Energy Audit and Prospective Energy Conservation: Studies at Commercial Buildings in a Tropical Region in India

Abstract

This paper highlights the major findings of a research project on building energy conservation study in a tropical savanna climate. The aim of this paper is to reduce the substantial contribution of the built environment to energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The energy audit enabled the building of a specific building energy model that has been used to analyze the impact of various energy saving actions on the primary energy consumption of the site. In this specific case, the improvement of the building's utilities and the performance optimization of the existing HVAC systems can reduce electrical energy consumption up to 19.6% per year, with a predicted annual economic saving of the order of INR 4.2 million. The complete process of the energy audit is demonstrated by using an existing building as a case study building; it is located at Bangalore, India. KeywordsPerformance Indicators’ (PIs); Commercial Buildings; Connected Load, Energy Conservation Studies; Energy Savings; Energy Efficiency