Sustainable Buildings Assignment 2022

Sustainable Buildings Assignment B –
Detailed Retrofit Proposal
Student’s Name:
University:
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Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Choice of Retrofit Measures 3
Background 4
Technical Details 5
Building Features 6
Simulation Model 6
Passive Measures 8
Active Measures 10
Maintenance and Management Issues 11
Management Issues 12
Human Factors 12
1. Thermal comfort 12
2. The acoustical environment 13
3. Daylighting 13
4. Natural ventilation 13
Environmental and other impacts 13
Fire- 13
Natural Hazards- 14
Costs 14
Conclusion 15
References 16
Introduction
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The essential objective of retrofit activities is to accomplish the sustainability of any building in
terms of energy efficiency, decrease in total carbon emissions, etc.. In addition to that, keeping in
mind about the life cycle cost which includes cost to install such systems, its operation,
management and maintenance along with the cost of demolition at the time of decision making
procedure which is highly focused as it helps in maximizing the energy savings whereas limiting
the financial burdens. In recent times, various basic leadership models with multiple criteria have
attained a noteworthy consideration (Abu-Hijleh et al., 2016). For instance, a study has built up a
multi-target knapsack model to save energy and have used this model to build an office for
approval. Over the span of choosing retrofit measures, various indices are used such as
environmental, practical execution and performance (Albayyaa, Hagare and Saha, 2019).
Another study formulated a system based on decision support which helps in considering the
exchange offs between the overall cost of the life cycle with the quality for chosen measures.
Tragically, in spite of such huge endeavors, two critical obstructions remain while finding a
retrofit plan which is energy as well as cost-effective (Alkhateeb and Abu-Hijleh, 2019).
However, the present models require a detailed form of data such as climatic condition, building
qualities), developing it to be time-serious for energy utilization estimation. This is significant as
the restricted time is given for the structure elective development and its performance assessment
at the early planning stage. Furthermore, since the accessible retrofit measures in the present
models are focused on specific spatial settings (such as the type of building, local climate, etc),
its ease of use to different structures is constrained. Hence, so as to defeat these confinements in
writing, the present research proposal aims to build up a sustainable building using retrofit
measures considering energy saving potential in combination with the life cycle cost. Therefore,
for validating the proposed measure, the present research proposal will carry out a case study on
an office building because of enhanced concern regarding their overconsumption of energy
(Emadian Razavi, 2018).
Choice of Retrofit Measures
Energy Efficiency is the administration of energy use so as to accomplish the expected work
without influencing the residents' thermal comfort. Several retrofits measures can be utilized
which can be arranged into three classifications i.e., passive, active as well as behavioral. The
present proposal will focus on the effect of the usage of active as well as active retrofit measures.
Passive retrofit measures for energy efficiency have demonstrated an incredible impact on
diminishing the demands of energy for the purpose of heating as well as cooling (Maroy,
Steeman and Van Den Bossche, 2017). Elements of shading, up-gradation of thermal features of
glazing along with thermal protection of the building structure are considered among the best and
reasonable passive measures. In any case, it's worth referencing that retrofitting windows in the
hot climatic areas review for lower sunlight based heat gain coefficient in comparison with the
multiple layered glazing (Uribe, Bustamante and Vera, 2018). Moreover, window films which
are solar oriented have demonstrated to be an exceptionally viable and suitable measure on
moderating solar gain by windows in such type of areas (AlFaris, Abu-Hijleh and Abdul-Ameer,
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2016). However, active measures have demonstrated to be powerful systems in decreasing
energy utilization. Several active measures with zero introductory cost, for example, increasing
the cooling or warming set point range have substantial reserve funds that may surpass some
physical up-gradation. Additionally, the HVAC framework's coefficient of performance (i.e.,
COP) has a fundamental job in energy utilization stating that higher COP depicts higher energy
efficiency of the system (Zhao et al., 2015).
Background
The UAE's geographical location has shown that solar energy is viewed as the most attractive
and reliable source of RE. Although the UAE local region had witnessed several studies that
evaluated the impact of these measures in addition to their feasibility, there are no studies on the
impact of a holistic retrofit approach that minimizes the energy demand to the lowest level that
could be eventually supplied by onsite renewable energy. Retrofitting existing buildings in the
UAE to nearly zero energy buildings (n-ZEBs) is doable, especially with the available
technology and the government support. This paper assesses the potential of upgrading the
energy performance of an existing UAE's office federal building (Sgouridis et al., 2016). The
impact of an integrated passive and active retrofit measures on reducing the electricity demand is
studied. Furthermore, onsite PV electricity production is introduced to minimize the reliance on
grid electricity. Eventually, the annual net balance of electricity consumption is evaluated. A
study has detailed that the implementation of such measures in the UAE area is sufficient to
reduce the cooling load for up to 23.6 percent (Friedrich, Armstrong and Afshari, 2014). In
addition, in such a hot district, insulation of walls and the rooftop has more effect on decreasing
demand for energy contrasting with the design of external shading. Moreover, limiting the sun
oriented heat gain by giving shading components within summer areas is viewed as a need, and
could provide energy savings for about 20 percent (Liu, Rohdin and Moshfegh, 2018). In
addition, redesigning the structure envelope components' thermal insulation might lessen energy
up to 30 percent (Liu, Rohdin and Moshfegh, 2018).
This situation expects to join the ideal passive measures with active measures within one
simulation. Such simulation is the ideal retrofit suggestion that suits the UAE's local areas. The
acquired outcomes have demonstrated a noteworthy decrease in the total energy framework
ranging between 415.22-69.23 MWh, which is comparable to 83 percent, and thus, the absolute
power decrease could be found at 65.3 percent (Ramírez-Villegas, Eriksson and Olofsson, 2019).
The extent of this proposal centers around retrofitting two regions: the envelope of the building
as well as the HVAC framework. Moreover, retrofitting the lighting framework should also be
considered before the introduction of any renewable energy as an energy supply. A prior
examination was led on the same structure MOID-RAK which concentrated on redesigning the
lighting framework. The outcomes have demonstrated that lighting power could be diminished
by 25 percent in the case when the daylight sensors and dim light frameworks were given
(Nydahl et al., 2019). The outcomes will be utilized in this study, and the investment funds from
retrofitting the lighting will be reduced from the overall lighting power. In this manner, the
overall power after all retrofit activity is equivalent to 169.6 MWh (Nydahl et al., 2019).
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