Energy mapping of public buildings : A study at Älvkarlebyhus

Sammanfattning: The aim of this report is to identify all energy systems in the Skutskärs Vårdcentral and Folktandvården building, Centralgatan 12 building and the Library building to be studied in this report and carry out an investigation on whether the energy systems efficiency may be increased by improving on the elements or factors that affect the energy systems. A model of the buildings energy systems were created in Microsoft excels using the steady state method and modifying it to calculate an average heating session. Average monthly temperatures calculated over a thirty year period were used to calculate heat loss due to transmittance, infiltration and ventilation. Internal heat gains and losses were included in this model. Where calculation for heat gains or losses was to complex or the required data was not available rule of thumb was used. Once results were gained it was seen that the greatest area of loss of heat was from the building structure by transmittance of heat through the materials. An investigation was carried out to reduce the heat loss due to transmittance. Both solution involved adding insulation to the wall and top ceiling in both solution the insulation level was varied to show how much energy could be saved by varying the thickness of insulation. It was found in both solution that the energy saving ranged from 9% to 13%. Go to section 4.6 for details in improvements. Unfortunately quotes for material and labour for each method could not be obtained and without quotes a recommendation to which to invest in cannot be given. The Älvkarlebyhus management should use the areas of the external wall and ceiling area provided in appendix A to obtain quotes from respected companies in Sweden. The areas in appendix A should be double checked before looking for quotes to ensure accuracy in obtaining quotes. This was tried by the author but failed for the following reasons: Companies would not respond to e-mails Also when searching for Swedish companies online there web site was in Swedish and no English option to read the material on the site was available. Meaning the author could not gain the required information needed to calculate cost. The third solution involved lowering the internal temperature of the building. When the internal temperature was lowered to 17°C and 15°C reduction in energy usage by 10.95% and 16.82% was seen respectively. No other area where improvements could be carried out for the following reasons: The heat pump combined with the district heating and the use of heat recovery devices makes the energy system providing heat for hot water and the heating system highly efficient. There are no improvement worth the financial cost and the interruption to the occupants of the buildings. On Visual inspection the equipment was maintained to a high standard avoiding the need to create a maintenance schedule. Insulation on pipes and ducts coming and going from plant rooms to the building were to a high standard. No repairs or improves are needed. The lighting system is an area where energy can be reduced to justify the cost of installing more energy efficient lights and better controls. An experienced person should investigate this as it requires specify knowledge and experience to select the suitable lighting system to reduce cost. Implementing lights with the wrong controls system can cause poor lighting levels in the building and health problems such as headaches for the occupants. It may also increase the energy consumption of the building if the wrong lighting fixtures and controls were selected. A cheap and easily technique to implement would to advice the occupants of the building to turn off equipment and lights when are not needed. Hanging signs by exits of room as a reminder. This seems obvious but as the author carried out a visual inspection of the buildings concerned in this report it was noted that lights were left on in areas no one was to be seen. The same was seen for equipment such as computers. The insulation levels for the walls and ceiling should be increased to improve heat loss due to transmittance. Improving insulation would also decrease the heat loss due to infiltration. There is no reliable way of calculating the percentage of reduction as using the results from a pressure test is the only reliable way of calculating heat loss from infiltration once the improvements have been carried out. Also to compare before and after the improvements a pressure test would have to be done before any improvements are carried out to make an accurate comparison. The buildings in this report relies heavily on electricity for providing lighting, heating and ventilation. For this reasons it is recommended that a feasibility study be carried whether PV solar panels or wind turbines could produce electricity for the buildings studied in this report. The advantages and disadvantages of PV panels and wind turbines are covered in the conclusion section of this report. Älvkarlebyhus can be proud that the building in this thesis releases no CO2 or other harmful greenhouse gases as the greenhouses gases released from the production of the district heating system and electricity suppliers are taken into account by the suppliers of these energy sources. Making them an environmentally friendly building.