Determining the impact of CDDs on Energy consumption of an office building in Hyderabad using Energy Plus Software.

Abstract

Climate change and cooling degree days are the cursors of higher heating and cooling energy demand and may affect thermal comfort significantly. The high energy consumption to make environment comfort results in environmental degradation along with depletion of conventional energy resources and can burden the whole economy. Thus, a sensible usage of energy along with better management of environmental issues affiliated with energy consumption, results in cost reduction. The main purpose of this research is the calculation of cooling degree days (CDD) and its impact on electrical power consumption in Hyderabad Pakistan. To achieve this, a fixed base temperature of 24℃ (75.2°F) is used to estimate the cooling degree days (CDD) for the months from March to September. To find out the impact of CDD on energy demand, a single room building having an air conditioning system has been simulated using Energy Plus software. A 3D model of building having an area of 20m² and other parameters like design day and material specifications have been provided for simulation. The results show that to overcome 1^oC of air conditioning load 5675 kJ (1.576 kWh) of energy is required. The energy factor is then used to determine the power required for an air conditioning system to overcome CDD or to maintain thermal comfort. It is found that 232.6 kWh/m² energy is required during the month of March while 539 kWh/m² during the month of May based on CDD to maintain required level of thermal comfort.