Public Sector Buildings Research Articles

Il sistema verde: soluzioni per la tutela dell’ambiente e la riduzione delle emissioni di CO2. L’esempio di una scuola esistente.

The public school building sector offers great opportunities for energy efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction. In this research a method for the energy evaluation of school buildings is proposed. It implements simple input information connected to dynamic simulations. The main objective is to evaluate the energy, environmental and economic impact of different regeneration proposals, combining a green system integration. The building chosen as a case study, which presents serial and widespread constructive and thermo-physical characteristics, allows to extend the validity of obtained results to similar cases and conditions. Findings highlighted the importance of developing site-specific strategies and green energy solutions, to optimally adapt any intervention to the architectural, typological and plant characteristics of the school. The proposed example is a prototype case so that the Municipalities and Public Administrations, owned by most of the schools in Italy, can use it as basic knowledge for future projects oriented towards the energy transition, but also for specific tailored training.

The energy refurbishment of typical school buildings in Cyprus following an integrated methodology

School buildings account for a significant percentage of public buildings in Cyprus. Most of them have been constructed before the establishment of any energy efficiency regulations, constituting thus, aged and high-consuming premises. Therefore, energy refurbishment of school buildings can have a significant impact on the overall energy consumption of the public building sector contributing thus, to the European Union targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, and increasing the use of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). Energy refurbishment of school buildings should focus not only on minimizing energy consumption and increasing renewable energy production but also on improving thermal comfort and indoor conditions, to create a healthier and more productive environment for the pupils. In addition to that, actions regarding the enhancement of sustainable mobility are also considered to fulfil the requirements of the 2018/844/EU directive. This article presents the retrofit solutions proposed for the energy refurbishment of a high school building in Nicosia, Cyprus in the framework of a European-funded project aiming to create Nearly Zero Energy school buildings and to promote sustainable mobility. Normative requirements, operational conditions, and indoor environmental issues based on in-situ observations were considered for the selection of the most appropriate interventions. The proposed measures are expected to reduce the primary energy consumption of the building by 33.908 kWh/a, equal to 55%, whilst significantly improving the Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ).

Electric Load Modeling for Managing Electric Energy Consumption Through the PDCA Cycle in the Library Building of Andalas University

The need for electrical energy in the public building sector is quite dominant, reaching 33-40% of the total energy consumption of all sectors. To control electrical energy in buildings effectively, an Energy Management System (EMS) is needed. EMS stage consists of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). The study conducted in this research is on how to use the PDCA cycle method to model the consumption of electrical energy in campus buildings in a sustainable manner. Modeling of energy-efficient electrical loads is formed in several ways: modeling by replacing T8 fluorescent lamps and CFLs with LED, modeling by replacing non-inverter AC with inverter AC, modeling by the number of library visitors, modeling by improving the power factor, and finally, modeling with a combination of the four previous models. Modeling using LEDs results in savings of 1,464 kWh per month; inverter AC modeling saves 1742 kWh per month; modeling by adjusting the number of visitors saves 857 kWh per month; and modeling by improving the power factor saves 56 kWh per month. This electrical load modeling can save up to 8 kW of power outside of the library's operating hours. Meanwhile, during operational hours, the modeling library can save up to 30 kW of electric power

Critical Success Factors for Public Sector Projects in Lagos

This study aims to identify critical success factors for public sector construction projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research strategy through semi-structured questionnaires to collect data from Lagos State Ministry of Works construction experts. A total of 66 usable questionnaires were retrieved and used for the analysis based on their information. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.745, and the Spearman-rank's coefficient was 0.802, indicating the high internal consistency of the questionnaire items. A quick analysis reveals that the most critical aspects of public construction projects are political considerations, the project manager's leadership qualities, an appropriately allocated budget, and efficient team management. Effective procurement process and stakeholder involvement were found to significantly impact the success of public sector building project delivery, while the leadership skills of the project managers, effective communication management, effective coordination of project activities, and efficient project delivery did not. This study sheds light on the most common reasons these projects fail and offer a wide-ranging set of recommendations for fixing them.

Limitations in Current Construction Practices of Public Sector Building Projects in Sindh

Undivided attention is being driven by construction productivity in today’s era. The main and the foremost concern of any organization is its construction productivity. The discovery of factors impacting construction productivity has been the subject of much research. For a very long time, research has sought to identify the key elements influencing building productivity in various nations. Continuous work in this approach has led academics to identify a wide range of factors. While the subject of this paper is however has been limited to Sindh province of Pakistan only. The construction industry of Pakistan is swelling with each passing day thus construction productivity is of the major concern. This paper aims at exposing the key weakness in current construction practices being employed in various building projects of Sindh. For this purpose, 135 questionnaires, after a rich literature survey, were distributed among the industry experts and the obtained results were analyzed and then ranked in Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). It was revealed through the results that 10 factors chiefly influence the construction productivity which are shortage of unskilled labor, payment delay, less salary, insufficient modern tools, delay in delivery of material at site, material shortage and quality, labor absenteeism, equipment breakdown, experience of contractor and construction technology. At the end of the study, it is recommended that a framework maybe developed based upon the factors given above to improve the construction productivity of the building projects of Sindh.

The change in temporal trend and spatial distribution of CO2 emissions of China's public and commercial buildings

The CO2 emission mitigation of the commercial and public building sector (P&C) is critical for achieving China's carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Analyzing changes in CO2 emissions and their driving factors from temporal and spatial perspective provides insights for developing equitable and effective decarbonization strategies. This study investigated the change in temporal trend and spatial distribution of CO2 emissions of China's P&C during period of 2005–2018 according to the Kaya identify and Gravity Center model. Meanwhile, combined with the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index, this study proposed a decomposed method to identify the driving factor of the movement of the gravity center. The results showed that: 1) in the temporal dimension, China's P&C has still not achieved its CO2 emissions peak, arriving 820.68 MtCO2. The most positive and negative driving factors were per capita add value of tertiary industry and energy efficiency, respectively; 2) in the spatial dimension, during the 13th Five Year Plan period, the gravity center moved southwestward, and the most positive and negative driving factors were energy consumption unit area and energy efficiency, respectively; Besides, to accelerate the decarbonization of China's P&C, this study reviewed the main decarbonization strategies, divided them into six categories and provided policy implications. In summary, this study provides a completed assessment on CO2 emission changes of China's P&C, facilitating policy-makers to develop more reasonable implementation plans for emission mitigation.

The independent component analysis with the linear regression – predicting the energy costs of the public sector buildings in Croatia

In the European Union, the public sector buildings are considered significant energy consumers and are, thus, the subject of several directives that aim to ensure the renovation of existing and the construction of new buildings as nearly zero-energy buildings. Therefore, as part of the decision making, it is necessary to properly plan the renovation or construction. This research provides models for predicting the energy costs of the public sector buildings, which are dependent upon its characteristics (i. e., constructional, occupational, energy, etc.). For this purpose, a real data set of Croatian public buildings was used, which included 150 variables and 1724 observations. Since the data set consisted of a large number of variables, the motivation for the dimensionality reduction was addressed first. Then, the independent component analysis, the principal component analysis, and the factor analysis were performed as the dimensionality reduction methods for variable extraction. The results of these analyses were used as inputs for modelling the energy costs of the public sector buildings. The obtained models were compared to the model built on original variables. The obtained models show the application potential in decision making for building renovation and construction in the public sector of Croatia, whereas the best performance of prediction in terms of RMSE and SMAPE was achieved by the model that integrated the independent component analysis with the linear regression.

Decarbonization path of China’s public building sector from bottom to top

The building sector is one of the three major energy consumption areas and one of the main areas responsible for carbon emissions. In 2019, carbon emissions related to construction and building operations in China accounted for 38% of the total social carbon emissions, of which construction accounted for 16% and operations accounted for 22%. Due to its large volume and high energy consumption per unit area, public buildings account for 38% of the operating energy consumption of all buildings, that is, 8% of the total national energy consumption. At this time, the building industry must take decarbonization actions to avoid a delay in realizing carbon neutrality and an emission peak. We need to form a unified process for the implementation boundary, implementation path, and index system to build a zero-carbon implementation plan for China’s public building sector. Based on bottom-up practical cases, this paper proposes the KAYA model, which is applicable to different scales and different types of public buildings/communities, and proposes specific and feasible plans. Through the implementation of demand reduction, energy efficiency improvement, and the fully-use of renewable energy in all five clear steps, this paper promotes the implementation of decarbonization in China’s building industry.

Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Mandatory Green Certified Offices in Australia: Evidence and Lessons Learnt across 2011–2020

With the changing trends in global climate and increasing awareness of the environmental impact of the built environment, private and public sector building stakeholders are under constant and mounting pressure to reduce carbon emissions, energy consumption and waste generation. Conceptually, green building regulations are claimed to be the most effective tool toward promoting better environmental outcomes. Nonetheless, there is limited empirical evidence to justify claims for their effectiveness, especially in the Australian context, despite the introduction of various green building standards and regulations over the past two decades. In addressing this gap, this research aims to map the energy consumption and carbon emissions of certified offices under the mandatory Commercial Building Disclosure program. For this, the energy and carbon efficiencies of green certified commercial offices within the eight Australian central business districts (CBD) for 2011–2020 were assessed, and the offices were classified as green and non-green offices, based on their National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) of fewer than 4, and 4 and above stars, respectively. Data were extracted from the Commercial Building Disclosure program datasheet and thereafter analysed using various descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Furthermore, the normalisation process was undertaken to capture the relative changes in energy and environmental performance between green and non-green offices. The results show an encouraging trend of a possible significant improvement in energy savings, and a reduction in carbon emissions for offices that have undergone retrofit and obtained an increase in their NABERS ratings. However, it is notable that 6-star NABERS-certified offices sometimes tend to save less energy than their 4- and 5-star rated counterparts, despite their high initial investment costs. Thus, this informs policymakers, authorities and practitioners that the highest NABERS rating does not necessarily help reduce energy consumption in buildings, and that greater emphasis should be placed on promoting the use of a whole building design approach, by exploring a more effective and appropriate combination of features, systems and materials based on stakeholders’ needs and behaviours.

Energy management in the public building sector – ISGE/ISEMIC model

This paper introduces Intelligent Information System for Monitoring and Verification of Energy Management in Cities (ISEMIC) web application that connects processes of gathering data on buildings and their energy and water consumption, monitors consumption indicators, detects any anomalies or irregularities in time, sets energy efficiency targets and reports energy and water consumption savings. ISEMIC enables use of smart meters within an energy management for the first time in the region, along with an analytical part which enables intelligent estimation of energy consumption based on multiple criteria. In the public sector are enormous potential for energy and water savings and thus a large area for ISEMIC web application implementation. ISEMIC web application is developed in July, 2011. Purchase of smart metering equipment and establishment of smart metering infrastructure on institutions of project partners responsible for web application development is in conduction after which a full pilot run will be started. The potential impact of this project is very large and it would be a great example how significant savings can be achieved by systematic energy monitoring and management provided by the use of ISEMIC web application.

Nexus implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) for sustainable public sector buildings in Pakistan

The United Nations (UN) has introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intending to achieve a conventional trio of social, economic, and environmental prosperity across the world. Pakistan is making a fair contribution to SDG achievement under its ‘Vision 2025’. However, the introduced strategy for SDG implementation is a sectoral based approach which leads to severe resource inefficiency. The objective of this study is the development and implementation of a nexus strategy of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) in Pakistan due to their indepth interlinkage and interdependence, to achieve sustainability in Energy, Water, and Environment. This study comprises an onfield Energy-Water-Sustainability assessment of 24 public sector premises across Punjab to create a pilot model for future implementation. The Pearson correlation analysis of the SDGs substantiates the argument of the nexus approach. The results of this work show the energy conservation potential of approximately 12.8 MW and renewable energy installation potential of 40.4 MW to achieve SDG 7. Moreover, rainwater harvesting is calculated to be 0.035 million cm3 per annum, contributing to approximately 7% reduction in water use to achieve SDG 6 and minimizing the environmental impact on cities by reducing 14.8 million tons of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) per annum to achieve SDG 11 and 13. The results show that due to indepth interlinkage, the nexus implementation approach enhances the execution process while eliminating resource duplication to reduce inefficiency.

Spatial characteristics and factors that influence the environmental efficiency of public buildings in China

The rapid development of the tertiary industry has enabled energy consumption by public buildings the fastest growing branch of China's construction industry. The operating stage has the biggest share in the perspective of whole life cycle analyses. To conserve energy and reduce emissions is a critical issue for the public building sector. This study employs the non-radial directional distance function and data envelopment analysis methods to estimate the environmental efficiency of the public building industries in 30 provincial administrative regions between 2010 and 2017. And the Moran index is used to explore its spatial distribution characteristics. Finally, the factors affecting environmental efficiency are analyzed using a spatial econometric model analysis. The results indicated that the environmental efficiency for the public building industries across China were generally low, whereas their spatial characteristics were high in the east and low in the west, and high in the south and low in the north. There are several kinds of measures that can promote environmental efficiency, such as increasing the proportion of tertiary industry, promoting gross domestic product per capita growth, increasing the proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption, and attracting foreign direct investment. However, the increases in urban population may decrease environmental efficiency. Nevertheless, an obvious spatial spillover effect exists in the environmental efficiency of the public building sector.

Management of variations in the public-sector building construction projects in Sri Lanka

Purpose Many public-sector building projects in developing countries are prone to variations owing to the changes made to their original project scopes, and economic depressions and stagnations. Cost and time-overruns are consequences of such variations. Thus, variation management in these projects is important. Hence, this paper aims to analyse the methods of managing variations in public-sector building projects in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a mixed research approach. Seventeen expert interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted to identify the causes and consequences of the variations, and the strategies that will help manage those variations. Manual content analysis and mean weighted rankings (MWR) were used to analyse the collected quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Findings The employer, consultant, contractor and several other factors are mostly responsible for the variations in public-sector building projects in Sri Lanka. Cost and time-overruns, rework and demolition and disputes are the major consequences of such variations. The study findings reveal that a detailed employer’s brief, clearly defined project objectives, a comprehensive design and set of specifications, and preliminary investigations are the strategies that will mostly minimise the variations in public-sector building projects in Sri Lanka. Originality/value The study proposes strategies to avoid or minimise the adverse impact of variations, which the industry practitioners can adopt for variation management in public-sector building projects. The study theoretically contributes to knowledge by revealing how variations in public-sector building projects in Sri Lanka can be managed by identifying their causes and consequences.

Requirements for Building Thermal Conditions under Emergency Operations in Cold Climates

This paper provides recommendations on thermal and moisture parameters in different types of buildings under emergency operation in cold/arctic climates. We consider three scenarios under normal operating conditions: occupied, temporarily unoccupied, and long-term unoccupied. These thermal parameters are necessary to: (1) perform required work safely and efficiently, (2) support building processes, and (3) support long-term integrity of the building under emergency conditions (i.e., interruption of fuel, steam, hot water, and electrical service that interrupts building space conditioning). Under emergency conditions, requirements of thermal parameters for different categories of buildings may change. Mission critical areas can be conditioned to levels that support the agility of personnel who perform critical operations, but not to optimal comfort levels. Critical process requirements are given priority. This paper was developed for military applications, based on research performed under the International Energy Agency’s Energy in Buildings and Communities Program, Annex 73; under the Department of Defense Environmental Security Technology Certification Program project EW18-D1-5281, “Technologies Integration to Achieve Resilient, Low-Energy Military Installations,” and under the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army project “Thermal Energy Systems Resiliency for Army Installations located in cold climates.” Results are applicable to similar public and private sector buildings.

Implementation of Certified Energy ManagementSystem in Municipality. Case Study

Abstract The European Union has taken the course to become climate neutral by 2050. To reach that target significant changes in all sectors are necessary, resulting in increasing regulatory pressure on energy producers, consumers and other sectors. Increasing legal requirements was also one of the reasons why the city of Daugavpils (population of 82 000) took a decision to implement an Energy management system (EnMS). In the boundaries of EnMS Daugavpils included more than 100 public buildings, public transportation and public lighting. This research paper presents results of the EnMS implementation, main drivers and barriers that Daugavpils has faced and overcome in the implementation process, and also assesses the benefits the city of Daugavpils has gained from EnMS. The success rate of EnMS in such an organisation as a municipality is based on the awareness and knowledge of the municipality’s employees and support from the municipality leaders. The case study of Daugavpils shows energy savings of 12 % in the public building sector after implementing EnMS.

Assessment of energy-saving potential, associated costs and co-benefits of public buildings in Albania

The paper presents the public building typology, energy demand estimations and retrofit scenarios, as well as associated costs and benefits for energy-saving measures in the public building stock of Albania. First, representative building types were identified to estimate their energy performance, and define retrofit packages. Second, this information was used to analyse the costs and benefits of the different thermal efficiency retrofits. Apart from specific benefits due to cost savings in the use phase, co-benefits were estimated to understand their dimension and influence on decision-making. Finally, energy efficiency supply curves were developed to show the priority sequence of retrofits and building types. It was found that due to the growing wealth in Albania, user behaviour will change a lot in the future. Energy usage in the public building sector will increase and mitigate savings resulting from energy-saving measures making saved energy costs invisible. However, if other benefits beyond energy savings are considered, the cost efficiency of the measures remain obvious. The recommended approach can be used to assist decision-making and allocate funds.

The Role of Low Temperature Waste Heat Recovery in Achieving 2050 Goals: A Policy Positioning Paper

Urban waste heat recovery, in which low temperature heat from urban sources is recovered for use in a district heat network, has a great deal of potential in helping to achieve 2050 climate goals. For example, heat from data centres, metro systems, public sector buildings and waste water treatment plants could be used to supply 10% of Europe’s heat demand. Despite this, at present, urban waste heat recovery is not widespread and is an immature technology. Based on interviews with urban waste heat stakeholders, investors interested in green investments, and experience from demonstrator projects, a number of recommendations are made. It is suggested that policy raising awareness of waste heat recovery, encouraging investment and creating a legal framework should be implemented. It is also recommended that pilot projects should be promoted to help demonstrate technical and economic feasibility. A pilot credit facility is suggested aimed at bridging the gap between potential investors and heat recovery projects.

A modelling framework for the diffusion of low carbon energy performance contracts

The building sector contributes significantly to global energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It is urgent to reduce them through the retrofit of the current building stock and improvements in new building designs. The energy performance contracts that can deliver energy consumption savings must have an attractive rate of return to make financial sense for public and private sector buildings. These contracts must also have a wide uptake in the market to improve significantly the energy performance of the building stock. This paper develops a hybrid bottom up and system dynamics modelling framework to: (1) explore the diffusion of energy performance contracts and its effect on operational building energy consumption and (2) facilitate integration into policy making. The bottom up modelling component is used to provide estimates of potential operational building energy use savings. The estimates are the input to the system dynamics diffusion model which is used to explore diffusion pathways of energy performance contracts. The framework will facilitate scenario and policy analysis for the diffusion of the contracts on the building stock and their potential impact on energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions.

Machine learning based system for managing energy efficiency of public sector as an approach towards smart cities

Energy efficiency of public sector is an important issue in the context of smart cities due to the fact that buildings are the largest energy consumers, especially public buildings such as educational, health, government and other public institutions that have a large usage frequency. However, recent developments of machine learning within Big Data environment have not been exploited enough in this domain. This paper aims to answer the question of how to incorporate Big Data platform and machine learning into an intelligent system for managing energy efficiency of public sector as a substantial part of the smart city concept. Deep neural networks, Rpart regression tree and Random forest with variable reduction procedures were used to create prediction models of specific energy consumption of Croatian public sector buildings. The most accurate model was produced by Random forest method, and a comparison of important predictors extracted by all three methods has been conducted. The models could be implemented in the suggested intelligent system named MERIDA which integrates Big Data collection and predictive models of energy consumption for each energy source in public buildings, and enables their synergy into a managing platform for improving energy efficiency of the public sector within Big Data environment. The paper also discusses technological requirements for developing such a platform that could be used by public administration to plan reconstruction measures of public buildings, to reduce energy consumption and cost, as well as to connect such smart public buildings as part of smart cities. Such digital transformation of energy management can increase energy efficiency of public administration, its higher quality of service and healthier environment.

Data-driven statistical analysis of energy performance and energy saving potential in the Flemish public building sector

This paper will focus on the energy performance of the public building sector in Flanders (Belgium) by analysing the recently published EPC database. The main aim of this paper is to firstly have a qualitive and quantitative overview of the current energy performance of different building categories in the Flemish public building sector. The non-residential building types (office, educational, healthcare etc.) will be categorized. Within each category, a set of typologically representative non-residential buildings will be further identified, while a data driven cluster analysis will be carried out in order to define these non-residential archetypes. Moreover, the less energy efficient building sets will be identified by benchmarking the energy performance within the defined building categories, and the relative potential energy saving targets and pathways will be quantified and evaluated in order to provide policy support in improving energy efficiency of the poorly performing public buildings.