Implementing Energy Efficiency Research Articles

Integrating GIS spatial dimension into BREEAM communities sustainability assessment to support urban planning policies, Lisbon case study

Local governments face increasing pressure to define land-use policies to enhance local sustainable development. This requires the development of urban planning tools that can help them in selecting measures and priority intervention areas within their cities.The tools currently available only address this problem partially. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been widely used in urban planning for handling spatial data but have limited capacities for representing choice and priority among the conflicting objectives for sustainable urban planning. Meanwhile, urban sustainability assessment systems, such as BREEAM-Communities (BREEAM-CM), can help to choose the most sustainable measures under such conflicting objectives, although they are typically non-spatial by assuming a spatial homogeneity within the study area, therefore, they cannot be used to identify priority intervention locations.This paper proposes bridging the gap between urban sustainability assessment and spatial analysis by combining GIS and BREEAM-CM. Instead of the traditional use of BREEAM-CM to assess a single neighbourhood, we applied this system to all Lisbon city subsections with the support from GIS. It resulted in the identification of priority intervention areas for sustainable development within the city including: attracting new businesses to the north area; implementing energy efficiency strategies and new green areas in the old town and central avenues; and improving public transport links in the north and western areas. These findings show that the proposed model can be a valuable tool for evaluating and defining local sustainable development strategies.

Portfolio optimization of energy communities to meet reductions in costs and emissions

Cities are expected to grow further, and energy communities are one promising approach to promote distributed energy resources and implement energy efficiency measures. To understand the motivation of those communities, this work improves two existing open source models with a Pareto Optimization and two objectives: costs and carbon emissions. Clustering algorithms support the improvement of the models' scalability and performance. The methods developed in this work gives stakeholders the tool to calculate the capabilities and restrictions of the local energy system. The models are applied to a case study using data from an Austrian city, Linz. Four scenarios help to understand aspects of the energy community, such as the lock-in effect of existing infrastructure and future developments. The results show that it is possible to reduce both objectives, but the solutions for minimum costs and minimum carbon emissions are contrary to each other. This work quantifies the highest effect of emission reduction by the electrification of the system. It may be concluded, that a steady transformation of the local energy systems is necessary to reach economically sustainable goals.

Research on Energy Consumption Benchmark Index System and Evaluation of Thermal Power Unit

With the acceleration of industrialization, urbanization and the continuous upgrading of consumption structure, China’s energy demand has grown rigidly. The coal-based energy structure has caused China’s economic development to face severe environmental pressures. Energy conservation and emission reduction in the power industry has become an inevitable development trend. In order to strengthen energy consumption management and control in the thermal power industry, improve energy efficiency, and comprehensively implement energy efficiency benchmarking, this paper establishes thermal energy plant energy consumption index system according to the characteristics of thermal power plant energy consumption, and uses multi-attribute decision-making methods to evaluate the index system for China’s thermal power generation and provide theoretical guidance for energy transformation, energy conservation and emission reduction.

A new clustering and visualization method to evaluate urban heat energy planning scenarios

Spatial visualization is a very useful tool to help decision-makers in the urban planning process, i) to define future energy transition pathways, ii) to implement energy efficiency strategies and iii) to integrate renewable energy technologies in the context of sustainable cities. There is thus a need to develop new tools to understand the energy consumption patterns across cities. Statistical methods are often used to understand the driving parameters of energy consumption but rarely used to evaluate future urban refurbishment scenarios. Simulating whole cities using energy demand softwares can be very extensive in terms of computer resources and data collection. A new methodology, using city archetypes, is hence proposed to simulate the energy consumption of urban areas and to evaluate urban energy planning scenarios. The objective of this paper is to present a solid framework and innovative solution for the computation and visualization of energy saving at the city scale. The energy demand of cities, as well as the microclimatic conditions, are calculated by using a 3D model designed as function of the real city urban geometrical and physical characteristics. Data are extracted from a GIS database. We demonstrate how the number of buildings to be simulated can be drastically reduced thereby significantly decreasing the computational time and without compromising the accuracy of the results. This model is then used to evaluate the influence of two sets of refurbishment solutions. The energy consumption are then integrated back in the GIS to identify the areas in the city where refurbishment works are needed more rapidly. The city of Settimo Torinese (Italy) is used as a demonstrator for the proposed methodology, which can be applied to medium-sized cities worldwide with limited amount of information.

Survey of Turbo, LDPC, and Polar Decoder ASIC Implementations

Channel coding may be viewed as the best-informed and most potent component of cellular communication systems, which is used for correcting the transmission errors inflicted by noise, interference, and fading. The powerful turbo code was selected to provide channel coding for mobile broad band data in the 3G UMTS and 4G long term evolution cellular systems. However, the 3GPP standardization group has recently debated whether it should be replaced by low density parity check (LDPC) or polar codes in 5G new radio, ultimately reaching the decision to adopt the LDPC code family for enhanced mobile broad band (eMBB) data and polar codes for eMBB control. This paper summarizes the factors that influenced this debate, with a particular focus on the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) implementation of the decoders of these three codes. We show that the overall implementation complexity of turbo, LDPC, and polar decoders depends on numerous other factors beyond their computational complexity. More specifically, we compare the throughput, error correction capability, flexibility, area efficiency, and energy efficiency of ASIC implementations drawn from 110 papers and use the results for characterizing the advantages and disadvantages of these three codes as well as for avoiding pitfalls and for providing design guidelines.

Impact of Sustainable Electricity for Cameroonian Population through Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energies

Access to electricity and a reliable supply of energy are essential elements of local economic development and poverty reduction. To address these challenges, appropriate policies and mechanisms at the national and regional levels need to be implemented. In this study, we used Johanson cointegration and Granger causality techniques to examine the different cointegration and causal relationships that exist between the growth of electricity consumption (CE) and socio-economic parameters (GDP, tertiary GDP, GDP per capita, number of households, number of subscribers and population) in Cameroon during the period from 1975 to 2011. The results from the software Eviews 7.2 show that there are cointegration relationships between electricity consumption and socio-economic indicators (LGDPH, LPO and LS) thus reflecting the long-term relationship between socio-economic growth and electricity consumption (CE). Consumption growth could, therefore, follow socio-economic growth. In addition, the analysis of the Granger causality test results reveals that there is a unidirectional causal relationship of macroeconomic indicators towards electricity consumption. That is, LGDPG to LCE, LGDPH to LCE, and LGDPT to LCE. There is also a unidirectional relationship between LCE and the demographic indicators that is the relationship of LCE to LS (number of subscribers). We can, therefore, conclude that the indicators that have a better influence on electricity consumption are the overall GDP for the macroeconomic indicators and the population for the socio-demographic indicators respectively. In addition, the analysis of renewable energy potential (EnRs) shows us that Cameroon enjoys good irradiation throughout its territory, hence its high solar potential. The wind speed is unevenly distributed over the territory, it has an average speed in the region of the very north of the country, but a low speed in the rest of the territory, which justifies the low wind potential in the country. We also noticed that the forest is concentrated in the southernmost part of the country, mainly in the eastern and southern regions. After study, we concluded that it is possible to truncate thermal power plants with renewable energy plants. We proposed to trade the thermal power stations of additions by biomass plants. We also offer hybrid solar-biomass power plants for isolated power plants; and solar-wind hybrid power plants for the Far North region of the country, given its strong wind power potential. We also identified the sources of over-consumption and estimated the amount of energy that could be saved by developing an energy efficiency plan (10%) with the standard scenario that would take into account good energy-saving practices. We then estimated at 336,938 Kg the gain in CO2 emissions if we exchanged the thermal power stations into EnRs. Recommendations are then suggested for the successful implementation of an energy efficiency plan and implementation of renewable energy in Cameroon.

Do Energy Efficiency Networks Save Energy? Evidence from German Plant-Level Data

In energy efficiency networks, groups of firms exchange experiences on energy conservation in regular meetings over several years. The companies implement energy efficiency measures in order to reach commonly agreed energy savings and CO2 reduction goals. Energy efficiency networks exist in several countries, such as Germany, Sweden and China. Existing evaluations of such voluntary regional networks in Germany claim that participants improved energy efficiency at twice the speed of the industry average. Based on comprehensive data from the German manufacturing census, this paper examines whether participation in energy efficiency networks has a causal impact on energy conservation and CO2 emissions. I employ both a difference-in-differences estimator, using companies that joined energy efficiency networks at a later point in time as a control group, as well as a semi-parametric matching estimator. I demonstrate that for the average participant there is no evidence of a statistically significant effect on energy productivity or CO2 emissions due to the network activities. However, there is some indication that exporters may have benefited from the networks by reducing their CO2 emissions.

The role of Energy-Water nexus to motivate transboundary cooperation:

Hydropower is a key energy source for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7. Meanwhile, the effects of hydropower development and operation are complex, and potentially a source of tension on transboundary rivers. This paper aims at exploring solutions that consider both energy and water to motivate transboundary cooperation in the operation of hydropower plants (HPPs) in the Drina River Basin (DRB), where the level of cooperation among the riparian countries is low. OSeMOSYS was used to develop a multi-country model with a simplified hydrological system to represent the cascade of HPPs in the DRB. Results show that improved cooperation can increase electricity generation in the HPPs downstream without compromising generation upstream. It also demonstrates the role of inexpensive hydropower in enhancing electricity trade in the region. Implementing energy efficiency measures would reduce the stress on coal power plants, which will mitigate CO2 emissions by about 21% compared to the 2015 level.

Enhancing Sustainability and Energy Efficiency in Smart Factories: A Review

With the rapid development of sensing, communication, computing technologies, and analytics techniques, today’s manufacturing is marching towards a new generation of sustainability, digitalization, and intelligence. Even though the significance of both sustainability and intelligence is well recognized by academia, industry, as well as governments, and substantial efforts are devoted to both areas, the intersection of the two has not been fully exploited. Conventionally, studies in sustainable manufacturing and smart manufacturing have different objectives and employ different tools. Nevertheless, in the design and implementation of smart factories, sustainability, and energy efficiency are supposed to be important goals. Moreover, big data based decision-making techniques that are developed and applied for smart manufacturing have great potential in promoting the sustainability of manufacturing. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of sustainable and smart manufacturing is first reviewed based on the PRISMA framework, with a focus on how they interact and benefit each other. Key problems in both fields are then identified and discussed. Specially, different technologies emerging in the 4th industrial revolution and their dedications on sustainability are discussed. In addition, the impacts of smart manufacturing technologies on sustainable energy industry are analyzed. Finally, opportunities and challenges in the intersection of the two are identified for future investigation. The scope examined in this paper will be interesting to researchers, engineers, business owners, and policymakers in the manufacturing community, and could serve as a fundamental guideline for future studies in these areas.

Exploring employee energy efficiency awareness in UK commercial offices: IT and small power

Energy consumption reduction is called upon across UK business facilities in order to mitigate the rising impacts of climate change. Business facilities such as office buildings rely on a range of electrical equipment on a day-to-day basis (Carbon Trust 2005b). However, it is not always appreciated how much electrical equipment can cost a company (Carbon Trust 2005b). The need for businesses to assess their current office energy use and seek ways to significantly improve their energy efficiency and energy cost is increasing (Pellegrini-Masini and Leishman 2011). The implementation and effectiveness of energy-efficient measures within a commercial office environment is reported as a key to the success of improving a business’ energy efficiency (DECC 2012; Westminster Sustainable Business Forum 2013). Office electrical equipment can be responsible for up to 30% of total energy consumption. Using equipment more efficiently is suggested to enable a difference to energy use and spending (Npower 2010). Individual IT equipment and small appliances is an area where wasteful electricity consumption can often occur through the inefficient use. Typically, desktop and associated IT equipment such as computers, printers, modems and fax machines average about 160 W per work location commercial offices (BRECSU 2000). According to Bray (2006), employee usage patterns relating to IT equipment and small power appliance use are a more important factor in determining energy consumption than the energy efficiency ratings of the equipment itself. In addition, out-of-hours usage is a common issue which needs further investigation by exploring small power behaviour of office workers when leaving at the end of the working day (Bray 2006). The purpose of this survey-based approach paper is to examine employee awareness and behaviour regarding energy efficiency implementation in commercial office buildings in the UK, with a focus on IT and small power equipment. The IT and small power equipment which are included as part of this study are laptops, desktop computers, printers, teleconference equipment, fax machines, kettles and microwaves. The following sections discuss key literature on the topic followed by a section on research methods. This is followed by a discussion of key findings, discussion and conclusion outlining key contributions and implications.

State regulation of energy security in national economy

Introduction. In the conditions of dependence on the imported energy resources there is a problem of ensuring stability of the energy industry with counteraction to changes of the ambient and a possibility of reacting to actions for providing competitive positions and advantages of the state. A number of problems in energy industry need a support of necessary level of the energy security on the basis of providing own extraction with volume reduction of imported energy resources, increasing of the national products’ competitiveness in the world markets, development of innovations and investments into energy efficient technologies. In such conditions, it’s important to apply actions for ensuring economic security of the energy sector through the creating of an efficient program for the protection of the national interests in the energy sector, which will contribute to the national economy development.
 Aim and tasks. The purpose of article is a researching of energy security and developing actions for state regulation of energy security.
 Research results. The article outlines the priority directions of the state policy on ensuring the energy sector development which are identified as a main risks and adverse factors of influence on functioning of energy industry of Ukraine. And the necessity of energy security systems formation at the state level is grounded. The perspective increasing directions of energy security are the establishment of more adapted to transformations system of state regulation with market self-regulation elements. The state regulation of energy security in conditions of high level internationalization of national economy should be aimed at the harmonization of its technological and institutional aspects which influence the development and implementation of energy technologies and projects related to renewable energy sources. The state regulation requires further active development of institutional conditions for use of alternative energy resources and energy saving based on renewable energy.
 Conclusion. To provide energy security it is necessary to improve the complex program of its development which will involve wide use of state regulation methods as well as public-private partnership development so the support of the implementation of investment projects will be provided. The important aspect in development of energy engineering is ensuring its economic security which will allow to level possible threats of the industry and to provide requirements of fuel and energy complex and industry for a long term. Energy security should be directed towards increasing energy efficiency which will promote reducing imports and depending on the supply of energy resources by other countries. State regulation of energy security should ensure the rational use of the energy sector potential and stable functioning of the energetic supply system which includes: implementation of energy efficiency and energy saving policies; increase of investment in energy engineering; reduction of environmental impact and emissions.

INDONESIA’S REGULATION AND POLICY IN THE ENERGY SECTOR: URGENCY TO PROMOTE ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN URBAN AREAS

<p>In recent years, efforts to promote sustainable energy through energy efficiency, renewable energy and use of new technologies are moving rapidly at national, regional, and international levels. The benefits generated from energy efficiency has prompted experts and governments to work together in implementing energy efficiency policies across all sectors of life. One of the focus areas in global energy efficiency policy is energy efficiency in urban areas. This article aims to provide an overview regarding the implementation of policy and regulation on energy efficiency in Indonesia, particularly in urban areas. The research finds that energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to improve the competitiveness and capacity of cities in Indonesia. In addition, it could advocate the Indonesian Government in responding to global environmental issues, especially climate change.</p><br />

Initiatives to achieve energy efficiency for residential buildings in India: A review

In view of the climate change threat, India has recently committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 35% by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. Energy efficiency in buildings offers the greatest potential for saving energy at the lowest cost. This paper reviews current energy consumption trends in the residential building sector of India and traces various initiatives by the government to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in terms of regulatory framework, green building rating systems, fiscal incentives and institutional mechanisms affecting energy demand management. Further, the paper provides an overview of various barriers and challenges in implementing energy efficiency programmes in housing along with suggestions to strengthen the institutional framework and create awareness to accelerate energy efficiency programmes for reducing CO2 emissions.

Drivers of consumer attention to mandatory energy-efficiency labels affixed to home appliances: An emerging market perspective

The implementation of mandatory energy-efficiency on electronic products is one of the strategies used by governments to mitigate the environmental impact of consumption. Yet, studies on mandatory energy-efficiency labels and the pivotal role of consumers' attention to such labels remain limited. Thus, this study examines the key drivers of consumers’ attention to energy-efficiency labels that must by law be affixed to all home appliances sold in South Africa. Based on the signalling theory and the attitude-to-behaviour theory, an integrated model was designed to explore these drivers. Using the data from a survey involving 440 South African home appliance users, the model was tested through the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. The empirical results indicated that consumers pay attention to energy-efficiency labels when they trust the energy-efficiency credentials of products, and when they intend to purchase energy-efficient appliances. Perceived product price was established as an important marketing signal for improving consumer trust in energy-efficiency labels, while social norms and attitude were confirmed as the most important antecedents of the consumer purchase intention of energy-efficient appliances. The findings provide important insights useful for the development of policy interventions aimed at promoting the use of more environmentally friendly home appliances.

Barriers and drivers for enterprise energy efficiency: An exploratory study for industrial transfer in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

Government, industry, and corporate behaviors all encourage companies to actively implement energy efficiency measures (EEMs) but few empirical studies have identified the specific barriers and drivers of EEMs and their relative importance. This paper aims to better understand the barriers and drivers of EEMs to help determine how policies and regulations support their proliferation. We conducted a questionnaire survey of the enterprises in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei industrial transfer, carefully reviewed related policies, and built the Condition-Resource-Management (CRM) model to screen out the main factors that affect the improvement of energy efficiency. The mechanism of enterprise energy efficiency improvement was analyzed from the three different perspectives of EEMs (implementation steps, factors, and actors), and the main factors in each stage of the decision-making process were identified. The results show that in the seven steps of EEMs, the importance of awareness and investment priorities is great. Both economic and regulatory barriers and drivers have a significant effect on the improvement of energy efficiency via profit and behavioral impacts. Finally, based on the analysis results, we propose that policy makers need to (a) pay more attention to economic and legal tools and (b) appropriately increase supervision and punishment, and (c) government should provide more financial and technical support to encourage enterprises to improve energy efficiency.

Energy efficiency – indoor air quality dilemma in public buildings

The energy efficiency – indoor air quality dilemma is a common predicament in many buildings undergoing energy efficiency improvements. The main goal of this research is to study the impact of this dilemma on national final energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission reduction. A simulation using a system dynamics model was carried out. The stock of public buildings was split into four sub-categories based on when the buildings were constructed. Natural ventilation is used in all buildings before renovation. After implementing energy efficiency measures, two scenarios are simulated: one with and one without mechanical ventilation. Buildings constructed between 1940 and 1992 exhibit the greatest increase in both floor areas with energy efficiency measures and profitability ratio. The simulation results show that if ventilation is operated according to national building standards, total energy consumption in public buildings increases by 1.3 % in 2014 and by 2 % in 2040 compared to the situation where there is no mechanical ventilation. If the implementation of the energy efficiency measures is increasing at higher rate, the difference between both alternatives is increasing more. Energy efficiency measures in public buildings reduce national energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. However these measures also reduce indoor air quality thereby causing losses of productivity of the building occupants.

Towards achieving net-zero energy communities: Investigation of design strategies and seasonal solar collection and storage net-zero

This paper explores a solar mixed-use community and its potential towards achieving net-zero energy status. This mixed-use community combines residential and commercial/institutional buildings. Energy performance of this neighbourhood is estimated in terms of energy consumption and generation potential by means of building integrated PV systems. A solar thermal collector system combined with a borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) is designed to investigate the impact on the overall performance of the neighbourhood. The design of solar thermal collectors and the sizing of short-term thermal energy storage is based on the analysis of the thermal loads for heating and domestic hot water in each district of the community.The results of the performance of the thermal collectors and BTES align with existing communities, which employ similar technologies. The results indicate that implementing energy efficiency measures together with PV systems, allows the neighbourhood to generate around 70% of its total energy consumption. The implementation of thermal collectors and seasonal storage, in this high-energy performance neighbourhood, leads to a net positive energy status.

Beyond technocracy: Forms of rationality and uncertainty in organizational behaviour and energy efficiency decision making in Canada

Through a social science approach rooted in grounded theory, this research paper provides a form of an uncertainty theory in organizations, exploring how alternate forms of rationality and approaches to dealing with uncertainty result in variation in energy efficiency related actions and outcomes. Through data analysis, structural conditions are identified, frames for considering energy efficiency are uncovered, and two approaches for dealing with uncertainty are interpreted. Hospitals that approach uncertainty by 'Demanding Certainty' make use of one of two frames: 'Temporal Silos' or' Alternate priorities'. These hospitals communicate by presenting, selling and confirming, resulting in risk avoiding organizations where individuals absorb associated risks, and long-term energy efficiency implementation stalls. Hospitals that approach uncertainty by 'Managing Complexity' envision energy efficiency as complementary to patient care and driving long-term resiliency. These hospitals communicate through negotiation and collaboration, expanding thinking beyond short term budgetary intervals, driving resiliency and bridging operational silos. Organizations, and not individuals, absorb risks associated with energy efficiency, and implementation of initiatives occur over longer time horizons.

The assessment of environmental conditioning techniques and their energy performance in historic churches located in Mediterranean climate

Abstract There is a particular approach to the energy performance and indoor microclimate of historic buildings. However, the implementation of energy efficiency in historic buildings is limited, given that the materials, structure, geometry and artworks to be conserved inhibit the improvement of microclimate parameters or energy performance. The main aim of this work is to study the use of environmental conditioning techniques in a historic building and its impact on the conservation of artworks prior to the refurbishment project. This study describes experimental research carried out on the church of Nuestra Senora de la Merced, a historic building in a Mediterranean climate. The building was monitored and measured to validate numerical codes using Design Builder 4.7.027 and Energy Plus 8.3. Software building models made it possible to evaluate the implementation of different environmental techniques – passive, active and combined – in the church with a view to conserving artworks. This study concluded that the use of passive environmental techniques does not completely eliminate the mechanical risk or bio-deterioration that are inherent to movable heritage. Proposals for the use of active systems in combination with passive techniques improve the initial conservation of artworks and decrease the risk of biological degradation. Although energy consumption is high due to the large size and thermal inertia of the building, consumption is considerably reduced when active and passive systems are combined.

Energy Efficiency Improvement in Non-Intensive Energy Enterprises: A Framework Proposal

Generalized renewable energy use and the implementation of energy efficiency are two promising solutions to face global environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. Government and large enterprises are making efforts in this direction; however, there are bottlenecks to start energy efficiency projects especially in non-intensive energy enterprises (NIEs). The aim of this work is to discuss energy efficiency improvement (EEI) initiatives and analyses a framework proposal to improve the energy efficiency implementation in (NIEs). It was applied the theory of Barrier Model to Energy Efficiency to understand the gap between the levels of opportunities implemented, and what theoretically the industrial sector could achieve. It was found that behavior barriers are relevant to understand the efficiency gap and it is necessary to have an action plan to address them. The analysis has been carried out in the fertilizer industry and the preliminary results demonstrate the advantageous reduction of energy losses.