Energy Efficiency in Design and Construction - Coursework Example

?Running Head: Energy Efficiency in Design & Construction Energy Efficiency in Design & Construction [Institute’s Introduction Global warming is a growing concern for countries and a reason for their designing green policies. There is a pressing need of finding energy efficient ways of doing things in the commercial sector and information technology in specific, and energy efficient design and construction is a part of that. Due to an increase in concern about increasing global warming, new ways are being designed and developed that will help in reducing energy and save cost at the same time. Of all the old energy, inefficient ways of doing everyday things, housing has been identified as one of those things; where two much energy can be saved if it is done the right way from the scratch. The old and traditional way of constructing building with the help of steel and glass are now considered inefficient after sufficient research in this area and new methods have been developed that can help in saving energy significantly (Rosemary, 2006, p. 5). Among all other sectors, commercial building sector is that sector, which consumes most of the energy. This is because of the ever-increasing number of commercial and public activities that require an increasing amount of heating, cooling, and air conditioning. Furthermore, with the growth of information technology, and the role that it is playing in improved means of communications; it is also adding to be one of the highest energy consuming sources. Ways to go Energy-Efficient! Some of the energy inefficient ways of construction include “investing in traditional HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning), mercury vapor, or halogen lighting, using glass that does not resist heat loss and the like” (IEECB 2012, 2012). On the other hand, some of the energy efficient ways of construction include “chilled water system instead of HVAC, interior lighting that is energy efficient and sodium exterior lighting that is low pressure” (IEECB 2012, 2012). In addition, some other ways include high-performance reflective glass that is good at resisting energy and heat, using computerized building automation that would in turn help in adjusting building temperature more quickly and efficiently, installing motion sensors in rooms and offices that would turn off the lights automatically when no one is in the room and the like. Following are some of the energy efficient ways of designing and constructing that can not only help in controlling global warming, but can also save companies and residents millions of pounds (IEECB 2012, 2012). Alternatives to ventilation, heating and air conditioning have been found that give the same effect but consume much less energy. For example, double glazed windows are an amazing alternative to air-conditioning and it stops the heat from outside to enter inside. At the same time, it also acts as an instrument to cut noise. Similar is the case with compact fluorescent bulbs that save a lot energy as compared to their old counterpart, incandescent bulbs. Using thermal envelopes is one of the techniques to keep the heat where it is supposed to be. Thermal envelopes include everything and anything that separate the indoor of the house from the outside. This includes proper insulation, wall, and roof assemblies, windows and the like (Crosbie, 1998, p. 14). Using wood for making house is extremely energy efficient. The houses made from wood are not only energy efficient, but also they are also long lasting and stable. R-value is an important factor in determining the intensity of insulation. The insulation material with high R-values would have higher heat resistance and thus are more energy efficient. The number of windows and its careful placement also helps in carefully saving the energy and using it efficiently. This is because windows become a medium of losing heat and in a typical house, windows lead to approximately 25 percent of heat loss. Therefore, experts suggest that in an energy efficient house, there should be minimum windows, so much so that the total count of the windows should not be more than 8 to 9 percent of the floor area in which the windows are located. Restricting the number of windows and keeping the house from losing heat may lead to a house being improperly ventilated; therefore, proper ventilation measures should be taken in order to reduce health related risks. It is also important for the ventilation to be mechanical so that suffocation and uncomfortable atmosphere inside the house can be avoided, and it helps in preventing structural damage at the same time. To serve this purpose, Heat recovery ventilators (HRV) are now being used in an increasing number. However, there are some limitations to using this system; i.e. one can use this only in arid climates because they can be quite uncomfortable in northern climates. One rule of thumb that should always be remembered for designing an energy efficient house is using heating and cooling systems of small sizes. Heating and cooling systems of small size serve two purposes. One is that they help in consuming less energy and second is that they are less expensive to buy, operate and maintain and thus leave some room for buying other energy efficient appliances and the like. These days, all such products come with Energy Guide written on them that guides a buyer about that product’s energy efficiency (United States Congress Senate Committee, 2010, p. 100). Painting the house carefully can also help in accomplishing desired temperature in the house. For example, in hot places where summers dominate, using cool and light colours can greatly help in achieving a low temperature. Furthermore, plantation done outside and inside of the house can also add to getting the desired temperature in the house (Ries et al, 2009, p. 30). Pricing of renewable and energy efficient appliances leads to purchasing decision. Hence, pricing them low can create an increase in demand for such energy efficient products and can thus help in reducing global warming largely. Most of the energy efficient products are expensive, but this does not mean that there are no inexpensive alternatives. Energy-Efficiency should be an on-going practice Even once the building in constructed, the residents in case of a housing building or employees or workers in case of an office building should try their bests to practice their lives in energy efficient ways. A simple example of this would include programming computer monitors to turn off after every 5 minutes of inactivity and the like. In addition, the thing that would be worth noting for many is that these energy efficient ways save companies millions of pounds in the long run (CISCO, 2012). Advantages and Disadvantages It is true that energy efficient appliance are costly to purchase, but there are many advantages to buying such appliances apart from their being energy efficient. First, these appliances save you money in the long run in terms of maintaining and operating costs. Secondly, these appliances help you stay immune from changing energy prices and lastly, they get your house good resale value because of their very energy efficient features. Some other, rather obvious, advantages associated with energy efficient houses include their level of comfort due to additional insulation, controlled humidity, reduced drafts and due to an element of peace. With all these advantage, these houses also come with some disadvantages that are nothing as compared to the advantages. Firstly, such houses cost more to build and take more time to construct (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Energy Efficiency Office, Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit, 1989, p. 50). Second, construction of such houses requires careful designing, and require trained engineer that are again difficult and more expensive to find. However, as a homeowner and a responsibly citizen of this world, one should do a cost benefit analysis and should rightly go with energy efficient housing. Some Preparations An owner needs to do various preparations before getting his home constructed in an energy efficient way. These preparations include evaluating the site of the house properly for its location and climate, as that information would further help designer to builder upon the plan, design, and orientation of the house accordingly. Next, one should make sure that the design of house would allow for proper placement of insulation, windows, doors, heating, cooling, ventilation, and the like by keeping in view the aesthetics of the house at the same time. One should always estimate the total cost that this whole process would bring, along with realising builder’s limitations. Construction cost would automatically be quite high than construction cost of conventional house. This is because energy efficient construction techniques are relatively new and require highly trained and skilled builders. These builders charge for their skills and experiences and therefore price their services higher than the builders who are into the construction of houses in conventional way (Elements of an Energy-Efficient House, 2000). Handy Advices An important practice that can help dramatically in having energy efficient ways in construction and building is to plan it correct in the design phase. It is an environmentally friendly owner’s duty to sit together with the construction team and engineers and discuss ways to construct the building in as energy efficient very as possible. Similarly, it is also a duty on engineers’ part to communicate the same to the owner if he is not quite aware of it. If an office or a commercial building is under construction, so it is a good idea to make team of people who would design building along with people who would be using it. So that one takes the users’ suggestions and then incorporates the energy efficient techniques in order to make it perfect from both the ends (Dennis & Landsberg, 1980, p. 15). It would not be wrong to say that these energy efficient constructions can be costly to get started with, but it comes as a real cost saver when it comes to operating costs and the like. Therefore, it is important that whenever one thinks about constructing a house, he should compare between traditional constructions with energy efficient constructions; both in terms of design and construction cost and in terms of on going, operating or maintenance cost. Moreover, one should act environmentally friendly and should try to act responsibly by devising ways that would help cut global warming and research has indicated housing as one of major producers of global warming (Eric Hirst, 1986). Conclusion Homeowners should try to act as responsibly as possible and should try to think about the harms that an additional house built in traditional way can bring. Therefore, homeowners, who are thinking to get their houses built, should search for builders who are experienced in building houses this way. Getting houses constructed in an energy efficient way leads to cost saving in the long run; however, it may cause an owner to invest in more money at the time of the construction of the house. A careful cost benefit analysis would lead a homeowner to realize the benefits that a house built in an energy efficient way can bring to him. References CISCO. 2012. Case Study: Energy Efficiency in Design and Construction. Retrieved on April 30, 2012: www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/ac228/ac229/about_cisco_corp_citi_case_study.html Crosbie, Michael J. 1998. The Passive Solar Design and Construction Handbook. John Wiley and Sons. Dennis, R., Landsberg, R. S. 1980. Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings:. SUNY Press. Elements of an Energy-Efficient House. 2000. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, p. 8. Eric Hirst, A. C. E. 1986. Energy efficiency in buildings:. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. IEECB 2012. 2012. IEECB 2012 - 7th international conference on improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings. 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2012: www.eceee.org/calendar/2012/ieecb-2012-7th-international-conference-on-improving-energy-efficiency-in-commercial-buildings Ries, C., Jenkins, J., Wise, O., Rand Environment Energy, and Economic Development (Program). 2009. Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings:. Rand Corporation. Rosemary, Lyster, A. J. 2006. Energy Law and the Environment. Cambridge University Press. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Energy Efficiency Office, Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit. 1989. Energy Efficiency in Buildings:. Energy efficiency office. United States Congress Senate Committee. 2010. Energy Efficiency in Buildings. BiblioGov. Read More