Designing for Greater Efficiency

Module 1 – Green Buildings in Context

A. GLOBAL IMPACTS OF BUILDINGS AND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
I. Buildings have a large environmental impact
Buildings use energy + water resources  construction and operations
 significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions + water scarcity.

The construction and operation of

buildings consume 36% of world energy
consumption and generate 39% of the
world’s GHG footprint.

II. Energy use in buildings:

Electricity - most popular energy  increasing
generated by burning fossil fuels  greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions  climate change

III. Water use in buildings:

Overextraction of water and its inefficient
consumption in buildings is a serious concern
IV. Material use in building construction:
Manufacturing materials is energy intensive  pollution.
Reducing GHG emissions from building material production (“embodied carbon”)
 mitigate climate change.

What percentage of annual global GHG emissions come from manufacturing these
materials?
11% global electricity  manufacturing iron & steel
5% global electricity  manufacturing aluminum
5-7% global electricity  manufacturing cement

The energy consumed in the production  its embodied energy and the associated
GHG emissions are its embodied carbon.

Energy efficiency in operations increases

 embodied carbon in materials - more significant portion of total GHG emissions
caused by buildings.
B. Green Buildings:
I. Defining green buildings
more resource-efficient
A significant reduction in environmental impact by:
 Reducing consumption of materials, water and energy
 Reducing air, water and land pollution
 Reducing disturbance to the local ecology
and biodiversity
Green design can typically reduce energy use,
carbon emissions, water use, and materials by
20%-80%.

According to the World Bank, a green building is:

"A building that uses 20% less energy, water and
embodied energy in materials compared to an
equivalent local benchmark."

While a designer - not be able to influence the choice of location or the operations of a
building
But control the core elements – passive design features, material specifications
 a building green.

II. Benefits of green buildings:

They reduce pressure on infrastructure
They preserve natural resources for longer
They cost less to operate
They command premium prices and improved rents
Green buildings have higher sales prices, quicker sales cycles, lower operational costs,
lower loan default rates, and higher resale values.
 Why are green buildings not mainstream (chủ đạo)?
A

persistent perception among developers of costs higher than the evolved market
reality.
Owners are hesitant to pay more up front for uncertain future savings.
Banks are hesitant to invest in non-mainstream solutions.
Government regulations are not aligned with the uptake of green building.

 Opportunities in green buildings vary by sector

 Residential sector:
Domestic properties  (1) single-family homes & (2) multifamily properties.
Considering operational energy, the issues of thermal comfort, hot water and appliances
are the main ones to tackle.
Meanwhile, building material choices affect embodied carbon and other
environmental impacts.
High impact interventions - roof and wall insulation (cách nhiệt); solar hot water
heaters; water-efficient fittings (phụ kiện) and rainwater collection; smart meters for
better control and metering; and low environmental impact building materials.

 Commercial office sector:

Tenant demand – an important factor
A well-designed office building
 (1) reduce operating costs significantly
(2) provide future-proofing against obsolescence (lỗi thời).
High impact interventions: passive cooling and ventilation design (thiết kết thông gió &
làm mát thụ động); daylighting, lighting control and low energy lighting; high-efficiency
chillers such as ground source heat pumps; and solar PVs on the roof could generate
significant energy.
 Healthcare sector
resource-intensive due to the importance of comfort and hygiene for patients
The challenge - reduce energy and water use in these facilities
ensure patient outcomes are enhanced.
High impact interventions - insulated and shaded façade; smart controls for lighting;
variable frequency drives and ventilation heat recovery; and tri-generation using
absorption chillers.
 Education sector
Educational buildings’ ventilation, views, indoor environmental quality and acoustics are
all important issues.
High impact interventions - daylighting, lighting control and low energy lighting; external
louvres (cửa chớp) ( to minimize glare (đội chói); passive cooling of classrooms for
thermal comfort; and on-site renewables such as PVs and wind turbines serve as an
educational tool.
 Retail sector
Huge spaces to heat, cool and light to optimize the customer experience and promote
sales.
High impact interventions - daylighting and low energy lighting solutions; passive or
low carbon cooling options such as displacement ventilation (thông gió dịch chuyển);
waterless urinals not only save water, they ensure drier floors and improve hygiene; and
renewables such as PVs on the roof and wind turbines in the car park.
 Supermarket subsector
Consume a lot of resources in refrigeration and lighting and --> efficiency improvement.
High impact interventions - low energy lighting and daylighting; efficient refrigeration
equipment and heat recovery; use of refrigerants with low global warming potential in
systems which minimize leakage; and high-efficiency chillers.
 Hotel sector
Resource use is high  potential for operational savings. Meanwhile, the guest
experience cannot be compromised.
High impact interventions - shaded (có bóng râm) and openable window; auto switch
off A/C and lighting; solar water heating; and treatment and reuse of wastewater from
showers and laundry.

 The principal rule for energy efficiency remains constant

Start with good design to reduce the need for electricity and fossil fuels; those should be
the last option after all options – good design, improved operations, and renewable
resources -- have been exhausted.

C. CALCULATION OF RESOURCE EFFICIENCY METRICS USING THE EDGE

SOFTWARE:
I. The EDGE building design software:
EDGE provides predictive modeling and analysis to help design green buildings at
the lowest cost from the concept stage.

II. Comparing standard and improved building design in EDGE:

EDGE creates two cases — a base case and an improved case
The Improved Case - the percentage of savings in energy, water, and embodied
energy in materials which it represents relative to the Base Case.

The Base Case in each city - current building practices, or the local green building code
if it is being enforced.
EDGE takes into account location-specific climate conditions, building type, customary
occupancy and use (thông lệ sử dụng và chiếm dụng), design parameters, and
building orientation to create each Base Case.
EDGE creates each Base Case by combining locally calibrated assumptions (giả định
được hiệu chỉnh) with project specific data.

 Virtual energy in EDGE

Appears on the Energy bar chart in EDGE when a cooling or heating system is not
installed in the building.
This is the amount of energy that would be used
theoretically to reach defined comfort conditions.
Reduction in virtual energy  reflected in energy
bills only if heating or cooling systems are later
installed.
The chart shows Virtual Energy for Comfort values
for Base Case and Improved Case for a fully
naturally ventilated building.
 Creating a reference building in EDGE
Step 1: Create an EDGE account
To begin, create an EDGE account at app.edgebuildings.com

Step 2: Create the reference building or Base Case

a. Select the Office building type from menu
b. Fill in the required details to save the project
 Create a project with the name "University office" + "DfGE"
 Input other fields marked with an asterisk (*) under Project and Subproject to
enable saving this file
 Respond "no" to the following questions: "Do you intend to certify" and "Share with
investors"
 Save the project and go to your dashboard

Step 3: Reopen your project by clicking on it from the dashboard

Step 4: Input the following data
Language
Location data
Country: India
City: Delhi
Building data
Gross Internal Area Excluding Car Parking (m2): 4,000 m2
Floors Above Grade (no.): 5 storeys above grade
Building orientation
Floor Plan Depth: 20 meter deep floor plan
Main orientation: Main façade orientation due Southeast
Energy tab
60% glazing area on all sides
D. CONCLUSION:
Explain the need for green buildings
Define green building design
Explain the concepts of resource efficiency
Identify opportunities in different building sectors
Evaluate resource efficiency metrics for buildings using the EDGE software, including
savings and costs