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Energy balance framework for Net Zero Energy buildings
Citation:
Srinivazan, R., W. Braham, D. Campbell, AND C. Curcija. Energy balance framework for Net Zero Energy buildings. In Proceedings, IEEE Winter Simulation Conference, Phoeniz, AZ, December 11 - 14, 2011. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Incorporated (IEEE), Piscataway, NJ, 3360-3372, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
This paper could change the way that building construction and design are carried out. For the first time it proposes a quantitative criterion to establish the potential for the sustainable use of energy and materials in the building process carried out within the existing constraints imposed by the best available technologies. A renewable emergy balance over the life cycle of a building (the USEPA, ORD, NHEERL, AED facility) was calculated to show how the sustainability of this structure might be improved through the substitution of more renewable for less renewable materials during the regularly scheduled maintenance cycle of the building. The insights and methods put forward in this paper are generally applicable to any building design and construction process.
Description:
Approaching a Net Zero Energy (NZE) building goal based on current definitions is flawed for two principal reasons - they only deal with energy quantities required for operations, and they do not establish a threshold, which ensures that buildings are optimized for reduced consumption before renewable systems are integrated to obtain an energy balance. This paper develops a method to maximize renewable resource use through emergy (spelled with an “m”) analysis. A “Renewable Emergy Balance” (REB) in environ-mental building design is proposed as a tool to maximize renewable resource use through disinvestment of all non-renewable resources that may be substituted with renewable resources. REB buildings attain a high standing by optimizing building construction over their entire life-span from formation-extraction-manufacturing to maintenance and operation, and material reuse at the end of building life-time.
