Open AccessSimulation of Energy Efficiency Measures for the Residential Building Stock: A Case Study in the Semi-Arid Region
Author(s) -
Kawar Salih,
Gabriela Ledesma,
Zaid O. Saeed
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/1090/1/012018
Subject(s) - efficient energy use , stock (firearms) , environmental science , economic shortage , cooling load , energy supply , arid , energy demand , thermal mass , thermal comfort , environmental economics , thermal energy , thermal , energy (signal processing) , economics , meteorology , engineering , geography , air conditioning , mathematics , statistics , philosophy , government (linguistics) , linguistics , biology , paleontology , mechanical engineering , electrical engineering , quantum mechanics , physics
Global energy use has risen due to increased demands and inefficient grids in developing countries. Energy saving is detrimental in countries in which their energy supply capacity is lower than their demand. Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) can easily be incorporated in new buildings; however, existing buildings have limitations in geometry, orientation, and materiality which restrict their applicability. This research analyses the efficiency of applying several EEMs in the residential stock in hot semi-arid regions to reduce their energy demand. A typical residential house in Duhok, Iraq was selected as a case study. The EMMs efficiency was analysed using building energy simulation. As heating and cooling loads have similar contributions to the house thermal demand -with 56% and 44% respectively, the potential energy reduction considered both loads simultaneously. The optimal combination of EEMs can reduce the thermal load by 48.7%, while individual passive measures can only reduce the thermal load up to 16%. In urban scale, the energy reduction potential presented in this paper would represent a shift from a heating-dominated scenario to a cooling-dominated one. This in turn would aid in decreasing the energy demand during winter months in which the largest energy shortages in the city are registered.