Regresar

Analysis and Evaluation of Energy Efficiency in Buildings Based on Building Information Modeling

Abstract:

Nowadays the world is facing many challenges in energy matters, one of them is the improvement of energy efficiency, because the most consumed energy resources are non-renewable and due to the increment of world energy power. One of the sectors with great growth in energy demand is buildings; therefore, there is great interest in studying and analyzing possible improvements in energy efficiency in existing buildings, to consume less energy without altering the comfort and activities of their users. Through simulation tools, this investigation presents an analysis and evaluation of the energy efficiency of an operational educational building located in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Parameters such as orientation, type of walls, floors, roofing, windows, doors, and hours of operation are considered through solar analysis, construction materials, and atmospheric data. For this purpose, a survey of the building is carried out, in which some parameters are defined for a subsequent 3D modeling using Revit (Building Information Modeling (BIM) software), and then the passive constructive characteristics of the building are parameterized by performing an analysis of energy using Insight 360 software, and efficient energy simulation scenarios with new construction materials are proposed with the Green Building Studio (GBS) analysis software. The results show that the analyzed building consumes 1,257,207 kWh per year and 1,177,474 kWh is achieved with the best efficient scenario, that is, an annual saving of 6.34% that represents $ 7175.00 and avoiding the emission of 834,455 kg of greenhouse gases. These results have been compared with similar educational building energy analysis, where the reduction in energy consumption and electricity bill is around 6–22%; therefore, the results of this study are in the lower limit of this range, and a deeper and more specific analysis might be necessary for future work. This study and methodology can be considered as a baseline in the country for the design and construction of new eco-friendly buildings with greater energy efficiency.