Buildings are one of the largest energy consumers in the United States. K-12 schools are responsible for nearly 8% of energy consumption by commercial buildings which is 1.4% of total annual energy consumption in the country. Understanding the baseline energy consumption of the schools and identifying effective energy efficiency measures (EEMs) that result in significant energy savings without compromising occupant's comfort are essential factors in moving towards a sustainable future. In a collaboration between Florida Institute of Technology and Brevard Public Schools, three schools are identified for a test study in Melbourne, FL, representing the humid subtropical climate. Energy audit is conducted for these schools and monthly utility bill data as well as background information, end-user's data and their associated operating schedules are obtained. A detailed analysis is performed on the utility bill data and energy consumption by each end-user is estimated. Several EEMs are considered and evaluated to achieve an improved energy efficiency for the schools. The implementation cost of each EEM and the associated simple payback period is also determined. A study is also conducted to explore possibility of using solar power to cover 50% of energy requirements of each school and the cost and payback period of the project are evaluated. The paper provides insights regarding prioritizing energy efficiency projects in K-12 schools in humid subtropical climates and particularly the state of Florida and help with decision making regarding investment in on-site power generation using solar energy.
Energy costs are the second highest operational expense for K-12 schools in the United States. Improving energy efficiency and moving towards sustainable school buildings not only result in substantial cost savings and reduction of environmental emissions, but also provides an opportunity to enhance students’ awareness regarding energy, environment, and sustainability. Effective tools and techniques that provide thorough understanding of energy consumption in school buildings are valuable to school districts by helping them with prioritizing energy efficiency projects. In the present paper, a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network model is developed for estimating monthly energy consumption of K-12 schools in Brevard County, Florida. The inputs to the network are considered as number of occupants, days of operation per months, building’s area, average monthly outdoor dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity, as well as the month’s number and the output from the network is monthly energy consumption. Various network topologies are considered and tested to achieve the optimal configuration for the network. The selected network is successfully trained using three years of energy consumption data for 25 schools in Brevard County, FL (high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools). The results showed that the developed neural network model is capable of accurate estimation of monthly energy consumption of schools. The network tested and validated using the data from schools which were not included in the training dataset and the errors between the known values and estimated values for monthly energy consumptions are evaluated and discussed. Although the current study covers one particular school district (Brevard county) in a given climate zone (2a-hot and humid), the developed approach can be extended to incorporate various climate zones and serve as an effective tool for school energy conservation managers. The end user may obtain a clear idea of the energy consumption of the school building and how it compares against other buildings within the same category and climate zone, with minimum input data required.
Buildings are one of the largest energy consumers in the United States. K-12 schools are responsible for nearly 8% of energy consumption by commercial buildings which is equivalent to 1.44% of total annual energy consumption in the country. Understanding the baseline energy consumption of the schools as well as identifying effective energy efficiency measures (EEMs) that result in significant energy savings without compromising occupant’s comfort in a given climate condition are essential factors in moving towards a sustainable future. In a collaboration between Florida Institute of Technology and Brevard Public Schools, three schools are identified for a test study in Melbourne, FL, representing the humid subtropical climate. Energy audit is conducted for these schools and monthly utility bill data as well as background information, end-user’s data and their associated operating schedules are obtained. A detailed analysis is performed on the utility bill data and energy consumption by each end-user is estimated. Several EEMs are considered and evaluated to achieve an improved energy efficiency for the schools. The implementation cost of each EEM and the associated simple payback period is also determined. A study is also conducted to explore possibility of using solar power to cover 50% of energy requirements of each school and the cost and payback period of the project are evaluated. The results of this paper provide insights regarding prioritizing energy efficiency projects in K-12 schools in humid subtropical climates and particularly the state of Florida and help with decision making regarding investment in on-site power generation using solar energy.
Combined cooling, heating and power generation (CCHP) systems can be utilized for commercial or multi-family residential buildings as efficient and reliable means to satisfy building power requirements and thermal loads. In the present paper, a CCHP system consist of a Bryton cycle, an Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and an absorption Ammonia-water cycle is considered. A detailed model is developed via MATLAB to assess the performance of the considered cycle from energy, exergy and economic perspectives. Appropriate ranges for inputs are considered and the first law efficiency, second law efficiency and ECOP of the cycle are determined as 77.17%, 33.18% and 0.31 respectively for the given inputs. Exergy destruction rates are found to be greatest primarily in the generator and the absorber of refrigeration cycle followed by the combustion chamber. The total exergy destruction rate in the system is found as 5311.51 kW. The exergoeconomic analysis is performed using SPECO approach to evaluate cost flow rate equations of the complete system and its individual components. Summation of capital investment cost rates and cost rates associated with the exergy destruction for the whole system is found as $18.245 per hour. A parametric study is also performed to provide an understanding on the effect of total pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature of ORC on the performance of the system.
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