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Benchmarking the energy efficiency of buildings is important for optimizing the efficient use of energy and reducing carbon footprint. Healthcare facilities have especially high energy usage, but the historical difficulty of collecting energy data from a relatively large number of healthcare facilities has made it challenging to develop the appropriate benchmarking system. In this paper, we seek to foster the task of benchmarking the energy efficiency of healthcare facilities using three different methods: multiple linear regression (MLR), generalized additive model (GAM), and energy performance index (EPI). The analysis was applied using a unique dataset that contained information on energy consumption and various building features for 22 large-size public hospitals managed by the Shanghai hospital development center (SHDC). Findings suggest that different benchmarking methods yield substantially different energy performance ranking results. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the three benchmarking methods was conducted in terms of goodness-of-fit, consistency, and robustness. The results show that MLR tends to be the most consistent and robust benchmarking model, while GAM appears to have the best goodness-of-fit. The proposed methodology can assist hospital managers identify potential improvements for more efficient use of energy in healthcare facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment contributes significantly to rapidly growing world energy expenditure and tighter spatial interrelationships can exacerbate this effect in cities. The concept of the Inter-Building Effect (IBE) was introduced to understand the complex mutual impact within spatially proximal buildings. Our research sought to develop a systematic approach to disaggregate and quantify the influence of mutual shading and mutual reflection within a network of buildings. We built an urban building network model and conducted cross-regional simulations under different climatological contexts by examining mutual shading only and mutual reflection only, respectively. We then expanded our investigation by examining two realistic urban contexts in Perugia, Italy. We found the shading effect played a more significant role in terms of impact on energy consumption. The results of the simulations in varying climatological contexts also revealed consistent trends of greater impact on the IBE for shading and reflection in warmer climatic cities. These findings expand and deepen our understanding of inter-building effects and may help in the search to minimize mutual influences between buildings that lead to increases in energy consumption in urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment contributes significantly to rapidly growing world energy consumption. Along with urbanization, buildings continue to escalate this trend owing to their tighter spatial interrelationships and the influence of their surrounding micro-environment. The concept of the Inter-Building Effect (IBE) was introduced to understand complex mutual impacts within spatially-proximal buildings. Recent research has revealed that inter-building reflection or shading can have nuanced effects on a month-by-month basis depending on the climatological context. The application of phase change materials (PCMs) has begun to be examined by researchers due to its ability to store and release heat within a certain temperature range. In this paper, we sought to explore and understand if PCM-embedded building envelopes could potentially mitigate negative thermal-energy impacts within spatially proximal buildings. Building upon previous IBE research and simulation models, we conducted several building network simulations with different PCM settings in different climatological contexts. The results showed considerable improvements (up to 17%) of annual HVAC energy consumption when PCM-embedded building envelopes were used in the control building. The findings expand and deepen our understanding of the IBE, and may help minimize negative mutual influences across buildings that lead to increases in energy consumption in urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment contributes significantly to rapidly growing world energy consumption. Along with urbanization, buildings continue to escalate this trend owing to their tighter spatial interrelationships and the influence of their surrounding micro-environment. The concept of the Inter-Building Effect (IBE) was introduced to understand complex mutual impact within spatially-proximal buildings. Disaggregate analysis further quantified shading effects and reflection effects separately from combined IBE interaction in a more nuanced way. Different from tropical cities where mutual reflection always shows a negative impression, recent research revealed more complex scenarios in non-tropical areas as the reflection or shading could become favorable month by month alternately according to climatological contexts. The application of phase change materials (PCMs) has attracted attention due to its important characteristic to store and release heat within a certain temperature range. A variety of research has been conducted for building applications to improve energy conservation and thermal comfort both numerically and empirically. In this paper, we sought to explore and understand if PCM building envelopes could potentially mitigate negative thermal-energy impact within building canyons in a non-tropical area. Building upon previous IBE research and simulation models, we conducted several building network simulations under different climatological contexts of non-tropical cities. The results showed considerable improvements (up to 12%) of annual HVAC energy consumption when PCM-embedded building envelopes were used in the control building. The findings expand and deepen our understanding of the IBE, and may help minimize negative mutual influences among buildings that lead to increases in energy consumption in urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]