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International Journal of Environmental Research
University of Tehran
ISSN: 1735-6865 EISSN: 2008-2304
Vol. 2, Num. 1, 2008, pp. 75-86

International Journal of Environmental Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2008, pp. 75-86

Energy Saving in Tehran International Flower Exhibition’s Building

Karbassi, A. R.*, Abduli, M.A. and Neshastehriz, S.

Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 14155-6135, Tehran, Iran
*Corresponding author: Email-akarbasi@ut.ac.ir

Received 15 Aug. 2007; Revised 20 Sep. 2007; Accepted 30 Nov. 2007

Code Number: er08011

ABSTRACT

The municipality ofTehran isintending to construct a permanent international flower exhibition. The activities for construction began in the year 2006. The exhibition has three distinct areas namely “northern area”,”southern area” and “central area”. In northern and southern area the flowers are supposed to be preserved and in central area, they will be sold out. In the present study, energy consumption in the exhibition building is analyzed. To calculate cooling and heating load TABESH software was used. The heat loss from the building envelope is more than twice as much the standard in Iran. Insulation of walls with 5 cm wool stone and first floor with 3 cm polystyrene can reduce heating and cooling energy consumption by 18% with payback period of two and four years respectively ,according to international energy prices. Other energy saving measures such as double glazing windows are not economical both at national & international energy prices. To achieve national and international building energy standards, more energy subsidies must be provided on costly energy efficiency.

Key words: Energy, Consumption, Saving, Exhibition, Flower, Tehran

INTRODUCTION

Energy is the single most important resource capable of sustaining life on earth. Energy not only is the engine of economic growth but also the cause of important life threatening outcomes. Its ubiquity, its role as life supporting resource as well as its potential to become a cause for the demise of human beings or living things at large makes it the most interesting area of research for public policy making (Yohannes, 2002). According to World Energy Outlook 2005 reported by International Energy Agency (IEA), world primary energy demand is projected to expand by more than 50% between 2003 and 2030, reaching 16.3 billion tones of oil equivalent. Such ever-increasing demand could place significant strain on the current energy infrastructure and potentially damage world environmental health by CO, CO2, SO2, NOx effluent gas emissions and global warming (Omer, 2007). As detailed in the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change are also a major concern (Bruce, et al., 1996). These growing environmental concerns also call for a stringent review of the present energy system and energy sector development policies (United Nations Publication, 2001). To ensure energy to meet needs for economic growth and sustainable development more emphasis should be given to energy efficiency for both end-use and supply. An effective energy policy in any country should encourage the different enterprises, utilities, and individuals to employ energy efficient processes, technologies, and materials (Rowshanzamirand Eikani, 2005). The connection between the increased CO2-discharge to the atmosphere and the use of energy is also a motive to render a more efficient energy usage, and lowering the total energy demand (Moshfegh and Karlsson, 2006). At the dawn of the twenty-first century, we still receive our power from highly polluting fuel fired power plants, live in houses that waste energy, and use inefficient lighting, heating and cooling system and appliances. In poorly designed industrial and commercial establishments, people are complaining of the loss in productivity associated with the so-called” sick building syndrome” (United Nations Publication, 2004). It is estimated that while suitable energy saving retrofits in existing building can reduce the energy bill by about 20 percent, if the building are designed with an integrated approach, the energy saving can be as high as 40 to 50 percent (Majumdar, 2002). Iran is one of the world’s largest fossil fuel rich countries and holds 9% of the World’s oil reserves and 15% of gas reserves (Rostamihozori, 2002). Besides Iran’s energy consumption pattern is unquestionably unsustainable and typical of consumption-oriented, highly populated, oilproducing countries with lowproductivity(Bitaraf, 2003 & Massarrat, 2004). Energy consumption in Iran has risen almost 17 fold over the past 40 years, from 53.4 million barrels oil equivalent (mboe) in 1967 to almost 900 mboe in 2006. This rapid increase in consumption is by no means the result of an ongoing industrialization process and an increase in the performance of Iran’s economy. This trend rather reflects two intensifying structural problems: firstly, the level of energy consumption in non-productive sectors has rocketed; secondly, the energy intensity in every social sector has spited the global trend and risen dramatically. Moreover energy consumption in Iran is rising significantly faster than the gross domestic product. This implies that Iran has a considerable energy savings capacity potential (Massarrat, 2004). Commercial and household sector consume about 40% of total energy in Iran. This Consists, 19.17 % of oil products, 69.8% of natural gas and 51% of electricity (Ministry of Energy, 2005). At present, energy consumption per square meter of buildings is equivalent to 30 m3 of gas per year which is high comparing to European index of 5.5 m3 of gas per year (Farhanieh and Sattari, 2006). Several ways can be used to reduce the energy consumption in the building sector. In order to conserve energy in the building envelope “The National Building Code, part 19th. was compiled for the first time in 1991 by The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in Iran, followed by publishing the part 19th guide in 1999. On account of global development of technical knowledge, the 19th. part was reviewed and republished in 2002 for architectures, civil and mechanical engineers.

Tehran is the capital of Iran that is located on the slopes of the Alborz Mountains and at the foot of Damavand. Average sunlight hours ranges from 6 to 12 h/day (minimum in Dec. & maximum in July). The lowest and highest temperature records are -21°C & 43°C in January and August, respectively. The mean monthly rainfall is about 21 mm/yr. The lowest and highest relative humidity is about 39% and 77% in March and January respectively. Total snowy and rainy days do not exceed 40 days/year (Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological, 2005). Tehran International flower exhibition (TIFE) building (Fig.1) is a place to offer and sale flower to people.

It has 9500 m2 area consisting of three parts: Northern part, Central part and Southern part which can admit 2500 visitors. If all 2500 visitors attend all together, the average per capita space used by the visitors and stuff is calculated at 2.3 square meters; considering 33% of total area for the exhibition of flowers. The northern and southern parts are semi-glass houses which are built to keep and exhibit flowers and central building is allocated for administrative purposes.

MATERIALS & METHODS

In this study, it is tried to estimate energy consumption at the under construction building of permanent international flower exhibition of Tehran and its degree of compliance with the National Building Code, part 19th.. According to National Building Code (part 19th.) energy efficiency measures in all kinds of building must adopt to the national standards. To calculate the total cooling and heating load of this building we usedTABESH software which is designed by a group of Iranian engineers. In the present study, firstly, we collected construction maps of flower exhibition along with the type of materials that are going to be used in construction. Secondly we entered the collected data into TABESH software. The input data includes:

  1. General information such as summer dry bulb, winter dry bulb, summer wet bulb, winter wet bulb, relative humidity, atmospheric clearness number, daily temperature range, cooling degree day, heating degree day, population, elevation and latitude of Tehran, building occupancy, yearly energy requirement ,type of fuel consumption & etc .
  2. Material properties that are going to be used in this building such as complete details of walls, partitions, windows, doors, floors and ceilings, including thickness , material, thermal conductivity factor & etc .
  3. Spaces specifications such as area, height, summer dry bulb, winter dry bulb, summer wet bulb, winter wet bulb, areas and type of out walls, partitions, windows, floors and ceilings, the amount of fresh air requirement, lightings specification & etc (ASHRAE Handbook Fundamentals, 1993 & Tabatabaie, 2002). The output of software include the followings:

A. Total cooling load of each space

B. Total heating load of each space

C. Total cooling load of building

D. Total heating load of building

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Table 1 encompasses some general information that is incorporated into the TABESH software. The table shows that both cooling and heating system are required in TIFE. Considering climatic condition of Tehran city, it should also be pointed out that not only Tehran city but many other cities in Iran enjoy vast amount of solar energy. Tables 2 and 3 shows various material properties of TIFE building. In this table U-value of materials along with their density and thickness are provided. Among the various materials used in the building, it can be noticed that walls, concrete floors and roof has the high heat conductance property. Thus, much of energy loss can occur through walls, concrete floors and roof.

Subsequently the cooling and heating loads were computed for various spaces in the building (Table 4). Such computations are carried out for winter and summer times. The data in Table 3 shows that southern part needs highest energy for heating and cooling.

In general overall cooling & heating loads of Tehran’s international flower building are about 7537760 & 11307315 Btu/h, respectively (Table 4). Thus, annual energy for cooling and heating in TIFE building is equal to 39614897 Mj. In other words the cooling and heating energy requirements are 4150 Mj/m2 . More over the natural gas consumption is about 482159 & 684701 m3 /yr for cooling and heating purposes. It should be pointed out that natural gas is the main source of energy for heating & cooling in TIFE. Thus, according to National Building Code (article 19th.) of energy consumption in buildings that is set by the ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the present TIFE building’s design is indicative of negative deviation (about twice as much) from standards.

Percentile of energy losses from different sectors in TIFE complex is shown in Fig.2. It is evident that the highest energy loss occurs from out walls and windows. Total cooling loads at various sections of TIFE complex is shown in Fig.3. The figure clearly shows that higher energy consumption is attributed to southern building. Energy consumption for lighting system has been computed for various spaces at TIFE building (Fig.4).

The overall electricity consumption bylighting system is about 312653 KWh/yr. It is evident that 94% of total electricity consumption by lighting system is being used in only 8 spaces of TIFE building. The share of different types of lights in electricity consumption is shown in Fig.5. Generally filament lights have a greater share in electricity consumption. Following is thepercentile of electricity consumption by various types of

There are many methods of energy saving to promote energy efficiency in TIFE buildings. Some of these methods are: The external walls and roof of a building are the interface between its interior and the outdoor environment. Insulation of the external walls and roof is the most cost-effective way of controlling the outside elements to make homes more comfortable. Fuel consumption and operational costs are reduced by increasing the thickness of the external walls and roof (ceiling), despite an increase in the investment costs. Insulation as a single investment pays for itself many times over during the life cycle of building reduced energy consumption also benefits the environment. In other word increasing the thickness of the insulation material will not only decrease air pollution but also increase energy saving (Sisman, et al., 2007).

Calculations of TIFE building retrofit effectiveness shows that the replacement of windows with double glazed ones is not as effective in terms of heat energy saving as are the insulation of a roof, walls and other improvements because the investments are large and take a long time to be repaid. However, in addition to energy saving, window replacement improves the indoor climate of the building, its interior and architectural appearance as well as its market value (Kaklauskas, et al., 2006). Beside, Good glazing design can reduce energy outputs by lowering the requirements for heating or cooling (Menzies; Wherrett, 2005 & Karlsson, 2001).

Solar water-heating systems as a means of conventional energy substitution can reduce the use of electricity or fossil fuels by as much as 80%. However, current low prices of natural gas and expensive present technology, does not make solar water heating economical. Although solar water heater offer long term benefit (such as environmental benefit), that go beyond simple economics.

Numerous energy efficient lighting technologies already exist and are being developed. Natural light varies according to the time, weather and season, so it has to be combined with artificial lights and appropriate control systems. Some reports show that energy efficiency of lighting is improved by 15-30% using daylight in commercial buildings (Tanishima, 2003). A lighting retrofit is replacing inefficient lighting with the efficient one. Electricity savings over time is significant enough to not only pay for the new lighting, but also produce return on the investment. This can be done by either reducing the input wattage or reducing the hours of operation of the lighting to reduce energy consumption (Mahlia, et al.,2003).

To improve building envelope energy efficiency, insulation materials can be used as shown in Table 6 &7.

Table 8 and 9 shows various energy saving mechanism and pay-back period in TIFE complex. It can be noticed that many of measures are not economically feasible even at international energy prices.

CONCLUSION

Using insulation materials with energy saving architectural design of buildings have more effect on energy saving in building sector (Mohsen; Akash, 2001 & Comakli; Yuksel, 2003). S i n c e construction of a zero energy consumption building will never be wise & economic, we propose municipality of Tehran to adopt the most effective energy efficient measures that include: Wall insulation, first floor insulation, central heating intelligent management installation, replacement of filament bulb with compact ones. If municipality of Tehran adopts these measures, considerable amount of air pollutants as well as greenhouse gases will be reduced (Table 10).

Government of Iran is highly dependent on oil & gas export revenue. Thus, it will be sensible to provide subsidies on solar water heaters to free more energy for export.

It should be pointed out energy efficiency measures are more cost effective than utilization of renewable energies in Iran. Hoewer, this should not hinder the gradual utilization of renewable energies. Bsides, environment costs of fossil fuels as well as electricity must assessed. Internalization of extenalities needs further research.

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Copyright 2008 - Graduate Faculty of Environment University of Tehran

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