Energy Conservation Building Code Research Articles

Energy efficiency retrofitting measures of an institutional building: A case study in eastern India

Increasing energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions are major concerns in India. Building energy use in India accounts for 33 % of total energy consumption and is growing at an annual rate of 8 %. In order to save energy, energy conservation in buildings should be given primary importance. Energy conservation practices can reduce energy use in buildings while maintaining thermal comfort. This can be achieved by optimising existing energy use or lowering consumption. One such initiative was undertaken by Siksha 'O' Anusandhan Deemed to be University. It analysed the energy consumption pattern and possible energy conservation opportunities (ECOs) to lower energy usage in its buildings at campus 1 in Bhubaneswar. The Energy Conservation Building Code Odisha (OECBC) was followed to reduce energy use by replacing all the damaged windows with efficient glazing. By following OECBC guidelines, we can save up to 30 % of the energy consumed by an existing building. Besides, energy conservation measures were performed by replacing ceiling fans with brushless direct current (BLDC) fans, existing lights with LED bulbs, and using variable speed drives instead of induction motors. This study will help to define the most efficient energy conservation measures for existing buildings in terms of cost and energy savings. Retrofitting the present building with energy-saving devices will cost INR 21, 32, 90,152 with an overall annual energy savings of 47, 28,177 kWh and a yearly cost saving of INR 319,66,703.

Urban building energy modelling-based framework to analyze the effectiveness of the community-wide implementation of national energy conservation codes

PurposeThe building sector contributes one-third of the energy-related carbon dioxide globally. Therefore, framing appropriate energy-related policies for the next decades becomes essential in this scenario to realize the global net-zero goals. The purpose of the proposed study is to evaluate the impact of the widespread adoption of such guidelines in a building community in the context of mixed-mode buildings.Design/methodology/approachThis study decentralizes the theme of improving the energy efficiency of the national building stock in parcels by proposing a community-based hybrid bottom-up modelling approach using urban building energy modelling (UBEM) techniques to analyze the effectiveness of the community-wide implementation of energy conservation guidelines.FindingsIn this study, the UBEM is developed and validated for the 14-building residential community in Mumbai, India, adopting the framework. Employing Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) compliance on the UBEM shows an energy use reduction potential of up to 15%. The results also reveal that ECBC compliance is more advantageous considering the effects of climate change.Originality/valueIn developing countries where the availability of existing building stock information is minimal, the proposed study formulates a holistic framework for developing a detailed UBEM for the residential building stock from scratch. A unique method of assessing the actual cooling load of the developed UBEM is presented. A thorough sensitivity analysis approach to investigate the effect of cooling space fraction on the energy consumption of the building stock is presented, which would assist in choosing the appropriate retrofit strategies. The proposed study's outcomes can significantly transform the formulation and validation of appropriate energy policies.

A Community Building Energy Modelling – Life Cycle Cost Analysis framework to design and operate net zero energy communities

Despite building codes and standards helping build energy-efficient structures, most focus only on typical individual buildings. Second, they do not discuss community-based renewable energy adoption strategies as part of the standards. However, to facilitate the transition to net zero emissions in the upcoming decades, policies and recommendations from standards must enhance their scope from the buildings to communities and exploit the maximum energy retrofit opportunities available within the community premises. This study proposes a Community Building Energy Modelling – Life Cycle Cost Analysis (CBEM - LCCA) decision-making framework to analyze the techno-economical feasibility of the residential community-wide implementation of any building retrofit scheme. The framework developed is applied in a 14-building residential community in Mumbai, India, to compare the techno-economic benefit of implementing community-wide renewable installations against the existing national Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC). The results reveal that all the communities together have the potential to generate 333 MWh of electricity per year from solar rooftops alone against the consumption of 369 MWh. The communities are observed to be capable of achieving nearly net-zero energy after adopting a community-wide rooftop solar photovoltaic installation with fewer than eight years of simple payback period (SPP). A thorough sensitivity analysis also reveals that the community rooftop solar strategy proves economically far superior to ECBC compliance of individual building envelopes. Among the retrofits, the roof-wall combination gave the minimum SPP of 8.38 years at a 100 % cooling space fraction. The findings provide evidence for why only a small number of states support ECBC code compliance, and it is recommended that policymakers use the proposed CBEM-LCCA framework to create appropriate energy policies for developing community-wide rather than individual building-level retrofit strategies.

Improvement of Energy Performance Index for Domestic Prosumers Based on Newly Proposed Dynamic Tariff and Rule-Based Strategy

A smart and intelligent energy management system (SIEMS) can make the existing system more reliable, robust, and cost-effective to deal with the present power scenario. This also initiates the necessity to develop a new dynamic tariff system and integrate renewable energy sources (RES) along with the conventional grid which in turn reduces carbon emission. Many countries have adopted different strategies for energy conservation based on energy conservation code, the main aim of which is to enforce design and development of household appliances for efficient power consumption. From data provided by utility sectors, it has been found that even in few countries 25% to 28% of the total energy is consumed by domestic sector and 45% of other residential loads also contribute a major part of the total domestic load consumed in any country. As a whole, residences, which consist of light electrical loads and home appliances constitute prosumers. The total energy consumed by prosumers is also intended by Bureau of energy efficiency, to make them fall under these codes (Energy Conservation Building Code) so that they can be treated on a scale of 1 star to 5 stars. This in turn will help in improving the energy performance index (EPI). In this paper, the optimal scheduling model of household appliances and energy storage system (ESS) has been designed based on the availability of renewable energy sources and newly proposed dynamic tariff system. To validate the efficiency of the model, we have comparatively evaluated the performance of the model with different feature selection methods and optimization techniques. A case study has been done and it has been found that the weighted K nearest neighbor method for feature selection and hybrid greedy particle swarm optimization (HGPSO) technique for optimization are performing better than other existing methods. The proposed model reflects the cost-effectiveness and improvement in EPI for prosumers.

Decision support system for the early stage of green building envelope design considering energy and maintainability

ABSTRACT Green buildings (GB) show performance gaps despite a plethora of materials, technologies and stringent certification systems. India is predicted to shape the global energy demand shortly; hence, its recent GB mandate of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) will contribute significantly to the global Agenda 2030. However, its success depends on a holistic relook beyond the myopic design approach focused on energy efficiency. Therefore, a multi-criteria decision support system (DSS) based on the Best-Worst method was developed. It integrates ECBC and BIM-based energy simulation while facilitating maintainability performance prediction in the early phase of design of the GB envelope. The top five options out of 72 common envelope combinations for wall, fenestration and roof materials were chosen for energy performance. The DSS is flexible to accumulate other decision-making criteria as per project-specific requirements. Its efficacy was analysed with a GB located in a warm-humid climatic zone of India. Here, the material availability criterion was also added. The framework provides probing insights and facilitates decision-makers to act appropriately in the early design phase to ensure efficient performance in the long run.

Deterministic and probabilistic analysis of different empirical models to estimate monthly mean diffuse solar radiation for composite climatic region of India

AbstractThis research compares the performance of the models to estimate monthly mean diffuse solar radiation (DSR) on a horizontal surface for composite climatic region of India. The goal is to identify the most accurate model using deterministic and probabilistic analysis through two levels of uncertainty in daily sunshine period to examine the accuracy of the model that will be used to estimate DSR in the region under consideration. The meteorological data were collected from Indian Meteorological Department for the city of New Delhi (28°34′N, 77°12′E) which comes under composite climatic region prescribed by the Energy Conservation Building Code for India. From the literature, 150 typical models were chosen and categorized into three categories correlating diffuse fraction to sky‐clearness index and relative sunshine period. The models are statistically evaluated using well‐known statistical indicators in a unique way. In addition, the global performance indicator (GPI) is calculated using scaled values of indicators. The GPI of the chosen models ranged from −2.2912 to 0.2584, with the greatest value indicating the best model. Following that, the models are then ranked in decreasing order of GPI. Finally, the performances of the models are also checked for different locations having similar climatic conditions. Thus, results of this work are useful for impoverished countries as well as remote areas having similar environment conditions.

COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF A BUILDING: AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT APPROACH USING EQUEST CODE

t— Building energy demand increases gradually as the urbanization advances. Energy consumption due to space cooling is a crucial area of research. Researchers around the globe, attempt to replicate the energy behaviour of building using numerous types of simulation tools. In this study, a model of an engineering college has been considered for analysis of energy consumption throughout a year. This article explores various factors affecting overall energy demand of a building which is located in the hot and dry climate of Bikaner (28.0229 °N, 73.3119 °E), India. An air-cooled chiller is modelled in eQuest, which is a building modelling and simulation tool, to meet the space cooling requirement of the building and a baseline model in eQuest is created in compliance with ASHRAE 90.1 and Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), Government of India. The impact of different building orientations and construction of roof assemblies on energy utilization is investigated. A lucid impact of aforementioned parameters on building energy requirement is observed which turns into a considerable saving in annual energy consumption up to 3.36%.

Assessment of energy efficiency for traditional non-engineered and engineered residential buildings – A case of North-Eastern India

Huge energy consumption in the building sector and consequent Green House Gas (GHG) emission is a major sustainability concern for India. According to Government of India (GOI) energy statistics, residential and commercial structures consumed 32% of the India’s total electricity produced in 2016. The energy demand of India’s buildings is predicted to face a hike of 800% in 2047 as compared to 2012. In 2015, India as a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris, voluntarily declared a goal to reduce the intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) emissions by 20–25%, over 2005 levels, by 2020.Most of the initiatives taken in the developed countries as well as in India focus on engineered buildings. There is significant gap in the assessment of non-engineered buildings with scant attention for small sized traditional residential buildings. As majority of the buildings (especially Assam-type housing) in the towns and rural areas in the Northeast are primarily constructed with traditional materials and construction techniques, they contribute significantly in the cumulative energy consumption in the country.The article focuses on non-engineered traditional and engineered, single storey houses of North-Eastern India. These traditional houses, made of Ikra (a locally available reed and effective against earthquake events), wood and mud, are unfortunately becoming extinct with advent of newer technologies. Energy performances of these buildings using traditional and conventional construction materials have been assessed through Whole Building Energy Simulation and the results are compared with iterations in buildings using parametric data prescribed in Eco Niwas Samhita - the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), in India. The study suggests the scope analysed best case building parameters in real life construction, to ensure better efficiency in energy performance and, thereby making the houses less dependent on mechanical /active systems for achieving thermal comfort.

Too Hot to Stay at Home: Residential Heat Vulnerability in Urban India

Rising temperatures may lead to deadly heat waves in India. Combined with a growing urban population and mass production of affordable housing, this can sharply accelerate the demand for space cooling. India’s voluntary Energy Conservation Building Code - Residential (ECBC-R) or Eco Niwas Samhita 2018 limits thermal transmittance of the envelope. This research considers and critiques this approach through building simulation and an analysis of indoor comfort and severity of overheating during the summer months (April-May-June), in hot-dry and warm-humid climate zones. Code requirements neither vary with climate zones, nor is it adapted to future climate conditions. Our building simulations and analysis show that soon (2030s) parts of the country are likely to suffer from overheating 74% of time in summer. A minimally code compliant building would need air conditioning 90% of summer while a highly efficient iteration could reduce this by a third, in the hot-dry climate zone. Further, commonly used envelope assemblies are uncomfortably hot 77% (in the hot-dry zone) and 23% (in the hot-humid zone) of time in summer, on average. This analysis illustrates the vulnerability of current construction techniques to extreme heat and aims to avoid a long-term lock-in of inefficient, high energy consuming residential buildings.

Energy Auditing for Efficient Planning and Implementation in Commercial and Residential Buildings

The ideology of ensuring energy-efficient design and construction of buildings by providing minimum requirements is the core objective of this work. Energy audit was conducted to improve the design of the building with incremental requirements to further enhance the energy efficiency. The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) has been modified extensively over the years, starting from its initial deployment in the year 2011 to its latest modifications in the year 2019. The energy conservation standards in ECBC apply to building envelope, heating ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, service water heating, and electric power distribution. It should also be ensured that all-electric systems, transformers, energy-efficient motors, and diesel generators must meet the regulated set of mandatory requirements. From among the various software types that have been approved for ECBC design and application, this study has employed Energy Plus software to simulate the design based on the given input and the selected location. The location that has been chosen for this study was Bhubaneshwar, India. All necessary details ranging from latitude, longitude, weather, time zone, elevation, building area, lighting, heating, cooling, and much more have been covered in the simulation. Utilizing ECBC regulated standards for an energy-efficient building design has resulted in an increase in the energy savings by 27.4%, and thus, the building qualifies to be regarded as an ECBC compliant building.

Retrofit Strategy in Existing Building for Implementing Energy Conservation Building Code in India

The expanding commercial building sector and urbanization in India leads to an increase in demand of energy many folds. Consequently, it is the need of the current scenario to define some regulatory regime or policy to harness the enormous potential of energy savings. Under the Energy Conservation Act 2001, the Government of India under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency launched the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) on a voluntary basis. ECBC sets the standards of minimum energy performance for “large commercial buildings. These norms were for both new and existing buildings. Retrofitting of existing buildings offers noteworthy opportunities for reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper provides a systematic approach to review the application of energy conservation building codes in existing buildings and identification of the best retrofit strategies to stimulate the implementation of ECBC in the country.

Retrofit Strategy in Existing Building for Implementing Energy Conservation Building Code in India

The expanding commercial building sector and urbanization in India leads to an increase in demand of energy many folds. Consequently, it is the need of the current scenario to define some regulatory regime or policy to harness the enormous potential of energy savings. Under the Energy Conservation Act 2001, the Government of India under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency launched the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) on a voluntary basis. ECBC sets the standards of minimum energy performance for “large commercial buildings. These norms were for both new and existing buildings. Retrofitting of existing buildings offers noteworthy opportunities for reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper provides a systematic approach to review the application of energy conservation building codes in existing buildings and identification of the best retrofit strategies to stimulate the implementation of ECBC in the country.

Building envelope trade-off method integrated with BIM-based framework for energy-efficient building envelope

ABSTRACT In recent years, the demand for energy-efficient buildings and green buildings has increased significantly in India. However, this surge has few hindrances, i.e. the absence of a centralised green material library, alterations in the later stage of design for certification and few energy certified buildings. This paper proposed a BIM-based workflow that mainstreams this surge of energy-conscious buildings’ envelope using Building Envelope Trade-off Method (BETM) in the early design phase. BETM facilitates energy-efficient envelope through simpler calculations based on material thermal properties, orientation and surface area. A BIM library is modelled for commonly used materials and passive features. The developed workflow is demonstrated on a selected building complex, and its effectiveness is tested with a parametric simulation of 216 envelope combinations of different alternative envelope materials, orientations, and passive facade features. This result shows a similar envelope performance factor ratio for the considered orientations, whereas 0.35% and 12.49% reduction is observed in the corresponding peak cooling total load (PCTL) compared to the as-built case. The PCTL provides the necessary insight into building energy analysis considering its surrounding features. The developed workflow will ensure a better performing building envelope according to the Energy Conservation Building Code.

Policy Diffusion Through Multiple Streams: The (Non‐)Adoption of Energy Conservation Building Code in India

Although the diffusion of policy innovations can promote sustainability, how this process can be accelerated remains unclear. I address this gap by conceptualizing policy transfer and policy diffusion using the multiple streams framework (MSF) and developing hypotheses to connect them. I apply this theorization to explain the limited spread of the energy conservation building code (ECBC) in India by combining a process trace of policy adoption in the embedded case of Andhra Pradesh with a dyadic event history analysis of state‐level diffusion during 2012‐18. The data for this study are collated from official statistics, elite interviews, news reports, policy documents, and secondary literature. The qualitative analysis shows that policy transfer to Andhra Pradesh occurred when external influence and prior adoption elsewhere were used by a policy entrepreneur to exploit a window of opportunity and couple problem, policy, and politics in the state; the dyadic analysis demonstrates that policy diffusion was influenced by the interaction among the structural characteristics of the problem, policy, and politics streams. I conclude with the implications for research on policy diffusion and the MSF as well as the relevance of the findings for promoting policy innovation for a sustainable energy transition.

Impact of roof shading on building energy performance in warm & humid climatic places of India

With the rise in awareness of energy efficient buildings and adoption of mandatory energy conservation codes across the globe, significant change is being observed in the way the buildings are designed. With the launch of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in India, climate responsive designs and passive cooling techniques are being explored increasingly in building designs. Of all the building envelope components, roof surface has been identified as the most significant with respect to the heat gain due to the incident solar radiation on buildings, especially in tropical climatic conditions. Since ECBC specifies stringent U-Values for roof assembly, use of insulating materials is becoming popular. Along with insulation, the shading of the roof is also observed to be an important strategy for improving thermal performance of the building, especially in Warm and humid climatic conditions. This study intends to assess the impact of roof shading on building’s energy performance in comparison to that of exposed roof with insulation. A typical office building with specific geometry and schedules has been identified as base case model for this study. This building is simulated using energy modelling software ‘Design Builder’ with base case parameters as prescribed in ECBC. Further, the same building has been simulated parametrically adjusting the amount of roof insulation and roof shading simultaneously. The overall energy consumption and the envelope performance of the top floor are extracted for analysis. The results indicate that the roof shading is an effective passive cooling strategy for both naturally ventilated and air conditioned buildings in Warm and humid climates of India. It is also observed that a fully shaded roof outperforms the insulated roof as per ECBC prescription. Provision of shading over roof reduces the annual energy consumption of building in case of both insulated and uninsulated roofs. However, the impact is higher for uninsulated roofs (U-Value of 3.933 W/m2K), being 4.18% as compared to 0.59% for insulated roofs (U-Value of 0.33 W/m2K).While the general assumption is that roof insulation helps in reducing the energy consumption in tropical buildings, it is observed to be the other way when insulation is provided with roof shading. It is due to restricted heat loss during night.

The role of Energy Conservation Building Code 2017 in Indian Energy Policy

With the advancement in technology and the need for development by both developed and developing countries, energy plays a vital role in the whole process of sustainability. India’s security score has been declining since 2000 due to decrease in energy storing capacity, scarcity in primary energy supply sources and to much dependency on import. The World Energy Council’s latest Energy Trilemma Index covering 128 countries shows how energy policies are changing around the world. India’s energy policies and infrastructure are rated among the worst in the world with 109th rank with overall score of 50.3. India scores high on Energy Security but struggles on sustainability and equity indicators giving clear indication on revisiting ECBC 2017. This paper reviews and compares ECMs between two versions of the code titled ECBC 2007 and ECBC 2017 and identify the role of human behavior as a missing link. This paper suggest Low Cost Energy Conservation Measure focused on sustainability and environment.

A Comparative Study: Energy Performance Analysis of Conventional Office Buildings at Lucknow

In this study, the energy consumption of three government and three private office buildings in Lucknow was investigated, and the energy performance index (EPI) for each building was determined. The main purpose of this research was to assess the energy usage of the buildings and identify factors affecting the energy usage. An analysis was performed using data from an energy audit of government buildings, electricity bills of private office buildings, and an on-site visit to determine building envelope materials and its systems. The annual energy consumption of buildings has been evaluated through EPI. The EPI, measured in kilowatt hour per square meter per year, is annual energy consumption in kilowatt hours divided by the gross floor area of the building in square meters. In this study, the energy benchmark for day-time-use office buildings in composite climate specified by Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) has been compared with the energy consumption of the selected buildings. Consequently, it has been found that the average EPI of the selected buildings was close to the national energy benchmark indicated by ECBC. Moreover, factors causing inefficient energy consumption were determined, and solutions for consistent energy savings are suggested for buildings in composite climate.

Optimization based feasibility study for filler slabs as a response towards the ECBC roof compliance with respect to thermal transmittance for five climatic zones of India

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) will soon be made mandatory pan India and the building designs must comply with the criteria for energy efficiency. One of the major components of ECBC is the building envelope. The roof assembly U-factor requirements is mentioned in section 4, clause 4.3.1. This research talks about filler slabs as a possible solution for roofing in buildings for ECBC compliance. A framework is developed that selects the optimum combination of the materials based on different parameters like u value for different commercial building typologies in five climatic zones of India. This research considers various filler materials that are tested for their thermal conductivity (k -value) in the Indian context. The list of materials formulates the range for selected variables, that are used for the optimization in the mathematical model. This mathematical model generates the result for six building typologies (two special case for level ECBC), five climatic zones, three levels of ECBC, two grades of steel and concrete each and six slab thickness, a total of 2208 cases. This optimization model produces the optimum choice for filler material in different cases based upon the variables and associated constraints. In the cases where the solution cannot be derived, it is deduced that filler slabs alone are not feasible to be used as a solution for the ECBC compliance.

Optimization based feasibility analysis for Energy Conservation Building Code compliance of opaque wall assemblies in different climatic zones of India

Thermal performance of building envelopes is the determinant factor of building energy consumption. The total built up area of commercial buildings in India is expected to touch 1.9 Billion Sq. m. by 2030 from the 2015 figure of 847 Million Sq. m., a growth of three times. According to Central Electricity Authority of India the projected energy consumption load for 2030 is five times that of the current load in the region. Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) for commercial buildings was first launched in 2007 towards establishing new benchmarks for energy efficient buildings in India. There has been inadequate implementation of ECBC in the country and the success of these codes, policies and regulations depends on the market response to be self-sustaining in the long term. This research uses the evolutionary optimization model for the feasibility analysis of ECBC and incremental ECBC code compliance, in various climatic zones of India towards wider acceptability by the building industry with respect to the thermal transmittance of opaque wall assemblies in building envelope for different typologies of commercial buildings using the available materials in the Indian context / market.

Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) based optimum wall composition with respect to thermal transmittance and thickness for different commercial pockets of Tier-1 city in temperate climatic zone of India

A surge in the commercial sector especially in the Tier-1 cities has been identified across the country. Due to the demand for an increase in the commercial spaces, there is a scope for increased investments in these sectors. The study presented in this paper tries to focus on maximizing the selling price of properties in commercial sectors by suggesting the thinnest possible optimized external wall that eventually results in increased carpet area of the building. The wall combinations to be optimized will be compliant to the Energy Conservation Building Code, 2017 of India, with respect to the thermal transmittance (u-value). To achieve the same, geographic information system-based study of tier 1 city, from temperate climatic zone of India, specified in the ECBC 2017, has been studied to find the various commercial pockets in the city. Three material library of different materials, which can be used for the inside finishing of the wall, main block/brick element of the wall and exterior finishing of the wall, has been taken into consideration based upon availability in the country. The various wall compositions achieved, as the result of an evolutionary optimization is made compliant with ECBC 2017 standards to obtain the best possible optimized external wall solution. The increase in the percentage of carpet area/ sellable area as a result of optimization of the external wall was used to calculate the percentage increase in the profit per square metre area of construction. As a final result of the optimization, the selling price of the commercial building is maximized.