Assessment of energy saving potentials for protected spaces in commercial buildings

This paper presents the energy conservation improvement potentials of a protected space in a tropical building, which is subjected to various building services and safety requirements. Field measurement was conducted in this study, where the actual environmental conditions of a selected protected lobby and the major sources for space heat gain were systematically measured and studied. Besides, the energy consumption data of the building under study was also collected for energy management opportunities (EMOs) analysis. It was identified in the field assessments that the indoor thermal and visual comfort parameters were within acceptable levels. By following the recommended energy conservation schemes, it is possible to achieve a total reduction of approximately 16,000 kWh in building energy consumption annually, which provides a monetary saving of about 2,230 USD. For energy efficiency purpose, this study introduced a new method of reducing energy usage in the protected areas in buildings by taking the building safety requirements into consideration. Further savings are achievable by raising the thermostat settings during off-peak hours and replacement of the artificial lighting fixtures with the more energy efficient ones.