energy

The main objective of the ongoing research project described in this paper was to study the potential forreducing energy used for ventilating buildings by using low-polluting building materials, withoutcompromising the indoor air quality. To quantify this potential, the exposure-response relationships, i.e.the relationships between ventilation rate and perceived indoor air quality, were established for roomsfurnished with different categories of polluting materials and the simulations of energy used forventilation were carried out.

The energy penalty associated with the conditioning of large quantities of outdoor air in hot and humidclimates is well known. The problem is even more challenging when the application involved requires100% outdoor air. This is the case in an animal care facility, which houses different species ofanimals that are used for laboratory experiments in the field of life sciences. In such cases, it iscrucial that energy conserving HVAC systems be explored.

A Simulation Program for Regional Energy and Environment Management (SPREEM) has beendeveloped for management throughout the life cycle from planning and design to operation of awide-area energy and environment whose core is DHC (district heating and cooling). Highoperability and easy understanding are required in SPREEM because its target users includedesigners and operations managers.SPREEM was developed as a simulation tool that executes calculation in Excel, and offers the highaccuracy required for management.

The effectiveness of natural ventilation, i.e. its ability to ensure indoor air quality and passive cooling ina building, depends greatly on the design process.

This paper first introduces the concept of “exergy”, which quantifies what is consumed by any working systems from man-made systems such as heat engines to biological systems including human body. “Exergy” balance equation for a system can be derived by c

From the beginning of 2006 all new European buildings (residential, commercial, industrial etc.) musthave an energy declaration based on the calculated energy performance of the building, includingheating, ventilating, cooling and lighting systems. This energy declaration must refer to the primaryenergy or CO2 emissions. The European Organization for Standardization (CEN) has prepared aseries of standards for energy performance calculations for buildings and systems.This paper presents related standards for heating systems.

Since the primary due period of 2008-2012 of the Kyoto Protocol Target Year is close at hand, specificmeasures for the prevention of global warming should be implemented in all areas. This paper outlinesthe energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission trends in the residential and commercialsectors in Japan. The paper presents the projections of CO2 emissions until 2050. The projectionsindicated that if the various energy conservation measures were implemented, up to 59% of reductionin CO2 emissions against the 1990 level can be achieved.

Energy tariff is a major cost in hotel operation. Effective use of energy can reduce operationalexpenditures and has important environmental benefits. Solar heat gain particularly throughfenestration, contributes to a significant proportion of the building envelope cooling load. More solarradiation means more total solar heat gain and hence, more cooling requirements and larger electricityconsumption for air-conditioning in hot summer. Daylight makes an interior space look more lively andattractive and people expect good natural lighting in their living spaces.

In 2003, the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) adopted 15 standard skies that cover thewhole probable spectrum of usual skies found in the world. Each sky represents a unique distribution.Once the standard sky has been identified, the sky irradiance and outdoor illuminance at any surfacesof interest can be obtained for subsequent investigations and complicated expressions for inclinedsurface models are not required.

Relative humidity is one of the most important parameters which have an influence on human comfortand indoor air quality. Materials exposed to the air can absorb and desorb moisture and thereforeinfluence the relative humidity level. However hygroscopic materials are not always taken into accountin building energy performance simulation codes. The objective of presented work was to improvepredictions of the indoor relative humidity in a well known energy simulation tool TRNSYS.