Impact of Building Orientation and Renewable Energy in Operational Energy of a Building in Micro-climate

In this study, the impact of orientation of a building and incorporation of renewable resources in a particular micro-climate is explored for better sustainable construction practices. In the present world thriving for sustainable construction options to minimize global warming, the study provides solution for a particular microclimate. A building of an educational institute with a plinth area of 1,609.43 sqm is considered for this energy analysis. In any Civil engineering infrastructure, there are two main energy aspects to be considered for sustainable construction, namely embodied and operational energy. Due to advancement in civil engineering materials and construction practices, the life span of the buildings is on a rise in common with utility remaining same. Operational energy becomes prominent for these structures with each year and increases many folds when compared to the embodied energy. Hence the focus of the present study is only on operational energy. The energy analysis is carried out in EnergyPlus. The validated model is utilized to check the impact of building orientation on operational energy for a particular micro-climate. Later the impact of solar panel installation in reducing the operational energy is quantified. This provides the chance for optimizing the selection of solar panel installation parameters.