Search

Existing buildings consume most of our non-transportation related energy and are a major contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases. Improving their energy efficiency by applying energy conservation measures (ECMs) remains a major challenge. This paper presents computational tools developed to screen office buildings for retrofit and to select specific ECMs for each building. This selection process accounts for climate, occupancy, building operation, heating and cooling systems, distribution systems, envelope properties, building geometry, and cost of ECMs. The tools screen the complete building set for optimal retrofit opportunities. The methodology adopted in developing the computational tools includes characterization of the office building stock into a manageable set of archetypes; simulation of building operation using specific occupancy characteristics and local climate data; development of energy prediction models for lights, equipment, pumps, fans, domestic hot water, chillers, and boilers; and application of present value analysis to evaluate the cost effectiveness of ECMs. Key words: energy, modelling, office buildings, retrofit, screening. Les batiments existants consomment la majorite de l'energie non reliee aux transports et sont des contributeurs importants a l'emission de gaz a effet de serre. Ameliorer leur efficacite energetique par l'application de mesures d'economies d'energie demeure un grand defi. Cet article presente des outils de calculs developpes pour preselectionner les immeubles de bureaux en vue d'une mise a niveau et pour choisir les mesures d'economies d'energie specifiques a chaque immeuble. Ce processus de selection tient compte des conditions climatiques, de l'occupation, du fonctionnement de l'immeuble, des systemes de chauffage et de ventilation, des systemes de distribution, des proprietes de l' enveloppe, de la geometrie de l'immeuble, ainsi que des couts des mesures d'economies d'energie. Les outils evaluent l'immeuble au complet qui a ete choisi pour les mises a niveau optimales. La methodologie adoptee lors du developpement des outils comprend la caracterisation de l' immeuble de bureaux au completen un ensemble gerable d' archetypes, la simulation du fonctionnement des immeubles en utilisant des caracteristiques specifiques d'occupation ainsi que les donnees locales sur les conditions climatiques, le developpement de modeles de prevision energetique pour les lumieres, les equipements, les pompes, les soufflantes, l'eau chaude domestique, les refroidisseurs et les chaudieres, de meme que l'application de l'analyse des valeurs actualisees afin d'evaluer le rapport cout-efficacite des mesures d'economies d'energie. Mots-cles : energie, modelisation, immeubles de bureaux, mise a niveau, preselection. [Traduit par la Redaction], 1. Introduction Within the commercial and institutional sector, office buildings make up 41% of the energy use (Natural Resources Canada 2008). Studies on reducing office buildings' energy consumption have shown [...]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)