Energy Efficiency Retrofit Projects Research Articles

A Rational Plan of Energy Performance Contracting in an Educational Building: A Case Study

Energy performance contracting (EPC) is the best solution for an educational building to implement energy conservation measures (ECMs) because of its high capital expenditure and operational expenditure needed for retrofit and maintenance. It is also considered a win–win mechanism for organising building energy efficiency retrofit projects. It aims to assist educational buildings in acquiring new high-efficiency equipment and maximising energy use reduction, as guaranteed by energy service company (ESCO). This study developed an EPC model using regression analysis, in which the inputs are based on the data collected during the preliminary energy audit in University A. As a result, with a quantum sharing ratio of 0.95/0.5 for ESCO/University A, the forecasted energy savings from the proposed ECMs, chiller optimisation and replacement, lighting retrofit, and energy management system are estimated to save 25.6% energy use, which reduces 5,672,057 kilowatt-hour (kWh) in electricity consumption; saves RM 2,762,291.76/year; carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation equal to 3,771,061.22 kgCO2/year; return of investment of 4.2 years with a 5% interest rate; and building energy intensity of 93.55 kWh/m2/year. A sensitivity analysis of various quantum sharing ratios found that the saving value of ESCO is inversely proportional to that of University A as the client when the quantum sharing ratio for the former is increasing.

Evaluation of energy-saving retrofit projects of existing rural residential envelope structures from the perspective of rural residents: the Chinese case.

The existing residential envelope in rural areas has low energy efficiency, with low energy utilization and serious energy waste for winter heating. However, in recent years, farmers have not undertaken energy efficiency retrofit projects for existing buildings in rural areas. This study proposed an evaluation model based on the logistic-AHP-TOPSIS method from the perspective of farmers. First, this study conducted a questionnaire survey of 208 rural households and used logistic models to determine which existing evaluation indicators significantly impact farmers' willingness to participate in energy efficiency retrofit projects. Second, the weights of the eight indicators were determined using AHP. Finally, this study evaluated the retrofit program of a case in Gansu Province using the TOPSIS method. In the analysis, total investment, annual winter heating costs and energy efficiency improvements were found to be the most important factors for farmers. The highest score for existing buildings was 0.3747 because there is no additional investment required; the option of partial retrofitting according to the actual needs of households scored 0.3350 because it balances economic performance with energy efficiency performance; The entire retrofit program has the highest investment and a long payback period, and its score is the lowest with 0.2904. Furthermore, the study recommended that a self-build and self-repair organization led by village collectives be developed to unify the retrofit design and construction and lower renovation costs. Bulk purchases could enable farmers to increase their power in negotiations.

How energy service companies moderate the impact of industrialization and urbanization on carbon emissions in China?

Energy service companies (ESCOs) have emerged to carry out energy efficiency retrofit projects, playing an essential role in mitigating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in China. However, it remains unclear how exactly ESCOs contribute to CO2 mitigation during urbanization and industrialization. We conducted regression analyses on data collected in 29 provinces in China as the first case study to investigate the moderating effect of ESCOs in relationships between urbanization, industrialization, and CO2 emissions. The results indicate that urbanization had a significantly negative influence on CO2 emissions. In contrast, industrialization displayed a statistically significant positive impact on CO2 emissions. ESCOs have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between industrialization, urbanization, and CO2 emissions. The analysis also revealed that ESCOs have a better performance in areas with lower industrialization and greater urbanization. ESCOs may invest more in regions with limited ESCO activities and huge CO2 emission reduction demand, while energy-saving technology innovation should be advocated in regions with sufficient ESCO activities.

Risk-based, multistage stochastic energy project selection

Energy conservation through the implementation of energy efficient retrofit projects can be viewed as a series of investments with annual returns. These returns can be used to fund additional projects. However, planning for energy conservation ignoring the fluctuations in energy costs and uncertainty in the estimated savings severely impacts project selection and initial budget requests. These impacts drive returns and influence the ability to implement future projects. This paper demonstrates from the Agency perspective, how a risk-based, stochastic multi-period model with binary decision variables at each stage provides a much more accurate estimate for planning than traditional and deterministic models. This approach accounts for uncertainties while determining the proper budget request that minimizes risk of the worst outcomes. The practical application shows that agencies can adjust their risk appetites and make more cost-effective selections while considering the energy saving uncertainties. The application of stochastic optimization with the inclusion of risk to an important energy conservation problem makes the proposed model novel. Finally, while most portfolio selection and optimization problems seek to choose a proper mix of securities or projects, all must be selected here, making the timing the key selection criteria and further differentiates this proposed method.

Picture fuzzy multi-criteria group decision-making method to hotel building energy efficiency retrofit project selection

Building energy consumption accounts for a considerable proportion on energy consumption. To reduce building energy consumption, building energy efficiency retrofitting (BEER) based on Energy Performance Contracting mechanism is the most feasible and cost-effective method. With the increase number of BEER projects, BEER project selection has become an essential problem for energy service companies. In this paper, a multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) method is proposed to deal with BEER project selection problem. First, picture fuzzy sets are employed to describe the evaluation information under the complex and uncertain environment. Subsequently, picture fuzzy weighted average operator and Laplace distribution-picture fuzzy order weighted average operator are proposed based on convex combination to aggregate individual evaluations into the overall evaluations. Furthermore, picture fuzzy TOPSIS-based QUALIFLEX method is developed to identify the optimal ranking of alternatives. Moreover, the practicality, effectiveness and advantages of the proposed MCGDM method are illustrated using a case study of hotel BEER project selection and comparative analysis. Finally, conclusions about primary contributions, and future discussions of the proposed method are demonstrated.

Organisational learning in small and medium sized South African energy project organisations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore, using fine-grained exploratory multi-case studies, organisational learning practices – and associated constraints – impacting the performance of four small- and medium-sized project organisations which deliver energy efficiency projects in South Africa and whose learning practice mixes are of wider significance for the emerging project society in the region.Design/methodology/approachThe unit of analysis is the Energy Efficiency Demand Side Management (EEDSM) programme; a US$104m grant funded the initiative directed at supporting energy efficient retro-fit projects across local municipalities in South Africa. Thematic analysis is undertaken, based on multiple exploratory interviews with project practitioners working for small- and medium-sized EEDSM project organisations.FindingsRecognising the criticality of tacit knowledge as a focus for learning, within unstructured, novel, non-routine and technically specialised learning contexts in particular, the widespread lack of organisational harnessing through linkages to strategy and performance are noted, and advocacy is offered for the development of appropriate learning cultures linked to communities of practice that bring specialists together from across regional project societies.Research limitations/implicationsThe socio-political context of the EEDSM programme, although briefly addressed for its organisational cultural implications, was not given detailed consideration in the exploratory interviews. This would have enhanced the idiographic complexity of the findings, while also reducing prospects for distilling generalisable organisational learning improvement opportunities for emerging project societies. However, the study does not seek to provide evidence for specific learning practice effects on performance as this was not something the interviewees felt able to comment on in significant detail.Originality/valueLearning practice studies for small- and medium-sized project organisations remains sparse, so are studies of business environments within developing countries, in general, or sub-Saharan Africa, in particular. Looking beyond narrow individual project views of performance, the present study’s project society-based business environment is theorised as both constraining and benefiting from the project-learning practices discussed by the respondents.

Government championed strategies to overcome the barriers to public building energy efficiency retrofit projects

Knowledge of the barriers and coping strategies for retrofitting government buildings for energy efficiency is essential for the success of these types of complex retrofitting programs. This study utilised thematic findings from two focused groups consist of government employees from two States within Australia to create a comprehensive list of barriers to retrofitting public building stock for energy efficiency and associated strategies to address them. Thematic analysis revealed that a lack of political will, financing protocols, department/agency capability, industry capability, quality assurance and misaligned incentives, are the key barriers to public building energy efficiency retrofitting projects. To address such barriers, research revealed that a government championed top-down approach is required. A key strategy identified was enabling government departments and agencies to take on debt to fund retrofit initiatives that would derive returns, in terms of reduced energy utility costs, over the short-medium term. Other important strategies included having a mandatory energy efficiency retrofitting policy, dedicated financing mechanism, flexible procurement model, facilitation team and list of pre-qualified professionals.

Exploring spatial patterns of carbon dioxide emission abatement via energy service companies in China

The disparity of carbon dioxide emission abatement (CDEA) has been impeding more balanced improvement of energy efficiency worldwide. Energy service companies (ESCOs), which are present to varying degrees, have come to play an increasingly key role in reducing CO2 emission via energy efficiency retrofit projects. China, as the main contributor to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, has been promoting ESCOs for decades. This study aims to identify the factors influencing the spatial differences for CDEA and assess the provincial-level potentials for reducing CO2 emissions through ESCOs. Data from 3225 ESCO projects in Mainland China spanning from 2011 to 2015 were examined to map out the spatial patterns of CDEA using local Moran’s I index and local indicator spatial autocorrelation. Influencing factors were identified through spatial analysis based on Kaya identity and ordinary least squares. The results indicate that the national progress of CDEA can be attributed to the high efficiency of ESCO projects in coastal and northern China. It was observed that population, consumption of coal, and research & development input have a positive influence on CDEA, whereas per-capita GDP, energy industry investment, and industry value added have an inhibitory effect on CDEA.

Interactive Dynamics in Building Maintenance and Retrofit

The interaction between maintenance and new retrofit has significant effects on the performance improvement in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. Current decay models cannot reflect the interactive dynamics of building energy efficiency retrofit. A multiple-input and multiple-output state equation is formulated to model the interactive dynamics. This new model is verified based on empirical data. This primary work provides basic but necessary knowledge for the optimization and control approaches of building energy systems.

An approach for making optimal decisions in building energy efficiency retrofit projects

The study presents an optimization-based decision support approach to determine the optimal energy efficiency retrofit options in existing buildings. The main challenge encountered in the decision-making process of building retrofit projects is the selection of an optimal set of solutions within a wide range of solution space according to multiple criteria. In order to overcome this problem, this study uses an integrated optimization approach by combining both the variance-based sensitivity analysis and optimization methods to maximize energy savings and optimize financial returns in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. The proposed approach was applied to an existing public school building in Izmir, Turkey that represents hot-humid climate to test its validity and performance. The optimizations were performed and results were obtained for three different scenarios whose content was determined based on project objectives and constraints fulfilled by a survey conducted by building users. The case study results indicate that the proposed approach is effective in defining the application order of retrofit options by identifying the most influential parameters for building energy efficiency and finding out the optimal retrofit solutions per multiple criteria.

State-of-the-art review revealing a roadmap for public building water and energy efficiency retrofit projects

Governments occupy a significant proportion of building stock and their associated annual water and energy costs can be substantive. Research has shown that significant reductions in energy and water consumption as well as carbon emissions can be achieved through retrofitting public buildings. However, in most countries the current retrofitting rate is very low due to a number of barriers, including a lack of supportive legislation, regulations, guidelines, industry capacity and financial mechanisms. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the barriers as well as the best international practices covering numerous aspects of public building retrofits. Among others, the most important barriers identified were a lack of consideration of the water-energy nexus, and the limited availability of effective financing mechanisms. With a particular focus on the Australian context, a strategic roadmap, as well as a number of recommendations, such as the use of revolving loan fund financing and energy performance procurement, have been developed that aim to foster a greater rate of implementation of energy and water retrofit projects for public buildings. Achievement of such an aim will not only reduce ongoing operational costs of public buildings, but also lower their environmental impact and generate new employment opportunities.

Reducing lighting electricity use in underground metro stations

Lighting systems are usually one of the largest electrical end-uses in underground metro stations. Taking into account that budget restrictions in publicly owned companies hinder energy efficiency retrofit projects that require high initial investments, affordable energy saving strategies are needed. This paper presents a low-cost approach for reducing lighting electricity use in underground stations, without affecting passengers’ comfort or the metro operator’s service. For this purpose, an adaptive lighting strategy of dimming the illuminance levels of artificial light sources has been developed. Dimming controls are based on the occupancy of the station, and the preventive maintenance and cleaning cycles of the luminaires. The stations’ monthly occupancy patterns are defined through the k-means clustering technique. To illustrate its effectiveness, the method was applied to 115 underground stations of the Barcelona metro network. The results revealed overall electricity savings of 255.47MWh on a biannual basis, which represents 36.22% of the stations’ baseline lighting consumption. Individual energy savings were found to range from 25 to 87.5MWh/year in the stations of the Barcelona metro network, depending on the number and profile of station users. The research findings will undoubtedly be useful for the future energy efficiency project plans of worldwide metro operators and managers of other underground spaces.

Energy efficiency in commercial buildings: capturing added-value of retrofit

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate, the functioning of value creating configurations and stakeholder interactions in networks of organisations of the retrofit industry for commercial buildings.Design/methodology/approach– A value approach was applied to develop a model of retrofit activities. A Europe wide stakeholder engagement, consisting of over 50 face-to-face interviews with key informants with energy efficiency retrofit (EER) knowledge and expertise, informed analyses on flows of both tangible and intangible value for commercial EER projects.Findings– Given the need to expand the EER marketplace, the sustainability of EER processes is as important as the sustainability of EER project outcomes. Understanding value creation in retrofit processes is crucial to successfully harnessing the available energy savings potential from the built environment.Practical implications– The increasing importance of externalities, such as carbon, means that previously unaccounted for costs are now being considered in business models. For EER projects, the challenge is to respond to this new business environment, while maintaining adequate value for stakeholders. For commercial property developers, this means a growing impetus to understand the value propositions of other EER stakeholders.Originality/value– The evaluation of value creation across business relationships such as those of the construction industry has not been conducted in a systematic manner to date. This paper provides a novel application of value analysis. Interrogating materials and monetary flows, value interactions between stakeholders and stakeholder perception of value are vital in fostering the long-term capacity of the EER sector.

The Role of Umbrella Agreements in Developing Sustainable Business Models

In this paper we explore how flexible and innovative contracts may support the development of sustainable business models. More specifically, we seek to understand how umbrella agreements have helped to facilitate the growth of the Energy Services Company (ESCo) sector, an area of economic activity forecast to grow strongly and with significant sustainability benefits. We provide a case study of an energy efficiency retrofit project at the iconic Empire State building in New York which enables us to analyze the typical challenges faced by ESCos in establishing the agreements that underpin their sustainable business model. We argue that, by balancing the need for certainty and calculability with the desire to remain sufficiently flexible, umbrella agreements are well suited to managing the high levels of uncertainty; multiple stakeholder dependencies and longer, cyclical, time horizons that typify sustainable business models.

Case Study on Incentive Mechanism of Energy Efficiency Retrofit in Coal-Fueled Power Plant in China

An ordinary steam turbine retrofit project is selected as a case study; through the retrofit, the project activities will generate emission reductions within the power grid for about 92,463 tCO2e per annum. The internal rate of return (IRR) of the project is only −0.41% without the revenue of carbon credits, for example, CERs, which is much lower than the benchmark value of 8%. Only when the unit price of carbon credit reaches 125 CNY/tCO2, the IRR could reach the benchmark and an effective carbon tax needs to increase the price of carbon to 243 CNY/tce in order to make the project financially feasible. Design of incentive mechanism will help these low efficiency enterprises improve efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions, which can provide the power plants sufficient incentive to implement energy efficiency retrofit project in existing coal-fuel power generation-units, and we hope it will make a good demonstration for the other low efficiency coal-fueled power generation units in China.

Success factors of energy performance contracting (EPC) for sustainable building energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) of hotel buildings in China

Hotel building is a type of high-energy-consuming building and most existing hotel buildings need energy efficiency improvement in China. Energy performance contracting (EPC) is considered a win−win mechanism to organize building energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) project. However, EPC mechanism has been introduced into China relatively recently and many EPCs have not been successful in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. This research aims to develop a set of critical success factors (CSFs) of EPC for sustainable energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) of hotel buildings in China. Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey with practitioners and other professionals were conducted. The findings reveal the relative importance of the 21 number of identified success factors. In order to explore the underlying relationship among the identified critical success factors (CSFs), factor analysis method was adopted for further investigation, which leads to grouping the 21 identified CSFs into six clusters. These are (1) project organization process, (2) EPC project financing for hotel retrofit, (3) knowledge and innovation of EPC, sustainable development (SD), and M&V, (4) implementation of sustainable development strategy, (5) contractual arrangement, and (6) external economic environment. Finally, several relevant policies were proposed to implement EPC successfully in sustainable BEER in hotel buildings.