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Special Issue "Building Energy Consumption in the Global South"

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A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 29993

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sukumar Natarajan

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Guest Editor

Department of Architecture & Civil EngineeringCentre for Energy and the Design of Environments (EDEn)
Interests: building energy modeling, energy behavior, smart meter interface design, impacts of climate change on buildings, occupant thermal comfort

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Global South alone is predicted to double the current total global built floor space by 2050. This rapid pace of development will place a significant strain on already fragile energy networks, whilst increasing carbon emissions. Given that buildings currently consume about a third of global fuel and power consumption while emitting a quarter of global CO₂, there is a significant opportunity for gaining simultaneous benefits through carefully thought out solutions that avoid unintended consequences. These include (i) climate change mitigation through reduced emissions, (ii) adaptation through resilient design, (iii) energy security through the reduction of mean and peak demand, (iv) technologies for effective energy management in buildings and communities, (v) mental and physical health benefits through occupant-conscious design, and (vi) economic benefits through energy efficiency and the stimulation of new industries. Given the shared climates and development level of many countries in the Global South, a platform for sharing research and driving new innovation is essential.

The papers in this Special Issue will collect but are not limited to the key outcomes from the international conference on “Energy Consumption in the Global South” held in Dec 2019 in New Delhi, as a first step towards this goal. The conference will cover research from several Global South countries including India, South Africa, Mexico, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and China.

Dr. Sukumar Natarajan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Climate change mitigation
Climate change mitigation adaptation
Energy security
Energy efficiency
Occupant health and comfort
Low-energy heating and cooling
Renewable energy

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Keeping Cool in the Desert: Using Wind Catchers for Improved Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Quality at Half the Energy

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Buildings 2021, 11(3), 100; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11030100 - 06 Mar 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3209

Abstract

In hot arid climates, air conditioning in the summer dominates energy use in buildings. In Kuwait, energy demand in buildings is dominated by cooling, which also determines the national peak electricity demand. Schools contribute significantly to cooling demand, but also suffer from poor ventilation. This paper presents analysis of a ventilation and cooling system for school classrooms using a wind catcher for natural ventilation and evaporative cooling. A school classroom in Kuwait with single-sided ventilation was modelled using the DesignBuilder V5.4/EnergyPlus V9.1 software and calibrated using field data. The model was used to analyse the performance of a wind catcher, with and without evaporative cooling, in terms of energy use, thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Compared to the baseline of using air-conditioning only, a wind catcher with evaporative cooling was found to reduce energy use by 52% during the summer months while increasing the comfortable hours from 76% to 100% without any supplementary air conditioning. While the time below the ASHRAE CO₂ limit also improved from 11% to 24% with the wind catcher, the indoor air quality was still poor. These improvements came at the cost of a 14% increase in relative humidity. As the wind catcher solution appears to have potential with further development; several avenues for further research are proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Energy Consumption in the Global South)

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Open AccessArticle

The Energy Cost of Cold Thermal Discomfort in the Global South

Abdulla N. Alnuaimi

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Sukumar Natarajan

Buildings 2020, 10(5), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10050093 - 15 May 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2889

Abstract

The Global South, much of it in warm tropical latitudes, is expected to double its total energy demand by 2050. In addition to increased mean demand, greater demand for space cooling during external temperature peaks will exacerbate the strain on already fragile energy networks. Recent anecdotal evidence that a proportion of the increase in cooling demand is driven by cold—rather than warm—indoor thermal discomfort, suggests the imposition of an unnecessary cooling energy cost. Here, we investigate the impact of this cost on the expanding Global South using field data from four cities in India, Philippines, and Thailand. We observe that mean cold discomfort across the four cities is roughly 45 percentage points higher than warm discomfort, suggesting warmer indoor temperatures would not only lower overall discomfort but also reduce cooling energy demand. Computer simulations using a calibrated building model reveal that average savings of 10%/Kelvin and peak reductions of 3%–19%, would be feasible across the expected external temperature range in these cities. This suggests that more climatically appropriate indoor thermal comfort standards in the Global South would not only significantly counteract the expected rise in energy demand, but also produce more comfortable indoor conditions and reduce peak demand. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Energy Consumption in the Global South)

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Open AccessArticle

Multi-objective Building Design Optimization under Operational Uncertainties Using the NSGA II Algorithm

Shobhit Chaturvedi

Elangovan Rajasekar

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Sukumar Natarajan

Buildings 2020, 10(5), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10050088 - 07 May 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4857

Abstract

Operational uncertainties play a critical role in determining potential pathways to reduce the building energy footprint in the Global South. This paper presents the application of a non-dominated sorting genetic (NSGA II) algorithm for multi-objective building design optimization under operational uncertainties. A residential building situated in a mid-latitude steppe and desert region (Köppen climate classification: BSh) in the Global South has been selected for our investigation. The annual building energy consumption and the total number of cooling setpoint unmet hours (h) were assessed over 13,122 different energy efficiency measures. Six Pareto optimal solutions were identified by the NSGA II algorithm. Robustness of Pareto solutions was evaluated by comparing their performance sensitivity over 162 uncertain operational scenarios. The final selection for the most optimal energy efficiency measure was achieved by formulating a robust multi-criteria decision function by incorporating performance, user preference, and reliability criteria. Results from this robust approach were compared with those obtained using a deterministic approach. The most optimal energy efficiency measure resulted in 9.24% lower annual energy consumption and a 45% lower number of cooling setpoint unmet h as compared to the base case. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Energy Consumption in the Global South)

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Open AccessArticle

Understanding Residential Occupant Cooling Behaviour through Electricity Consumption in Warm-Humid Climate

Kumar Biswajit Debnath

David P. Jenkins

Sandhya Patidar

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Andrew D. Peacock

Buildings 2020, 10(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10040078 - 19 Apr 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3939

Abstract

According to the India Energy Security Scenario 2047, the number of residential air conditioner (A/C) units may increase seven-fold by 2037 as compared to 2017. Also, the related energy consumption might increase four times in the next two decades, according to India’s National Cooling Action Plan. Therefore, the study of occupant cooling behaviour is essential to reduce and manage the significant electricity demand, helping to formulate and implement climate-specific cooling policies, and to adopt low-energy and low-cost technologies at mass-market scale. The study aims to analyse residential electricity consumption in order to investigate occupant behaviour, especially for thermal comfort by using space cooling and mechanical ventilation technologies. Among the five climate zones in India, this study focuses on the occupant behaviour in a warm-humid climate using Auroville as a case study, where climate analysis of the past 30 years demonstrated progression towards unprecedented warmer weather in the last five years. In this study, electricity consumption data from 18 households (flats) were monitored for seven months (November 2018–June 2019). The study also elaborated the limitations faced while monitoring and proposed a data filling methodology to create a complete daily profile for analysing occupant behaviour through electricity consumption. The results of the data-driven approach demonstrated the characteristics and complexities in occupant behaviour and insight on the operation of different technologies to attain thermal comfort in residential buildings in an increasingly warming climate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Energy Consumption in the Global South)

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Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Current Energy Consumption in Residential Buildings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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Buildings 2019, 9(7), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings9070163 - 07 Jul 2019

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 7444

Abstract

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), residential buildings’ energy consumption accounts for almost 50% of the building stock electricity consumption. The KSA’s economy relies heavily on fossil fuel sources, namely oil reservoirs, whose depletion will negatively affect the future development of the country. The total electricity consumption is growing by approximately 5–8% annually, which would lead to oil production and oil consumption being equal in 2035. Therefore, residential buildings need further assessment as regards their current energy consumption. This research used a survey to explore current user behaviour in residential buildings’ energy performance in the city of Jeddah, KSA. The findings of the survey show that several factors impact the energy performance in residential buildings. First, the buildings’ thermal properties were found to be poorly designed. Second, the cultural aspects (family member role and generous hospitality), and the majority of users within the buildings preferring a room temperature of below 24 °C, requires a massive amount of cooling due to the climate conditions. Third, an increase in user awareness has helped to slightly improve residential buildings’ energy efficiency. Knowing the current high-energy-consumption sources and causes, being able to define opportunities for thermal properties’ enhancement, and increasing user awareness of how to achieve self-sustaining buildings are essential. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Energy Consumption in the Global South)

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Review

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Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Life Cycle GHG Emissions of Residential Buildings in Humid Subtropical and Tropical Climates: Systematic Review and Analysis

Daniel Satola

Martin Röck

Aoife Houlihan-Wiberg

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Arild Gustavsen

Buildings 2021, 11(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11010006 - 24 Dec 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3101

Abstract

Improving the environmental life cycle performance of buildings by focusing on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions along the building life cycle is considered a crucial step in achieving global climate targets. This paper provides a systematic review and analysis of 75 residential case studies in humid subtropical and tropical climates. The study investigates GHG emissions across the building life cycle, i.e., it analyses both embodied and operational GHG emissions. Furthermore, the influence of various parameters, such as building location, typology, construction materials and energy performance, as well as methodological aspects are investigated. Through comparative analysis, the study identifies promising design strategies for reducing life cycle-related GHG emissions of buildings operating in subtropical and tropical climate zones. The results show that life cycle GHG emissions in the analysed studies are mostly dominated by operational emissions and are the highest for energy-intensive multi-family buildings. Buildings following low or net-zero energy performance targets show potential reductions of 50–80% for total life cycle GHG emissions, compared to buildings with conventional energy performance. Implementation of on-site photovoltaic (PV) systems provides the highest reduction potential for both operational and total life cycle GHG emissions, with potential reductions of 92% to 100% and 48% to 66%, respectively. Strategies related to increased use of timber and other bio-based materials present the highest potential for reduction of embodied GHG emissions, with reductions of 9% to 73%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Energy Consumption in the Global South)

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Open AccessReview

A Review of “Green Building” Regulations, Laws, and Standards in Latin America

Carlos Zepeda-Gil

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Sukumar Natarajan

Buildings 2020, 10(10), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10100188 - 21 Oct 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3515

Abstract

Latin America covers 20% of the world’s surface but only produces 12% of global carbon emissions. However, countries such as Brazil and Argentina have seen some of the most aggressive increases in individual country CO₂ emissions over the last two decades. Given that 80% of Latin America’s population lives in cities, where we can expect the greatest increases in demand for energy and predicted growth in built floor space, it is necessary to ensure that these do not result in an overall growth in carbon emissions. Hence, we present the first review of the various “green building” rules developed in this region to curtail energy or carbon. This covers nine countries representing 80% of the region’s population. We find that these countries in Latin America have developed 94 different green building rules, though to different extents. Many pertain to domestic buildings that are known to contribute 17% of the overall carbon emissions. Subsidies and tax incentives are most common, whereas innovative carbon market schemes have only been adopted in Mexico and Chile. In Argentina and Chile, regulations are similar to their European cold-climate counterparts but are poorly enforced. Overall, we find considerable progress in Latin America to create new standards and regulations, with enforcement being a major future challenge. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Energy Consumption in the Global South)

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