Abstract

The direct relationship between maintaining comfortable indoor environments and energy consumption means that understanding comfort requirements can positively impact costs associated with the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of healthcare clinics in remote communities. At present, performance of healthcare clinics with respect to Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) is unknown and there is still uncertainty regarding the perceptions of users on specific IEQ factors in this region. The objectives of this study are to determine the thermal performance of such clinics and how the occupants perceive their thermal environment. Operative temperature and relative humidity were monitored over 12 months in a clinic located in Wanarn community, Western Australia using data loggers. Subjective perceptions of the thermal environment were collected from 9 clinic staff through questionnaires at the same time. The results provide quantitative perspectives on the thermal requirements for clinics in remote settings, useful as inputs for building simulations. This has practical implications for improved building performance and energy efficiency that enhances satisfaction and wellbeing of the occupants.

Keywords: Thermal comfort, IEQ, Remote Australia, PMV, AMV, Healthcare Clinics, Energy Efficiency.

http://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2019/BS2019_210538.pdf

Abstract:

This paper presents a comparative analysis on the weather parameters of 5 different datasets used in Australia for the same location and on-site measured data, including their performance difference with respect to building energy simulation results of an existing case study, calibrated against actual annual energy consumption. The simulation results show that the difference in annual and seasonal (hot and cold) energy consumption can vary by up to ±7% (20kWh), ±34% (47.8kWh) and ±29% (36.2kWh) respectively as a function of the weather data used for the same location. Consequently, having some accurate onsite measurements is critical for choosing the appropriate weather data set for design purposes and accurate prediction of energy simulation results.

Keywords: Building Energy Simulations, Weather data, EnergyPlus, Climate, Remote Australia

https://publications.ibpsa.org/conference/paper/?id=bs2021_30478

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of various energy conservation measures (ECMs) on total annual electricity consumption on a single level, two-bedroom residential building in an arid climate and in a very remote area of Australia. Base case scenario of annual energy consumption profiles of the building and its existing systems were modelled and simulated using DesignBuilder software, and the results were validated by on-site measured electricity data. Two categories of ECMs (major intervention and minor intervention) were investigated and analysed. The findings show that the total annual energy consumption of the case study building can be reduced by up to 44% (2 kWh/m2·yr) when compared against the base model and measured data if selected ECMs are implemented. Significant savings from implementing selected ECMs can help alleviate the cost-of-living pressure and stress currently experienced by many households on low incomes especially for residents of very remote communities in Australia.

KEYWORDS: Energy conservation measures, thermal comfort, building energy simulations, very remote communities, electricity consumption, energy conservation, arid climates

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00038628.2023.2223183