NEED OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS

Demand for energy is increasing fast day by day and is likely to increase in
tune with industrialization/ urbanization.
The building sector being one of the largest consumers of energy, has
gained prominence over the past few decades.
45% of total global energy is used in heating, cooling and lighting of
building.
5% energy is used in building construction.
In India energy used for air conditioning of commercial buildings accounts
for 32% of the total energy consumption in the commercial sector in 1995.
Energy consumption patterns can be substantially reduced by energy
conserving measures, particularly during the phase of building design.
Space heating load can be reduced by about 50%, when economically-viable
insulating measures are applied to the building envelopes, i.e. to ceiling and
walls.

ENERGY CRISIS IN INDIA

An energy crisis is any great bottleneck (or price rise) in the supply
of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of
the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply
national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles
The South Asian subcontinent, which is in fierce competition with other major powers in
Asia such as Japan, China and South Korea, faces shortages of coal, oil and natural
gas. To make the situation even worse, most of its oil import comes from nearby Iran, a
focus point of international political turmoil.

While there are natural deposits of oil on the Indian subcontinent, domestic production
is not sufficient for the estimated 1.2 billion people of the country that consists of 28
states. The energy demand of the economy is increasing at a rapid pace, in fact, it is
growing exponentially. In 2011, India spent 41% more on fossil fuel imports than in the
previous year. Yet, at stake is India's ability to bring electricity to 400 million of its
citizens as well as a number of big cities, centers of bustling business life.

Another serious situation was encountered when coal stocks in 32 power plants were so
low that for a period of seven days two dozen plants were running at less than 60%
capacity. As a result, several high-profile investment projects had to be deferred until
some blurred dates in the future. In addition to the partial paralysis of cities and the
failure to launch industrial investment projects, rural regions also suffer from the energy
crisis. In certain areas, essential medicines that need cooling are not available at all,
due to disruptions to power supply. Moreover, irrigation pumps stopped working.

The Indian economy with its earlier dynamic growth projections experiences a dramatic
slowdown at the moment. Also, initiated reforms have stopped. And the potential
advantage of decreasing world market prices of crude oil has been absorbed by lower
rupee exchange rates.

EMBODIED ENERGY OF MATERIALS

Embodied energy is the total energy required for the extraction, processing,
manufacture and delivery of building materials to the building site. Energy
consumption produces CO2, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions,
so embodied energy is considered an indicator of the overall environmental
impact of building materials and systems.
Unlike the life cycle assessment, which evaluates all of the impacts over the
whole life of a material or element, embodied energy only considers the
front-end aspect of the impact of a building material. It does not include the
operation or disposal of materials.

TROMBE WALL

A Trombe wall is a passive solar building technique where a wall is built on the winter
sun side of a building with a glass external layer and a high heat capacity internal layer
separated by a layer of air. Heat in close to UV spectrum passes through the glass
almost unhindered then is absorbed by the wall that then re-radiates in the far infrared
spectrum which does not pass back through the glass easily, hence heating the inside
of the building. Trombe walls are commonly used to absorb heat during sunlit hours of
winter then slowly release the heat over night. The essential idea was first explored
by Edward S. Morse and patented by him in 1881.[1] In the 1960s it was fully developed
as an architectural element by French engineer Flix Trombe and architect Jacques
Michel.[2][3]
Trombe walls work on the basic greenhouse principle that heat from the sun in the form
of near-visible shorter-wavelength higher-energy ultraviolet radiation passes through
glass largely unimpeded.

DAYLIGHT FACTOR

A daylight factor is the ratio of internal light level to external light level and is defined as follows:

DF = (Ei / Eo) x 100%

where, Ei = illuminance due to daylight at a point on the indoors working plane, Eo =
simultaneous outdoor illuminance on a horizontal plane from an unobstructed hemisphere of
overcast sky.
There are three paths along which light can reach a point inside a room through a glazed window,
rooflight, or aperture, as follows:

Direct light from a patch of sky visible at the point considered, known as the sky component
(SC),

Light reflected from an exterior surface and then reaching the point considered, known as
the externally reflected component (ERC),

Light entering through the window but reaching the point only after reflection from an internal
surface, known as the internally reflected component (IRC).

The sum of the three components gives the illuminance level (lux) at the point considered:

Lux = SC + ERC + IRC

TYPES OF SUNSHADING DEVICES

SOLAR HEAT GAIN IN BUILDINGS
Solar gain is short wave radiation from the sun that heats a building, either directly through an
opening such as a window, or indirectly through the fabric of the building. Solar design (orpassive solar

design) is an aspect of passive building design that focusses on maximising the use of heat energy
from solar radiation.
Solar gain is a particularly effective form of passive heating as radiation from the sun is predominately
short-wave infrared radiation which is able to pass through glazing and heat the internal fabric of the
building. The long-wave infrared radiation that is re-radiated by the heated fabric of the building is not
able to pass back out through the glazing. This results in heat accumulating in the interior, sometimes
referred to as the greenhouse effect. See Thermal optical properties for more information.
Very broadly, solar gain can be beneficial in cooler climates when it can be used as a passive way
of heating buildings. However, too much solar gain can cause overheating and for this reason, Part
L of the UK building regulations places restrictions on the amount of glazing that can be used in
buildings. Overheating as a result of solar gains can be a particular problem in warmer climates.
However, the situation is complicated by the variation in conditions throughout the day and year which
can mean that solar gain can be beneficial in the morning and evening, or during the winter, but can be
problematic during the middle of the day or in the summer.
Relatively straight-forward design solutions such as brise soleil can be used to allow low-level winter sun
to enter a building, but to shade higher, summer sun. Other solutions, such as planting deciduous trees in
front of windows can be effective as leaf cover in the summer will shade glazing from solar radiation,
whereas in the winter sunlight is able to pass between the bare branches and enter the building.

NON CONVENTIONAL SOURCE OF ENERGY

Energy generated by using wind, tides, solar, geothermal heat, and biomass including farm and
animal waste as well as human excreta is known as non-conventional energy. All these sources are
renewable or inexhaustible and do not cause environmental pollution. More over they do not require
heavy expenditure.
1. Wind Energy:
Wind power is harnessed by setting up a windmill which is used for pumping water, grinding grain
and generating electricity. The gross wind power potential of India is estimated to be about 20,000

MW, wind power projects of 970 MW capacities were installed till March. 1998. Areas with
constantly high speed preferably above 20 km per hour are well-suited for harnessing wind energy.
2. Tidal Energy:
Sea water keeps on rising and falling alternatively twice a day under the influence of gravitational
pull of moon and sun. This phenomenon is known as tides. It is estimated that India possesses
8000-9000 MW of tidal energy potential. The Gulf of Kuchchh is best suited for tidal energy.
3. Solar Energy:
Sun is the source of all energy on the earth. It is most abundant, inexhaustible and universal source
of energy. AH other sources of energy draw their strength from the sun. India is blessed with plenty
of solar energy because most parts of the country receive bright sunshine throughout the year except
a brief monsoon period. India has developed technology to use solar energy for cooking, water
heating, water dissimilation, space heating, crop drying etc.
4. Geo-Thermal Energy:
Geo-thermal energy is the heat of the earth's interior. This energy is manifested in the hot springs.
India is not very rich in this source,
5. Energy from Biomass:
Biomass refers to all plant material and animal excreta when considered as an energy source. Some
important kinds of biomass are inferior wood, urban waste, bagasse, farm animal and human waste.
Importance of non-conventional sources of energy:
1. The non-conventional sources of energy are abundant in nature. According to energy experts the
non-conventional energy potential of India is estimated at about 95,000 MW.
2. These are renewable resources. The non-conventional sources of energy can be renewed with
minimum effort and money.
3. Non-conventional sources of energy are pollution-free and eco-friendly

BREEAM
BREEAM is the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating
system for buildings, with 425,000 buildings with certified BREEAM

assessment ratings and two million registered for assessment since it was
first launched in 1990.
BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and
operation and has become one of the most comprehensive and widely recognised measures of a
building's environmental performance. It encourages designers, clients and others to think about low
carbon and low impact design, minimising the energy demands created by a building before considering
energy efficiency and low carbon technologies.
A BREEAM assessment uses recognised measures of performance, which are set against established
benchmarks, to evaluate a buildings specification, design, construction and use. The measures used
represent a broad range of categories and criteria from energy to ecology. They include aspects related to
energy and water use, the internal environment (health and well-being), pollution, transport, materials,
waste, ecology and management processes

PASSIVE SOLAR COOLING

Passive cooling is a building design approach that focuses on heat gain control and heat
dissipation in a building in order to improve the indoor thermal comfort with low or nil energy
consumption.[1][2] This approach works either by preventing heat from entering the interior (heat gain
prevention) or by removing heat from the building (natural cooling). Natural cooling utilizes on-site
energy, available from the natural environment, combined with the architectural design of building
components (e.g. building envelope), rather than mechanical systems to dissipate heat.[3] Therefore,
natural cooling depends not only on the architectural design of the building but how it uses the local
site natural resources as heat sinks (i.e. everything that absorbs or dissipates heat). Examples of onsite heat sinks are the upper atmosphere (night sky), the outdoor air (wind), and the earth/soil.
Passive cooling covers all natural processes and techniques of heat dissipation and modulation
without the use of energy.[1] Some authors consider that minor and simple mechanical systems
(e.g. pumps and economizers) can be integrated in passive cooling techniques, as long they are
used to enhance the effectiveness of the natural cooling process. [4] Such applications are also called
hybrid cooling systems. [1] The techniques for passive cooling can be grouped in two main
categories:

Preventative techniques that aims to provide protection and/or prevention of external and
internal heat gains.

Modulation and heat dissipation techniques allow the building to store and dissipate heat
gain through the transfer of heat from heat sinks to the climate. This technique can be the result
of thermal mass or natural cooling.

The efficiency of the building envelope can be maximised in a number of ways to

minimise heat gain:

shading windows, walls and roofs from direct solar radiation

using lighter coloured roofs to reflect heat

using insulation and buffer zones to minimise conducted and radiated heat gains

making selective or limited use of thermal mass to avoid storing daytime heat
gains.

To maximise heat loss, use the following natural sources of cooling:

air movement

cooling breezes

evaporation

earth coupling

reflection of radiation.

IGBC

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was formed in the year 2001.
The vision of the council is to usher in a green building movement in India and facilitate India to become one of the
global leaders in green buildings by 2010.
A green building is one which uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier for
the people living inside compared to a standard building.
Energy saving to the extent of 30 - 40 % right from day one

Enhanced indoor air quality

Higher productivity of occupants

Potable watersaving to the tune of 20% - 30%

Enhanced day light & Ventilation

USGBC
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by current CEO Rick Fedrizzi, Mike
Italiano, and David Gottfried in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization
that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built, and operated. USGBC is best
known for its development of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green

building rating systems and its annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, the worlds
largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. USGBC was one of eight national councils
that helped found the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), of which USGBC CEO Rick
Fedrizzi is the current chair, in 1999.[1]
Through its partnership with the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), USGBC offers a suite
of LEED professional credentials that denote expertise in the field of green building. USGBC
incentivizes LEED certification by awarding extra certification points to building projects completed
with a LEED-certified professional on staff.[2]

EARTHWORM
An earthworm is a tube-shaped, segmented worm found in the phylum Annelida. They are
commonly found living in soil, feeding on live and dead organic matter. Its digestive system runs
through the length of its body. It conducts respiration through its skin. An earthworm has a double
transport system composed of coelomic fluid that moves within the fluid-filled coelom and a simple,
closed blood circulatory system. It has a central and a peripheral nervous system. The central
nervous system consists of two ganglia above the mouth, one on either side, connected to a nerve
cord running back along its length to motor neurons and sensory cells in each segment. Large
numbers of chemoreceptors are concentrated near its mouth. Circumferential and longitudinal
muscles on the periphery of each segment enable the worm to move. Similar sets of muscles line
the gut, and their actions move the digesting food toward the worm's anus. [2]
Earthworms are hermaphroditeseach individual carries both male and female sex organs. They
lack either an internal skeleton orexoskeleton, but maintain their structure with fluid-filled coelom
chambers that function as a hydrostatic skeleton.

EARTH AIR TUNNELS

Although, this technique is essentially used for cooling the air in Hot and dry
climates, it can also be used for winter heating. Earth- air tunnels may be
considered as special types of wind towers connected to an underground
tunnel. The cooling process is based on the fact that the temperature a few
meters below the ground is almost constant throughout the year. A wind tower
is connected to the underground tunnel, which runs from the bottom of the
wind tower to the basement of the building. The wind tower catches the wind
which is forced down the tower into the tunnel. The temperature of the tunnel,

being lower than that of the ambient temperature, cools the air before it is
circulated into the living space. In winter, the temperature of the air tunnel is
higher than the ambient temperature and hence warms the air passing
through it.
Sensible cooling can b aided by evaporative cooling. To reduce the
underground temperature, the ground can be shaded using vegetation and
can be wetted by sprinkling water. This water seeps through and dampens the
tunnel walls. Consequently, air from the tunnel is evaporatively cooled as it
passes through the tunnel. Another variation possible is to use buried pipes
instead in place of tunnel.
WIND TOWER
A windcatcher is an architectural device used for many centuries to create natural ventilation in buildings.
The function of this tower is to catch cooler breeze that prevail at a higher level above the ground and to
direct it into the interior of the buildings. It is not known who first invented the windcatcher, although some
claim it originated in Iran and it can be seen in. Windcatchers come in various designs, such as the unidirectional, bi-directional, and multi-directional. Examples of windcatchers can be found in traditional Persian
influenced architecture throughout the Middle East , Pakistan and Afghanistan. Central Iran has a very large
day-night temperature difference, ranging from cool to extremely hot, and the air tends to be very dry all
day long. Most buildings are constructed of very thick ceramics with extremely high insulation values.
Furthermore, towns centered on desert oases tend to be packed very closely together with high walls and
ceilings relative to Western architecture, maximizing shade at ground level. The heat of direct sunlight is
minimized with small windows that do not face the sun.

EXTERNAL &INTERNAL HEAT GAIN/LOSS IN BUILDINGS

Just as the human body has heat exchange processes with the environment,
the building can be similarly considered as a defined unit and its heat
exchange processes with the outdoor environment can be examined. Heat
energy tends to distribute itself evenly until a perfectly diffused uniform
thermal field is achieved. Heat tends to flow from higher temperatures to lower
temperature zones by conduction, convection and radiation. The rate of heat
flow by any of these three forms is determined by the temperature difference
between the two zones or areas considered. The greater the temperature
difference, the faster the rate of heat flow.
The equations and the calculations methods given below are valid only when
both the out-door and indoor temperature are constant. Such static conditions
do not occur in the nature, and hence the assumption of the steady state
conditions is a simplification. Calculations based on steady state assumptions
are useful to determine the maximum rate of heat loss or gain and also for
establishing the cooling or heating load for mechanical installations.
Figure illustrates the following: Qi + Qs +- Qc +- Qv +- Qm -Qe = 0

Thermal balance i.e. the existing thermal condition is maintained if the sum of
the above equation is zero. If the sum of this equation is less than zero
(negative), the building will be cooling and if more than zero, the temperature
in the building will increase.

ENERGY SHADING DEVICES

Exterior shading devices such as overhangs and vertical fins have a number of
advantages that contrib - ute to a more sustainable building. First, exterior shading
devices result in energy savings by reducing direct solar gain through windows. By
using exterior shading devices with less expensive glazings, it is sometimes possible
to obtain per - formance equivalent to unshaded higher performance glazings. A sec
- ond benefit is that peak electricity demand is also reduced by exterior shading
devices resulting in lower peak demand charges from utilities and reduced
mechanical equip - ment costs.
Application
The most successful applications of external shading devices are medium to large
office buildings where economies of scale provide more cost effective solutions. In
temperate climates external shades are more likely to be already well integrated
into the design, but with increasing energy costs these solutions are being used in
more northerly locations. Designers who may be predisposed to the architectural
merits of external shades may be able to promote these shades on the basis of
their benefits to building mechanical system design.
External shading devices should be designed to be durable and, if possible, to be of
recyclable components.
Care should be taken to integrate the design with the glazing and/or curtain wall
design. It is recommended to include the sunshade design responsibility with the
curtain wall or glazing specification in order to preserve the integrity of the
respective warranties. Consideration should also be given to ensure that the window
washing process is not adversely affected by the sunshades. Other design
considerations should include seismic and snow loading.