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In order to fulfil the UK government’s ambitious goal of 80% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared to the levels of 1990s, unprecedented measures for improving the energy efficiency of buildings are needed. This study investigates the impact of a specific type of Low-emissivity (Low-E) window film—Thinsulate Climate Control 75—on the holistic energy consumption of an existing United Kingdom (UK) hotel building. Building modelling and energy simulation software EDSL TAS is used to conduct the study. The result of the simulations demonstrates that by applying Thinsulate films, savings in heating, cooling, and total energy consumptions are achieved by 3%, 20%, and 2.7%, respectively. Also 4.1% and 5.1% savings are achieved in annual CO2 emissions and total energy costs, respectively, while the initial costs may be an issue. This study found that application of Low-E window films results in slightly better energy performance of the hotel regarding its heating-dominant climate. The study also recommends using average annual actual energy consumption data for a time range, instead of picking a single year’s data for validating purposes.

Abstract:Recently, considerable attention has justifiably been directed towards energy savings in buildings as they account for up to 20-40% of total energy consumption in developed countries. In the United Kingdom, studies have revealed that buildings' CO 2 emissions for account for at least 43% of total emissions. Window panels are a major component of the building fabric with considerable influence on the façade energy performance and are accountable for up to 60% of a building's overall energy loss. Therefore, the thermal performance of glazing materials is an important issue within the built environment. This work evaluates the impact of solar window films on the overall energy consumption of an existing commercial building via the use of a case study U.K. hotel and TAS dynamic simulation software. The study results demonstrated that the impact of window films on the overall energy consumption of the case study hotel is approximately 2%. However, an evaluation of various overall energy consumption components showed that the window films reduce the annual total cooling energy consumption by up to 35% along with a marginal 2% increase in the annual total heating energy consumption. They can also provide overall cost and CO 2 emissions savings of up to 3%.

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the incorporation of distributed energy resource (DER) systems such as combined heat and power (CHP) and combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) in commercial building applications as they have shown considerable environmental and financial benefits when compared to conventional energy generation. This paper aims to investigate the potential energy, carbon emissions, and financial impact of the size of co/tri-generation systems on a real case scenario of an existing UK hotel. The analysis is carried out using Thermal Analysis Simulation software (TAS) and a payback methodology is adopted to carry out the financial analysis. The results show that the average percentage decrease in carbon emissions with CHP is 32% and with CCHP it is 36%. Whilst both CHP and CCHP systems increase energy consumption in the building, the costs are reduced, and a CHP system contributes to a higher percentage of cost savings and shorter payback periods. The incorporation of a CCHP system leads to lower energy consumption for a similar-sized CHP system. Further simulations under future climate projections revealed that a CCHP system outperforms a CHP system.

Adverse effects of anthropogenic climate change has resulted in mitigation strategies geared towards curbing CO 2 emissions. Consequently, this has increased demand for more energy efficient buildings. Considerable amounts of studies have shown the existence of a significant discrepancy between estimated energy consumption by thermal simulation software and actual building operational energy; this is referred to as a 'performance gap'. This work presents a method of improving the energy consumption estimate in an existing non-domestic building via the use of a case study UK hotel (Hilton Reading) and Engineering Development Solutions limited (EDSL) TAS thermal simulation software. The method involves evaluating consumption estimates through plant modelling, and modifying this result by surveying the site to verify the simulation data and including estimates of unaccounted building energy use such as catering services which can be significant in hotels. The energy consumption result for this case study building gives an estimate which is within 12% of the actual building consumption data. The result also demonstrated that such models can produce energy consumption estimates that are up to 23% more accurate than building regulation compliance models and that more accurate simulation consumption estimates can be achieved by accounting for more unregulated energy uses, for example, lifts, servers and small power load.