Search

Abstract: This paper takes a close look at the China national standard GB50189-2005, Design Standard for Energy Efficiency of Public Buildings, which was enforced on July 1, 2005. The paper first reviews the standard, then compares the standard with ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 to identify discrepancies in code coverage and stringency, and recommends some energy conservation measures that can be evaluated in the design of public buildings to achieve energy savings beyond the standard. The paper also highlights several important features of 90.1-2004 that may be considered as additions to the GB50189-2005 standard during the next revision. At the end the paper summarizes the latest developments in building energy standards and rating systems in China and the US. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hainan province is the only tropical and island province in China, with the unique climatic and geographical features. It has a different energy performance in public buildings from those in the inland areas. This paper investigated the current situation of energy consumption of the sampled public buildings, including 26 hotels, 24 office buildings and 7 department stores, through analyzing utility billing data, on-site survey and measurement, and site operational records. The breakdowns of energy consumption found out that the electricity dominated the energy consumption for all the sampled buildings and the air conditioning system played a key role in the energy consumption of major building services. By analyzing the main factors for building energy consumption, the annual average energy use indexes were calculated to be 141.63kWh/m2, 87.70kWh/m2, and 166.95kWh/m2 for hotels, office buildings and department stores, respectively. Besides, the comparison between Hainan province and other areas revealed that the building energy consumption of this tropical province was at a low level. Because indoor environment quality can influence the health and work efficiency of humans in buildings, field tests on the indoor environment quality were also carried out, and the performance of indoor environment quality was rated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Traditional houses and public buildings in Thailand were constructed from materials of low thermal mass and the walls were not insulated. Brick and concrete began to replace wood as walling material before air-conditioning was introduced into the country. New large buildings have glazed and closed windows so interior spaces require air-conditioning and forced ventilation. Up to the present, no insulation is used on walls. This paper presents results from an experimental and simulation study on comparative energy and economic performance of walls used to enclose air-conditioned spaces. The walls are externally and internally insulated to different thicknesses. The spaces are assumed to serve three commercial functions. Results show that insulation can generally help improve thermal performance of walls, but the function that a space serves dictates where insulation should be placed and how cost effective it is. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]