Building Energy Analyst Portfolio

Anmol Mathur

Architecture & sustainable design Portfolio of selected works

Image source- Author

contents 01 02 03 04

Urban Energy Modelling

05

Building performance EvaluationCEPT workshop Sustainable Affordable Housing

06 “A window to my world” – Unnati Noida

Unnati – warehousing facility Archive and Rare book storage facility Integrated design developmentCAM centre Ahmedabad

01

Urban Energy Modelling – Developing Data-driven Solutions for Smart cities

Key Skills displayed:- Strategic Urban Planning, Urban Energy Modelling, Research

Impact Urban Building energy modeling (UBEM) refers to the computational modeling and simulation of the energy performance of a group of buildings in the urban context, to account for the interactions & dynamics between buildings, urban infrastructure and urban microclimate.

Global Coverage

Potential applications of UBEM

Assessing the impact of existing codes and policy in India

Current practices of Top-down or Scale bottom-up approaches to Building stock modelling are suitable at large scales. However to have a deeper understanding of local and regional context Bottomup UBEM is becoming a popular tool worldwide. With an increase in both residential and commercial building stock there is a need for a data driven approach to assess and mitigate the impact of this urbanization on the environment.

UBEM can help tailor the existing codes and policies at urban and municipal levels for faster and easier implementation.

iNUMBER Project

Applications and benefits of studying Urban Building Energy Modelling (cityenergyanalyst.com)

Ongoing research Anmol Mathur while working with CARBSE & UCL Type: Research, Policy Support, Urban Scale Location: Ahmedabad, Climate type: Hot & Dry

Data collection and levels of Detail

Typical Workflow of a UBEM In a typical workflow urban information enables developing a city 3D model with both geometric and semantic attributes. Buildings of similar characteristics are classified into archetypes to account for Physical attributes like construction materials, mechanical systems, equipment and operational patterns. The model is then simulated using a suitable methodology & calibrated To depict the reality as close as possible with a consistency in result accuracy. The model is now ready for further analysis and data visualization.

Impact Data Required

Assessment of the required Level of Detail

Assessing the optimum Level of Detail for the input data across different aspects is essential to minimize uncertainties and at the same time efforts to simulate and develop the model. Thus, model inputs need to be evaluated for the effective ‘change / difference’ their LOD makes on the simulation results. Calibration of the model can be performed if metered utility data is available.

This information is essential to develop Fit-for-Purpose UBEM with maximum benefit for the least effort. Effective modelling methods need to be developed for increasing the feasibility of UBEM especially in Indian Context.

For more details visit:(http://www.inumber.org/outcome s/presentations/ )

Assessing Impact of ECBC envelop parameters on the Central Business District of Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad CBD in coming decades

Baseline Cooling energy consumption

2020

2030

LCC vs energy optimization

2040

Energy Savings

EPI (kWh/m2) assessment

Impact Performing UBEM with Lifecycle cost and Energy saving optimization can help decide the optimum set of ECBC prescriptive parameters for different types of buildings in a specific Urban Setting. Similar approach can be adopted for understanding optimum HVAC systems, operational strategies, controls, and other Energy conservation measures across different codes and policies like ECBC, ICAP, National Energy policy etc. In this project the Development control regulations for the CBD are targeted to incorporate minimum envelop performance.

The application of this approach can potentially extend to Energy Benchmarking, integrate renewable energy and demand side management.

Performing Urban heat island, climate vulnerability studies

UBEM for the CBD of Ernakulam

Rainfall simulation

Impact Extending the urban scale analysis to simulate microclimate effects can help in preparing Climate Change Vulnerability assessment reports. Urban heat island studies can be clubbed with UBEM to drive policy level decisions to mitigate climate change, implement energy efficiency codes and policies and can build a case for district cooling.

Urban microclimate simulations (Urban Weather Generator tool – MIT Sustainable design lab)

Urban microclimate simulations can be performed with some assumptions on the building and urban fabric materials , waste heat from HVAC systems, Transportation emissions, evapotranspiration rates (Note assumptions derived from a study in Singapore assuming similarity in climate zones) other assumptions derived from UWG(2017)

Climate Vulnerability

Rise in Sea level analysis using DEM

Urban energy and mobility simulations have the potential to estimate and developing GHG baseline inventories which often require extensive data collection Rainfall and sea level rise analysis help in planning and urban design activities. Identify vulnerable areas and assess impact of interventions.

Similar studies can also be extended in the field of urban mobility and accessibility analysis.

EnteKochi competition

High risk areas prone to flooding due to 2m rise in sea level (Source: CSIR,2015)

Environmental consultancy to FICUS landscape Type: Competition, Urban Scale Location: Kochi, Kerala Climate type: Hot & Humid

02

Unnati Gainwell’s Regional Headquarter for Caterpillar Products - North

Key Skills displayed:- Construction Management, HVAC system Integration

“Evenings of hard work” - Unnati, Greater Noida

Industrial/ service & Repair facility

Ecotech II - Udyog vihar Greater Noida , U.P.

Project ArchitectsAshok.b.Lall Architects

ClientsGain well Commosales Pvt. Ltd

Site area- 5.16acres Ground Coverage - 8500sqm

Built up area- 13,500sqm Max.Ht - 15m

Office building – LEED Platinum certified

Unnati 1. India's FIRST LEEDv4 BD+C Platinum certified project!

The 37,000 sqft Unnati building in Noida has many notable green features. Appropriate facade design, open courtyard, truss reinforced concrete, rainwater harvesting pits, green roof and 100kW PV panel.

2. Largest facility for service & repair of ‘CATERPILLAR INC.’ in India.

3. Component & Machine rebuild centre 4. Packaging facility for Compressors.

5. Regional Parts Fulfilment centre Project status- Completed Project commenced - October 2016 Project handled from :June 2017 to July 2018 Portfolio of work handled:1. Site coordination and supervision.

2. Preparing drawings for M.E.P. Services coordination 3. Preparation of 3d views for interiors.

4. Preparation of Interior tender drawings & GFC drawings.

Consultants1. DESMAN - Structural 2. DBHMS - Plumbing & HVAC 3. SS Consultants - Electrical 4. EDS - Green Building, LEED Consultant 5. Roha - Landscape

Workshop building

Unnati Site plan

DG Shed

Workshop

Office -LEED Boundary

03

Archive & Rare book Storage Facility *Winning competition entry on behalf CEPT University

Key Skills displayed:- HVAC and Controls optimization, Building Energy Modelling, Code Compliance

ASHRAE 189.1 Complaint Building design Incremental Reduction in Energy Consumption with various Passive and Active Strategies

Reduction in Energy compared to Standards

Location: Mumbai Type: Commercial Rating: LEED v4 Winning Entry in ASHRAE Integrated Sustainable Building Design Competition The entire design complies with ASHRAE 189.1 standard for High performance Green building and scores a Platinum rating on the LEED V4.1 certification for new construction projects, showing a high performance in sustainability.

All these strategies along with efficient Building Management System with daylight controls for electric lighting reduce the energy consumption of the building by 50.8% of the baseline consumption.

Coherent optimization for Improving Daylight and Reducing Thermal Gains from Glazing

Concept Visualization

Tangible Benefits 1. Energy saving – 50.8% reduction in Annual Energy Consumption from Baseline 2. 64% reduction in Lifecycle cost till 50 years compared to Baseline.

3. NET Positive on Energy using Solar PV. 4. Water Demand:- 55% Reduction

Intangible Benefits 1. Daylight Autonomy – 89% 2. Visual Comfort- Glare free Spaces 3. 97% Comfortable hours as per ASHRAE 55 thermal comfort standards.

HVAC Optimization and Energy Savings with cost comparison Optimizing system size on part-load demand

Chiller sequencing based on cooling demand

Reduction in cooling load and energy with HVAC system optimization

Lifecycle cost improvement

04 Integrated Design Development– CAM Management Centre

Project DescriptionThe project is a commercial office building constructed in Ahmedabad. It is a 3-storey building with built up area of 1500sqm. It consists of open offices, cabins, meeting rooms, receptions area, pantries. Most of the spaces are air-conditioned except for pantries, service circulation, toilets & storage.

The Aim is to improve the building’s performance in terms of both thermal and visual comfort needs to with an optimum solution that also reduces its operational energy consumption and provides an improved life cycle cost to the building owners.

The process adopted for this project: 1.Assess the existing building design and its operational energy performance in terms of Lighting, Daylighting and HVAC systems. This will be referred to as the Base case.

2.Analyze the same building design with an ECBC (Energy conservation Building code 2017, India) prescriptive approach assessing it on comfort and energy parameters.

3.Propose further improvement in the buildings design over the ECBC case through both passive and active means and suggest an improved life cycle cost benefit by adopting the proposed design.

Key Skills displayed:- Building Energy Optimization, HVAC and Controls Simulation

Climate Analysis The project is in Ahmedabad which lies in Hot & Dry Zone as per ECBC 2017. A climatic study was conducted in which parameters such as temperature, Relative Humidity, Solar Radiation etc. were analysed for Ahmedabad. A climate analysis is performed to understand potentials and challenges for improving the building’s design

Inferences from climate analysis The climate analysis shows Ahmedabad has harsh Hot & Dry summers & mild winters where outdoor conditions are comfortable. Humid period starts from mid June to October.

Wind Rose

Overall, there is a very high Wet-bulb depression during the summer months (max 24 C to min 12 C) which provides a potential for Evaporative cooling for comfort.

The average diurnal range is high at 12 C which also suggests strategies like high Thermal mass in the envelop and Night cooling through natural ventilation can work best during summers.

Wet Bulb depression Fig 20 - Weather data for Ahmedabad

Wind speed is greater than 1m/s and below 30C for 37% of hours during the year out which 46% hours lie during 8am to 8pm, suggesting Natural ventilation for comfort during these hours.

Single Zone Box Model simulations The climatic conditions were further assessed by performing pre-design box model simulations. A simple box model was simulated with the aspect ratio of 2:3 is simulated as a representative zone of the building with BAU envelop configuration to analyse the heat gains from different surfaces.

Inferences from Box model Fig 21 - Incident solar radiation on different surfaces of the building

The Radiation analysis suggest that Roof has the highest solar insolation Followed by South facade. Radiation starts to dip during the summer months (April to July) on the south side. East & West receive high radiation throughout the year. The high radiation at 250 W/m2 on the roof suggests a good potential for Rooftop Solar PV. The box model was also used to understand the heat balance through the envelop. Roof has the highest heat gains Followed by eastwest. South side starts to lose heat during the summer months (April to July). North façade loses heat throughout the year only gains heat during summer.

Fig 22 - Heat transfer through different surfaces of the building

Base Case energy performance Base case energy model was developed to analyse heat balance, cooling loads, comfort hours etc.

The envelop is a Built as usual Brick wall and RCC slab construction. The schedules for were derived from recommendation of ECBC 2017 and occupancy for each space was as given. Equipment power density (EPD) was calculated using 3 star rated appliances. Light power density (LPD) was taken from ECBC 2017. The fresh air requirements were referred from NBC 2016. A PTAC system with an EER of 3 was modelled and Temperature set point as 24ᵒC for comfort cooling.

Inferences from Base case 54% of the building’s energy consumption is by Air conditioning. Of the total cooling loads 88% are sensible loads and only 12% are latent. The internal loads dominate the cooling requirement adding to 56% of it.

The elimination analysis suggested that 26% reduction in cooling energy can be made by optimizing the envelop.

Another 40% reduction can be made optimizing the HVAC system and fresh air delivery.

Amongst the envelop, glazing has the major impact followed by roof & wall.

All these inferences were used to optimize the designs performance

Design optimization – Parametric analysis The learnings from the climate analysis and base case energy and daylighting results suggested an approach to optimize the design for better thermal & visual comfort and energy performance. A sensitivity analysis was done to optimise each & every component of the building envelop and then a parametric simulation was done to choose the most suitable envelop configuration.

Fig 27. Sensitivity analysis for Shading & WWR combinations– Reduction in Total cooling energy from base case

Designed case

Fig 28. Sensitivity analysis for Roof construction

Super ECBC

Fig 30. Parametric simulation results for Designed case, ECBC & Super ECBC envelop only

Fig 31. Selected envelop assembly Fig 29. Sensitivity analysis for Wall Construction

ECBC

Design Modification – Daylight results The design has been modified to improve the daylight performance by adding - Clerestory windows (high lintel level), High VLT & Greater SRR for skylight. An overall WWR of 40% with shading option 2 & glazing option 2 was opted for the building with only North offices and conference room in the west and meeting rooms on east are designed with 50% WWR, shading option 3 and glazing option 4. As a design, shading 2 is opted for WWR 40% and shading 3 for 50% WWR. Fig 33- shading device for proposed case

Fig 32- Comparison between base case and proposed case geometry

Base case Daylight Results

Proposed case Daylight Results

VRF

Comparison of outdoor system energy monthly

The design was compared for energy performance with two systems:VRF + ERV & 2. Radiant Ceiling + DOAS (ERV + Cooling coil + reheat coil) Radiant ceiling design was found to perform better than VRF system due to division of load into sensible and latent being served by separate units. Due to lesser latent loads Radiant system works better from January to May & October to December. During monsoon months the load on the chiller for DOAS increases due to very high latent load

4200.0

Energy consumption (kWh)

Design Case HVAC system comparison – Energy consumption by Chiller / VRF outdoor

Radiant (cooling+reheat)

3700.0 3200.0 2700.0 2200.0 1700.0

1200.0 700.0

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

VRF

769.3

1428.1

2549.7

3278.1

4099.4

3994.1

3125.5

3030.3

2789.4

2629.2

1615.9

1039.2

Radiant (cooling+reheat)

1437.4

1794.5

2250.0

2410.0

2946.7

2799.9

2444.7

2486.3

2183.6

2195.8

1919.8

1711.9

VRF + ERV

Radiant + DOAS

Design Case – HVAC system The proposed case has been served with a hybrid DOAS system comprising of a IDEC and a cooling coil. The sensible load is taken care by Radiant ceiling panels.

System selection Based on the climate analysis a hybrid system is now proposed for the building with Indirect evaporative cooling running in the dry months. The final HVAC systems & Schedules are as:Fig 34- Outdoor conditions as per IMAC mixed mode band for Ahmedabad with additional humidity threshold between 70-30% RH

1.

Radiant Ceiling Panels REHAU 1.

2 x 19 TR Air cooled Screw Chiller for Radiant & DOAS Cooling coil (York - YCAL0028EE, COP 3.7, IPLV 14.7) 3. 20,000 CFM (10m3/s) capacity AHU with IDEC & Cooling coil (HMX Ambiator Hybrid AHU) For Fresh air supply & Night cooling through economizer mode

Night ventilation Natural ventilation Fans Evaporative cooling DOAS dehumidification Radiant cooling

Jan 9pm -6am 8am-10am On On

Feb 9pm -6am 8am-10am On On

Mar Apr May Jun 9pm -6am 9pm -6am 9pm -6am

Jul

Aug

Sep

On On

On On

On

On

On

On

On

On

On

On On

On On

On On

On On

On On

Fig 35 – Month vise HVAC schedule

IDEC + CWC in DOAS

Ground floor Chilled ceiling panel

Fig 36 – HVAC Zoning for the office building

First floor

Second floor

Oct Nov 9pm -6am 9pm -6am 8am-10am On On On On

Dec 9pm -6am 8am-10am On On

Design Case - Energy reduction The final design with an optimized envelop and HVAC system reduced the cooling energy requirement in the building by 74% and the total EUI by 38%.

The design strategies have also been able to provide 100% hours comfortable as per IMAC mixed mode band during operational hours.

Learnings The exercise enabled a holistic approach towards high performance design and optimizing the end use energy needs of a building through both passive and active means. At the same time ensuring that the comfort in terms of Visual and Thermal is not compromised.

The most important learning was the step by step process of optimizing a building for energy performance. Several iterations need to be made to select the most suitable combination of strategies.

The exercise also involved calculating the Return on Investment to the building owner by opting for this high performance design solution. The annualized ROI for the proposed case is 11.2% .

Fig 37 - Reduction in cooling energy & EUI through various stages of the design

Base case

Optimized envelop

ECBC prescribed

Design Case

Total cooling electricity

102089

72536.6

67206.7

26925.5

Total Lighting

23725.5

23725.5

23725.5

23725.5

Total equipment

59744.5

59744.5

59744.5

59744.5

Fans

4117.1

3831.08

3665.96

7169.8

Pumps total

129.64 189676.5

% cooling reduction in Cooling Energy EUI

136

% reduction in EUI % comfort hours IMAC Mixed mode Table 7 – Summary of results

82%

159837.6

154342.6

117694.9

28.95%

34.17%

73.63%

114.61

110.67

84.39

15.73%

18.63%

37.95%

94%

97%

100%

05 Building Performance Evaluation – ASHRAE Level 2 Audit of CEPT Workshop building Project DescriptionThe purpose of this project is to study and perform an ASHRAE Level 2 Audit and review the performance of the building post occupancy through this assessment.

The various parameters that were considered for evaluation of the Workshop were: • Building Envelope • Internal Heat Gain • Thermal Comfort • Visual Comfort Analysis • HVAC system • Energy Assessment This analysis was conducted with the help Of field measurements & occupant & Engineer’s survey

Portfolio of work handled:Evaluating the performance of HVAC system

The Workshop building at CEPT University uses two types of HVAC systems, An Evaporative Cooling system and a VRF system for its operation throughout the year. The objective is to evaluate, Collect and Process the performance of the Low energy comfort systems (Alternate HVAC/ LECS) data as required by ECBC 2017 of the Workshop building in CEPT campus.

Key Skills displayed:- Measurement and Verification

Performance Parameters for Evaporative cooling

Calculations & Measurement plan

Measurements & Observations

1.Efficiency of the cooler reduces with reduction in Wet bulb depression (DBT-WBT) 2.Difference between outdoor DBT & T (pad) also varies directly with wet bulb depression.

3.The lesser the difference between T (pad) & WBT the more efficient is the cooler.

4.Difference between room temperature & outside DBT (is marginal indicating that the cooling system is inefficient.

5.A greater difference in T (pad) & Tvent indicates that cool air is getting heated while travelling through the duct, which leads to further investigation.

6.As a result of cool air not being delivered through the duct the difference between Troom & Outdoor DBT ( DBT-Troom) which also becomes negative after 17:00hrs as inside room temperature becomes greater that outdoor temperature.

Devices and instruments used

Recommendations Modifications layout of Evaporative Cooling

Modifications Supply air outlets

The throw of an outlet is more important than the spread because the air must reach into the room as far as possible. The current layout comprises of 20 Nos. of outlet vents which is spaced 2M (center to center) on each side.

The number of outlet vents can be reduced by adding a blades to broaden the spread but at the same time it is important that any air exiting multiple outlets does not collide in the room because this will cause the undesired sensation of a draft.

Repair of duct insulation where worn off as shown below

Reduction in Effective ducting length by repositioning Cooling units to reduce static pressure and heat gain through excessive ducting.

06 Sustainable Affordable Housing – Aatral Homes

Key Skills displayed:- Whole building Energy and Comfort Optimization, Sustainable Architecture, Leadership for Team project

Developing Scalable solutions for Green Affordable housing under PMAY scheme

Design Process for High Performance Energy Efficient Design

Design Process for High Performance Energy Efficient Design

Architectural Drawings

Anmol Mathur anmolmathur.b.arch@gmail.com