Daylighting and energy analysis for air-conditioned office buildings

We propose a simple method for estimating the likely energy savings in electric lighting due to daylighting and the possible cooling penalty. Fractions of the working year and cooling season when daylighting alone is adequate to provide the indoor design illuminance are presented for on-off and top-up controls. Based on the simple average daylight factor method, energy savings in electric lighting have been estimated for a generic office building using measured outdoor illuminance data in Hong Kong. The daylight-induced cooling penalty is estimated using average solar heat gain factors. Our case study suggests that daylighting schemes can result in substantial energy savings in air-conditioned office buildings in Hong Kong.     

Daylighting performance evaluation of a bottom-up motorized roller shade

This paper presents an experimental and simulation study for quantifying the daylighting performance of bottom-up roller shades installed in office spaces. The bottom-up shade is a motorized roller shade that opens from top to bottom operating in the opposite direction of a conventional roller shade, so as to cover the bottom part of the window, while allowing daylight to enter from the top part of the window, reaching deeper into the room. A daylighting simulation model, validated with full-scale experiments, was developed in order to establish correlations between the shade position, outdoor illuminance and work plane illuminance for different outdoor conditions. Then, a shading control algorithm was developed for application in any location and orientation. The validated model was employed for a sensitivity analysis of the impact of shade optical properties and control on the potential energy savings due to the use of daylighting. The results showed that Daylight Autonomy for the bottom-up shade is 8–58% higher compared to a conventional roller shade, with a difference of 46% further away from the façade, where the use of electric lighting is needed most of the time. The potential reduction in energy consumption for lighting is 21–41%.     

Daylighting design: Enhancing energy efficiency and visual quality

The relationship between light and design is inseparable. Light reveals form, space, texture and colour - all of which are fundamental architectural considerations. Furthermore, light is essential to carry out most activities in buildings. Whether for aesthetic effect - to create mood or stimulation - or to fulfil functional requirements - for visibility and safety - light can be provided artificially or as daylight.It is evident that the use of artificial light in buildings accounts for a significant proportion of primary energy consumption - it is often the single largest use in the energy balance. By the careful introduction of natural light and the appropriate control of electric light, important energy savings can be achieved, whilst reinstating the role of daylighting in modern architecture.This paper discusses the roles of daylight in architecture; introduces recent research, development and technologies; and presents a number of case study examples to demonstrate the application of technology.     

Daylighting and energy implications due to shading effects from nearby buildings

Daylighting has long been recognized as a potential energy-efficient design strategy for buildings. Natural light can help reduce the electrical demand and the associated sensible cooling load due to artificial lighting. In Hong Kong, however, many buildings are constructed close to each other and hence the external environment plays a significant role in daylighting designs. This paper investigates the shading effects due to nearby obstructions when daylighting schemes are being employed. We used the computer simulation tool, EnergyPlus, to illustrate the energy performance of a generic commercial building with daylighting controls obstructed by neighbouring buildings of various heights. Analysis of electricity savings was carried out for the perimeter zones of the whole building and individual floors. Regression techniques were conducted to correlate the building energy savings and the angles of obstructions. It was found that the shading effects due to nearby obstructions strongly affect the building energy budget when daylighting designs are used. Building designers should critically consider the external environment in order to achieve energy-efficient building designs.     

Optimization of a solar cooling system with interior energy storage

This paper focuses on the optimization of the performance of a solar absorption cooling system composed by four units with interior energy storage. A full dynamic simulation model that includes the solar collector field, the absorption heat pump system and the building load calculation has been developed. It has been applied to optimize the coupling of a system based on this new technology of solar powered absorption heat pump, to a bioclimatic building recently constructed in the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA) in Spain. The absorption heat pump system considered is composed by four heat pumps that store energy in the form of crystallized salts so that no external storage capacity is required. Each heat pump is composed of two separate barrels that can charge (store energy from the solar field) and discharge (deliver heat or cold to the building) independently. Different configurations of the four units have been analysed taking into account the storage possibilities of the system and its capacity to respond to the building loads. It has been shown how strong the influence of the control strategies in the overall performance is, and the importance of using hourly simulations models when looking for highly efficient buildings.     

Lighting and energy performance of solar film coating in air-conditioned cellular offices

In subtropical Hong Kong, the principal objectives of fenestration design include eliminating direct sunlight and decreasing cooling loads. To avoid the problems of glare, excessive brightness and thermal discomfort, occupants may block the windows with internal shading devices, resulting in poor daylighting performance and very small amount of electric lighting energy savings. Recently, the advances in thin film coatings for window glass products provide a means of substantially reducing heat gain without proportionally reducing daylight transmittance. It has been suggested that film coatings together with photoelectric lighting control systems could minimise the electric lighting and cooling requirements without causing undue visual and thermal discomfort to the occupants. This paper presents field measurements on solar control film coatings in fully air-conditioned offices in Hong Kong. Solar heat gains, indoor illuminance levels and the electricity consumption by the fluorescent luminaires were systematically recorded and analysed. Measurements were made for two cellular offices, one with solar control film coating on the window glass and the other without. The findings showed that the solar film coating could cut down energy expenditures for air-conditioned buildings, especially for spaces with large glazing areas subject to substantial amount of direct sunlight. Results are presented and the design implications discussed.     

An energy benchmarking model for ventilation systems of air-conditioned offices in subtropical climates

Since the energy crisis in 1973, engineers have endeavoured to implement energy conservation in buildings. Unfortunately, the effort resulted in energy savings without the fundamental delivery of indoor satisfaction in many cases. In this study, a benchmarking model for the energy consumption of ventilation systems in air-conditioned offices was proposed. This model was developed from the fundamental psychrometric analysis under probable office design conditions in Hong Kong. The results showed that the annual energy-consumption of a ventilation system per unit floor area would be correlated closely with the carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration in the space, but its correlation with the air temperature set-point would be less significant. In some offices, significant energy-savings potential was demonstrated to provide satisfactory indoor air quality (IAQ) without any comfort penalty to the occupants. This model would be useful for the energy performance evaluation and benchmarking of ventilation systems in air-conditioned offices.     

一种新型振动压路机无级调幅系统的方案设计与分析

设计论述一种新型振动压路机液压无级调幅系统。通过对振动压路机振动器偏心距的微量调节,实现振幅的无级调节。使振动压路机在性能上得到进一步提高,达到了高效节能的目的。     

Interest in energy wood and energy crop production among Finnish non-industrial private forest owners

EU targets and regulations regarding energy production and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions have been tightening in the 2000s. In Finland the targets are planned to be achieved mainly by increasing the use of biomass. Wood already accounts for a marked proportion of Finnish energy production, but additional reserves are still available. Energy crop production also has considerable potential. Practically all Finnish farmers are also forest owners. Therefore, private forest owners are in a decisive position regarding the supply of energy wood and crops in Finland. In this paper the future supply of biomass is examined according to their past behaviour, intentions and attitudes. Finnish forest owners have a positive attitude towards the use of wood and crops in energy production. Price is becoming more critical as a motive for the supply of energy wood. Recreation and nature conservation play a smaller role than factors related to wood production and forest management as for motives for harvesting energy wood. However, almost a half of forest owners in this study were uncertain of their willingness to supply biomass. This is partly due to limited knowledge of the issues involved in energy wood and agricultural energy crop production and the underdeveloped markets for energy biomass. In order to achieve the targets, supply should be activated by further developing market practices, information, guidance and possibly other incentives for landowners. In general, there is interest among landowners in increasing the supply of energy biomass. However, the growth of supply presumes that production is an economically attractive and competitive alternative, that the markets are better organized than at present, and that more comprehensive information is available about bioenergy and biomass markets and production techniques.     

Determination of convective heat transfer for fenestration with between-the-glass louvered shades

In previous work, a two-dimensional steady laminar natural convection model of a window cavity with between-panes louvers (i.e., slats) was developed by approximating the system as a vertical cavity with isothermal walls at different temperatures, and with rotatable baffles located midway between the walls. The baffles were set to a third temperature so that night-time and day-time conditions, and the effects of low emissivity coatings (low-e), could be considered. It was found that the system is suited to a traditional one-dimensional analysis. A novel approach that allows the use of standard vertical cavity convection correlations and a modified cavity half-width is described, and a cavity modification factor, n^*, is presented. Finally, the n^* factor and vertical cavity convection correlation are joined with a longwave radiant model, and the results are compared to experimental results. The models show good agreement with experiments.     

The importance of interior daylight distribution in buildings on overall energy performance

Simulations of daylight distribution within a house show that there can be significant visual discomfort associated with specific sky conditions. Thermal models of the same building, which include simplified daylight calculations and which calculate annual energy performance of the building, do not reflect extreme visual discomfort and high thermal load associated with these sky conditions. These results illustrate the importance of more detailed interior daylight distribution calculations in assessing the thermal and visual comfort of a building, and in developing energy performance ratings for buildings. Some techniques for incorporating more detailed interior daylight distribution calculations in simplified thermal models are discussed.     

Highly reflective coatings for interior and exterior steel cladding and the energy efficiency of buildings

The effect of surface heat-radiation properties of coil-coated steel cladding material on the energy efficiency of buildings in Nordic climate is addressed by parallel temperature and energy usage measurements in a series of test cabins with different exterior solar reflectivity and interior thermal reflectivity. During one year, a number of one- or two-week experiments with air conditioner cooling and electrical floor heating were made while logging air-, radiation- and surface temperatures, energy consumption and weather conditions. Measurements show significant energy savings in the test cabins by the use of high thermal reflectivity interior surfaces both during heating and cooling and a strongly reduced cooling demand by the use of high solar reflectivity exterior surfaces. Results are interpreted within the context of a steady-state energy flux model, to illuminate the importance of surface resistance properties (radiation and convective heat dissipation).     

Analytical optimization of interior PCM for energy storage in a lightweight passive solar room

Lightweight envelopes are widely used in modern buildings but they lack sufficient thermal capacity for passive solar utilization. An attractive solution to increase the building thermal capacity is to incorporate phase change material (PCM) into the building envelope. In this paper, a simplified theoretical model is established to optimize an interior PCM for energy storage in a lightweight passive solar room. Analytical equations are presented to calculate the optimal phase change temperature and the total amount of latent heat capacity and to estimate the benefit of the interior PCM for energy storage. Further, as an example, the analytical optimization is applied to the interior PCM panels in a direct-gain room with realistic outdoor climatic conditions of Beijing. The analytical results agree well with the numerical results. The analytical results show that: (1) the optimal phase change temperature depends on the average indoor air temperature and the radiation absorbed by the PCM panels; (2) the interior PCM has little effect on average indoor air temperature; and (3) the amplitude of the indoor air temperature fluctuation depends on the product of surface heat transfer coefficient h_in and area A of the PCM panels in a lightweight passive solar room.     

Numerical analysis of rapid solidification in a single roller process

The rapid solidification in a single roller process has been used to make amorphous ribbons. Because this process occurs rapidly, it is difficult to obtain useful experimental data. Therefore, a numerical analysis has been performed on the rapid solidification in a single roller cooling process. The VOF (volume of fluid) method was adopted as the numerical method used to simulate transient two-dimensional thermal and fluid flow with a liquid-solid phase change and free surfaces. We simulated the behavior of an aluminum alloy. The geometry of the amorphous ribbon, flow and temperature fields, temperature history of alloy particle whose initial location is at the center of the nozzle, and the cooling rate were obtained using as parameters the roll velocity, the nozzle slot breadth, and the gap between nozzle and roller. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 28(1): 34–49, 1999     

Index decomposition analysis with multidimensional and multilevel energy data

Index decomposition analysis (IDA) is a popular tool for analyzing changes in energy consumption over time. Traditionally, a typical IDA study uses a single dimensional energy dataset, such as industrial energy consumption by industrial sector or transportation energy consumption by transport mode. More recently, there have been a growing number of studies using more sophisticated datasets, e.g. energy consumption by geographical region and by economic sector in a single dataset. For IDA studies using energy data with multiple attributes, intermediate decomposition results can be generated using subsets of the entire dataset, and these results provide further insight into the energy system and problem studied. To ensure that these intermediate results are consistent and meaningful, the IDA method used should ideally satisfy two properties: perfect in decomposition at the subcategory level and consistency in aggregation. It is shown that the logarithmic mean Divisia index method I (LMDI-I) satisfies these two properties in both additive and multiplicative decomposition analysis. It is therefore the recommended IDA method when dealing with energy data with multiple attributes.     

Economic analysis of energy interconnection between Europe and China with 100% renewable energy generation

The economic benefits of interconnecting the power grids of Europe (EU) and China (CN) were assessed considering 100% reliance on renewable energy (RE). Four different scenarios, energy storage without interconnection, installing additional renewable energy sources without interconnection, energy storage with interconnection, and installing additional RE sources with interconnection, were considered for the economic benefit analysis. A comparative study of these four scenarios was conducted to identify the best option for achieving hourly power balance. Further, sensitivity analysis was carried out to demonstrate the robustness of the results. Electricity interconnection between CN and EU decreases the annual additional costs by more than 30% when compared to the absence of interconnection, which demonstrates the necessity and benefits of CN-EU electricity interconnection.     

How private car purchasing trends offset efficiency gains and the successful energy policy response

In 2006, energy-related CO₂ emissions from transport energy in Ireland were 168% above 1990 levels. Private cars were responsible for approx 45% of transport energy demand in 2006 (excluding fuel tourism). The average annual growth of new cars between 1990 and 2006 was 5.2%. This paper focuses on these new cars entering the private car fleet, in particular the purchasing trend towards larger size cars. This has considerably offset the improvements in the technical efficiency of individual car models. The analysis was carried out on the detailed data of each individual new vehicle entering the fleet in 2000–2006. The average CO₂ emissions per kilometre for new petrol cars entering the Irish fleet grew from 166 to 168 g CO₂/km from 2000 to 2005 and reduced to 164 in 2006. For diesel cars the average reduced from 166 in 2000 to 161 in 2006. The paper also discusses how a recent change in vehicle registration taxation and annual motor tax had a significant impact purchasing trends by supporting lower emission vehicles. Cars with emissions up to 155 g CO₂/km represented 41% of new private cars sold in Ireland in 2007 compared with 84% during the period July–November 2008.     

On gasohol and energy analysis

Energy analysis contributed to the public debate on the gasohol programme in the U.S., where this analysis became a legal requirement. The published energy analyses for gasohol are reviewed and we assess their inherent assumptions and data sources. The analyses are normalised to S.I. units to facilitate comparisons. The process of rationalising the various treatments uncovered areas of uncertainties, particularly in the methodologies which could be used to analyse some parts of the process. Although the definitive study has still to be written, the consensus is that maize to fuel ethanol via the traditional fermentation route is a net consumer of energy.     

Numerical simulation of modified Trombe-Michel Walls with exergy and energy analysis

Numerical simulations of three configurations of a modified Trombe-Michel Wall (TMW) are carried out and the numerical results are employed to carry on the energy and exergy analyses. The three configurations of the modified Trombe-Michel Wall (TMW) investigated are with sharp edges, with rounded edges and with the guided flow. For each configuration and glaze spacing, spanning from 0.1 m up to 0.5 m, the velocity and the mean air temperature in the channel, the heat flux, the exergy gain and the conductive heat transfer through the massive wall are evaluated numerically. The comparison among the three configurations shows that the guided flow presents the highest energy and exergy efficiency.