Energy Efficient Windows and Infiltration - Coursework Example

Energy Efficient Windows and Infiltration Grade (April 22, Executive Summary Buildings consume approximately 48% of the total global energy consumption. This is the highest energy consumption for any sector globally, with both transport and industrial consumption falling behind. The high energy consumption needs for buildings is detrimental both to the energy sources and also to the environment. According to an EU report, buildings consume 40% of the total EU energy consumption, while also emitting 36% of carbon into the environment. Therefore, the need to reduce the energy consumption for buildings is inevitable. The application of Energy Efficient Windows is an effective way of addressing the problem of high energy consumption needs by buildings. Energy Efficient Windows allow for a better insulation while hindering air infiltration from both the inside and the outside of the building. The low-e technology applied to produce the Energy Efficient Windows helps to reduce the fluctuation of temperatures inside buildings. In turn, the elimination of temperature fluctuations reduces the energy consumption needs associated with temperature controls through either heating or cooling. This effectively addresses the high energy consumption problem associated with buildings. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Energy Efficient Windows and Infiltration Introduction Energy costs is one of the regular expenses that accounts for the monthly budget of every household or every commercial entity. The energy costs can be an expensive affair, especially where a household or a commercial entity is running on a tight budget. In this respect, adopting energy efficient systems can be highly rewarding for such households or commercial entities, since it would go a long way in reducing the energy costs incurred, which in the long-run can amount to sizeable amount of savings, since energy costs are regular utility bills. Additionally, the increasing energy consumption rate for buildings has raised concerns over energy supply capacity globally. The global energy consumption by buildings over the last two decades has increased at between 20% and 40% both for commercial and residential buildings, thus exceeding the other major sectors in energy consumption [1]. Currently, the building industry leads in the energy consumption rate at 48% of the total global energy consumption, followed by the transportation industry at 27% and then the manufacturing industry at 25% [2]. Further, the growth in population, increase in buildings demand and the rise in need for comfort levels as well as the increment in the time spent inside buildings in the modern society, demands that upwards increase in the energy supply for buildings must be achieved in the future[1]. Such demands requiring an increase in energy supply to buildings is increasingly generating concerns over the possible exhaustion of the energy sources. Further, there is a concern over resultant energy supply logistical difficulties and the overall environmental impact of increased demand for energy supply to the buildings. In this respect, the need for achieving energy efficiency for buildings is more dire presently, than never before. Objectives The objective of this report is to make a case for the application of Energy Efficient Windows in buildings, as a means of reducing energy infiltration through buildings windows, and thus reduce energy consumption requirements for buildings. The objective is informed by the fact that windows are important elements of buildings for letting in light, warmth and also allowing ventilation, but they can also be a weak spot that affect building’s energy efficiency negatively through, allowing air leakage or infiltration [3]. Lack of energy efficiency translates into high energy consumption by the buildings. For example, according to a recently released report, buildings are responsible for 40% of the total energy consumption in the EU, and at the same time responsible for 36% of the total carbon emissions in this region [4]. In realization of the high demands that the building sector is placing on the global energy supply, it is necessary that an alternative method that can address and reduce the energy supply needs for buildings is implemented. Further, recognizing that the high energy supply demanded by buildings amounts to a major strain on the energy sources, which would mean the possibility of depletion of the resources used to supply energy, it is important to devise means that can safeguard against such depletion. Finally, in recognition of the strain placed on the environment to support the emissions associated with increased buildings energy consumption, the need to improve on the efficiency of energy consumption by buildings become inevitable. Thus, by improving the energy efficiency of buildings, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption by buildings by between 5% and 6%, while at the same time reducing the total carbon emissions to the environment by about 5% [4]. Support Ideas Non-solar heat loss or gain in buildings occurs by air infiltration through windows [5]. Air leakage through the windows can result in air passing in and out of the buildings, resulting in the change of the temperatures inside the buildings, depending on the outside weather condition. Thus, if the weather is hot, air infiltration will allow warm/hot air to enter the inside of the building, causing the inside temperatures to be high, and thus demanding heat regulation through putting on air conditioners. On the other hand, if the outside weather is cold, cold air will infiltrate into the inside of the building, causing the inside temperatures to be cold, and thus demanding the use of room heating to achieve the desired warm temperatures [5]. The effects of the non-solar heat flow are generally greater on heating needs, when the outside temperature is cold, considering the fact that the indoor-outdoor temperature differences are greater when the inside is using heating mechanisms to increase the room temperature [6]. This causes the warm air to increases infiltrate to the outside, requiring high energy consumption to continuously heat the room. Therefore, for most buildings, the greater the temperature differences from inside to out, the greater the energy consumption needs [6]. This problem can be solved through the use of Energy Efficient Windows, which offers better insulation against air infiltration either into or out of the windows of the buildings [7]. The advantage associated with the application of the Energy Efficient Windows is that they offer insulation against air infiltration either into or outside the building. This allows the inside of the building to retains its temperature, and thus reduce the energy consumption needs for heating or cooling the inside of the building [2]. In this respect, efficiency of the energy consumption needs of the building is enhanced, while at the same time the emissions associated with the consumption of high energy by buildings is reduced. The Energy Efficient Windows that can be applied to address and enhance the energy efficiency needs of a building can take two different forms. First, the single-pane window insulating value derives from the thin films of still air on the interior of the window and the moving air on the exterior window glazing surfaces [5]. The still airspaces created by the thin single-pane window acts as an insulator [6]. Nevertheless, the disadvantage associated with the single-pane window is that it does not offer much resistance to heat flow. This allows the temperature on the inside of a building to keep fluctuating as the outside temperature changes. Secondly, the double-pane windows, also referred to as the Energy Efficient Windows, combines two glass panes using a technology that also incorporates low-emittance (low-e) coatings and gas fills within the window [6]. The Energy Efficient Windows are produced through the low-e technology, which entails the use of a virtually invisible and microscopically thin metallic film that is deposited on the double-pane’s glazing surface [6]. The thin-film metallic coating can be deposited either between the two windows constituting the double-pane window or on the glazing surfaces on either sides of the glass pane. Thus, the Energy Efficient Windows that constitutes double-pane technology operates through limiting radiative heat-flow both from the outside or the inside of the building, through reflecting the heat-flow back into the building during cold weather, and back to the outside during hot/warm weather [3]. It is this technology that increases the insulating value of the double-pane/ Energy Efficient Windows. Further, the spaces between the glass panes can be filled through gases that are better insulators than air. This gas filling may include krypton-fill or Argon-fill, which when combined with the low-e, enhances the insulation capacity of the efficient windows [6]. The window frames of the Energy Efficient Windows are then mostly made of wood or vinyl, which are also better insulators, thus ensuring that the insulation value of the windows is high [7]. Thus, the use of Energy Efficient Windows becomes a suitable alternative for reducing the energy needs of a building. Conclusion Energy consumption by buildings has increasingly become a concern in the modern society, due the fact that buildings are consuming more energy than any other sector of the global economy. The outcome has been a strain on both the energy resources that are used to supply homes and commercial entities with energy, threatening their depletion. Additionally, the high energy consumption demanded by buildings results in environmentally detrimental impacts, while at the same time increasing carbon emissions. The control of the high energy demand for buildings can be achieved through the use of Energy Efficient Windows. These windows use the low-e technology that produces a double-pane window that has a high insulation capacity. This effectively reduces energy consumption needs for buildings and thus lowers the strain on the energy sources and also the carbon emissions to the environment, which arises from the buildings’ energy demands. List of references [1] Pérez-Lombarda, L., Ortizb, J. and Poutb, C., 2008, “A review on buildings energy consumption information”, Energy and Buildings 40(3), pp. 394–398. [2] Chang H., Cheong, K.T., and Leigh S., 2015, "Lifecycle CO2 Reduction by Implementing Double Window Casement Systems in Residential Units in Korea." Energies 8(2), pp. 1336-1352. [3] QU, J; et al., 2014, “Transparent thermal insulation coatings for energy efficient glass windows and curtain walls”, Energy & Buildings, 77, pp. 1-10. [4] European Commission., 2015 “European Union Buildings Report”, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-efficiency/buildings [5] Kansas State University., 2000, “Energy-Efficient Windows”, Engineering Extension Paper No. DE-FG48. [6] Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory., 1997. What’s New in Building Energy Efficiency: Selecting Windows for Energy Efficiency, U.S. Department of Energy. [7] Phelps, E. 2013. "Find the Best Energy-Efficient: Window Treatments", Mother Earth News 260, pp. 60-63. Read More