Optimization of a university timetable considering building energy efficiency: An approach based on the building controls virtual test bed platform using a genetic algorithm

Sun, Yongkai; Liu, Xiaojun

doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2020.102095

Cited by 25 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This huge energy saving may have been caused by the reduced hours of building equipment operation. Previous studies have pointed out that building services such as air conditioning account for a large proportion of energy use in higher education buildings [15] . At Griffith University, the HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning) systems in some types of buildings, such as academic buildings, administration buildings, teaching buildings and retail buildings, was shut down for a couple of weeks (usually from 2 to 13 weeks) during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, previous studies have all indicated that appropriate changes in occupancy conditions can save energy. However, most of these studies were based on simulations [12] , [14] , [15] or hypothetical scenarios [10] ; there is a lack of real data to verify the energy-saving potential. In fact, most existing studies on energy saving in higher educational institutions have been based on two approaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to policy transformations relating to academic terms [21] and course timetable changes [12] , [15] , there are many other policies relating to future occupancy changes in higher educational institutions. Future campus predictions have become a hot topic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of COVID-19 on higher education building energy use and implications for future education building energy studies

Gui

Gou

Zhang

et al. 2021

Energy and Buildings

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Although COVID-19 has significantly changed the higher educational sector, there are few studies revealing how this pandemic has changed the energy use of higher education buildings. This study was conducted not only to disclose the energy use change under COVID-19 but also to identify the corresponding facilities management strategies for future learning and teaching delivery modes under virtual campuses. This study collected the energy use data of 122 buildings across five campuses in Griffith University, located in Southeast Queensland, Australia, during the COVID-19 academic year (February 17, 2020, to February 21, 2021) and during a typical normal academic year (February 18, 2019, to February 16, 2020) by PI Vision Platform, and compared the data using the t -test and multiple linear regression. The results indicated that learning and administration activities became off campus during the pandemic, while research activities remained on campus. During the COVID-19 academic year, an amount of 9,646,933 kWh energy or around 24.88 kWh/m 2 of energy use intensity was saved, which accounted for 16% of the total energy use per academic year. Specifically, the shutting down of air conditioning in academic buildings, administration buildings, retail buildings and teaching buildings during COVID-19 saved 4,566 kWh (1.13 kWh/m 2 ), 966 kWh (0.8 kWh/m 2 ), 1,472 kWh (1.4 kWh/m 2 ) and 860 kWh (1.3 kWh/m 2 ) of electricity use per week, respectively, which accounted for 51.5%, 44.3%, 48.3% and 57.1% of total energy use per week during this period, respectively. Based on this analysis and the changing educational environment, this study also speculated on the energy implications of future teaching and learning practices, which provided guidance to the facilities management under virtual campuses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of COVID-19 on higher education building energy use and implications for future education building energy studies

Gui

Gou

Zhang

et al. 2021

Energy and Buildings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Within the building sector, educational buildings worldwide have evidenced high energy consumption. For instance, university buildings in the USA account for about 13% of the total building energy consumption, with teaching buildings being key drivers of this due to their schedules and occupancy densities [10]. Similarly, in China, Liu and Ren reported that colleges and universities use 8% of the total energy consumed by Chinese society [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Performance and Benchmarking for University Classrooms in Hot and Humid Climates

2021

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In this paper, the energy performance of a university campus in a tropical climate is assessed, and four mixed classroom buildings are compared using benchmarking methods based on simple normalization: the classic Energy Use Intensity (EUI), end-used based EUI, and people-based EUI. To estimate the energy consumption of the case studies, building energy simulations were carried out in EnergyPlus using custom inputs. The analysis found that buildings with more classroom spaces presented higher energy consumption for cooling and lighting than others. In comparison, buildings with a greater percentage of laboratories and offices exhibited higher energy consumption for plug loads. Nevertheless, differences were identified when using the people-based EUI since buildings with larger floor areas showed the highest values, highlighting the impact of occupant behavior on energy consumption. Given the fact that little is known about a benchmark range for university campuses and academic buildings in hot and humid climates, this paper also provides a comparison against the EUIs reported in the literature for both cases. In this sense, the identified range for campuses was 49–367 kWh/m2/year, while for academic buildings, the range was 47–628 kWh/m2/year. Overall, the findings of this study could contribute to identifying better-targeted energy efficiency strategies for the studied buildings in the future by assessing their performance under different indicators and drawing a benchmark to compare similar buildings in hot and humid climates.

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“…The lighting and other devices were scheduled accordingly. The HVAC operation was implemented in the BCVTB platform, in which the developed controller interacted with the ENERGYPLUS model [19,20]. In this case, the building model in ENERGYPLUS was packed as a module and interacted with the BCVTB environment.…”

Section: Joint Modeling By Energyplus and Bcvtbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Energy Compensation for Building Energy Saving with Thermal Comfort in a Cold Climate

et al. 2022

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This paper proposes an energy-saving strategy with assistance from solar thermal compensation for building energy systems. The target of the control strategy was to minimize energy consumption under thermal comfort constraints in buildings. First, the factors influential to indoor temperature in building environments were analyzed. Secondly, the internal and external factors, such as building materials; building orientation; window size; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) facilities; blinding device; solar irradiation; wind speed; and outdoor temperature were used to construct a building model on the platform ENERGYPLUS (E+). A controller aiming to regulate the amount of solar irradiation was developed with the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) tool. Afterward, the building performance under different strategies was tested by co-simulation using both the computational platforms, E+ and BCVTB. The optimum scheme achieved 30.6% energy savings while meeting the same comfort criterion of its competition strategy. The study verified that the proposed strategy of combined heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and blind control could realize the energy savings and comfort satisfaction at the same time. The proposed method provides a reference to the development of low-/zero-energy building concepts in the field.

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Optimization of a university timetable considering building energy efficiency: An approach based on the building controls virtual test bed platform using a genetic algorithm

Cited by 25 publications

References 33 publications

The impact of COVID-19 on higher education building energy use and implications for future education building energy studies

The impact of COVID-19 on higher education building energy use and implications for future education building energy studies

Energy Performance and Benchmarking for University Classrooms in Hot and Humid Climates

Solar Energy Compensation for Building Energy Saving with Thermal Comfort in a Cold Climate

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