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A Building Energy Efficiency Optimization Method by Evaluating the Effective Thermal Zones Occupancy

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Laura Pisello

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Perugia, via Duranti 67, Perugia 06125, Italy)

  • Michael Bobker

    (Building Performance Lab, City University of New York, New York, NY 10010, USA)

  • Franco Cotana

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Perugia, via Duranti 67, Perugia 06125, Italy)

Abstract

Building energy efficiency is strongly linked to the operations and control systems, together with the integrated performance of passive and active systems. In new high quality buildings in particular, where these two latter aspects have been already implemented at the design stage, users’ perspective, obtained through post-occupancy assessment, has to be considered to reduce whole energy requirement during service life. This research presents an innovative and low-cost methodology to reduce buildings’ energy requirements through post-occupancy assessment and optimization of energy operations using effective users’ attitudes and requirements as feedback. As a meaningful example, the proposed method is applied to a multipurpose building located in New York City, NY, USA, where real occupancy conditions are assessed. The effectiveness of the method is tested through dynamic simulations using a numerical model of the case study, calibrated through real monitoring data collected on the building. Results show that, for the chosen case study, the method provides optimized building energy operations which allow a reduction of primary energy requirements for HVAC, lighting, room-electricity, and auxiliary supply by about 21%. This paper shows that the proposed strategy represents an effective way to reduce buildings’ energy waste, in particular in those complex and high-efficiency buildings that are not performing as well as expected during the concept-design-commissioning stage, in particular due to the lack of feedback after the building handover.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Laura Pisello & Michael Bobker & Franco Cotana, 2012. "A Building Energy Efficiency Optimization Method by Evaluating the Effective Thermal Zones Occupancy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 5(12), pages 1-22, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:5:y:2012:i:12:p:5257-5278:d:22199
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pisello, Anna Laura & Goretti, Michele & Cotana, Franco, 2012. "A method for assessing buildings’ energy efficiency by dynamic simulation and experimental activity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 419-429.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ignacio Zabalza & Sabina Scarpellini & Alfonso Aranda & Eva Llera & Alberto Jáñez, 2013. "Use of LCA as a Tool for Building Ecodesign. A Case Study of a Low Energy Building in Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Balvís, Eduardo & Sampedro, Óscar & Zaragoza, Sonia & Paredes, Angel & Michinel, Humberto, 2016. "A simple model for automatic analysis and diagnosis of environmental thermal comfort in energy efficient buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 60-70.
    3. Cinzia Buratti & Elisa Lascaro & Domenico Palladino & Marco Vergoni, 2014. "Building Behavior Simulation by Means of Artificial Neural Network in Summer Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Rossi, Federico & Pisello, Anna Laura & Nicolini, Andrea & Filipponi, Mirko & Palombo, Massimo, 2014. "Analysis of retro-reflective surfaces for urban heat island mitigation: A new analytical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 621-631.
    5. Li, Wenliang & Zhou, Yuyu & Cetin, Kristen & Eom, Jiyong & Wang, Yu & Chen, Gang & Zhang, Xuesong, 2017. "Modeling urban building energy use: A review of modeling approaches and procedures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 2445-2457.
    6. Elisa Moretti & Emanuele Bonamente & Cinzia Buratti & Franco Cotana, 2013. "Development of Innovative Heating and Cooling Systems Using Renewable Energy Sources for Non-Residential Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-16, October.
    7. Anna Laura Pisello & Federico Rossi & Franco Cotana, 2014. "Summer and Winter Effect of Innovative Cool Roof Tiles on the Dynamic Thermal Behavior of Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-19, April.
    8. Cotana, Franco & Rossi, Federico & Filipponi, Mirko & Coccia, Valentina & Pisello, Anna Laura & Bonamente, Emanuele & Petrozzi, Alessandro & Cavalaglio, Gianluca, 2014. "Albedo control as an effective strategy to tackle Global Warming: A case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 641-647.
    9. Lefeng Cheng & Zhiyi Zhang & Haorong Jiang & Tao Yu & Wenrui Wang & Weifeng Xu & Jinxiu Hua, 2018. "Local Energy Management and Optimization: A Novel Energy Universal Service Bus System Based on Energy Internet Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-38, May.
    10. Pisello, Anna Laura & Asdrubali, Francesco, 2014. "Human-based energy retrofits in residential buildings: A cost-effective alternative to traditional physical strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 224-235.
    11. Annamaria Buonomano, 2016. "Code-to-Code Validation and Application of a Dynamic Simulation Tool for the Building Energy Performance Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-29, April.
    12. Ana Ogando & Natalia Cid & Marta Fernández, 2017. "Energy Modelling and Automated Calibrations of Ancient Building Simulations: A Case Study of a School in the Northwest of Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    13. Mehdi Taebnia & Sander Toomla & Lauri Leppä & Jarek Kurnitski, 2019. "Air Distribution and Air Handling Unit Configuration Effects on Energy Performance in an Air-Heated Ice Rink Arena," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Baloch, Ashfaque Ahmed & Shaikh, Pervez Hameed & Shaikh, Faheemullah & Leghari, Zohaib Hussain & Mirjat, Nayyar Hussain & Uqaili, Muhammad Aslam, 2018. "Simulation tools application for artificial lighting in buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3007-3026.
    15. Reynolds, Jonathan & Rezgui, Yacine & Kwan, Alan & Piriou, Solène, 2018. "A zone-level, building energy optimisation combining an artificial neural network, a genetic algorithm, and model predictive control," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 729-739.
    16. Francesco Asdrubali & Cinzia Buratti & Franco Cotana & Giorgio Baldinelli & Michele Goretti & Elisa Moretti & Catia Baldassarri & Elisa Belloni & Francesco Bianchi & Antonella Rotili & Marco Vergoni &, 2013. "Evaluation of Green Buildings’ Overall Performance through in Situ Monitoring and Simulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-23, December.
    17. Dongsu Kim & Jongman Lee & Sunglok Do & Pedro J. Mago & Kwang Ho Lee & Heejin Cho, 2022. "Energy Modeling and Model Predictive Control for HVAC in Buildings: A Review of Current Research Trends," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-30, October.
    18. Anna Laura Pisello & Franco Cotana & Andrea Nicolini & Lucia Brinchi, 2013. "Development of Clay Tile Coatings for Steep-Sloped Cool Roofs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-17, July.

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