Low-Cost Insulation for Energy Efficient Buildings in Terai Region of Nepal

There is a huge amount of energy savings potential in public building sector that has yet to be realized.By prioritizing energy efficiency in its own buildings and thus promoting the development of required knowledge in terms of new technology and construction methods,the public sector will lead the way in efforts to increase the rate of renovations.The low-cost insulation strategies and a comparison of cost with existing insulation materials has been described in this study.We have repeatedly faced energy crises and will continue to do so in the future if appropriate action is not taken in a timely manner.Properly implementing energy-saving initiatives in for achieving thermal comfort in buildings as well as reducing the energy costs would undoubtedly inspire the residential sector,resulting in significant reductions in energy usage.Simulations were carried out to study insulation layers on various building components like exterior walls,floor and roofs,generating different scenarios for a building as a base model,which were then compared and analysed to verify the literature used to develop the cases.The proposed recommendations,which have been validated,are certain to increase building energy efficiency,achieve thermal comfort in low cost than what is currently being used.

Solar Energy and Residential Building Integration Technology and Application

Building energy saving needs solar energy, but the promotion of solar energy has to be integrated with the constructions. Through analyzing the energy-saving significance of solar energy, and the status and features of it, this paper has discussed the solar energy and building integration technology and application in the residential building, and explored a new way and thinking for the close combination of the solar technology and residence.

A New Type of Paper-frame Cavernous Material and Its Application in Energy Efficiency in Buildings

This paper introduces a new type of paper-frame cavernous material, which is a made-up hollow material, by using silicate-cinder size to drench and daub. It possesses excellent performances such as light-weight, high-intensity, fire-resistance, sound-insulation, heat-insulation and no-pollution. Composed with concrete materials, a new type of bearing and energy-efficient block can be gained, which is kind of excellent wall materials and has a wide application prospect.

Efficiency-based Pareto Optimization of Building Energy Consumption and Thermal Comfort:A Case Study of a Residential Building in Bushehr,Iran

In Iran,the intensity of energy consumption in the building sector is almost 3 times the world average,and due to the consumption of fossil fuels as the main source of energy in this sector,as well as the lack of optimal design of buildings,it has led to excessive release of toxic gases into the environment.This research develops an efficient approach for the simulation-oriented Pareto optimization(SOPO)of building energy efficiency to assist engineers in optimal building design in early design phases.To this end,EnergyPlus,as one of the most powerful and well-known whole-building simulation programs,is combined with the Multi-objective Ant Colony Optimization(MOACO)algorithm through the JAVA programming language.As a result,the capabilities of JAVA programming are added to EnergyPlus without the use of other plugins and third parties.To evaluate the effectiveness of the developed method,it was performed on a residential building located in the hot and semi-arid region of Iran.To obtain the optimum configuration of the building under investigation,the building rotation,window-to-wall ratio,tilt angle of shading device,depth of shading device,color of the external walls,area of solar collector,tilt angle of solar collector,rotation of solar collector,cooling and heating setpoints of heating,ventilation,and air conditioning(HVAC)system are chosen as decision variables.Further,the building energy consumption(BEC),solar collector efficiency(SCE),and predicted percentage of dissatisfied(PPD)index as a measure of the occupants'thermal comfort level are chosen as the objective functions.The single-objective optimization(SO)and Pareto optimization(PO)are performed.The obtained results are compared to the initial values of the basic model.The optimization results depict that the PO provides optimal solutions more reliable than those obtained by the SOs,owing to the lower value of the deviation index.Moreover,the optimal solutions extracted through the PO are depicted in the form of Pareto fronts.Eventually,the Linear Programming Technique for Multidimensional Analysis of Preference(LINMAP)technique as one of the well-known multi-criteria decision-making(MCDM)methods is utilized to adopt the optimum building configuration from the set of Pareto optimal solutions.Further,the results of PO show that although BEC increases from 136 GJ to 140 GJ,PPD significantly decreases from 26%to 8%and SCE significantly increases from 16%to 25%.The introduced SOPO method suggests an effective and practical approach to obtain optimal solutions during the building design phase and provides an opportunity for building engineers to have a better picture of the range of options for decision-making.In addition,the method presented in this study can be applied to different types of buildings in different climates.

Evaluation of model predictive control(MPC)of solar thermal heating system with thermal energy storage for buildings with highly variable occupancy levels

The presence or absence of occupants in a building has a direct effect on its energy use,as it influences the operation of various building energy systems.Buildings with high occupancy variability,such as universities,where fluctuations occur throughout the day and across the year,can pose challenges in developing control strategies that aim to balance comfort and energy efficiency.This situation becomes even more complex when such buildings are integrated with renewable energy technologies,due to the inherently intermittent nature of these energy source.To promote widespread integration of renewable energy sources in such buildings,the adoption of advanced control strategies such as model predictive control(MPC)is imperative.However,the variable nature of occupancy patterns must be considered in its design.In response to this,the present study evaluates a price responsive MPC strategy for a solar thermal heating system integrated with thermal energy storage(TES)for buildings with high occupancy variability.The coupled system supplies the building heating through a low temperature underfloor heating system.A case study University building in Nottingham,UK was employed for evaluating the feasibility of the proposed heating system controlled by MPC strategy.The MPC controller aims to optimize the solar heating system’s operation by dynamically adjusting to forecasted weather,occupancy,and solar availability,balancing indoor comfort with energy efficiency.By effectively integrating with thermal energy storage,it maximizes solar energy utilization,reducing reliance on non-renewable sources and ultimately lowering energy costs.The developed model has undergone verification and validation process,utilizing both numerical simulations and experimental data.The result shows that the solar hot water system provided 63%heating energy in total for the case study classroom and saved more than half of the electricity cost compared with that of the original building heating system.The electricity cost saving has been confirmed resulting from the energy shifting from high price periods to medium to low price periods through both active and passive heating energy storages.

Energy saving effect of building envelope in summer

To explore the energy saving effect of building envelope,the experiments were carried out through a comparison of basic cubicle in summer.Experiments show that if energy efficiency measures are applied only in the external walls and windows,the energy saving cubicles have an average energy efficiency ratio of 27.75% and 27.05% when the air change rates are 1.1 and 1.4 h-1 in summer,with both values being over the standard target value by 25%.And the indoor air temperature of the energy saving cubicle is below that of the basic cubicle.The daily mean temperature difference between the interior surface of insulation wall and no insulation reaches 1.47 °C,and the mean temperature difference is up to 8.52 °C between the interior surface and exterior surface of insulating glass and single glass.The two cubicles were simulated for energy consumption using VisualDOE4.0 software under real weather conditions in summer.The results show that the mean deviation is 10.02% between experimental and simulated energy efficiency ratio.The correctness and validity of simulation results of the VisualDOE4.0 software are proved.

Upcoming Transitions in the Energy Sector and Their Impact on Corporations Strategies

An analysis is presented on a set of enabling technologies which are opening new routes for energy conversion and consumption. This portfolio of innovations is complemented by a new framework in hydrocarbon production. This integration yields an optimization of energy uses that can result in lower greenhouse gases emissions and expand the lifecycle of current available resources. These options are confronted with the need for higher quantities of energy, at affordable costs in order to maintain the economic development. The conclusion is that there are no contradictions among the general objectives in global energy policy and the goals of corporations. Companies can take advantage of their previous expertise to remain competitive, but have to further develop new skills to operate in a new energy sector that is likely to be highly interlinked;evolving for the previous model that had markets segmented by specialty. New goods, such as the electric vehicles or the advanced high temperature high power fuel cells for generating electricity, should pave the way for a more synergetic and efficient energy sector.

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a PCM-Integrated Roof for Higher Thermal Performance of Buildings

Phase change materials(PCMs) designate materials able to store latent heat.PCMs change state from solid to liquid over a defined temperature range.This process is reversible and can be used for thermo-technical purposes.The present paper aims to study the thermal performance of an inorganic eutectic PCM integrated into the rooftop slab of a test room and analyze its potential for building thermal management.The experiment is conducted in two test rooms in Antofagasta(Chile) during summer,fall,and winter.The PCM is integrated into the rooftop of the first test room,while the roof panel of the second room is a sealed air cavity.The work introduces a numerical model,which is built using the finite difference method and used to simulate the rooms' thermal behavior.Several thermal simulations of the PCM room are performed for other Chilean locations to evaluate and compare the capability of the PCM panel to store latent heat thermal energy in different climates.Results show that the indoor temperature of the PCM room in Antofagasta varies only 21.1℃±10.6℃,while the one of the air-panel room varies 28.3℃±18.5℃.Under the experiment's conditions,the PCM room's indoor temperature observes smoother diurnal fluctuations,with lower maximum and higher minimum indoor temperatures than that of the air-panel room.Thermal simulations in other cities show that the PCM panel has a better thermal performance during winter,as it helps to maintain or increase the room temperature by some degrees to reach comfort temperatures.This demonstrates that the implementation of such PCM in the building envelope can effectively reduce space heating and cooling needs,and improve indoor thermal comfort in different climates of Chile.

Assessing the energy saving potential of using adaptive setpoint temperatures:The case study of a regional adaptive comfort model for Brazil in both the present and the future

It has been found in recent years that using setpoint temperatures based on adaptive thermal comfort models is a successful method of energy conservation.Recent studies using adaptive setpoint temperatures incorporate international models from ASHRAE Standard 55 and EN16798-1.This study,however,has instead considered a regional Brazilian adaptive comfort model.This study investigates the energy demand arising from the use of a local Brazilian comfort model in order to assess the energy implications from the use of the worldwide ASHRAE Standard 55 adaptive model and various fixed setpoint temperatures.All of Brazil’s climate zones,full air-conditioning,mixed-mode building operating modes,present-day climate change scenarios,and future scenarios—specifically Representative Concentration Pathways(RCP)2.6,4.5,and 8.5 for the years 2050 and 2100—have all been taken into account in building energy simulations.The use of adaptive setpoint temperatures based on the Brazilian local model considering mixed-mode has been found to significantly reduce energy consumption when compared to static setpoint temperatures(average energy-saving values ranging from 52%to 58%)and the ASHRAE 55 adaptive model(average values ranging from 15%to 21%).Considering climate change and the mixed-mode Brazilian model,the overall energy demand for the three groups of climatic zones(annual average outdoor temperatures≤21℃,>21 and≤25℃and>25℃)ranged between 2%decrease and 5%increase,4%and 27%increase,and 13%and 45%increase,respectively.It is concluded as a consequence that setting setpoint temperatures based on the Brazilian local adaptive comfort model is a very efficient energy-saving method.

Conceptual Issues in the Qualification of Intelligent Buildings

The reality of global warming must have been settled by now while the incidence of same has in very recent times adopted unprecedented dimensions. The global community continues to look for ways to combat the impact of climate change and technology is looked upon to deliver the innovations that would ensure a better tomorrow today. Rapid advancement of Information Technology (IT), is now transforming the way we create and interact with the built environment with the notion of Intelligent Buildings (IBs) underscoring its main features. However, these IBs utilize systems that require energy, and fossil fuels are currently the world’s primary energy sources;they can also irreparably harm the environment, exacerbating climate change. What then is the true essence of IBs? This paper, through review of existing literature, attempts to explore some issues associated with the conceptualization of IBs, highlighting how they are similar with other notional options that deliver the same benefits but without the needed IT systems or the energy required in running them. It also discusses the need to focus on less energy demanding and management approaches at design or occupancy of buildings as a way to reduce the demand and thus consumption of fossil fuels across the world.

Dynamic thermal performance and energy-saving potential analysis of a modular pipe-embedded building envelope integrated with thermal diffusive materials

In the context of racing to carbon neutrality,the pipe-embedded building system makes the opaque envelopes gradually regarded as the multi-functional element,which also provides an opportunity for thermal insulation solutions to transform from high to zero-carbon attributes.Based on the re-examination of the heat transfer process of conventional pipe-embedded radiant(CPR)walls,the modular pipe-embedded radiant(MPR)wall integrated with thermal diffusive materials is proposed to enhance the heat transfer capacity of CPR walls in the direction parallel to the wall surface,thereby forming a more stable and continuous invisible thermal barrier layer inside the opaque envelopes.A comprehensive thermal and energy-saving analysis study regarding the influence mechanism of several key factors of MPR walls,e.g.,the inclination angle of the filler cavity(θ-value),geometry size of the filler cavity(a:b-value)and thermal conductivity of the filler(λf-value),is conducted based on a validated numerical model.Results show that the dynamic thermal behaviors of MPR walls can be significantly improved due to that the radial thermal resistance in the filler cavity of MPR walls can be reduced by 50%,while the maximum extra exterior surface heat loss caused by the optimization measures is only 2.1%.Besides,a better technical effect can be achieved by setting the major axis of the filler cavity towards the room side,where the interior surface heat load/total injected heat first decreases/increases and then increases/decreases with the increase of theθ-value.In particular,the MPR wall withθL=60°can obtain the best performance when other conditions remain the same.Moreover,the performance indicators of MPR walls can be further improved with the increase of the cavity size(a:b-value),while showing a trend of rapid improvement in theλf-value range of 2–5λC and slow improvement increase in theλf-value range of 5–12λC.In addition,the improvement effect brought by optimizing theθ-value is more obvious as the a:b-value orλf-value increases.

Research on Key Technologies of Solar Photovoltaic Building Integration

On December 21,2020,The State Council Information Office issued a white paper titled"China's Energy Development in the New Era,"in which the installed capacity of hydropower,wind power,photovoltaic power and biomass power generation in China ranked first in the world[1].Solar photovoltaic power generation is the most important development direction of clean energy in the world.It is an important energy strategy to combine it with the field of construction in China.This paper mainly introduces the characteristics and problems of the key technologies of solar photovoltaic building integration,and explores its future development direction and ways,in order to constantly promote the industrialization of new energy technology in China.

Applied Energy

Current policies have implied that improving thermal performance of the built environment would be included in a strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and meet the national targets of the Climate Change Act by 2050.However,the perceptions of the industrial stakeholders in this matter have not,to date,been clear.This study aimed to uncover stakeholder perspectives on thermal performance of the built environment and investigate whether their perspectives aligned well with the national policies.Focusing on attributes of the built environment,technology and innovation,barriers and reflections on reality,technical feedback was gathered from experienced industrial stakeholders via a one-day workshop and emails.The analysis showed that despite being familiar with the national policies,the perspectives of the industrial stakeholders did not fully align with the national policies in most aspects.However,the industry had no objection to employing low carbon technology alternatives in the future.The study concluded that consultation with industry should be carried out continuously to assist in the formation of future national policies to significantly improve the thermal performance of the built environment.Future research should be extended to comparing the stakeholder viewpoints and national policies from environmental and economic perspectives on a European/global scale.

Numerical Investigation and Optimization of a Flat Plate Solar Collector Operating with Cu/CuO/Al_(2)O_(3)–Water Nanofluids

Nanofluids are a potential alternative to significantly improving the performance of heat transfer applications. In this work, a numerical analysis to examine the eff ect of dispersing copper(Cu), copper oxide(CuO), and aluminum(Al2O3) nanoparticles in pure water on the performance of a flat plate solar collector(FPSC) and a numerical model was proposed. The influence of the nanofluid type on the thermal efficiency was critically investigated and discussed. The eff ect of the mass flow rate on the performance was also analyzed and discussed. Based on correlations of the thermophysical properties of nanofluids, a sensitivity analysis was used to analyze the impact of the nanoparticles on the base fluid. The results indicate that the performance of the FPSC with Cu/water nanofluid was better than that of FPSCs using CuO/water or Al2O3/water nanofluids. When the mass flow rate of the nanofluids was 8.0 L/min, the efficiency of the FPSC was much greater than those at the flow rates of 5.0 L/min and 2.0 L/min. Mean enhancements in thermal efficiency of 4.44%, 4.27%, and 4.21% were observed when 2.0 L/min was applied using Cu/water, Cu O/water, and Al2O3/water nanofluids, respectively. Improvements in thermal efficiency of 2.76%, 2.53%, and 2.47% occurred when 8.0 L/min was applied.

Design of Heat Storage for a Solar Concentrator Driving an Absorption Chiller

The feasibility of employing stand-alone solar energy systems to meet demand-side loads depends strongly on providing appropriate solar energy storage. The present paper presents an efficient and economical, underground, thermal storage design to store hot water at a temperature of around 180?C required for running a double effect absorption chiller to cool a zero-energy-house in a desert environment. The performance of the design is evaluated employing a specially developed efficient mathematical model, for simulating the steady state radiation, convection and conduction processes occurring within the storage unit. The model is presented and analyzed, and employed to investigate the effects of various design parameters on storage efficiency. It is demonstrated that high storage efficiency may be reached, providing that appropriate insulation materials are used. It is also revealed that the soil conductivity has little effect on storage efficiency.

Comparative Analysis of Building Rating Systems and Occupant Rating Systems

To begin with, rating systems are a beneficial tool in determining the efficiency of a building’s ability to utilise its resources effectively. In this study, the two elements under comparison are the Building Rating Systems (BRSs) and Occupant Rating Systems (ORSs). The main objective of this paper is to be able to examine the most commonly applied international and national BRS and ORS and, based on that, discover the possibility of developing an integration of both the BRS and ORS into one rating system. Quite simply, a BRS is a method by which buildings are assessed and given a score based on numerous features such as the efficiency of each of the services, total energy consumption, and alternate options of consumption. There are various BRSs that are implemented globally, each with its own set of criteria and specifications. Thus, based on the analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of both types of rating systems, it could be deduced that a well-rounded rating system with all technical and non-technical aspects combined would be beneficial to both the efficiency of the building as well as the building occupants’ health and well-being.