Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / As the electric utilities face ever increasing peak power production requirements, (mostly from the commercial sector) scheduled "time-of-day" pricing schemes have become imperative. At present, most conservation strategies for commercial buildings focus on the reduction of energy consumption orchestrated (justifiably) by t he expense of electrical energy for lighting and cooling which dominate their loads. However, these conservation schemes, such as higher efficiency lamps, various glazing techniques, etc., do not alter the time of consumption nor do they utilize the lower off-peak electrical rates. The results are as before; high energy costs due to peak (daytime) consumption, and projected savings from the various conservation strategies are overshadowed or not realized. This thesis investigates a decentralized off-peak cooling system for commercial office buildings utilizing the structural mass as the thermal storage medium. The system incorporates an exposed concrete ceiling slab cooled at night with imbedded chilled water pipes and taking full advantage of off-peak electrical rates. The ceiling/slab - waterpipe system is modeled via two-dimensional finite difference methods for transient analysis. The sensitivity of the system to pipe size and spacing, internal loads, water temperatures, and surface geometry is assessed. The analytical results suggest the potential for application, however, additional research must be undertaken to investigate the economic implications of fabrication and to more adequately determine the effects of non-planar surface geometry. / by Rory Christopher Mathis. / M.S.

Buildings are directly responsible for 40% of the final energy use in most developed economies and for much more if indirect requirements are considered. This results in huge impacts which affect the environmental balance of our planet.<p>However, most current building energy assessments focus solely on operational energy overlooking other energy uses such as embodied and transport energy. Embodied energy comprises the energy requirements for building materials production, construction and replacement. Transport energy represents the amount of energy required for the mobility of building users.<p>Decisions based on partial assessments might result in an increased energy demand during other life cycle stages or at different scales of the built environment. Recent studies have shown that embodied and transport energy demands often account for more than half of the total lifecycle energy demand of residential buildings. Current assessment tools and policies therefore overlook more than 50% of the life cycle energy use.<p>This thesis presents a comprehensive life cycle energy analysis framework for residential buildings. This framework takes into account energy requirements at the building scale, i.e. the embodied and operational energy demands, and at the city scale, i.e. the embodied energy of nearby infrastructures and the transport energy of its users. This framework is implemented through the development, verification and validation of an advanced software tool which allows the rapid analysis of the life cycle energy demand of residential buildings and districts. Two case studies, located in Brussels, Belgium and Melbourne, Australia, are used to investigate the potential of the developed framework.<p>Results show that each of the embodied, operational and transport energy requirements represent a significant share of the total energy requirements and associated greenhouse gas emissions of a residential building, over its useful life. The use of the developed tool will allow building designers, town planners and policy makers to reduce the energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions of residential buildings by selecting measures that result in overall savings. This will ultimately contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the built environment. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished