Assessment of operational carbon emission reduction potential of green building technologies

Abstract

The concept of green building plays an important role in carbon emission reduction. This paper focuses on the energy conservation in the building operational phase to assess the carbon emission reduction potential of several major green building technologies. Energy use intensity is simulated using EnergyPlus with prototypical models of various green building scenarios for office buildings and hotels in Shanghai and Harbin. The carbon emission factor is calculated according to the energy structure in the building sector in China. Results shows that passive technologies such as daylighting and natural ventilation can bring significant reductions in carbon emissions followed by retrofitting of building envelopes and energy efficiency improvement of HVAC equipment. Covering all green building technologies considered, the total operational carbon emission reduction rate can reach nearly 19% for office buildings and 25% for hotels.