International Journal of New Technology and Research (IJNTR)

ISSN: 2454-4116, Volume-4, Issue-1, January 2018 Pages 69-73

Energy Optimization of Building Using Design Builder

Software
Bhagyesh S Pawar, Prof. G.N. Kanade

 Energy efficiency means using less energy for

Abstract— The infrastructure industry is growing at heating, cooling, and lighting. It also means incorporating
the rate of 12.5%. The development of new infrastructure
different methods to ensure that energy is conserved.
results in the increase of energy consumption, in particular
electrical power consumption. The real estate, infrastructure Energy-efficiency applies to everything from the building
growth in field of IT parks, hospitals and institutional buildings envelope, which includes energy efficient windows,
is the prime need of developing country. In order to minimize insulation, foundation, and the roof, to appliances, lights, and
the energy consumption, there is a lot of initiatives taken by
various institutions so that the newly constructed buildings air-conditioning systems. It also applies to space heating and
should take into consideration the electrical consumption of cooling systems, which are aided through the use of
buildings. automated controls, ventilation, improved duct systems, and
The energy consumption can be reduced at the design
other advanced technologies. Energy efficiency can also
stage by using the knowledge of climatology, solar engineering
etc. In order to estimate the energy consumption of a building, apply to water heating when combined with water-efficient
energy consumption is analyzed using various methods. In this appliances and fixtures that will save water, energy, and
work the efforts are made to understand how to assess the money. The building envelope includes everything that
energy consumption of a commercial buildings.
The software design built is used as a tool to assess and separates the interior of a building from the outdoor
analyze the energy consumption of buildings. The software is environment, including the windows, walls, foundation,
used to quantify the architectural design concept to assess the basement slab, ceiling, roof, and insulation.
energy consumption and the design can be modified to further
The concept of ―energy efficient‖ buildings has
reduce the energy consumption.
Index Terms- solar engineering, energy consumption. immediate implications on regulations, economics, energy
demand, and the environment. A definition is also needed to
compare building energy performance or to assess absolute
I. INTRODUCTION energy efficiency criteria for an energy efficient building:
India is one of the largest growing economies in the  The building must be equipped with efficient
world with economic growth rate of 8.9%. Commensurate equipment and materials appropriate for the location
with economic growth, urbanization in India is growing fast. and conditions;
The construction sector in India is witnessing a fast growth
due to several factors. Some of the key growth drivers are  The building must provide amenities and services
increased demand for housing, strong demographic impetus, appropriate to the building’s intended use; and
expansion of organized retail, increased demand for
commercial office spaces by multinationals and IT  The building must be operated in such a manner as to
(information technology) hubs, and coming up of SEZs have a low energy use compared to other, similar
(special economic zones). The gross built-up area added to buildings.
commercial and residential spaces was about 40.8 million
square metres in 2008/09, which is about 1% of annual
An efficient building must, at a minimum, be above
average floor area around the world, and the trend shows a
average in all three aspects. When setting minimum
sustained growth of 10% over the coming years. With a near
efficiency standards, a definition of energy efficiency based
consistent 8% rise in annual energy consumption in the
on minimum life cycle costs is likely to result in much stricter
residential and commercial sectors, energy consumption in
standards—and greater energy savings—than a strategy based
buildings has seen an increase from a low of 14% in the 1970s
on eliminating the least efficient units.
to nearly 33% in 2014/15. This is directly related to higher
greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, it is the need of the hour to
design and construct energy efficient buildings. Objective
● To evaluate the energy efficiency of building using
Mr.Bhagyesh Sanjay Pawar , Civil Engineering , T.K.I.E.T simulation software(Design Builder) with respect to
Warananagar, Warananagar Kolhapur,India
Prof. G.N.Kanade , Civil Engineering , T.K.I.E.T Warananagar ,
ECBC standards, by placing the building in different
Warananagar Kolhapur,India

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 Energy Optimization of Building Using Design Builder Software

orientations and by varying envelope material life-cycle cost analyses were conducted to ensure that the
percentage Code requirements reflect cost-effectiveness and practical
● To find the requirement of energy efficiency in efficiency measures across five different climate zones in
India. While taking into account different climate zones, the
commercial building by design builder software
Code also addresses site orientation and specifies better
● Improve energy efficiency of commertial building by design practices and technologies that can reduce energy
using energy conservation building code (ECBC) consumption without sacrificing comfort and productivity of
and national building code (NBC) the occupants.
● Selecting building material in accordance with ECBC
III. APPLICABLE BUILDING SYSTEMS
The provisions of the ECBC apply to:
METHODOLOGY
 Building envelopes, except for unconditioned storage
 The selection methodology involves establishing: spaces or warehouses
 Study of simulation software i.e Desingn builder  Mechanical systems and equipment, including
 Studying the requirement of energy conservation in heating, ventilating, and air conditioning, (HVAC)
commercial building  Service hot water and pumping
 Analysis of a commercial building as a case study  Interior and exterior lighting
 Analysis of the building with respect to parameters  Electrical power and motors
deciding energy consumption Specific compliance requirement of the above building
components and systems are discussed in following part.
Exemptions to above the provisions of this Code do not apply
II. SCOPE OF WORK
to:
Dissertation work attempts to determine whether a  Buildings that do not use either electricity or fossil
given building is Energy Efficient or inefficient. A sample fuel
commercial building project has been considered for the
 Equipment and portions of building systems that use
analysis. The energy consumption of the building will be
energy primarily for manufacturing processes
evaluated using simulation software. The results will be
compared with ECBC standards. The inference is based on
Whole Building Performance (WBP)
the comparison.

Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC)

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) is
a document that specifies the energy performance
requirements for all commercial buildings that are to be
constructed in India.The purpose of ECBC is to provide
minimum requirements for energy-efficient design and
construction of buildings and their systems. The building
sector represents about 33% of electricity consumption in
India, with commercial sector and residential sector
Fig.Whole Building Perfomance
accounting for 8% and 25% respectively. Estimates based on
It is an alternative method to comply with the Code.
computer simulation models indicate that ECBC-compliant
buildings can use 40 to 60% less energy than conventional This method is more complex than the Prescriptive Method,
buildings. It is estimated that the nationwide mandatory but offers considerable design flexibility. It allows for Code
enforcement of the ECBC will yield annual savings of compliance to be achieved by optimizing the energy usage in
approximately 1.7 billion kWh. The ECBC is expected to various building components and systems (envelope, HVAC,
overcome market barriers, which otherwise result in lighting and other building systems) in order to find the most
under-investment in building energy efficiency. The ECBC
cost-effective solution. WBP method requires an approved
was developed as a first step towards promoting energy
efficiency in the building sector. The ECBC is the result of computer software program to model a Proposed Design,
extensive work by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) determine its annual energy use and compare it with the
and its Committee of Experts. It is written in Standard Design of the building.
code-enforceable language and addresses the views of the General Design Considerations
manufacturing, design, and construction communities as an Using efficient lighting equipment and controls is
appropriate set of minimum requirements for the best way to ensure lighting energy efficiency while
energy-efficient building design and construction. For
maintaining or even improving lighting conditions. For
developing the Code, building construction methods across
the country were reviewed and various energy-efficient instance, modern fluorescent lighting, such as electronically
design and construction practices were evaluated that could ballasted T-8 systems, can provide the same quantity of light
reduce energy consumption in building. In addition, detailed as older fluorescent lighting while consuming as little as

70 www.ijntr.org
 International Journal of New Technology and Research (IJNTR)
ISSN: 2454-4116, Volume-4, Issue-1, January 2018 Pages 69-73

two-thirds of the energy. Similarly, compact fluorescent use. And because Design Builder is so quick to use,
sources are three to four times more efficient than the you will be able to offer advanced simulation on
traditional incandescent lamps they are designed to replace. even the smallest project without going over budget.
For a lighting designer an energy-efficient lighting design
involves sensitive integration of many requirements and  When used as a learning tool in universities and
considerations that include building orientation, interior colleges, Design Builder s’ intuitive user interface
building layout, task illumination, daylight strategies, glazing and intelligent defaults allow students to concentrate
specification, choice of lighting system and controls etc. The on coursework without getting lost in the detail of
designer is also responsible for making sure that lighting using the software.
complies with the Code, meeting both mandatory and
 Helps you to design environmentally friendly
prescriptive requirements.
buildings.
The lighting requirements in the Code apply to:
a) Interior spaces of buildings. 1) 4.1.1 Features
 Design Builder features an easy-to-use Open GL
b) Exterior building features, including façades,
solid modeller, which allows building models to be
illuminated roofs, architectural features, entrances,
assembled by positioning, stretching and
exits, loading docks, and illuminated canopies.
cutting 'blocks' in 3-D space. Realistic 3-D elements
Service Exceptions to above: provide visual feedback of actual element thickness
a) Emergency lighting that is automatically off during and room areas and volumes and there are no
normal building operation and is powered by limitations on geometric form or surface shape.
battery, generator, or other alternate power source.
 You can import 3-D CAD models from ArchiCAD,
b) Lighting in dwelling units. Microstation, Revit and any other BIM software
supporting the gbXML standard.

DESIGN BUILDER SOFTWARE V 2.3  Data templates allow you to load common building
Introduction- constructions, activities, HVAC & lighting systems
The design Builder software is an advanced into your design by selecting from drop-down lists.
graphical user interface that has been specially developed to You can also add your own templates if you often
run Energy plus Simulations. For UK and Republic of Ireland work on similar types of buildings. This, combined
users Design builder Interface can also be used to produce with data inheritance, allows global changes to be
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and to show made at building, block or zone level. You can also
compliance with the building regulations. Design Builder is a control the level of detail in each building model
state-of-the-art software tool for checking building energy, allowing the tool to be used effectively at any stage
CO2, lighting and comfort performance. Developed to of the design or evaluation process.
simplify the process of building simulation, Design Builder
allows you to rapidly compare the function and performance  Switch between Model Edit View and Environmental
of building designs and deliver results on time and on budget. performance data with a single click - data is
Design Builder combines rapid building modelling and ease displayed without the need to run external modules
of use with state of the art dynamic energy simulation. Design and import data; and any simulations required to
Builder is easy to use. Its innovative productivity features generate the data are started automatically.
allow even complex buildings to be modelled rapidly by
non-expert users. Design Builder is the first comprehensive
IV. ANALYSIS
user interface to the Energy Plus dynamic thermal simulation
engine. INTRODUCTION
 To get accurate environmental performance data and A sample commercial building (AppendixA) has
stunning rendered images/movies at any stage in the been considered for carrying out the analysis. The features of
design process. the commercial building are as follows:-
 Shopping mall cum office space and restaurant on the
 Streamline the design and evaluation process by
4th floor
providing performance data when it is most
needed... early on while the design is still fluid.  Basement + ground floor + 4 floors-with a basement
car parking capacity of 45 cars and 200 bikes.
 Design Builder is priced competitively and - more
importantly - it is cost-effective to learn and

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 Energy Optimization of Building Using Design Builder Software

 Its been provided with a forced ventilation system Table- Inference Table

 Plinth Area=2255m2

 Framed structure with a glass façade

 Substructure are cast of concrete and the

superstructure is brick masonry

 An estimated external wall-window percentage is

70%

 It has a common atrium which starts from ground

floor to 3rd floor and with a skylight above

 It has 2 passenger lift – one service lift - one main stair

and 2 fire stairs

 Each floor has one gents toilet, one ladies toilet and
toilet for disabled

 An electrical room and a fire room is given in the

basement

 All other service equipment s are designed to be on

the building terrace
V. CONCLUSION
 HVAC system is provided for the whole building  From the analysis of this dissertation we have
conclude that in building design, by using
A. 5.2 METHOD OF ANALYSIS simulation software( design building software),
 The plans are exported in DXF formats from as per ECBC standards adopting various cases
AUTOCAD to Design Builder we found out the best orientation of building
which gives more energy efficient.
 The sketch of the building is made as per the plan  Simulation software is an effective tool for designing
energy efficient buildings. The scope of the software
 Site orientation and region is selected is vast and could generate better results in
comparison with other conventional methods
 Material of construction is selected from the material employed for designing such buildings.
library  The ECBC is expected to overcome market barriers,
which otherwise result in under-investment in
 Building parameters are entered in accordance with
building energy efficiency. Widespread awareness
ECBC standards.
and support is essential for its effective
 The building is divided into different zones for implementation and eventual enforcement. The
simulation purpose with a maximum of 50 zones as compulsory use such standards and software would
per limitations of the trial version software facilitate generation of energy efficient building
designs.
 Zones which shares common open spaces are fused  Design Builder models can be easily configured to
such as atrium, stairwell etc. represent the full technical specification of the
building and provide robust analysis of its
 Building visuals are generated to check with the environmental performance.
architectural features

 Heating and cooling design are analysed and studied REFERENCES

[1] .Poirazis, Harris, A ke Blomsterberg, and Maria Wall, "Energy
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week and output data are analysed Buildings 40, 1161–1170, 2008

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 International Journal of New Technology and Research (IJNTR)
ISSN: 2454-4116, Volume-4, Issue-1, January 2018 Pages 69-73

[2] .Farraj F., Al-ajmi, and V.I. Hanby, "Simulation of energy

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