THERMAL ENERGY USE OPTIMIZATION

Thesis Overview

<p><b>1.0 INTRODUCTION&nbsp;</b></p><p><b>1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT&nbsp;</b>&nbsp;</p><p>In Canada, heating and cooling of buildings constitutes over 17% of the nation’s energy use (OEE, 2011). By increasing the efficiency of buildings through retrofits and improved design, this significant use of energy can be decreased, which can lead to economic savings and environmental benefits. Retrofits applied to aging infrastructure allows for the integration of new energy efficient technologies and design principles, which can significantly reduce energy consumption. The Baie-d’Urfé Public Works Building, built in 1967, was originally conceived to serve as a car dealership and garage. As such, large windows are featured along its front façade, mainly facing north, with numerous garage doors. Additionally, the ventilation and heat distribution system layout is ineffective and leads to significant heat losses and poor climate control. With large temperature gradients throughout the building and holes in the building envelope, proposed renovations and energy efficient retrofits are necessary to lower high heating and cooling loads and increase thermal comfort.&nbsp;</p><p>1.2 <b>OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE</b></p><p>The primary project objective will be to reduce the energy consumption for heating and cooling purposes of the public works building in the Town of Baie-d’Urfé. Project costs and subsequent economic savings are extremely important parameters in the selection of a final design. Subsequent benefits of improving thermal energy efficiency of the building include improving climate control, increasing comfort of workers and clients, and demonstrating environmental leadership. In order to meet the main objective, an energy audit has been conducted to assess the source of large heating and cooling loads. From previous rankings and assessments, geothermal ground source heat pumps, and improvements to the building envelope have been selected to be designed and optimized for thermal energy savings (Busgang, et al. 2011).The scope of this project will include the parameters for the geothermal system (e.g. refrigerant type, pipe length, configuration, etc.), along with various building envelope design options.&nbsp;</p>