Building Energy Efficiency Rating Research Articles

Time-varying rates prompt different responses as a function of home energy efficiency

Spiking global energy prices make it all the more important to understand the distributional effects of commonly used energy transition policies such as financially-based demand management. We examine how building energy efficiency impacts the effect of time-of-use rates; peak prices could differently affect curtailment behaviour and bills in homes that require more continual energy use for comfort. Using a sample of 3,145 households in the Australian Capital Territory with panel data for up to five years, we use two-way fixed effects to estimate the effect of switching to a time-of-use (TOU) rate on household electricity use and bills, allowing for heterogeneous effects as a function of building Energy Efficiency Rating (EER). Analyses indicate that low-EER households dependent on electricity for heating curtail use when on TOU rates, while high-EER households do not. This does not appear to financially disadvantage low-EER households, but may impact comfort. Our findings suggest that the household responses to TOU rates can differ as a function of building energy efficiency for those households that are reliant on electricity for heating. This has implications for TOU rate design and demand management policies, particularly in the context of policies for electrification.

Analysis of Building Energy Efficiency Rating for Old Public Buildings according to the On-site Investigation Results

Analysis of Building Energy Efficiency Rating for Old Public Buildings according to the On-site Investigation Results

Development of a Management Framework for Energy Efficiency for Sustainability of Hotels in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Using Structural Equation Modelling

The paper examined the utilized critical factors that affect hotel building sustainability in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and developed a framework to identify the suitable operational and technical for improving the energy performance of hotel constructions. The mixed methods for collecting energy used data from twenty-four established hotel buildings have been adopted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The survey method was applied in the forms of questionnaires to collect data for the research. The surveying work was carried out on a population of hotel buildings employees with various academic qualification levels and age including engineers, developers, and managers. Structural equation modeling, analysis based on the validation survey, was used to examine the dependencies and interdependencies of the critical factors. The IBM, SPSS 22 and AMOS 23 were used on the basis of maximum likelihood estimates for exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis resulting in validated measurement and structural models. This study utilized seventeen critical factors influencing building energy performance in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The model identified energy performance building indicators; and established causality as standard metrics for building energy efficiency evaluation and benchmark between building energy performance, management policy, operations, and strategic driver. This recognized strong interdependent relations in the template between the four constructs. The stronger results were: strategic drivers on the energy performance model and management policy on strategic drivers highlighting the importance of energy-saving constructs.

Evidence-based numerical building model enhancement and building energy efficiency evaluation in the case of Morocco

This paper presents a framework for numerical building validation enhancement based on detailed building specifications from in-situ measurements and evidence-based validation assessment undertaken on a detached sustainable lightweight building in a semi-arid climate. The validation process has been undergone in a set of controlled experiments – a free-float period, and steady-state internal temperatures. The validation was conducted for a complete year with a 1-min time step for the hourly indoor temperature and the variable refrigerant flow (VRF) energy consumption. The initial baseline model was improved by three series of validation steps per three different field measurements including thermal transmittance, glazing thermal and optical properties, and airtightness. Then, the accurate and validated model was used for building energy efficiency assessment in 12 regions of Morocco. This study aims to assess the effect of accurate building characteristics values on the numerical model enhancement. The initial CV(RMSE) and NMBE have improved respectively from 14.58 % and −11.23 %–7.85 % and 1.86 % for the indoor temperature. Besides, from 31.17 % to 14.37 %–20.57 % and 9.77 % for energy consumption. The findings demonstrate that the lightweight construction with the use of a variable refrigerant flow system could be energy efficient in the southern regions of Morocco.

Building Energy Passportization in Azerbaijan

The operating energy costs of buildings account for approximately 70-80% of the total costs throughout the entire life cycle of a building. From the moment putting the building into operation, it begins to consume energy, mechanical, electrical, and natural resources. In buildings, all construction and technical systems naturally degrade over time, both in terms of performance and efficiency, i.e. operating and maintenance building costs are rising, energy consumption is increasing, and microclimate quality is declining. As a solution to this issue, it is possible to consider building energy passport, as a tool to control the optimal building operation according to the indicators of the building passport and as an encouragement way of cities' sustainability. The building passport by its energy efficiency (BEP) and rational use of material resources is a special document- a certificate that contains information about the geometric and technical parameters of the building, its functional purpose, design solutions, thermal characteristics, and energy performance. This paper discusses the current state of the building passportization process in Azerbaijan, and analyzes the existing shortcomings. Categories and component parts of BEP, types and levels of building information and data, scheme of inputs and extractions data during the building life cycle, key tasks of BEP, and strategic actions for the successful development of BEP are given. Building energy efficiency rating classes are calculated, and the main procedures to enhance the energy efficiency class are given. The requirements for experts who carry out the buildings` passportization are systematized.

Exploring the Benefits and Limitations of Digital Twin Technology in Building Energy

Buildings consume a significant amount of energy throughout their lifecycle; Thus, sustainable energy management is crucial for all buildings, and controlling energy consumption has become increasingly important for achieving sustainable construction. Digital twin (DT) technology, which lies at the core of Industry 4.0, has gained widespread adoption in various fields, including building energy analysis. With the ability to monitor, optimize, and predict building energy consumption in real time. DT technology has enabled sustainable building energy management and cost reduction. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the development and application of DT technology in building energy. Specifically, it discusses the background of building information modeling (BIM) and DT technology and their application in energy optimization in buildings. Additionally, this article reviews the application of DT technology in building energy management, indoor environmental monitoring, and building energy efficiency evaluation. It also examines the benefits and challenges of implementing DT technology in building energy analysis and highlights recent case studies. Furthermore, this review emphasizes emerging trends and opportunities for future research, including integrating machine learning techniques with DT technology. The use of DT technology in the energy sector is gaining momentum as efforts to optimize energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions continue. The advancement of building energy analysis and machine learning technologies is expected to enhance prediction accuracy, optimize energy efficiency, and improve management processes. These advancements have become the focal point of current literature and have the potential to facilitate the transition to clean energy, ultimately achieving sustainable development goals.

Energy Performance Analysis of Green-Remodeling for Public Buildings under 500 m2

Old buildings over 20 years after completion account for 58.2% of all buildings in Korea. Moreover, buildings built 30 years ago with weak insulation levels have a significant impact on energy consumption in the building sector. Therefore, improving the performance of existing buildings is critical. In addition, green remodeling of old public buildings is currently being implemented in accordance with the mandatory zero-energy construction policy. In Korea, ECO2 based on ISO 13790 and DIN V 18599 is the program used officially to evaluate building energy efficiency ratings and energy independence rates. However, the accuracy of ECO2 is controversial because the cross-use of cooling and heating energy generated in the intermediate stage and the amount of energy used at a specific point in time cannot be analyzed. In addition, previous studies found that the results of a static analysis program showed higher energy performance than those of a dynamic analysis program. In this study, the programs ECO2 and DesignBuilder were used to analyze and compare results of the primary energy consumption (heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, and ventilation) per year for a green-remodeled small public building. Results indicated that the application of the green remodeling elements reduced the primary energy consumption per unit area the most, especially for heating energy. In addition, the change in the building energy efficiency grade through green remodeling improved by two stages from grade 1 to grade 1++ in the case of the ECO2 program, and improved by one stage from grade 1+ to grade 1++ for the DesignBuilder program.

Selection of Energy Improvement Factors and Economic Analysis of Standard MDU Complexes in Korean Metropolitan Regions

In Korea, energy consumption within apartments in metropolitan areas accounted for more than 33% of the total energy consumption by buildings in 2020. In this study, in order to increase the energy efficiency of MDU (multi-dwelling unit) complexes in metropolitan areas, improvement factors and economic effects were analyzed using ECO2, a building energy efficiency evaluation program. Optimal improvement measures are proposed, to reduce the economic burden on users by applying energy saving technologies. This study was conducted in four stages; in the first stage, using ECO2 software, five types of apartments were selected as standards among 46 complexes. Standard MDUs were selected if more than two factors were satisfied from among the following: (1) household type, (2) average exterior wall insulation and window performance, (3) average energy consumption and demand per unit area per year, (4) average applied facility system, and (5) average monthly energy demand per unit area. In the second stage, improvement factors were derived by analyzing the 10 most recent energy efficient MDU complexes. The third stage involved analysis of the energy saving effect generated by the improvement of windows and total heat exchangers in five selected complexes. Primary energy consumption per unit area per year improved from 158.8 to 132. kWh/m2y in complex E, which had been upgraded from ‘floor heating system’ to ‘total heat exchanger’. Finally, in the fourth stage, optimal improvement factors were selected for economic analysis. By simultaneously applying the optimal improvement factors, such as windows and total heat exchanger, to the M complex, primary energy consumption per unit area per year was improved from 147.6 to 111.4 kWh/m2 y. When optimal improvement factors were applied to 59 m2, 74 m2, 84 m2 types in complex M, life cycle cost savings of energy consumption for 30 years became $1384~1970.

Green Building Energy Efficiency Evaluation and Optimization

This paper analyzes the influencing factors of energy saving benefits of green buildings, and summarizes six types of influencing factors of energy saving benefits, including lighting performance and ventilation performance. Through Bayesian network machine learning, the Bayesian network evaluation model of green building energy efficiency is constructed, and the comprehensive evaluation index system of green building energy efficiency is established. Combined with practical case analysis, the core influencing factors with high degree of influence are obtained by Bayesian network reasoning.

Impact of Urban Morphology and Climate on Heating Energy Consumption of Buildings in Severe Cold Regions.

This study aims to acquire a better understanding of the quantitative relationship between environmental impact factors and heating energy consumption of buildings in severe cold regions. We analyze the effects of five urban morphological parameters (building density, aspect ratio, building height, floor area ratio, and shape factor) and three climatic parameters (temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity) on the heating energy use intensity (EUI) of commercial and residential buildings in a severe cold region. We develop regression models using empirical data to quantitatively evaluate the impact of each parameter. A stepwise approach is used to ensure that all the independent variables are significant and to eliminate the effects of multicollinearity. Finally, a spatial cluster analysis is performed to identify the distribution characteristics of heating EUI. The results indicate that the building height, shape factor, temperature, and wind speed have a significant impact on heating EUI, and their effects vary with the type of building. The cluster analysis indicated that the areas in the north, east, and along the river exhibited high heating EUI. The findings obtained herein can be used to evaluate building energy efficiency for urban planners and heating companies and departments based on the surrounding environmental conditions.

건축물 연료전지 시스템의 운영 시나리오와 용량 설계

건축물 연료전지 시스템의 운영 시나리오와 용량 설계

Comprehensive Evaluation Method of Office Building Energy Consumption Based on Improved Multi-index

In view of the imperfection in the selection of energy consumption characteristics and energy conservation evaluation methods, this paper proposes an energy consumption analysis and energy conservation evaluation method suitable for office buildings. Through the analysis of office building energy consumption monitoring layer data, establishing standard of building energy consumption data sets, including office building day by day, month by month, year after year way of energy consumption and heating and cooling is analyzed, and aiming at the problem of building energy efficiency evaluation index weights are difficult to determine the, combined with the feature of energy consumption was proposed to build multiple indexes comprehensive evaluation of energy consumption. Through the example of office building, the evaluation results are verified, which proves that this method can evaluate the energy consumption of buildings reasonably and feasible, and provides a new idea for the comprehensive evaluation of building energy conservation.

신재생에너지 보급 확대를 위한 정책 개선에 관한 연구

The Republic of Korea is implementing energy policies with the goal of New & Renewable Energy(NRE) development taking up 20% by 2030. However, among the 58 countries which are responsible for 90% of world green house gas emissions, Korea’s evaluation for action against climate change is continuously dropping every year. Therefore, for the effective expansion and supply of NRE facilities, changes need to be made to existing systems such as Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design (G-SEED), Building Energy Efficiency Rating System, Zero Energy Building System, Greenhouse Gas and Energy Target Management System, and Emissions Trading System. That is, if weighting on the introduction of NRE facilities and NRE diagnosis are incorporated into the evaluation of energy and environment-related systems, effective expansion and supply of such facilities can be expected.

A novel building energy efficiency evaluation index: Establishment of calculation model and application

In current system of building energy efficiency, the building energy saving rate is calculated based on energy consumption per unit area on a certain past stage. The approach is restricted by the development of economy, progress of energy-saving technologies and climate change. In present work, a novel building energy efficiency evaluation index is developed to represent building energy saving performance. A building model can be first established according to architectural design scheme, current standards and operating conditions. Then, average daily indoor air temperature would be obtained using hourly outdoor air temperature as input conditions, with the one-dimensional unsteady heat transfer model. Finally, the calculation equations of energy saving of envelopes (ΔS) and building energy saving rate (BESR) are derived. In application, a building envelopes trade-off option is proposed and a target building in Western China is employed for case study. The results indicate that, about 19.3% of whole energy achieving indoor human thermal comfort is provided by building envelopes for the target building. The parametric analyses indicate that, BESRs of the standard building model in cold climate zone (2A) are much higher than those in cold climate zone (2B) in China. It is found that, the trade-off option can also be employed to select and optimize insulation materials and layer thicknesses. The approach can provide new thoughts for evaluation of energy saving performance of building envelopes in the design phase.

Optimization of Passive Envelop Energy Efficient Measures for Office Buildings in Different Climate Regions of China Based on Modified Sensitivity Analysis

With the growing desire for new buildings and better indoor comfort, the amount of energy consumption of office buildings in China is increasing rapidly, which will lead to the great challenge for energy supply and sustainable development. Building passive envelop energy efficient measures (PEEEMs), mainly including exterior wall insulation, roof insulation, different glazing types, and shading system, were widely applied. However, the specific energy efficient performance of PEEEMs was various in different climate conditions that have not been evaluated clearly yet. The priority order of PEEEMs was not recommended in relative standards. The economic benefits cannot be considered synchronously with PEEEMs optimization. This paper modified the sensitivity analysis to fit the building energy efficiency evaluation. By combining the modified method with a simulation tool, the energy efficiency and economic effects of PEEEMs of office buildings in various climate regions can be considered at the same time. Four case buildings in Shenyang, Tianjin, Ningbo, and Shenzhen were proved to reach the energy-saving potentials of 9.44%, 7.75%, 20.87%, and 13.27% respectively, with the payback period of no more than 1.5 years. Finally, the recommended application priority rankings and the recommended ranges of thermal performance properties of PEEEMs in the four typical climate regions were presented.

Analysis of Design Parameters Affecting Zero Energy Buildings based on the Building Energy Efficiency Rating Certified Buildings - Focused on Educational Research Facilities -

Analysis of Design Parameters Affecting Zero Energy Buildings based on the Building Energy Efficiency Rating Certified Buildings - Focused on Educational Research Facilities -

Impact of different LEED versions for green building certification and energy efficiency rating system: A Multifamily Midrise case study

Various versions of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) have been introduced with the addition of more stringent sustainability parameters and credit scoring schemes over the past decade. Such changes in LEED versions strongly affect the energy performance and LEED scores of the target building in the LEED certification process. Therefore, to validate and improve the current LEED version, it is crucial to investigate and compare the impact of different LEED versions on the building energy performance and scoring scheme. However, researches comparing the sustainability metrics for mid-rise multi-family buildings are rare. Therefore, this paper investigates the potential changes in the energy performance resulted from applying different LEED versions (i.e., LEED v3 and v4) for the Energy and Atmosphere (EA) category. Towards this end, a case study was carried out with energy modeling and simulation using TRACE 700 to compare the changes in the energy performance of four analysis scenarios applied to an existing mid-rise multi-family building located in Ohio. Results showed notable changes in LEED points when different versions of LEED using different ASHRAE Standards (i.e., ASHRAE Standards 90.1-2007 and 90.1-2010) are applied for the building energy analysis. In particular, mid-rise multi-family buildings could benefit from LEED v4 in terms of LEED credits as the prerequisite for the minimum energy performance improvement in EA category became significantly lenient compared to LEED v3. On the contrary, when the percentage energy performance improvement is over 34%, mid-rise multi-family buildings would benefit from LEED v3 as it becomes difficult to gain more points for similar energy performance improvement in LEED v4 compared to LEED v3. Various stakeholders including USGBC and government can benefit from using the key findings of this study for improving the LEED certification and national energy standards.

Energy Efficiency Premiums in Unlabeled Office Buildings

Whether commercial real estate market participants effectively evaluate building energy efficiency characteristics in the absence of a green label has so far remained unaddressed in the literature. I estimate the energy efficiency premium in unlabeled office buildings by exploiting variation in mandatory building energy standard implementations as a result of the 1992 U.S. Energy Policy Act. A more stringent energy code leads to rent and price premiums of approximately 4 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Heterogeneity in the rent premium is also observed based on who pays the utility bills, as would be expected if market participants correctly evaluate energy conservation characteristics. The rent and price premiums are consistent with full capitalization of the energy savings from a more stringent standard.

Extension of Typical Meteorological Data and Energy Demand Analysis for Building Energy Efficiency Rating Certification System

Meteorological data is one of the important factors in the calculation of building energy demand. The purposes of this study are to review the limitations of the typical meteorological data of ECO2 program and to create the new typical meteorological data and then analyze the building energy demands for additional regions which are not included in the existing 13 region in the ECO2 program. The extended typical meteorological data to a total of 33 regions were based on IWEC(International Weather for Energy Calculations) data files and were created in the form applicable to the building energy efficiency rating certification system. As a result of comparing the heating energy demands of a representative region with the surrounding regions in each of five regions in Korea, the variance of Cv(RMSE) ranged from 36% to 344% and MBE ranged from -32% to 190% for the whole regions. This suggests that the difference of heating energy demand may vary greatly depending on the region where the meteorological data is used and the meteorological data of more detailed regions is needed for reliable calculation of building energy demand.

A Study on the Building Energy Efficiency Rating Changes by Enhanced Thermal Insulation Performance of Building Envelope Standards in Apartment Houses

A Study on the Building Energy Efficiency Rating Changes by Enhanced Thermal Insulation Performance of Building Envelope Standards in Apartment Houses