The thesis project explores the use of an optimization methodology for selecting the lowest monetary cost combinations of technologies to meet a set operational energy efficiency targets for buildings. The optimization approach, which is operated on a normative energy model, is compared with existing prescriptive methodologies for selecting technology combinations and a metric is developed for ranking their effectiveness; the E/C Ratio. The energy savings/ cost ratio is also the objective function that the optimization algorithm is set to maximize. The optimization routine is coded in to a custom MATLAB script and is used in two case studies to optimize a proto-typical Korean apartment and office building. The optimization methodology finds technology combinations that are much more cost effective than the prescriptive methodology at meeting an energy savings target and can generically be applied to other buildings given a palette of technology alternatives and the corresponding cost data.

In recent years there has been an increasing trend in the provision of central heating and split vapour compression air conditioning systems to domestic dwellings in Cyprus. To minimise their economic and environmental impact, this study examines the feasibility and economic viability of energy conservation measures and the feasibility of the application of solar driven LiBr-water absorption system for space conditioning. Initially, the study compares through simulation, the heating and cooling requirements of domestic dwellings constructed in Cyprus during the last century. The simulations required values for the thermal conductivity of local building materials, like the hollow brick and mud and straw block. These were not available, and measurements were performed on a machine specifically purchased for the project to establish these values for the first time. These material properties will be of value to building services engineers in Cyprus and the Middle East for the more precise determination of building heating and cooling loads. Evaluation of the internal conditions resulting from the various types of constructions indicated that the traditional and insulated modem houses, could maintain indoor temperature in winter between 16°C and 20°C, but in the summer temperatures exceeded 36°C. The use of natural and mechanical ventilation could reduce slightly the maximum indoor summertime temperatures, but not to a level that could provide thermal comfort. Window gains are an important factor in domestic building energy requirements, and significant savings can result when extra measures are taken. The savings in cooling energy demand for a well-insulated house may be as high as 24% when low-emissivity double glazed windows are used compared to clear double glazed windows giving a pay-back period of 3.8 years. Other factors investigated are the effect of overhangs, shape and orientation of buildings and thermal mass. The results show that the roof is the most important structural element of domestic dwellings in the Cypriot environment. For good thermal performance, the roof must offer a discharge time of 6 hours or more and have a thermal conductivity of less than 0.48 W/m-K. Life cycle cost analysis has shown that measures that increase the roof insulation pay back in a short period of time, between 3.5 to 5 years. However, measures taken to increase wall insulation pay back in a longer period of time, approximately 10 years. The only natural energy resource abundantly available in Cyprus is solar energy, which could be used to power a low energy active cooling system based on the absorption cycle. To facilitate investigation of the feasibility of the application of solar driven absorption systems for domestic cooling, a 1 kW LiBr-water absorption-cooling unit was designed and constructed. The unit was used to determine experimentally the heat and mass transfer coefficients in the heat exchangers of absorption systems. In certain cases these were found to differ considerably from values obtained from heat and mass transfer correlations published by other investigators. The experimentally determined heat and mass transfer coefficients were employed in the design and costing of an 11 kW cooling capacity solar driven absorption cooling machine which, from simulations, was found to have sufficient capacity to satisfy the cooling needs of a well insulated domestic dwelling. Economic analysis has shown that for such a system to be economically competitive compared to conventional cooling systems its capital cost should be below C£ 2000. This drawback can be balanced by a lower total equivalent warming impact being 2.7 times smaller compared to conventional cooling systems.

<p>As energy costs continue to escalate and awareness spreads with regard to the importance of sustainability, interest in reducing energy consumption of buildings is growing. For managers of large stocks of office buildings, the task of selecting building improvement projects is most challenging. A multitude of energy conservation measures (ECMs) are available from which to select, however financial resources are limited and in high demand. Thus, ECMs must be known to be effective and prioritized so as to provide the highest benefit for the financial resources available.</p> <p>The aim of this study is to provide a screening methodology for the evaluation and prioritization of ECMs for implementation in a stock of buildings that exhibit varying characteristics and locations. Prioritization of ECMs is based on predicted energy consumption savings and financial analysis. Building stocks are reduced to a manageable set by applying archetype classification. Energy consumption predictions for representative buildings from each archetype are obtained through use of a mathematical model. Twelve ECMs pertaining to improvements in the building envelope, HVAC, and electrical systems are considered and ranked based on present value over the short, mid, and long terms.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

abstract: The residential building sector accounts for more than 26% of the global energy consumption and 17% of global CO2 emissions. Due to the low cost of electricity in Kuwait and increase of population, Kuwaiti electricity consumption tripled during the past 30 years and is expected to increase by 20% by 2027. In this dissertation, a framework is developed to assess energy savings techniques to help policy-makers make educated decisions. The Kuwait residential energy outlook is studied by modeling the baseline energy consumption and the diffusion of energy conservation measures (ECMs) to identify the impacts on household energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The energy resources and power generation in Kuwait were studied. The characteristics of the residential buildings along with energy codes of practice were investigated and four building archetypes were developed. Moreover, a baseline of end-use electricity consumption and demand was developed. Furthermore, the baseline energy consumption and demand were projected till 2040. It was found that by 2040, energy consumption would double with most of the usage being from AC. While with lighting, there is a negligible increase in consumption due to a projected shift towards more efficient lighting. Peak demand loads are expected to increase by an average growth rate of 2.9% per year. Moreover, the diffusion of different ECMs in the residential sector was modeled through four diffusion scenarios to estimate ECM adoption rates. ECMs’ impact on CO2 emissions and energy consumption of residential buildings in Kuwait was evaluated and the cost of conserved energy (CCE) and annual energy savings for each measure was calculated. AC ECMs exhibited the highest cumulative savings, whereas lighting ECMs showed an immediate energy impact. None of the ECMs in the study were cost effective due to the high subsidy rate (95%), therefore, the impact of ECMs at different subsidy and rebate rates was studied. At 75% subsidized utility price and 40% rebate only on appliances, most of ECMs will be cost effective with high energy savings. Moreover, by imposing charges of $35/ton of CO2, most ECMs will be cost effective. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2019

Energy has always been the dominant driving force for the socio-economic development of mankind. Nowadays, the global energy system is highly depended on fossil fuels. A great share of the final energy consumption, over 40%, in the EU-27 is consumed by the existing building stock whereas dwellings account for 66.62% of this. Thus, the need to increase the energy performance of dwellings is an important instrument in the efforts to lessen Europe’s energy dependency. In order to define measures to increase the energy performance of dwellings a deeper understanding of their characteristics should be gained. Unfortunately, in Cyprus there is a gap in knowledge on this aspect. In this thesis the characteristics of the dwellings in Cyprus are defined through a sample of 500 dwellings. The results revealed that more than 80% of dwellings in Cyprus do not have thermal insulation installed on their envelope. From this it is clear that the definition of the optimum thermal insulation material to be applied in dwellings is very important. Thus, the commercially available thermal insulation materials and topologies used in Cyprus were reviewed and defined through a market survey and the typical dwelling was modelled. The effect of the application of thermal insulation to its energy behaviour was simulated using TRNSYS. This resulted in the definition of the optimum thermal insulation materials and topologies to be applied in both new and existing dwellings. Accordingly, the application of advanced commercially available materials such as Phase Change Materials (PCM) to the envelope of the typical dwelling was investigated. The energy savings achieved by the addition of a PCM layer on the envelope of the typical dwelling was found to be 28.6%. The optimum PCM case was also combined with the optimum thermal insulation combination and an energy saving of 68% was predicted. The incorporation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) to the typical dwelling was also simulated and studied. Specifically, two types of standalone RES systems were initially evaluated; a solely photovoltaic (PV) system and a hybrid PV-Wind system. The results showed that the solely PV system is a much better option due to the very high solar potential of Cyprus in comparison to the poor wind profile of the island. Subsequently, a grid-connected PV system was also evaluated and the results showed that when a RES system is grid-connected the cost of the system is reduced to half of that of the standalone cases. This research has revealed that the optimum topology combinations to be applied in both new and existing dwellings in Cyprus is thermal insulation plaster or thermal insulation bricks (only for new dwellings) on the external walls combined with expanded polystyrene on the roof. These results will provide valuable information that will assist both engineers and architects in the efficient design of dwellings in Cyprus. The investigation of the application of macroencapsulated PCM showed that these materials are not yet an economically viable solution for application in Cyprus The findings also show that a solely PV system is the optimum RES system to be applied in Cyprus especially when it is grid-connected. The findings of this project are useful for individuals, house builders and designers as well as policy makers for the design of energy saving subsidy schemes.

Wastewater treatment facilities around the world use significant amount of energy which contributes to large quantities of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the U.S.EPA, nearly 3% of the USA's energy is used to treat wastewater. This consumption is increasing at faster rates with increase in population and regulations. Wastewater facilities use large number of pumps in their transfer stations, treatment plants, and effluent pump stations. All these pumps consume considerable amounts of energy. This study presents a preliminary energy inspection of two facilities from Louisiana. This audit provides an inventory of the energy consumed for various activities like pumping, treatment, and discharge. This analysis helps the operators to identify the potential power consuming areas and optimize by adopting several energy conservation measures (ECMs). This study also involves the quantification of GHG emissions based on the energy consumption. The benefits of the study include minimizing energy and GHG emission.

The main aim of this thesis is optimization of energy demands in a new administrative high-rise building Vienna Point II located in Brno. Experimental part of the thesis deals with determination of real energy consumption during winter season and preparation of a set of climate data for theoretical simulations. Theoretical part is based on data obtained by experimental methods and is aimed on optimization of energy demands. The effect of suggested solution is analysed by software solutions which simulate building operation. Resulting energy demands obtained by simulations are compared with real energy consumption.

No description available.

Äldre flerbostadshus står för en stor del av Sveriges totala energianvändning som behöver sänkas föratt minska klimatpåverkan och klara regeringsmålet om effektivare energianvändning. Examensarbetets syfte är därför att bidra till en ökad kunskap om energieffektivisering genom åtgärder i äldre byggnaders klimatskärm, och om hur åtgärder kan värderas genom energisimulering och livscykelkostnadsanalys. Målet är att identifiera vilka åtgärder som är ekonomiskt och arkitektoniskt lämpliga för äldre flerbostadshus med intresse av att bevara deras karaktär. Det är även att bedöma vilken energibesparing och livscykelkostnad de utvalda åtgärderna genererar. Ett flerbostadshus i centrala Luleå valdes ut som referensbyggnad. Byggnaden är genom sin konstruktion och design representativ för tidseran. Intressanta åtgärder samt åtgärdspaket i dess klimatskal valdes ut. Sedan utfördes en bred litteraturgenomgång om bostadsbyggandet i Sverige 1945–1964, byggnadens energianvändning, energieffektivisering av klimatskalet, de utvalda åtgärderna samt metoderna energisimulering och livscykelkostnadsanalys. Referensbyggnaden dokumenterades och en energisimuleringsmodell byggdes i programvaran IDA ICE. Den nuvarande utformningen av byggnaden simulerades och kalibrerades mot senast uppmätt normalårskorrigerad energianvändning. Sedan utfördes simuleringar för de utvalda åtgärderna och åtgärdspaketen vilka bestämts till tilläggsisolering av vindsbjälklag, byte av fönster till lågenergifönster och tätning av otätheter runt dessa, en kombination av båda tidigare åtgärder (åtgärdspaket 1), tilläggsisolering av fasad och fönsterbyte, samt en kombination av alla tre åtgärder (åtgärdspaket 2). Livscykelkostnaderna för nuläget och för implementering av de olika åtgärderna beräknades genom nuvärdeskostnadsmetoden. Även återbetalningstider beräknades genom simple-payback-metoden. Byggnadens nuvarande utformning gav efter kalibrering en simulerad energianvändning på 136,2 kWh/(m2Atemp,år); 2,9 % över det senast uppmätta normalårskorrigerade värdet. Nuvärdeskostnaden för att inte utföra någon åtgärd beräknades till ca 2 727 tkr. Åtgärderna genererade energibesparingar på 3,5–14,6 %, nuvärdeskostnader på 2 685-5 880 tkr och återbetalningstider på 7-105 år. För varje adderad åtgärd i klimatskalet ökade energibesparingen. Tilläggsisolering av vindsbjälklag visade sig vara den enda lönsamma åtgärden, då den har en nuvärdeskostnad som är lägre än att inte utföra någon åtgärd. En känslighetsanalys utfördes för kostnadsberäkningarna där diskonteringsräntan höjdes och sänktes med 2 % och energipriset höjdes med 10 %. Tilläggsisoleringav vindsbjälklag kvarstod dock som den enda lönsamma åtgärden. Åtgärderna hade kunnat generera högre procentuell energibesparing för en annan liknande byggnad. Referensbyggnaden innehåller ett stort renoverat kontor vilket ger en lägre nuvarande energianvändning och lägre procentuell energibesparing för åtgärder än om endast den äldre bostadsdelen studerats. Då Luleå har Sveriges lägsta energipris är åtgärder med hög investeringskostnad ekonomiskt svårmotiverade. Detta beror på att kostnadsbesparingarna genom minskad energianvändning blir små i förhållande till åtgärdernas investeringskostnader. Tilläggsisolering av fasad kan inte rekommenderas då åtgärden både är mycket olönsam och förändrar byggnadens uttryck väsentligt. Slutsatsen är att tilläggsisolering av vindsbjälklag är den lämpligaste åtgärden för äldre flerbostadshus, av de undersökta åtgärderna för energieffektivisering i klimatskalet. Den är arkitektoniskt lämplig med hänsyn till bevarandet av byggnaden då den inte förändrar byggnadens utseende. Den är även ekonomiskt lämplig då den har en livscykelkostnad som är lägre änalternativet att inte utföra någon åtgärd. För fortsatta studier föreslås bl.a. att undersöka hur åtgärder kan göras mer attraktiva för fastighetsägare, att kartlägga fastigheter från tidseran (skick, energianvändning, resultat av åtgärder, möjligheter) samt att utvärdera potentialen av ny teknik. / Old multifamily houses stand for a large part of Sweden’s total energy usage, which must decrease to minimize our environmental impact and to accomplish the government goal of more efficient energy usage. The aim of this master thesis is therefore to contribute to an increased knowledge on energy optimization through building envelope improvements in older buildings, and how energy efficiency measures can be evaluated through building energy simulation and life cycle cost analysis. The goal is to identify which measures that are economically and architecturally appropriate for old multifamily houses with interest in retaining their character. It is also to evaluate which energy saving and life cycle cost the selected measures generate. A multifamily house in central Luleå was selected as reference building. The building is by its construction and design representative for the era. Interesting energy efficiency measures in the building envelope were chosen. Then a wide literature study was carried out on house building in Sweden 1945-1964, building energy usage, energy efficiency through building envelope measures, the selected measures and the methods building energy simulation and life cycle cost analysis. The reference building was documented and an energy simulation model was built in the software IDA ICE. A present version of the building was simulated and calibrated to better match the latest normalised annual value. After that, simulations were performed for the selected measures; additional attic insulation, change to low energy windows and weather stripping these, a combination of both previous measures, additional facade insulation and change of windows, and a combination of all three measures. The life cycle costs of the present situation and for implementation of the different measures were calculated through the net present cost method. Also, payback times were calculated through the simple payback method. The building in its original state showed a post-calibration energy usage of 136,2 kWh/(m2Atemp,year); 2,9 % above the surveyed value. The net present cost for not performing any energy conservation measures was calculated to about 2 727 SEK. The measures generated energy savings of 3,5-14,6 %, net present costs of 2 685 -5 880 SEK and payback times of 7-105 years. For each added measure in the building envelope, the energy saving increased. Additional insulation of the attic turned out to be the only profitable measure, since its net present cost is lower than for not performing any energy conservation measure. A sensitivity analysis was performed for the cost analyses where the discount rate was raised and lowered by 2 % and the energy price raised by 10 %. However, the additional attic insulation remained as the only profitable measure. The energy conservation measures could have generated greater energy savings for a similar building. The reference building contains a large retrofitted office which lowers the present energy usage and the percental energy savings for measures compared to if only the dwelling part had been studied. Since Luleå has Sweden’s lowest energy prices, measures with high investment costs become difficult to give grounds for. This is because the cost savings achieved by their energy savings are low compared to their investment costs. Additional facade insulation cannot be recommended since it both is very unprofitable and highly changes the appearance of the building. The conclusion is that additional attic insulation is the most appropriate energy conservation measure for old multifamily houses, of selected measures in the building envelope. It can be regarded as architecturally appropriate since it does not change the building appearance. It is also economically appropriate since its life cycle cost is lower than for not performing any measure. Suggested future research includes analyzing how energy efficiency measures can be made more attractive for real estate owners, charting real estate from the era (condition, energy usage, results from measures, opportunities) and evaluating the potential of new technology within the field.