ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT CONSTRUCTION
Abstract
Energy efficiency plays a crucial role in the modern development of the construction sector, as it helps reduce energy costs and lower the negative impact on the environment. Under the conditions of global climate change and growing demand for energy resources, the issue of energy efficiency is becoming more and more relevant. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of implementing energy-efficient technologies in US buildings. As a result of the study, it has been established that energy efficiency is a key factor for reducing costs and CO₂ emissions, which is especially topical in the context of climate change. Investments in this area provide substantial economic benefits: the average net present value (NPV) for residential buildings is $15,000, while for commercial – $50,000. The internal rate of return (IRR) for residential objects reaches 12% and for commercial – 20%. The payback period for residential buildings is, on average, six years, while for commercial objects, it is only four years. Implementing energy-efficient technologies leads to a significant reduction in energy consumption, which provides savings of $4,200 per year for residential and $24,000 for commercial buildings. The decrease in CO₂ emissions is also substantial, with residential buildings reducing emissions from 50 to 30 tons per year and commercial buildings from 250 to 150 tons, both reductions amounting to 40%. The satisfaction level of residents of residential buildings is 88%, while that of commercial buildings is 92%. Thus, energy-efficient solutions positively affect the economy, ecology, and quality of life.
References
Lu, W.; Zhang, J.; Tam, V.W.Y. Sustainable Impact of Green Building on the Eco-Economic Efficiency of the Construction Industry: Evidence from China. Buildings 2024, 14, 1214. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14051214
Zhang, D.; Wu, W.; Fang, P. Research on the Development of Green Buildings in China. In Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Green Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, GEESD 2020, Wuhan, China, 24–25 April 2020.
Huang, B.; Lei, J.; Ren, F.; Chen, Y.; Zhao, Q.; Li, S.; Lin, Y. Contribution and obstacle analysis of applying BIM in promoting green buildings. J. Clean. Prod. 2020, 278, 123946.
Saka, N.; Olanipekun, A.O.; Omotayo, T. Reward and compensation incentives for enhancing green building construction. Environ. Sustain. Indic. 2021, 11, 100138.
Szafranko, E. (2021). Assessment of the economic efficiency of energy‐saving projects, methodology based on simple and compound methods. Energy Science & Engineering. 10. 10.1002/ese3.1032.
Ascione F., Bianco N., Iovane T., Mauro G.M., Napolitano D.F., Ruggiano A., Viscido L., A real industrial building: modeling, calibration and Pareto optimization of energy retrofit, J. Build. Eng. 29 (2020), 101186, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101186.
Alamoodi A.H., Garfan S., Zaidan B.B., Zaidan A.A., Shuwandy M.L., Alaa M., M Alsalem. A., Mohammed A., Aleesa A.M.A Systematic Review into the Assessment of Medical Apps: Motivations, Challenges, Recommendations and Methodological Aspect, Health Technol. (Berl), 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-020-00451-4.
Karim M.A., Hasan M.M., Khan M.I.H. A simplistic and efficient method of estimating air-conditioning load of commercial buildings in the sub-tropical climate, Energy Build. 203 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j. enbuild.2019.109396.
ElSorady D.A., Rizk S.M. LEED v4.1 operations & maintenance for existing buildings and compliance assessment: Bayt Al-Suhaymi, Historic Cairo, Alex. Eng. J. 59 (2020) 519–531, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2020.01.027.
Susan S., Wardhani D. Building integrated photovoltaic as GREENSHIP’S on site renewable energy tool, Results Eng 7 (2020), 100153, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2020.100153.
Isik Z., Hasan S. The evaluation strategy of buildings based on the objectives of the UK building research, Mater. Today Proc. (2021) 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.01.881.
Barbosa, E.F.T.; Labaki, L.C.; Castro, A.P.A.S.; Lopes, F.S.D. Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort Analysis in a Higher Education Building in Brazil. Sustainability 2024, 16, 462. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1601046
Palm, J., & Bryngelsson, E. (2023). Energy efficiency at building sites: barriers and drivers. Energy Efficiency, 16(2), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-023-10088-7
Mata, É., Peñaloza, D., Sandkvist, F., & Nyberg, T. (2021). What is stopping low-carbon buildings? A global review of enablers and barriers. Energy Research & Social Science, 82, 102261.
Peel, J., Ahmed, V., & Saboor, S. (2020). An investigation of barriers and enablers to energy efciency retroftting of social housing in London. Construction Economics and Building, 20(2), 127–149.
Skillington, K.; Crawford, R.H.; Warren-Myers, G.; Davidson, K. A review of existing policy for reducing embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions of buildings. Energy Policy 2022, 168, 112920.
Martínez-Acosta, M.; Vázquez-Villegas, P.; Mejía-Manzano, L.A.; Soto-Inzunza, G.V.; Ruiz-Aguilar, K.M.; Cuellar, K.L.; Caratozzolo, P.; Membrillo-Hernández, J. The implementation of SDG12 in and from higher education institutions: Universities as laboratories for generating sustainable cities. Front. Sustain. Cities 2023, 5.
Aver, B.; Fošner, A.; Alfirevic, N. Higher Education Challenges: Developing Skills to Address Contemporary Economic and Sustainability Issues. Sustainability 2021, 13, 12567.
Tomazi, J.O.; Rodrigues, L.J.; Schneider, P.S. Auditoria energética visando o selo procel de economia de energia para uma Edificação pública de ensino/energy audit aiming at the procel seal of energy savings for a public education building. Brazilian Journal of Development. 2020, 6, 99648–99664
Tong, S.W.; Goh, W.P.; Huang, X.; Jiang, C. A review of transparent-reflective switchable glass technologies for building facades. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 2021, 152, 111615.
Elnaklah, R.; Ayyad, Y.; Alnusairat, S.; AlWaer, H.; AlShboul, A. A Comparison of Students’ Thermal Comfort and Perceived Learning Performance between Two Types of University Halls: Architecture Design Studios and Ordinary Lecture Rooms during the Heating Season. Sustainability 2023, 15, 1142.
Mamani, T.; Herrera, R.F.; Rivera, F.M.-L.; Atencio, E. Variables That Affect Thermal Comfort and Its Measuring Instruments: A Systematic Review. Sustainability 2022, 14, 1773
Rashidzadeh, Z.; Matin, N.H. A Comparative Study on Smart Windows Focusing on Climate-Based Energy Performance and Users’ Comfort Attributes. Sustainability 2023, 15, 2294
Alghamdi, S.; Tang, W.; Kanjanabootra, S.; Alterman, D. Field investigations on thermal comfort in university classrooms in New South Wales, Australia. Energy Rep. 2023, 9, 63–71.
Jing, S.; Lei, Y.; Wang, H.; Song, C.; Yan, X. Thermal comfort and energy-saving potential in university classrooms during the heating season. Energy Build. 2021, 202, 109390.
Views:
29
Downloads:
19
Copyright (c) 2024 Kharit Oleg Michailovich
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles are published in open-access and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Hence, authors retain copyright to the content of the articles.
CC BY 4.0 License allows content to be copied, adapted, displayed, distributed, re-published or otherwise re-used for any purpose including for adaptation and commercial use provided the content is attributed.