Energy Audits and Improvements for Commercial Buildings

Solar Energy is an authoritative reference on the design of solar energy systems in building projects, with applications, operating principles, and simple tools for the construction, engineering, and design professional. The book simplifies the solar design and engineering process, providing sample documentation and special tools that provide all the information needed for the complete design of a solar energy system for buildings to enable mainstream MEP and design firms, and not just solar energy specialists, to meet the growing demand for solar energy systems in building projects.

This long-awaited reference guide provides a complete overview of low energy cooling systems for buildings, covering a wide range of existing and emerging sustainable energy technologies in one comprehensive volume. An excellent data source on cooling performance, such as building loads or solar thermal chiller efficiencies, it is essential reading for building services and renewable energy engineers and researchers covering sustainable design. The book is unique in including a large set of experimental results from years of monitoring actual building and energy plants, as well as detailed laboratory and simulation analyses. These demonstrate which systems really work in buildings, what the real costs are and how operation can be optimized – crucial information for planners, builders and architects to gain confidence in applying new technologies in the building sector. Inside you will find valuable insights into: the energy demand of residential and office buildings; facades and summer performance of buildings; passive cooling strategies; geothermal cooling; active thermal cooling technologies, including absorption cooling, desiccant cooling and new developments in low power chillers; sustainable building operation using simulation. Supporting case study material makes this a useful text for senior undergraduate students on renewable and sustainable energy courses. Practical and informative, it is the best up-to-date volume on the important and rapidly growing area of cooling.

Net Zero-Energy Buildings have been the object of numerous studies in recent years as various countries have set this performance level as a long-term goal of their energy policies. This book presents a unique study of 30 NZEBs that have been constructed and have had their performance measured for at least 12 months. The study is based upon an international collaborative research initiated by the International Energy Agency – the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC). It is the first book to evaluate building strategies in houses, educational buildings and offices that have been demonstrated to work in practice. It examines how the design challenges of climate and building type have been addressed, and to what extent the various design approaches have been successful. This book presents convincing evidence that a careful re-thinking of conventional design norms can achieve a far greater performance benefit than is normally feasible. It identifies `solution sets? that work at the whole building level and at the individual building design challenge level for each climate and building type. In doing so, the book provides guidance as to how to improve the design by learning from these cases. Unusually for a book of this type it has examples of buildings in what are conventionally labeled «hot» and «cold» climates. A simple process is proposed for the reader to commission the analysis of their own climate to assess not only the conventional measure of how hot or cold or humid it is, but also to assess its suitability to support other NZEB technical challenge solutions sets such as Daylight or Natural Ventilation or comfort based climate conditioning.

A modern and unique perspective on solar and geothermal technologies for heating and cooling buildings This book will have a broad appeal reaching practising engineers in the industry as well as students. With introductory sections for each technology described, material includes chapters on: geothermal energy use for the heating and cooling of buildings; a chapter on electrically driven heat pumps/chillers; material on night radiative cooling, photovoltaic thermal collectors, temperature modelling and thin film photovoltaic modelling. Includes general introductory sections for each technology with market potential and applications Covers an increasingly important component of energy courses Considers a broad range of alternative renewable energy supplies relevant to the building sector, such as geothermal energy with heat pump With a special focus on solar cooling, provides detailed physical models of all technologies and example calculations Unique in covering the fundamentals of meteorological modelling

Learn to apply the International Building Code and International Existing Building Code to historic buildings Written for architects, engineers, preservation, and code enforcement professionals, this is the only comprehensive book that examines how the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) can be applied to historic and existing buildings. For ease of use, the book is organized to parallel the structure of the IEBC itself, and the approach is cumulative, with the objective of promoting an understanding of the art of applying building regulations to the environment of existing buildings. Building Codes for Existing and Historic Buildings begins with a discussion of the history of building regulations in the United States and the events and conditions that created them. Next, it provides thorough coverage of: The rationale behind code provisions and historic preservation principles Major building code requirements: occupancy and use, types of construction, and heights and areas Building performance characteristics: fire and life safety, structural safety, health and hygiene, accident prevention, accessibility, and energy conservation Case study projects that reinforce the material covered Additionally, the book includes building analysis worksheets—both blank and filled-in versions with examples—that illustrate how to develop a code approach for an individual building. If you are a professional at any level who is working on creating a plan that meets the intent of the code for historic or existing buildings, Building Codes for Existing and Historic Buildings gives you everything that you need to succeed.

An authoritative and comprehensive guide to managing energy conservation in infrastructures Energy Conservation in Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Facilities offers an essential guide to the business models and engineering design frameworks for the implementation of energy conservation in infrastructures. The presented models of both physical and technological systems can be applied to a wide range of structures such as homes, hotels, public facilities, industrial facilities, transportation, and water/energy supply systems. The authors—noted experts in the field—explore the key performance indicators that are used to evaluate energy conservation strategies and the energy supply scenarios as part of the design and operation of energy systems in infrastructures. The text is based on a systems approach that demonstrates the effective management of building energy knowledge and supports the simulation, evaluation, and optimization of several building energy conservation scenarios. In addition, the authors explore new methods of developing energy semantic network (ESN) superstructures, energy conservation optimization techniques, and risk-based life cycle assessments. This important text: Defines the most effective ways to model the infrastructure of physical and technological systems Includes information on the most widely used techniques in the validation and calibration of building energy simulation Offers a discussion of the sources, quantification, and reduction of uncertainty Presents a number of efficient energy conservation strategies in infrastructure systems, including HVAC, lighting, appliances, transportation, and industrial facilities Describes illustrative case studies to demonstrate the proposed energy conservation framework, practices, methods, engineering designs, control, and technologies Written for students studying energy conservation as well as engineers designing the next generation of buildings, Energy Conservation in Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Facilities offers a wide-ranging guide to the effective management of energy conservation in infrastructures.

Building energy design is currently going through a period of major changes. One key factor of this is the adoption of net-zero energy as a long term goal for new buildings in most developed countries. To achieve this goal a lot of research is needed to accumulate knowledge and to utilize it in practical applications. In this book, accomplished international experts present advanced modeling techniques as well as in-depth case studies in order to aid designers in optimally using simulation tools for net-zero energy building design. The strategies and technologies discussed in this book are, however, also applicable for the design of energy-plus buildings. This book was facilitated by International Energy Agency's Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) Programs and the Energy in Buildings and Communities (EBC) Programs through the joint SHC Task 40/EBC Annex 52: Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings R&D collaboration. After presenting the fundamental concepts, design strategies, and technologies required to achieve net-zero energy in buildings, the book discusses different design processes and tools to support the design of net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs). A substantial chapter reports on four diverse NZEBs that have been operating for at least two years. These case studies are extremely high quality because they all have high resolution measured data and the authors were intimately involved in all of them from conception to operating. By comparing the projections made using the respective design tools with the actual performance data, successful (and unsuccessful) design techniques and processes, design and simulation tools, and technologies are identified. Written by both academics and practitioners (building designers) and by North Americans as well as Europeans, this book provides a very broad perspective. It includes a detailed description of design processes and a list of appropriate tools for each design phase, plus methods for parametric analysis and mathematical optimization. It is a guideline for building designers that draws from both the profound theoretical background and the vast practical experience of the authors.

The conservation of fuel and power in buildings is an important part of the UK government's strategy to reduce national energy conservation. The revision to Part L of the Building Regulations, which came into force on 1 April 2002, lays down detailed and extensive requirements for conserving energy in almost all buildings and it covers most potential causes of building energy consumption. This guide explains these detailed requirements and shows how they apply to particular cases, with the use of numerous worked examples. It includes a chapter on air tightness and leakage testing, a topic with which many building professionals are unfamiliar.

Conveniently organized and packed with robust technical content and clear explanations of key principles Written by an architect who is the director of sustainability at a global architecture firm, Net Zero Energy Design is a practical guide for architects and related construction professionals who want to design and build net zero energy commercial architecture. It offers no-nonsense strategies, step-by-step technical analysis, and valuable examples, in addition to developed case studies. With a focus on application in a variety of building types and scales, the book also develops a broad-based understanding of all the integrated principles involved in achieving net zero energy. This book is an indispensable resource for anyone venturing into net zero energy design, construction, and operation, and it also serves as an excellent resource on a variety of sustainable design topics. Important features include: Organization based upon the commercial building delivery process Robust technical content for use in actual project applications Analysis examples that demonstrate key technical principles Plenty of design data for use as a valuable design resource Abundant and sophisticated information graphics and color illustrations and photographs A distinct design focus on the content that inspires adoption of principles into projects

Here are the essential steps that accounting firms must take to improve audit quality. The author provides detailed coverage of important topics such as risk-based auditing techniques, analytical procedures, technology, and internal controls. After explaining why frequently used audit approaches are inadequate for detecting material fraud, the author: Provides specific and practical guidance to help auditors conduct higher quality audits Offers guidance to financial executives on ways to evaluate their independent audits Describes the steps that accounting firms must take to implement these much-needed changes Order your copy today!