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Exceeding Energy Consumption Design Expectations
Abstract
Operational building performance often fails to meet
that predicted at the design stage by as much as two
to three times. Many reasons for this difference have
been identified and widely reported, however, the
problem still continues to occur. A case study new
'energy efficient' fully air conditioned office building
has been monitored since occupation in June 2010 to
observe the difference between operational energy
consumption and design targets. In the first full year
of operation (2011) the building consumed
208.7 kWh m-2 yr-1, 83% of the expected energy
consumption (250 kWh m-2 yr-1). This dropped
further to 176.1 kWh m-2 yr-1 in 2012 (70% below
expected). Factors affecting building energy
consumption have been discussed and appraised in
respect to the case study building. Recommendations
have been made for successfully meeting future
building energy design targets.
A number of energy saving technologies have
been installed during the monitoring period such as
LED lighting, voltage optimisation and thin client.
An appraisal of these is also given, along with the
performance of the photovoltaic panels and rainwater
harvesting in place from the outset.
Citation
Castleton, H. F.; Beck, S. B. M.; Hathwat, E. A.; Murphy, E. (2013). Exceeding Energy Consumption Design Expectations. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /151424.