Study on Energy Consumption and Energy Saving Measures in Shanghai

Analysis on Campus Energy Consumption and Energy Saving Measures in Cold Region of China

Urban residential energy switching in China between 1980 and 2014 prevents 2.2 million premature deaths

Energy consumption and efficiency technology measures in European non-residential buildings

China’s economy adopts an extensive growth method. This economic growth method relies on resource input, which consumes huge energy and causes excessive pressure on resources and the environment. The economic growth rate of Fujian Province ranks among the highest in the country in recent years, and its energy consumption is still on the high side. Industrial enterprises, especially the manufacturing industry, account for the majority of energy consumption. In order to ensure the sustainable development of enterprises and society, the government needs to make plans for energy conservation and consumption reduction, policy support and enterprise energy conservation and consumption reduction measures to promote energy conservation and consumption reduction in the whole society, and strive to achieve coordinated development of economic growth and environmental protection.

Energy saving and the development of renewable energies already form part of the daily discourse in our society. Climate change and the environmental problems arising from it affect all of us on the planet. In view of the recent energy supply crisis in Europe and in line with the EU's Sustainable Development Goals, it is necessary to accelerate the ecological transition. This means, among many other things, encouraging energy efficiency and energy savings. This research is based on the EURONET 50/50 max project, which applied a methodology with no upfront capital outlay, but based on changing user habits to save energy in educational buildings. It was carried out in twelve educational centres of the Spínola Foundation throughout Spain. Significant reductions in energy and water consumption were achieved. The maximum reduction obtained in water consumption was 29%, 24% in electricity consumption and 33% in heating consumption. The average reduction in consumption obtained was 13% compared to 11% achieved in the 50/50 max project. It was concluded that, on the journey to optimising our energy consumption, working on patterns of usage is fundamental, raising awareness and involving users in order to give rise to permanent processes over time, gradually reversing climate change.

Energy intensity is one of the most important energy feature that has a dramatic value in energy system of Iran. Indeed, Iran is one of the most energy intensive countries in the world and its main reason is related to high energy consumption in household section. In this article, we present a non-linear model that considers three scenarios in management of household energy demand reducing. Therefore, a rational percentage of energy consumption reduction in the household sector, which firstly eliminates the imbalance between energy production and consumption, and secondly, derives a rational amount of profit from various reduction scenarios, will be presented. The mentioned rational profits in this article are obtained from three scenarios. In the first scenario, it is assumed that the percentage reduction in household energy consumption will be allocated to reducing energy demand in the industrial sector, resulting in profits from value-added creation in this sector. In the second scenario, all benefits from reducing energy consumption in the household sector will be devoted to energy exports, yielding profits from this source. Finally, in the third scenario, the reduction in energy consumption will lead to a decrease in energy supply and consequently a reduction in energy supply costs. To conduct a comprehensive study, a combination of the mentioned scenarios has also been modeled and investigated. The model results indicate that with a 25% reduction in household energy consumption in the 2024-2034 timeframe, the energy imbalance will be eliminated, and allocating 5% of this reduction entirely to the industrial sector will result in profits equivalent to $164.18 billion. However, it should be noted that in the considered combined scenarios, the greater the share of the first scenario, the higher the resulting profit, and the optimal point is achieved in the first scenario.

As the building sector is a major contributor to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, there is a growing focus on achieving significant reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector. Energy consumption in buildings can be classified into embodied energy and operational energy. Studies have indicated that operational energy contributes to 80%–90% of the total life cycle energy in buildings while embodied energy only contributes to 10%–20%. Though several strategies have been implemented to reduce OE, there has not been enough attention on reducing embodied energy in buildings. Therefore, it is vital to conduct a study on reducing embodied energy in buildings. A comprehensive literature review was conducted by referring to books, reports, theses, journals, magazines, and conference proceedings to identify several practices for reducing embodied energy in buildings as well as barriers to moving towards low embodied energy in buildings. In conclusion, the study showed that reducing embodied energy in buildings is an essential step towards achieving significant reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector, and a concerted effort is needed to overcome the identified barriers and implement the identified practices.

The reality and future scenarios of commercial building energy consumption in China

This thesis explores the feasibility of converting the current New Zealand commercial building stock to Net Zero Energy (NZE). The analysis presented is grounded in real building performance and construction information. The goal was to establish results that are as realistic as possible to actual building performance. The Net Zero Energy Building (Net ZEB) concept is one of many low energy building movements that respond to the issues of climate change and energy security. The Net ZEB concept strives to reduce demand for energy and then to offset any residual energy consumption with non-CO2 emitting renewable energy technologies. The (re-)design focus for Net ZEBs is to reduce annual energy consumption to be equal to or less than any generated renewable energy. This is an important concept since approximately 40 percent of all energy and emissions worldwide are building related. If all buildings were designed and operated to be NZE, the existing energy can be used by other sectors which will increase energy security. Conversely, reducing the fossil fuel CO2 producing component of the energy consumed by buildings has the benefit of negating building’s contribution to climate change. The Net ZEB concept assumes each building is grid-connected, and balances the energy taken from the grid against the energy put back into the grid over a year. This study exploits the available synergies of the grid connection to achieve NZE for the whole building stock. Thus each individual building does not need to be NZE at the site, but they act as a community to reach NZE collectively. Furthermore, any grid-tied renewable energy does not need to be offset, only the non-renewable portion. A NZE target was calculated to determine the percentage reduction in current energy consumption needed before the current commercial building stock could be considered NZE. It was found that a 45 percent reduction in primary energy would offset all non-renewable CO2 emitting energy supply currently consumed by the New Zealand commercial building stock. Previous studies assessing whether converting an entire stock of commercial buildings to NZE is possible used prototypical building energy models. Prototypical models represent a hypothetical average building and have many assumptions about the way a building is operated. This thesis develops a method that takes a representative sample of real commercial buildings and makes calibrated energy models that can be aggregated to represent energy consumption for all commercial buildings in New Zealand. The developed calibration method makes use of as-built building information and a standardised procedure for identifying the inaccurate model inputs which need to be corrected for a building energy model to be calibrated. To further base the process in reality, a set of Energy Conservation Measures (ECM) that had been implemented in real Net ZEBs worldwide was adopted for the proposed retrofits. These ECMs were combined into Net ZEB solution sets for retrofitting the aggregated commercial building models. Optimisation of the Net ZEB solution sets was performed on hundreds of models to maximise energy savings. It took over six months for all of the optimisations to be completed. This thesis demonstrates the estimated New Zealand commercial building stock’s energy consumption based upon the calibrated energy models was robust by comparing it to an external estimate. It shows that NZE can be achieved by applying well understood Net ZEB solution sets to the New Zealand commercial building stock. 96 percent of the NZE goal is attainable just through demand reduction without the use of onsite renewable energy generation. The additional four percent of reduction required to meet NZE is easily attainable with onsite renewable generation. Another benefit is that the retrofitted commercial buildings will provide improved thermal comfort for the occupants. Having established NZE was possible, this thesis concludes with an analysis of the broader implications of achieving the NZE goal. It identifies the next step would be to design a NZE commercial building stock that reduces the stresses on the existing energy infrastructure. The Solution Set adopted was not developed with the interaction of the building and electrical grid in mind. To have a practical implementation of NZE will require costing and community prioritisation. This would be the next phase of work assessing nationwide NZE retrofit.

SUMMARY In order to solve the contradictions that the static input–output table cannot be used for dynamic analysis, this paper unified the 2002, 2005, and 2007 input–output tables into 25 industries. Full energy intensity and embodied energy of China's export trade can be calculated quantitatively based on input–output analysis approach. We can get the time series data of 2001–2009 through the corrections of energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product, consumer price index, and exchange rate, and then analyze the trends of energy consumption of key industries. The results show that full energy intensity of China's 25 industries takes on downward trend generally, and the embodied energy of China's export trade is increased firstly and then has a downward trend. Processing trade had great impact on full energy intensity and embodied energy after deducting the processing trade; full energy intensity and embodied energy had decreased greatly. Smelting and pressing of metals, manufacture of chemicals, manufacture of communication equipment, computers, and other electronic equipment, and manufacture of textile are the largest energy-consuming industries of export trade in China. The trends of energy consumption in these four industries are similar to the total energy consumption; changes in export trade is the main reason for this result. Full energy intensity has a certain influence on the trend of energy consumption, but the effect is limited. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The article is devoted to the study of trends in the development of the energy market of Ukraine, the analysis of key energy consumption targets and their compliance with current indicators of the functioning of the energy market in Ukraine and EU countries. The systematization of literary sources on the issues of reforming the energy market of Ukraine proved the absence of comprehensive studies on the compliance of its current energy policy with the goals and objectives declared by the European community and domestic legislation. The purpose of the article is to analyze the current trends in the development of the world energy market, to determine the place of Ukraine in these processes, to identify the most effective and efficient mechanisms for the transformation of the country's energy market, from the point of view of the possibility of their implementation in Ukraine in the conditions of war and post-war economic recovery. Based on the results of the analysis of the dynamics of the gap between the actual volumes of energy consumption in the EU countries and the targeted values of 2020 and 2030, it was concluded that the actual indicators do not correspond to the planned ones in most EU countries. Achieving the target value in 2030 requires a reduction of primary energy consumption by at least 16%, and final energy consumption by 14.4%, which is much higher than the average rate of decline of these indicators for the period 2000-2021. Based on a comparative analysis of trends in energy consumption in In Ukraine and the EU countries, it was concluded that the volume of primary energy consumption significantly exceeded the average European value. It has been proved that the significant decrease in the volumes of primary energy consumption in Ukraine in 2009 and 2015 is to a greater extent connected with the economic and political crises in the country, and not with the implementation of effective state measures aimed at reforming the energy market. Based on the results of the study, a conclusion about the need to reform the energy policy in Ukraine and EU countries by intensifying the processes of transition to renewable and relatively safe energy sources, reducing the amount of energy consumption in general, transition from electricity production from fossil fuels and nuclear energy to wind and solar photovoltaic energy was made.

Purpose The increasing energy consumption in residential buildings poses significant challenges to sustainability, economic efficiency, and environmental health. Despite the availability of numerous energy-saving strategies, their adoption remains inconsistent due to various barriers such as cost, awareness and technical limitations. This paper aims to assess energy-saving strategies mitigating high energy consumption in residential buildings. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative research methodology. A carefully developed study questionnaire was distributed to a group of 20 Delphi experts to collect quantitative data. These experts possess extensive experience in the areas of energy use, energy management and energy savings. The questionnaire was also issued to the end users to gather quantitative data. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Findings The study results indicate a strong preference for certain energy-saving measures, with energy-efficient appliances, occupant behavior adjustments and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system upgrades emerging as the most frequently adopted strategies. Measures such as installing smart thermostats and energy-efficient windows also ranked highly, reflecting their perceived effectiveness in reducing energy consumption. However, strategies like weatherizing buildings and using smart power strips were less frequently implemented, suggesting lower prioritization or barriers to adoption. The findings further emphasize the importance of HVAC-related maintenance and upgrades, highlighted by their top rankings and frequent use, while simpler actions, such as insulation and turning off lights, were ranked lower despite their potential for energy savings. Research limitations/implications The study’s limitations include reliance on self-reported data, potential bias in participant responses and a lack of consideration for contextual factors such as regional climate, socioeconomic conditions and technological access that may influence the adoption of energy-saving measures. Originality/value This research is distinctive in its integration of the Delphi method with questionnaires to holistically evaluate and assess energy-saving measures for reducing excessive energy use in residential structures. By integrating expert consensus with empirical data from diverse residential contexts, it provides a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of effective energy management practices.

INTRODUCTION: With the increasing global awareness of sustainable development and environmental protection, green building has become one of the important development directions in the construction industry. The application of sustainable type energy in the construction industry is of great significance in reducing building energy consumption and environmental pollution. This study aims to explore the application of sustainable types of energy and conduct research on energy consumption optimization. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyze the current situation of the application of sustainable types of energy in the construction industry, to explore its impact on the energy consumption of buildings, and to propose corresponding optimization strategies in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development of green buildings in China. METHODS: This study adopts a combination of literature review and case study; firstly, a literature review on the application of sustainable types of energy, sorting out its technical characteristics and application effects; then, several typical cases are selected to analyze its energy application and energy consumption in buildings; finally, relevant strategies and suggestions for optimizing the energy consumption are put forward by combining the results of the literature review and the case study. RESULTS: Through the literature review and case analysis, it is found that sustainable types of energy, such as solar energy and wind energy, have been widely used in buildings and achieved certain energy-saving effects. However, there are also some problems, such as inefficient energy utilization and high cost. To address these problems, this study proposes a series of optimization strategies, including suggestions for optimizing energy system design, improving energy utilization efficiency, and reducing energy costs. CONCLUSION: This study concludes that the application of sustainable types of energy in green buildings is an important way to optimize building energy consumption and sustainable development. Through measures such as optimizing energy system design and improving energy utilization efficiency, building energy consumption can be further reduced, environmental pollution can be reduced, and the development of the construction industry can be promoted. However, further research and practice are still needed to continuously improve relevant technologies and policies to promote the application and development of sustainable types of energy in buildings.

Energy Conservation Strategy Research for Residential Building Refurbishment in Urban area of China

• Introducing a novel feature value substitution methodology to simulate potential energy consumption savings for specific retrofit options. • Quantifying energy-savings on large-scale real-world data and solving data scarcity issues by introducing a feature value substitution methodology. • Providing a retrofit index to the research community that combines energy savings, carbon emission reduction, retrofit costs, and local subsidies into a comprehensible measurand. • Mitigating the uncertainty of homeowners and energy auditors in the decision-making process to identify the most suitable retrofit option for individual residential buildings. • Scenario analysis for different retrofit budgets and energy prices to identify the retrofit measure with the highest energy saving potential. The global building sector is one of the main contributors to annual global greenhouse gas emissions, yet homeowners remain hesitant regarding specific retrofit measures to reduce carbon emissions. This is unsurprising as the link between retrofits that reduce energy consumption and corresponding economic and ecological benefits remains elusive. Therefore, this study addresses the intersection of building energy performance, carbon emission reduction, and financial subsidies by quantifying expected energy savings based on specific energy-related retrofits with a real-world dataset containing 25,000 German residential buildings. The simulated energy savings for specific retrofit measures are based on a novel feature value substitution methodology and three sophisticated machine learning models, namely XGBoost, CatBoost, and LightGBM. This study then combines potential ecological gains, household investment budgets, and expected local governmental subsidies into a single informative yet comprehensible retrofit index to overcome the uncertainty regarding retrofits. The results show that glazing is the most impactful feature for potential energy savings of residential buildings, followed by heating system changes from oil to electric heating pumps. In contrast to the neglectable impact of better facade conditions on building energy performance, roof and wall insulation improvements lead to significantly lower energy consumption. This study underscores potential ecological savings of targeted retrofit measures and enables practitioners to cut expenses and reduce the associated financial risks.