INVESTIGATION INTO ENERGY PERFORMANCE IN A COMMERCIAL BUILDING

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INVESTIGATION INTO ENERGY PERFORMANCE IN A COMMERCIAL BUILDING

ABSTRACT

The study used energy audit to investigate energy performance in commercial buildings i.e where, when, why and how energy is being used in selected bank buildings in Zaria. The information was used to identify opportunities to improve performance, decrease energy cost and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. The study employed both primary and secondary sources of data. Questionnaires were the instruments of the primary data collection while information from manufacturers’ manuals, catalogues and maintenance records of the banks constituted the secondary data. The findings indicated that the average energy consumption and cost for the four (4) bank buildings are 7,412.26 kWh/month and N63,004.14/month before retrofitting. The actual energy consumed (estimated wattage Rating on nameplate of appliances/equipment) was also calculated and compared to the consumed energy using One-way ANOVA. It was concluded that energy usage in the bank buildings involved much wastage especially in the area of lighting, cooling and plug loads. An energy performance programme which covers lighting, cooling and the plug loads was recommended.

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.1    Background of the Study

Energy conservation is a process by which the energy required to provide services within residential, institutional and commercial buildings is reduced to a minimum, while achieving the required standard of service delivery. The architectural features of two buildings can be the same but their power/energy usage can never be the same (Thumann, 2006). This is the case with all building types including commercial building. Commercial buildings in Nigeria include shops, banks, restaurants, hotels, office buildings etc. (DOE, 2010). The commercial buildings may be of bungalow, low, medium or high-rise design.  Energy is used in commercial buildings for space conditioning, lighting, equipment operation (computers, photocopying machines, Internet Browsing, fax machines etc.), operation of lift/escalators, water heating, cooking, etc.  The energy used in this building sub-sector is mostly electricity with small amount of petroleum products such as LPG and kerosene, which are used for cooking in hotels and restaurants. Some quantities of petrol and diesel however, are also used for electricity generation in the Sub- sector due to persistent failures of public utilities power supply in Nigeria.

In developed countries, especially in the United States, thousands of existing public and private buildings have been  retrofitted or otherwise modified to produce energy savings of up to fifty (50%) percentage ( Thumann,2006). According to the London Economist (2006) the annual electricity bills for commercial buildings in the United Kingdom are about £8 billion (about N2 trillion) a year. It estimated that approximately twenty percent (20%) of this expenditure could be saved through the application of cost-effective energy performance measures.

According to Sayigh, (2006), the amount of energy consumed in a building depends upon the nature of its human systems, non-energized systems, and energized systems, and the interrelationships between them. To improve the energy efficiency, therefore, it is important to examine each of the three systems to establish the shortcomings and the options available to overcome them. Energy performance improvements in buildings, therefore, require a detailed  energy audit in order to have a clear picture of the structure of energy consumption. This picture includes both the quantities of energy consumed by type and the activities or output for which the energy is used. An  energy audit is a study to determine the quantity and cost of each form of energy input to a building (CIBSEGood Practice Guide 311). This help in identifying where energy is being wasted, together with appropriate energy efficiency measures that can be considered in order to reduce energy consumption.

Energy audit consists of several tasks, which can be carried out depending on the type of audit and the function of audited facility. It starts with review of the historical data of energy consumption, which can be compiled from the electricity bills. Then followed by the analysis of energy utilization such as running hours of air-conditioning, lighting, computers/equipment, locations of unnecessary airconditioning and lighting due to unoccupied areas and efficiencies of equipment and machine and the areas of high energy consumption and the possibility to reduce consumption, PEA (2010).

This is concerned with the  energy efficiency improvement in commercial banks buildings.

1.2    Statement of the Problem

There is little or no thoughtfulness with regards to energy performance in buildings in this country, even with large commercial buildings. The result doubtless is energy waste with its attendant cost implications (Sambo 2001). Building system and appliance were listed by world’s energy council among the seven areas of potentials energy efficiency opportunities (ECN 2017).This study conducts an energy audit of selected commercial banks in Zaria with a view to identifying areas of improvement.

Improving energy performance and conservation are essential to achieving environmental sustainability. They are the simplest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution such as acid rain and smog.

1.3    Justification of the Study

Most commercial operations outfit have over the years complained of high cost of energy while conventional electricity supplies are dwindling and previously secured electricity sources are becoming questionable. Wastage and inappropriate usage of  energy have been identified as one of the major problems of physical facility management in commercial offices in Nigeria (ECN, 2017).Over the years, energy requirements in buildings for increasing number of services have increased thus making power supply distribution to undergo rapid development (DOE, 2010).  Public interest in energy performance has increased as everyone has become more aware of the need to reduce global environmental pollution and promote sustainable development. Building energy experts have a professional responsibility and an economic incentive to inform themselves of these issues so that they are ready for business opportunities, which come their way and can, tell clients about cost effective ways of improving their building’s energy performance. Saving energy also reduces emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal contributor to climate change, and other gases causing acid rain and air pollution.

According to EPA (2010), lighting accounts for more than 40% of commercial sector electricity consumption in the United States. Lighting programs to date have achieved tremendous savings through lamp and ballast replacements. Largely through the success of these efforts, energy-efficient T8 lamps and electronic ballasts, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and light-emitting diode (LED) exist signs have become standard practice in some regions for fluorescent lighting in new buildings and most lighting retrofits (Philips,2011).

1.4     Aim and Objectives

1.4.1 Aim

The aim is to study the energy consumption pattern and propose  energy performance programme for commercial bank buildings, with a view to decreasing  energy costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

1.4.2 Objectives

The objectives are:

  1. Articulate energy performance concepts especially in commercial buildings.

ii.Evaluate energy consumption patterns and occupants behaviour in commercial bank buildings.

iii.Develop an energy efficiency programme for the commercial bank buildings.

1.5    Statement of Research Hypothesis/ Questions

1.5.1 Hypothesis

The study Hypothesizes that energy consumption patterns and practice are the same for all the bank buildings in Zaria.

1.5.2 Research Questions

  1. Are there discrepancies between the measured energy consumption and that specified by manufacturers in commercial buildings?
  2. What is the advantage of using modern appliance over an old one in terms of energy consumption in commercial buildings?

1.6    Scope and Limitations

1.6.1 Scope of the project

The scope of this work is to study and identify how  energy is being used in some commercial buildings (Banks) within Zaria metropolis, carry out overall energy audit on building systems equipment and propose energy efficiency and cost saving measures.

1.6.2 Limitations

This study was carried out among some selected banks in Zaria Local Government Area. This is as a result of restricted access to most of the bank buildings more so, the energy audit process applied was a desk-based process, which used historical data such as meter readings and utility bills as well as computation of physical electricity end use data. This is due to limited resources and lack of sophisticated measuring and monitoring equipment.

1.7     Thesis Outline

This thesis contains five chapters, each of which is complimentary to the other. The chapters are briefly summarized below.

Chapter one contains of the introduction or the overview of this project, the problem statement of this project, the objectives of the project, the scopes of the project and the outline of this thesis for every chapter.

Chapter Two contains all the literatures review. This chapter explains the information about the article that related to the project design and the research on energy efficiency that is done by other researchers. The chapter also describes the journals and others important information regarding this project.

Chapter three is the chapter which describes the methodology of the project. This chapter explains in detail all the procedures and process that were carried out to arrive at the results.

Chapter four discusses the result and the analysis for this project. This chapter explains on the results and analysis of the project. The analysis includes the existing system and the improved on proposed system. Both values are compared to justify the theory.

Chapter five gives the Summary, and the conclusion of the project. It also includes the recommendation of the project.

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