that it is essential to increase the effectiveness of the building insulation thickness standard and G-SEED certification implementation.