Evaluation of Building Energy Efficiency Measures Using Statistical Simulation

The research work in this article estimates the potential energy savings of a typical office building located in Bengaluru, India, by implementing 3 ECMs (Energy Conservative Measures): AHU Economizer, Window film application, and lighting control. Since cooling and lighting account for major part of building energy consumption, the ECMs here are focused to reduce these demands. A simulation model was developed by modeling building envelope, HVAC, and lighting system using EnergyPlus and the ECM savings were obtained from this building energy model. The savings obtained from typical deterministic simulation model are for nominal conditions and the same cannot be guaranteed at site level due to uncertainty involved in modeling inputs. Hence examining the effect of uncertainty in modeling inputs would be of major focus in this work. Uncertainty in parameters like building construction, weather, occupancy, plug loads, and infiltration was examined which are expected to play vital role in building energy consumption. Energy savings obtained by implementing ECMs were obtained from simulation model and uncertainty analysis quantified the probability of such savings. Two ECM, i.e., application of window film and implementation of linear lighting control showed good probability of saving site energy. Implementation of air side economizer in AHU showed probability of increase in energy consumption instead. Considering uncertainties in the input parameters and analyzing their impact on the energy savings would help building owners to choose appropriate ECMs.