Analysis Of Energy Efficiency In Buildings

Sources of Energy Consumption in Residential Areas

The main purpose of the report is to do the analysis of energy efficiency in a given set up. Its goal is to do the reduction in the amount of energy that is needed in providng the products as well as services. There exist various motivations for improving the aspect of energy effciency. The reduction in the use of energy does the reduction of energy costs and might be resulting in the saving of financial cost in respect of the consumers. 

Energy is used in an apartment in various ways. Rooms are kept at a comfortable tempertaure, spaces are illuminated, water gets heated for bathing as well as laundry, and dependency takes place on computers, copiers, appliances, as well as other technological aspects. For many years, more than half of all residential utilization of energy occurred in respect of space heating as well as cooling. In 1993, it accounted for almost 60%. But by 2009, this share had plummeted to almost 48%. And, in the phase between 1993 to 2009, there has been a rise regarding energy for appliances, electronics, as well as lighting from almost 24% to 35% based on the profilertion of appliances and trends regarding larger televisions as well as different devices (Lee 2017).

According to a report, in the last three decades there occured total residential energy consumption that varied between approx. 16.0 as well as 20.8 quads. In 2015, natural gas as well as electricity were tied in respect of being the foremost source of energy sources that were utilized in apartments, with each at 42%. The same two sources of energy are predominate in commercial apartments, in which electricity as well as natural gas are providing almost all the energy that is getting consumed. The commercial apartments are including a wide array of building types, which includes stores, offices, schools, shopping malls, hotels and so on. The energy requirement in respect of the various buildings are varying but when observed in entirety, more than half of the energy that is being used in commercial buildings are going to only two functions, which are heating as well as lighting (Lee 2017).

Effectiveness regarding the use of energy that are used in commercial apartments has also been affected by minimum standards of effectiveness in respect of equipment as well as products that are undertaking energy consumption llike heating as well as cooling elements, light fixtures as well as more. 

Decreasing Dependence on Heating and Cooling in Residential Buildings

Refrigerators are considered being the top-consuming appliances that are being used in the kitchens. The approaximate range of energy that is being consumed is 30-200 kWh/month. That is the scenario of energy ratings in respect of any specific appliance. There are numerous individuals who are still usung the fridges from the 1980s, stating that they are still utilizing in the thousands of kWh per year. When an individual is having a brand new unit of high-effectiveness, then the consumption could be around 400 kWh/year. In this regard, there also occurs different factors such as size of the model, orientation of the freezer, settings of the temperature, placement of device, habits of refrigeration as well as energy-saving modes that are available (Gabler 2017).

Irresepective of whichever model an individual is having, there are stages an individual can take for reducing the utilzation of energy. These are mentioned as under,

• To do the checking of a power-saver switch – Certain refrigerators are having in-door heaters for doing the reduction of external condensation. When a “power-saver” swich can be seen, it should be turned off. When condensation is not being noticed later, there is no requirement for using that characteristic.
• To do the checking of the thermostat – In respect of refrigerators, the ideal temperature is considered to be between 36 to 398 degrees and in respect of freezers, it is between 0 to 5 degrees.
• Defrosting – The buildup of more than 0.25 inch of frost will be adversely affecting the effectiveness
• To do the checking of the seals – There is the requirement for closing the doors on a piece of paper. There should occur holding of the same in a firm manner. If not, then the seal should get replaced (Iannuzzi 2017).
• To do the utilization of better habits of refrigeration – There should occur the labelling of food so an individual can quickly find what he/she is trying to look for. Also, cooling as well as heating of food should be done prior to the process of refrigerating or freezing it (Rastogi 2015).

In 1980, almost 27% of homes in the US were having central air-conditioning. In 2001, there occurred skyrocketing of that number to 55%. Air-conditioning that does the typical utilization of high-watt machines in respect of extended time-periods is accounting for a huge portion of residential utilzation of energy.

Generally, the definite number of watts consumed in cooling a house is varying significantly, which depends on the unit type, the capacity, the time it is functioning as well as the rating of effectiveness. A unit of air-conditioning might be using anywhere between 200 to 1,800 kWh/month. A rough breakdown of what different devices of AC uses are as follows,

• Windows unit: 200-650 kWh/month
• Heat pump: 600-1,800 kWh/month
• Central air: 300-900 kWh/month

There can occur the taking of certain stages for improving the effectiveness of an air conditioner, which includes,

• Having a pro-check of the unit every year –  To have appropriate levels of fluid, coolant charge as well as insulation that are essential in keeping the device for functioning in an effective manner.
• To do the closing of the vents in rooms that an individual is using very less.
• Upgrading to a timed thermostat that will be automatically switching off the AC as there will occur more cooling of the external temperature
• Ensuring that an individual is having a minimum of 16 inches of insulation in his/her attic. This will be keeping more of the heat of the sun out of the living space of the apartment so that the air-conditioning should not be working as hard (Wong 2015).

These are considered being the non-renewable sources of energy. The environmental impact of natural gas states that there occurs the production of nitrogen-oxides that are considered being the precursors to smog. The development of unconventional gases might be affecting the air quality of the local as well as regional areas. The average cost of regular gas is more than $2 a gallon.

These are considered being the non-renewable sources of energy. Coal is containing sulphur as well as other components, which includes dangerous metals like mercury, lead, as well as arsenic, which escapes into thin air when the burning of coal occurs. The burning of coal does the production of particulates, which increases the pollution in air as well as dangers relating to health. The burning of coal does the emittance of huge amounts of carbon-di-oxide in the environment (Brindley 2014).

Sources of Energy Consumption in Commercial Areas

It is considered being a renewable source of energy. Even though electricity is considered being a clean as well as comparatively safe kind of energy, the process of generatng as well as transmitting electricity is having environmental impacts. Mostly, all kinds of electric power plants are having an environmental impact. Certain power plants are having a bigger impact in comparison to the others. Moreover, mostly all kinds of electricity does the generation of waste (Noppers 2015)

It is considered being a renewable source of energy. The potential environmetal impact that is related with solar power are loss of habitat, use of water as well as the utilization of hazardous materials to manufacture. The production of solar-grade silicon requires semi-conductors processing that is having the involvement of chemicals that are considered being very much harmful. There also might not occur the proper disposal of such chemicals (Dean 2013).

Western Australia’s average per capita greenhouse gas emissions are considerably higher in comparison to Australia. This can be attributed significantly to Western Australia’s increased economic output level relative to population and the strong emphasis regarding the economy of the State on the resources as well as development of energy and exports.

The source of energy for a refrigerator is considered to be electrical power that does the production of kinetic energy for working the pumps that will be circulating the refrigerant and as a result, doing the reduction of the heat in the fridge.

The source of energy for an air-conditioner could be gas, electricity as well as solar energy. Solar air conditioning is referring to any air-conditioning process that does the using of solar power. This can occur via solar as well as conversion of solar thermal energy. Air-conditioners are also running on natural gas, which is an energy form that can be stored easily as well as cheaply.

Australia is having many organizations that are promoting the aspect of energy efficiency. Some of them are mentioned as under,

Alternative Technology Association is providing services to more than 5,000 members throughout the country who are walking the talk in an active manner through the use of better building practice, conservation of water as well as energy and the use of renewable energy within the own houses. Alternative Technology Association does the advocating of the easy accessibility regarding these technological aspects and continuous development of technology that are energy efficient in respect of refrigerators and air coolers (Khalili 2013).

Impact of Minimum Standards on Equipment and Products in Commercial Buildings

Australian Conservation Foundation is having the committment to inspire individuals in achieving a healthy environment in respect of every Australian. For more than four decades, it has been regarded as the strong voice in respect of the environment, which is doing the promotion of solutions via research, consultation, education as well as partnerships, and to work with the business, government as well as community for protecting, restoring as well as sustaining the environment (Cummins 2014). It has been strongly advocating the aspect of energy efficiency as part of the sustained as well as broad campaign relating to climate change for many years that includes concentrating on the significance of clean energy jobs.

With its formation in 1920, Australian Insitute of Refrigeration, Air-conditioning and Heating is considered to be the leading specialist membership association in respect of air-conditioning, heating, refrigeration as well as ventilation professionals that represents more than 10,000 professionals throughout Australia. Australian Insitute of Refrigeration, Air-conditioning and Heating does the maintaining of strong connections with similar establishments globally as well as doing the successful delivery of essential benefits of members that includes the process of representing, disseminating technical knowledge, networking, technical publications, trade magazines, member identification, as well as education and training (Chiarini 2015)

The regulatory tools that are functioning in undertaking the reduction of energy consumption in Western Australia are considered being the Energy Efficiency Certificates. These certficates are also considered as White Certificates as well as Energy Efficiency Credits. The Energy Efficiency Certificates does the certifying of the achievement of a specific reduction in the consumption of energy for refrigerators and air-conditioners. These targets does the implying of the reductions from certain baseline. Energy Efficiency Certificate programs does the involvement of considerable set-up as well as costs of transactions. The programs relating to Energy Efficiency Certificates does the involvement of schemes of certification that will be including,

• The appointment of an independent body to issue certificates
• The defining of certificates in a clear manner that includes technologies, measurement, eligibility, validity and so on
• The formulation of the “rules of the game”
• The establishment of a system of registration as well as methods to monitor and verify savings
• The formulation of rules regarding compliance and to set penalties in respect of non-actualization of targets
• To organize the aspect redemption regarding the certificates (Charter 2017)

For instance, this regulatory tool will be providing energy conservation initiatves via energy audits as well as different programs. In an alternative manner, the Energy Service Companies are providing the delivery of such services. To do the development of exhaustive contracts as well as to do the verification of performance are considered being the two elementary tasks in respect of the regulator (Zeriti 2014).

The social networking tools that are functioning in undertaking the reduction of energy consumption in Western Australia are considered having the following advanatges,

• It does the offering of family or social network plans that does the reduction of peak power consumption regarding refrigerators and air-conditioners
• It does the using of distributed clustering scheme, which provides an unprecedented scalability in respect of a large network

For instance, it is having the capability to do the simulation of electricity usage data in respect of an unlimited number of households, making it practical for doing the evaluation of technical performance of refrigerators and air-conditioners

Factors Affecting Energy Utilization in Refrigerators

The marketing tools that are functioning in undertaking the reduction of energy consumption in Western Australia are considered being the DOE eGuide as well as energy footprint. For instance, The DOE eGuide assist organizations in doing the implementation of energy management method via a systematic step-by-step method at different stages. The energy footprint tool assists in tracking the energy consumption by the refrigerators and the air-conditioners.

The financial tool that is functioning in undertaking the reduction of energy consumption in Western Australia is the energy performance indicator tool lite. For instance, the energy performance indicator tool lite is considered being an online regression-based calculator to model performance of energy at the facility level in respect of air-conditioners as well as refrigerators.

There should also occur the reduction in the consumption of energy that includes the replacement of devices, timer switches, manual switching off, programmed switches, off-peak power usage, alternative fuel and so on. Two options for improvement are undertaking the selection of an energy-effcient fridge as well as turning on the air-conditioner early.

A fridge as well as freezer in an apartment works incessantly and the consumption of energy by it adds up very fast. Every new fridge that is being sold in Australia is required meeting the Minimum Energy Performance Standards. There is the requirement to find a model that is using a hydrocarbon, like butane or pentane, as the blowing agent as well as refrigerant agent in respect of the insulation foam.

When using an air-conditioner, there is the requirement for finding out programmable timer as well as themistat controls. There is the requirement for setting the air-conditioner at the highest temperature setting at which an individual might be having the feeling of adequate coolness. In this regard, 25 degree centigrade is normally considered being sufficient and each 1 degree centrigrade rise regarding the thermostat setting will be saving almost 10% of the usage of energy (Leonidou 2013).

To perform a cost-benefit analysis in respect of selecting an energy-efficient fridge, there is the requirement for following certain steps such as brainstorming costs as well as benefits, assigning a monetary value in respect of the costs, assigning a monetary value regarding the benefits, and comparing costs as well as benefits. The best option of the two is to undertake the selection of an energy-effcient fridge (Armstrong 2015).

Cost Analysis of 5 star rating energy effcient fridges

Volume	Annual Running Cost	Energy Use (kWh/Yr)	Annual GHG Emissions (kgCO2-e)
2-door frost free fridges
500	$95.00	344	456
Side-by-Side
700	$117.00	426	564
Chest Freezer
300	$100.00	362	480
Upright freezer
350	$87.00	318	421

Benefit Analysis of 5 star rating energy effcient fridges

1. These appliances will be using very less energy for functioning.
2. These appliances will be accounting towards reduced energy bills.
3. By the use of energy efficient appliances there will occur the minimization of the exploitation regarding the natural resources.

Stages for Reducing Energy Utilization in Refrigerators

Conclusion 

To conclude, it can be stated that there has been the listing of all the means for using the energy. The identification of two appliances that does the consumption of most energy has been done, which are considered as refrigerators and cooling systems. The sources of energy such as gas, coal, electricity as well as solar and their impact on the environment has been found out. The organizations in Australia that does the promotion of energy efficiency has been described. There has also occurred the identification of the scopes for decreasing the consumption of energy. 

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