Special Issue "Energy Efficient Building Design"

Guest Editor
Dr. Stephen Treado
Department of Architectural Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 104 Engineering Unit A, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Website: http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/faculty/Treado/index.asp
E-Mail: streado@engr.psu.edu
Phone: +1 (814) 867-3323
Interests: building automation; control systems; distributed generation; optimization; renewable energy; sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

Efforts to make the built environment more energy efficient continue unabated in the quest to reduce energy consumption, costs and environmental impacts. The concept of high performance buildings incorporates both energy efficiency and thermal performance, a blended goal that requires a high degree of integrated building design and operation. One additional layer is the relationship between individual buildings, groups of buildings, communities and the utility grid. Transforming the building stock from its current status as the largest energy consuming sector into an efficient, effective and sustainable entity will entail a radical rethinking of the methods currently used to provide necessary building services, such as space conditioning, illumination, electricity and water. Many efforts are currently underway to address these challenges and develop cost-effective solutions in the form of new building materials, components and systems. Related efforts are aimed at the improvement of design and construction methods.  A third critical area includes building operating strategies. Indeed, most of the potential for near-term improvement in the energy performance of buildings is associated with tight integration of building systems coupled with distributed power generation and dynamic control. Managing the energy flows within a building to meet the needs of the occupants when and where required is essential for obtaining optimal performance.

Dr. Stephen Treado
Guest Editor

Related Special Issues in Other Journals

• Energy Efficient Building Design in Buildings

• adaptive control
• automation
• building information model
• energy efficiency
• high performance buildings
• integrated design
• sustainable design
• thermal performance
• zero-energy-buildings

Title: Energy Design Guide Analysis for the Army Child Development Center
Author: Hyunjoo Kim
Affiliation: California State University, Fullerton, USA; Email: hykim@fullerton.edu; Tel.: +1 657-278-3867; Fax: +1 657-278-3916
Abstract: Section 109 of the 2005 Energy Policy Act (EPAct 2005) requires that federal facilities be built to achieve at least a 30% energy savings over the 2007 International Energy Code or ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 as appropriate.  In addition, the energy efficient designs must be life cycle cost effective. Thus, federal agents and research labs are currently developing design guides to achieve 30% energy savings over a baseline built to the minimum requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007 [1].  This research covers one particular building type: child development centers (CDC) and its operation in improving energy efficiency. The U.S. Army builds three sizes of CDC based on the needs of the location.  This paper will focus on the medium size, which has 16 classrooms and is approximately 26,000 ft2. The thermal model of the CDC used for this research is a one story, 26,330 ft2 (2,446 m2) building. This paper presents the analysis to develop the energy efficient solutions to reach the 30% energy savings for a particular building type, the CDC. The paper will start with a definition of the baseline building including the modeling assumptions. The baseline and target energy budgets will be clearly defined and compared.  Finally, energy efficient solutions are presented that enable the 30% energy savings to be met in 15 climate zones. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provided guidance in the federal register (Vol. 71, No. 232) on how to determine the energy savings to meet the requirements of EPAct 2005 for federal buildings [2]. This guidance states that the savings are to be calculated following the performance rating method in Appendix G of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 with the exception of excluding the plug and process loads in the final calculations. This paper also states that kitchen ventilation systems should be included as part of the HVAC system for energy savings calculations. The method in Appendix G of Standard 90.1-2007 uses energy cost for the savings calculations. The authors of this paper have decided to follow this guidance except with the stipulation of using site energy to determine savings. The energy savings in this paper will be also presented with the plug and process loads.
References: 1. ASHRAE (2004a).  ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004 Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. Atlanta, GA:  American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
2. NARA (2006). Federal Register Vol. 71, No. 232. pp.70275-70284. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration

Title: CFDs as a Tool for the Design of Eco-Efficient Buildings
Authors: J.M. Rojas Fernández; C. Galán-Marín; E.D. Fernández Nieto
Affiliation: University of Seville, Calle San Fernando, 4 41004 Seville, Spain; E-Mails: juan.rojas.fer@gmail.com; cgalan@us.es; edofer@us.es
Abstract: This paper studies quantitatively, the usefulness of Mediterranean courtyards as passive energy saving systems. A method that allows us to determine the temperature of the air within a courtyard is designed, as the key parameter of their thermodynamic utility. The aim of this tool is to allow thermodynamically-concerned design for by quantifying the energy (and therefore economic) saving achieved by a particular strategy for the design of a courtyard. This method has been developed through the collaboration of an interdisciplinary team of architects, mathematicians (3rd author), and engineers experts in the field of thermodynamic processes [1]. This new method is based on the creation of a numerical model of finite elements calculation that will use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for its development [2] and open source Freefem ++ for its introduction in the computer program. Obtained data will be compared with those referred by other authors in previous studies using other calculation tools. Well known thermodynamic behaviour is linked to the qualities of the traditional geometric of the courtyards reported, and will be checked through this new tool. A more detailed numerical model of an existing building will be done. The selected case study, a hotel is chosen also due to the availability of sufficient flow data (Fig 1), that allows us to compare the real temperature monitored in the existing building with the virtual ones obtained from simulation. The validity of the tool will be concluded, checking that the model reproduces precisely the thermodynamic behaviour of the existing building (Fig 1), noticing that the temperatures of the air in the deeper courtyards as those that are so common in the Mediterranean area, are significantly warmer than outside temperatures (Fig 2). Having this tool available for architects and designers makes it possible to design new buildings more eco-efficient without any additional cost, to enable better use of the warmer air from the courtyard in ventilation and air conditioning of the building. That is to say, to be able to use a updated, tech and parametric version of the vernacular and traditional Mediterranean courtyard strategy.
References: [1] S. Alvarez Dominguez, J.L. Molina Felix, J.M. Salmerón, F. J. Sánchez de la Flor: Stimulating Increased Energy Efficiency and Better Building Ventilation-Asiepi. Stimulating Increased Energy Efficiency and Better Building Ventilation. Bruselas, Bélgica. Inive Eeig. 2010.
[2] Chacón Rebollo, Tomás. An analysis technique for stabilized finite element solution of incompressible flows. M2AN Math. Model. Numer. Anal. vol 35 n. 1 57--89 (2001).