Browsing by Subject "Building codes"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Leapfrogging to a Green Building Code in Bolivia: A Policy Analysis
    (2016-04-27) Legge, Darren; Stanton, Darius II; Tran, Theo
    In Bolivia, building codes are a nascent development. This presents an opportunity to learn from the international community, possibly even “leapfrogging” directly to a code that incorporates environmentally sustainable features. On behalf of our client, Partners of the Americas, this report assesses the opportunity for Bolivian municipalities to adopt commercial building codes similar to those developed by the International Code Council. Specifically, we analyze the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) for use in Bolivia’s three principal cities: La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. We analyze the policies’ effectiveness in achieving building safety and environmental health improvements, as well as their potential economic costs and benefits. We also evaluate the feasibility of policy adoption and implementation.
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    Modeling the Market Penetration of Advanced Lighting Controls in the U.S Commercial Sector
    (2012-04-26) Sturges, Andrew
    This paper describes one method of modeling current and future market penetration of advanced lighting controls as a function of commercial floor space. We take advanced lighting controls to mean dimmers, photosensors, occupancy or motion sensors, multi-step switches, and timers. We initialize the model with commercial floor space data from the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, accounting for renovation, demolition, and region. The floor space is then associated with the building code that was in effect during the construction or renovation year, providing a link between existing commercial floor space and its coverage by advanced lighting controls. We make assumptions about demolition, renovation, and compliance rates. We find that mandating full compliance with the current Federal building code would increase commercial floor space with automatic lighting shutoff from 78% to 90%.
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    The Impact of Appliance Efficiency on Building Energy Performance -A Case Study for a Tianjin Eco-city in China
    (2010-04-29T20:34:16Z) Fan, Hua
    Buildings consume approximately 40% of the total energy use in the world. A building is a complex system whose annual energy use consists of many factors. The top five end-uses of building energy are space heating, space cooling, water heating, lighting and electrical appliances. Over fifty countries have developed efficiency standards and energy labels for residential appliances and commercial equipment to reduce energy consumption of those end-users. However, studies rarely consider the appliance efficiency in a whole building system. For this project, I used a computer-based simulation program to evaluate the impact of appliance efficiency in buildings on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC). I studied the Chinese energy efficiency standards for refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, computers and rice cookers, and evaluated their impacts on two residential building prototypes being designed in an eco-city being planned and under construction in China. I found that improved efficiency of refrigerators and washing machines decreased peak load and the energy use for space cooling, but increased the energy use for space heating. The improved efficiency cut overall energy consumption and could lead to total annual energy savings of $1.2 million in Tianjin eco-city. Although several limitations exist in this project, mechanical engineers may still consider the method and results to design more appropriately sized HVAC systems. Moreover, China may consider revising its building codes in order to better manage the energy consumption in its building sector.