Energy Conservation Measures for an Office Building in Warm and Humid Climate

Objective: To study the effect of various energy conservation measures on building energy performance. Analysis: U.S Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System for green building uses energy modeling as one way to demonstrate the energy use of a building and to quantify the savings to the proposed design. A whole building energy simulation tool, Visual DOE4.0 is used to estimate the energy performance of an office building in warm and humid climate. The tool is used for recommending energy saving strategies for insulation, glazing, shading devices, lighting and controls and air conditioning equipment. Performance analysis of the building with different combinations of measures is carried out to identify the best possible strategy. Findings: It is analyzed green roof, insulated AAC wall, glazing system with low Solar Factor (SF) , shading devices, energy efficient air conditioning and efficient lighting systems & control helps in reducing the annual energy consumption of building by 20.85% compared to American Standard for Heating Refrigeration and Air conditioning Engineer’s (ASHRAE) standard building. Improvement: Further investigation can be carried out with different configurations in wall, roof, shading devices, air conditioning system, using daylight sensors in the periphery and also by the use of renewable energy sources.