From Energy Savings to GHG Emissions: A Temporally Aligned Approach for Building Operations

Building standards groups, including ASHRAE, are focusing on the decarbonization of buildings beyond traditional energy efficiency measures, given the building sector's significant contribution of global GHG emissions. A key concern is the accurate estimation of GHG emissions during building op...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inASHRAE transactions Vol. 130; no. 1; pp. 404 - 412
Main Authors St-Jacques, Max, Burak Gunay, H, Hobson, Brodie W, O'Brien, William, Markus, Andre A, Bucking, Scott
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Atlanta American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) 01.01.2024
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc
Subjects
Analysis
Architecture and energy conservation
Building
Canada
Carbon
Case studies
Construction industry
Construction standards
Cooks
Cooling
Emission
Emissions
Emissions (Pollution)
Energy conservation
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
Energy industry
Energy use
Greenhouse gases
Ontario
Real time
Time of use
Ventilation
Canada
Ontario
United States > US
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Summary:Building standards groups, including ASHRAE, are focusing on the decarbonization of buildings beyond traditional energy efficiency measures, given the building sector's significant contribution of global GHG emissions. A key concern is the accurate estimation of GHG emissions during building operations. Many rely on annual averaged emission factors (AEFs), but their adequacy in real-time is questioned. This study analyzes GHG emissions from a building's demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) strategy, comparing various methodologies to the benchmark Consumption-based Hourly Emission Factors (CHEFs). A supplementary examination in the research touched upon discrepancies between the ASHRAE Standard 228 values and Canadian government data, specifically regarding Ontario's AEF. The DCV experiment resulted in an 18% reduction in both predicted energy use and GHG emissions. Traditional models display significant inconsistencies in mirroring real-time emissions, with AEFs misjudging GHG savings by an alarming 61%. Intriguingly, Time of Use (ToU) models, despite providing further granularity, still differ from actual emissions during dynamic operations recording errors of 64% and 56%. This underscores the pressing need for models that are both temporally aligned and adaptable. Future endeavors should concentrate on crafting real-time, predictive emissions models to better mirror building operations' environmental impact.
ISSN:0001-2505