Handbook of Energy Systems in Green Buildings

Green buildings are environmentally bearable and economically viable buildings that are designed, constructed, and operated in order to minimize their environmental impact on the planet and maximize the quality of human life. Achieving a green building is hence a wide, complex, and ambitious challenge that requires close cooperation of all the stakeholders involved in the life cycle of the building, multidisciplinary competencies and field experience, as well as extensive computational skills. In this last regard, building performance simulation, which is a computer-based and multidisciplinary mathematical model of given aspects of building performance, is emerging as a promising support for designers and consultants. Unfortunately, although building performance simulation is renowned to be a powerful, comprehensive, flexible, and scalable tool, its use is not trivial, and, even today, modelers have to face several challenges for employing it to support the design and operation of green buildings. In this chapter, the main features of green buildings will be, first, mentioned. Next, typical mistakes, errors, and uncertainties that can spoil a building model will be presented. Then, a few modeling and simulation challenges – ranging from the model creation, through modeling under aleatory uncertainty, quality assurance, tool integration, simulation-based optimization, visualization and communication issues, to the selection of an appropriate tool – will be presented. Finally, a few final conclusions and future directions are drawn.

This article focuses on the definition, targets, and key performance indicators of Zero Emission Buildings (ZEBs), as defined by the Norwegian research center on Zero Emission Buildings. It also provides examples of the application of the definition in two pilot building projects: one new residential building and one renovated office building.

Technological development of digital processors and simulation software of different kind has made it possible nowadays to simultaneously handle complex systems of equations behind buildings’ environmental performance. Thanks to simulation software, environmental performance of alternative design solutions can be modeled already during the early stage of the design process. This has made it possible to optimize buildings’ form and construction towards maximum energy efficiency opening to new architectural scenarios.Bioclimatic design is a regionalist approach to the practice of architecture based on a reasoned use of numerical tools of different kind. Climate data and human comfort requirements are generally used as the numerical basis for defining effective design strategies that could be implemented throughout the design process. As such, bioclimatic design represents a powerful tool for defining hypothesis whose effectiveness can be further investigated thanks to the use of simulation software.With the advent of parametric modeling tools, numerical equations developed for climate analysis and modeling buildings’ environmental performance could be used as generative algorithms for the architectural design of high performative buildings. In comparison with more conventional approaches where alternative design solutions are simply modeled, on the basis of an intuitive approach, and then tested, parametric modelers make it possible to automatically generate forms where the solution to specific numerical problem is already embedded. Thanks to parametric tools, bioclimatic design entered in the last years into a new era where its potential can be further enhanced also in connection with the development of new materials and components.In this chapter, we will explore, through literature review and the use of different case studies, the transition of bioclimatic design from a science, developed on the basis of empirical observation, into a numerical platform for the generation of advanced building concepts through parametric modeling tools.

In this chapter, solar water collectors and solar water heating systems are addressed. First, the heat transfer inside flat-plate collectors is analyzed; secondly, a detailed mathematical model to calculate collectible radiation on a single tube of a solar tube array is presented, and effects of structural and installing parameters on the performance of evacuated tube solar collectors are investigated. Finally, design of solar water heating systems and their applications in buildings are presented, and an economic comparison between solar water heater, electric heater and gas-fired water heater for hot water supply of buildings in Kunming is made.

Solar water heating system is one of the earliest uses of solar energy in human life, which enjoy many advantages, such as mature technology, simple structure, and low cost. Nowadays, solar water heating system is not only used for the domestic water heating project, but also used in the field of high technical requirements such as heating, air conditioning, industrial water, and swimming pool heating. In this chapter, the split-type vacuum tube water heating system and split-type flat plate water heating system were structured. Afterward, an analysis regarding their performance was conducted. The research results showed that the reverse slope has great impact on the thermal performance of the split-type vacuum tube solar water heating system, such as that the stratification of the water tank decreased by 3% and the collecting thermal efficiency decreased by 15% d from 60% to 45%. Under the 90° installation angle, the average daily thermal efficiency of the horizontal vacuum tube solar collector is 25% higher than the thermal efficiency of the vertical vacuum tube solar collector. The efficiencies of the horizontal flat plate collector and vertical flat plate are 28% and 19.8%, respectively. When the flat plate solar water heating system is circled by water circulating pump, the growth rate for the system thermal efficiency was 13%. Moreover, the height of the bottom of the water tank to the top of the collector has limited impact on the system thermal efficiency. When the height between the water tank bottom and the collector top varied between 0.44 m and 1.04 m, the range of the thermal efficiency is less than 3%. Finally, the operation performance of the hot water heating system compounded by solar water heater and air source heat pump applied in cold Tibetan area of Shangri-La was tested by experiment. The result revealed that when the outdoor environment temperature is −7° C, 2 °C, and 7 °C, capering with the independent heat pump heating system, the heat production and of the hot water heating system compounded by solar water heater and air source heat pump improved 16.2%, 14.1%, and 11.5%, respectively, while the system COP increased 19.0%, 10.6%, and 5.5%, respectively.

Due to a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning traditional fossil energy resources, the environmental temperature has increased year by year, which has led to the yearly increase in the demand for air-conditioning. However, the conventional air-conditionings driven by grid power are the main products in the global market. Besides, using electric air-conditioning increases electrical pressure in peak times. In order to alleviate the contradiction between power demand and supply, more thermal power stations have been built, and more fossil fuels have been burnt in the past decades. In this context, more greenhouse gas has been discharged, and a vicious cycle has emerged between power generation and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the refrigeration driven by solar energy has become one of the promising approaches to reduce or partially replace conventional refrigeration systems under the pressure of environmental protection. Solar thermal refrigeration and solar photovoltaic refrigeration are two main refrigeration modes in the field of solar refrigeration.Under this background, a solar-powered adsorption cooling system was designed and optimized. The performance test results show that its maximum cooling efficiency was 0.122, and it could make 6.5 kg of ice at most daily. The cooling efficiency of the solar-powered adsorption refrigeration system with valve control in the adsorption/desorption process was significantly higher than that without valve control. A 23 kW single-effect LiBr-H₂O absorption chiller driven by PTC was investigated as well. The results reveal that its average refrigeration coefficient η _r,av was between 0.18 and 0.60, and the average coefficient of performance (COP) of the whole refrigeration cycle COP _s,av was between 0.11 and 0.27 under different weather conditions. In the mode of photovoltaic refrigeration, PV refrigerator and PV air-conditioning system were studied through experiments. PV refrigerator was mainly powered by photovoltaic module on sunny days and battery bank on overcast days. When the freezing room of the refrigerator was crammed with 5 kg, 6 kg, and 7 kg of water, the COP of this system was 0.24, 0.29, and 0.34, respectively. The 1.5 HP steam compression air-conditioning driven by PV array was built, and a 1-year investigation on its operation performance was made through an experiment. The research results indicate that the 1.5 HP steam compression type air-conditioning could be independently driven by PV array when solar irradiance was higher than 675 W/m2. On sunny days, the air-conditioning system could be completely driven by PV array for about 4 h per day. All its daily average COPs were about 0.35, and daily average guarantee rates were between 0.93 and 1.25.

The world is hurtling toward two major crises: serious energy shortages and the acceleration of climate change. The years have witnessed the development of several types of solar air heating systems (SAHS). This chapter aims to present a review of the literature involving improvement methods, design configurations, test methods of thermal performance, and applications of SAHS.Firstly, this chapter makes an introduction to five new SAHS, namely, fin type flat-plate solar air collector (FTSAC), baffle-type vacuum tube solar air collector (VTSAC), novel straight through VTSAC, inserted VTSAC, and traditional straight through VTSAC. Meanwhile, the chapter states the advantages of these five types of SAHS and describes its working principles. The similarities and differences between the designed air collector and other air collectors are presented. In terms of structure and cost, the advantages of the new SAHS designed in this chapter are pointed out, which will provide the direction for the optimization and improvement in the future. Secondly, design and test methods of thermal performance of SAHS system are introduced in this chapter. The design parameters cover the determination of heat load and collector area of SAHS, air flow rate of SAHS, the resistance of SAHS, and the power of the fan. Besides, a test method of thermal performance for SAHS is also presented, which mainly includes its testing procedures, test conditions, test period (steady-state), as well as computation of collector efficiency. Finally, SAHS are widely used for many applications such as drying applications and space heating and cooling of buildings. This chapter reviews selected studies concerning these applications and presents a solar dryer and solar assisted heat pump dryer system (SAHPDS). According to the work conducted to date on solar drying and SAHPDS of fruits and vegetables, it can be concluded that the solar dryers can be adopted to a great extent. The solar drying of agricultural products serves as one of the most important potential applications of solar energy. It has been established that solar drying and SAHPDS of fruits and vegetables is technically feasible and economically viable. Heating and cooling of agricultural greenhouses are the paramount activities to extend its application throughout the year for crop production. In the meantime, SAHS are very popular for space heating applications relying on their simple design and cost. Major disadvantages of SAHS are relatively low thermal efficiency as well as little thermal storage capacity of the system itself.

Rotary desiccant wheel cooling system, which combines the technologies of desiccant dehumidification and evaporative cooling, can be applied to control humidity and temperature separately. The system can adopt low grade thermal energy for regeneration, such as solar energy. Compared to conventional vapor compression cooling system, it bears following, including energy saving, being environment-friendly, comfortable, healthy, etc. So solar-driven desiccant cooling system has been credited as an alternate option against conventional cooling system, which has captured great public attention in recent years.Based on the principle of desiccant cooling system, this chapter revolves around the research progress in desiccant cooling system firstly, including studies on desiccant materials, basic desiccant cooling cycles, as well as feasibility and performance of solar desiccant cooling system. Then a two-stage rotary desiccant wheel cooling/heating system is proposed, which is made up of a 20 kW desiccant cooling system and 120 m2 solar vacuum tube air collectors. Afterward, there is a test on the system performance in cooling and heating mode. Results show that the two-stage solar driven desiccant cooling/heating system has good performance in both summer and winter. It achieves a moisture removal of 6.68 ~ 14.43 g/kg and cooling capacity of 21.7 ~ 26.7 kW under hot and humid climate conditions while the thermal coefficient of performance (COP) reaches about 1.0. The system COP in heating cycle is about 0.45, when thermal efficiency of solar air collectors is 50%.Finally, the economic feasibility and energy saving of solar desiccant cooling system are analyzed. In comparison with conventional cooling system, solar desiccant cooling system needs to be invested more initially. However, it can achieve the reduction in operating costs and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 45.41% and 49%, respectively, which is crucial to the sustainable development and environmental protection.

Building-integrated photovoltaic systemsystem designIn this chapter, principle and characteristics of solar cell and building-integrated photovoltaic system are discussed. Firstly, characteristics of solar cells under lighting are analyzed, secondly, output parameters of solar cell module are considered, and impact of module and array output are investigated. Finally, the application of building-integrated photovoltaic system and system design are presented.

Applying heat pumps to space heating for residential buildings in cold regions will reduce the combustion of gas, oil, and other fossil fuels and the emissions of greenhouse gases. An air-source heat pump (ASHP), which uses the easily available air as heat source, is more easily deployed and applied than other types of heat pumps, such as geothermal heat pumps. In terms of an ASHP, however, it is hard to effectively maintain a high capacity all the time not only because of a variety of instantaneous loads and demands affecting efficiency curves but also due to the unstable outdoor air temperature and humidity during summer and winter seasons. These uncertainties will increase the difficulty to control, rate, and select ASHP units. Moreover, when an ASHP runs at low ambient temperatures, several problems restrict its applications, deteriorated heat output, high discharge temperature, and declining coefficient of performance (COP), due to an increase of the pressure ratio. The high discharge temperature may even result in an abnormal shutdown of the system.This chapter principally probes into discussions regarding ASHP systems, including the topics of system components, system performance ratings, defrosting methods, system design selections, unit(s) energy regulations, as well as installation considerations and technical measures. Additionally, this chapter also covers the most updated concepts to promote the performance of ASHP, including the subcooling cycle, the multistage cycle, the throttling losses recovery cycle, the multifunction cycle, the saturation cycle, and the frost-free system.

A Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system is a type of energy system that usually consumes electricity to provide cooling and heating in buildings. The most outstanding feature of a GSHP is the use of ground resources, which distinguishes GSHPs from other heat pump systems. A GSHP may be considered as a “green” system, mainly because of its use of geothermal energy that, as a type of renewable energy, has enormous potential for reducing CO₂ emissions and fossil fuel consumption. In general, a higher system performance may be achieved by using a GSHP system compared with an air source heat pump system, due to the relatively small temperature variation of the ground compared with the ambient air. In a typical GSHP system, there are several main components: indoor distribution systems and ground source heat exchangers along with the ground as a heat sink/source. The role of indoor distribution systems is to handle building cooling and heating loads by absorbing room heat gains or providing heat to rooms through indoor heat pump units. The thermal energy carried by heat pumps is distributed to the ground through ground source heat exchangers buried underground or to the building through pipes/ducts.In this chapter, in-depth discussions regarding GSHP systems are given including the topics of geothermal resources, ground source heat exchangers, indoor distribution systems, heat storage technologies of GSHP systems, as well as their economics and environmental impacts. Additionally, the most updated concepts, designs, and technologies for GSHPs are covered in this chapter.

A GroundWater source heat pumpwith air conditioning system Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system is a type of energy system that usually consumes electricity to provide cooling and heating in buildings. Its most outstanding feature is the use of ground resources, which distinguishes GSHPs from other heat pump systems. A GSHP may be considered as a “green” system, mainly because of its use of geothermal energy that, as a type of renewable energy, has enormous potential for reducing CO₂ emissions and fossil fuel consumption. In general, a higher system performance may be achieved by using a GSHP system compared with an air source heat pump system because of the relatively small temperature variation of the ground compared with the ambient air. In a typical GSHP system there are several main components, including indoor distribution systems and ground source heat exchangers using the ground as a heat sink/source. The role of indoor distribution systems is to handle building cooling and heating loads by absorbing room heat gains or providing heat to rooms through indoor heat pump units. The thermal energy carried by heat pumps is distributed to the ground through ground source heat exchangers buried underground or to the building through pipes/ducts.In this chapter, in-depth discussions regarding GSHP systems are presented, including the topics of geothermal resources, ground source heat exchangers, indoor distribution systems, heat storage technologies of GSHP systems, and the associated economics and environmental impacts. Additionally, the latest concepts, designs, and technologies for GSHPs are covered.

Air cycle refrigeration and heat pump were one of the earliest forms of cooling or heating. Air cycle heat pumpwith turbochargerIn recent years, the development of air cycle refrigeration/heat pump system with moderate capacity of cooling has become unpromising in automotive or home use until the seriousness of ozone-depletion and global-warming potentials from CFC refrigerants was widely recognized. The heat pump operating with reversed Brayton cycle that employs air as the refrigerant, which is environmental friendly, seems to be necessarily reexaminated for domestic and other heating service, especially, due to the confluence of a number of technical advances, such as small physical size and reasonable efficiency of turbomachine, together with the development of air bearings and ceramic components. The prospect of using natural air appears to have been one of the driving forces behind this renewed interest in air cycle refrigeration/heat pump.In this chapter, the fundamental models regarding a fully open ideal air cycle heat pump with regenerative heat exchanger are derived and the COP of semi-open cycle air heat pump cycle hot water system for domestic heating is introduced considering thermodynamic losses from polytropic expansion and compression efficiencies as well as pressure loss factors. Moreover, a semi-open air cycle heat pump water heater system (ACHPWH) with each component (such as an expander, a compressor, heat exchangers, a water tank) by considering both design and off-design conditions is discussed. An air cycle heat pump with a turbocharger and a blower is evaluated.

Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) is a well-known technology of sufficient utilization of low-grade thermal energy with the principle of thermal cascading. During the power production process, the waste heat can be made available for heating and/or cooling applications using thermally activated technologies, such as absorption chillers and adsorption chillers. It has the high primary energy efficiency, the environmental benefits and economic feasibility. In recent years, many CCHP systems have been applied successfully in industries such as cement factory, paper mill, and pharmaceutical factory; in various kinds of commercial buildings such as hotels, offices, and hospitals; and in small-scale buildings such as residential users. CCHP system is one of the distributed energy systems. A distributed energy system is a small- and medium-sized multifunction energy conversion system, which directly provides various forms of energy according to the needs of users. The CCHP system is not a simple superposition of several thermodynamic processes. Based on a certain principle or idea for the organic integration and integration of the integrated system, it is usually aimed at achieving different functional objectives and application conditions. On the basis of the integrated cascade utilization and other systems’ integration mechanism, the different processes of integration and the optimization of system integration selecting were selected, in order to realize different system functions. The researches in this field are very active in recent years. The concept, research status, hot spot of research and development trend of CCHP systems are introduced and analyzed in this chapter.

This chapter provides an introduction to the prime movers and power equipment used in combined cooling, heating, and powerCombined cooling heating and power (CCHP) systemPrime moversPrime movers (CCHP) systems, including steam turbines, gas turbines, internal combustion engines, Stirling engines, and fuel cells. The power subsystems are the driving source of the power supply system; they are used to generate electricity or provide mechanical power directly. The chapter includes a discussion of the types and important performance parameters of steam engines and gas turbines; the characteristics and basic types of gas-steam combined-cycle systems; the working principles of internal combustion engines; the basic profiles of diesel, gasoline, and gas internal combustion engines; the working principles, characteristics, and main applications of Stirling engines; the working principles, type, development, and research status of fuel cells; and applications in CCHP systems. Through the information in this chapter, we hope to provide readers with a full understanding of the power equipment used in CCHP systems.

The current energy generation and utilization patterns can directly lead to considerable wasted energy either at medium or high availabilities. For example, power plants utilize the high-grade portion of fossil-derived energy and reject a large amount of medium-grade thermal energy. Meanwhile, these fossil fuels are also used more ubiquitously in residential water heaters, in which almost all of the high-grade thermal availability is wasted, with the water being heated to a relatively low 60 °C. With energy consumption having been accordingly increased, energy conservation becomes increasingly essential. Vapor compression refrigeration technology has dominated in refrigeration field because of its simple in structure and satisfactory performance, while vapor compression refrigeration consumes power and its working fluids (CFCs, HCFC, HFC) usually have high ODP or GWP. Compared to compression refrigeration, thermally activated refrigeration technologies can utilize low-grade heat, such as solar energy heat and waste heat from the production process. Furthermore, it can use natural refrigerants, such as H₂O and NH₃. As an important way of energy conservation, thermally activated refrigeration technologies have attracted more attention in recent years. A detailed analysis is made on the thermally activated refrigeration technologies in this chapter, including vapor absorption refrigeration, adsorption refrigeration, and vapor ejector expansion refrigeration. Specifically, the working principles of various refrigeration cycles, the development and classification, research interests as well as the advantages and disadvantages of these refrigeration cycles in recycling low-grade heat are talked about.

Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) is derived from combined heat and power (CHP), also called cogeneration. It is a basic form classified by the system functions in total energy system. There are many types of CCHP systems. A typical CCHP system is comprised of a prime mover, a generator, and a thermally activated chiller. The prime mover is driven by primary energy, such as natural gas and oil, and the mechanical energy is further changed into electricity power by the generator. At the same time, the thermally activated chiller, such as absorption chiller and adsorption chiller, utilizes exhaust heat derived from the prime mover to generate cooling or heating power. At present, as the prime mover, gas turbine, and internal combustion engine are most widely used in the CCHP system. The technology is quite mature. Economic parameter based on thermal electricity performance (EPTC) can be used as the thermal economic evaluation index of the 2 units. The reasonable evaluation criteria are crucial for the evaluation of the performance characteristics of energy power system’s comprehensive and objective evaluation. It serves as the benchmark of the system simulation analysis and design optimization. At present, most of the evaluation is on the single target performance evaluation, such as thermodynamic performance evaluation, economic performance evaluation, and environmental performance evaluation. Two examples of thermal economic analysis of the CCHP system are introduced.

The production classification and market situation of water chillers are introduced in this chapter. Some production and energy efficiency standards of water chiller are analyzed, including AHRI 551/591, ASHRAE 90.1, EN 14825, EN 14511, GB/T 18430.1, GB/T 25127.1, GB/T 25127.2, GB 19577, etc,. The performance assessment indicators in these standards are compared. A series of high energy efficiency technologies of water chillers are introduced, including new compressor technology, high-efficiency heat exchange technology, new refrigerants technology, system energy conservation technology, high temperature water chiller technology, and “water chiller + natural cold source” cooling technology in data center. Based on the application of these technologies, the component energy efficiency, unit energy efficiency, and system energy efficiency of water chillers will improve significantly.

THIC air-conditioning systemoperating and regulating strategyAir-conditioning systems play an important role in maintaining the indoor built environment. Coupled heat and mass handling is usually applied for the current state-of-the-art air-conditioning systems. With the advance of society, conventional air-conditioning methods have been challenged by the demand for a more comfortable indoor environment and a higher system energy efficiency. Continuing to improve the energy efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of air-conditioning systems in order to provide a suitable and comfortable environment are foundations to the development of new strategies for the indoor built environment. Taking these requirements into account, the THIC (temperature and humidity independent control) air-conditioning system is generally considered to be a possible and effective solution. The innovative THIC air-conditioning systems are introduced in this chapter. Theoretical analysis, key components specially developed, and design methodology of the THIC systems are emphasized. Terminal devices of the temperature control subsystem consist of a heat exchanger and a heat transfer fluid, which could be a high-temperature chilled water or refrigerant. Different terminal devices for handling the indoor sensible load, including radiant terminal devices and dry FCUs, could be utilized in the THIC systems. Different air dehumidification methods could be proposed as well as different high-temperature cooling sources. On the basis of key components, a THIC air-conditioning system could be designed and proposed in terms of indoor requirements for temperature and humidity ratio. It is believed that practical and convenient reference content could be provided for researchers, designers, and engineers.

Air-source heat pump (ASHP), as an optional product, has already been extensively applied to residences and offices in hot summer and cold winter. However, the existing products confront serious problems under heating conditions in winter. A visible issue is that the air distribution is irrational because the terminals in room, in most cases, are installed in an upper space, which makes users feel uncomfortable. Another issue is that the terminals are designed under an inappropriate condition, leading to a low efficiency of the air-source heat pump. In addition, the terminals themselves are not designed with the best structure parameters and hence influence the heat transfer performance a lot.To solve the problems above, small temperature difference terminals (STDTs), such as small temperature difference fan-coil unit (STDFCU) or floor-heating coil (FHC), have been proposed. In this chapter, a small temperature difference fan-coil unit is designed and manufactured. Besides, its heat transfer performance is tested. An air-source heat pump combined with four selected prototypes is applied to a 100 m2 apartment. The system performance and energy consumption in heating mode are measured. According to the results, the room environment can be kept in a comfortable state under the condition that the supply water is kept at 35 °C, which can lead to almost half reduction of energy consumption compared to the condition under which the supply water is kept at 45 °C. Finally, a larger air-source heat pump system is applied to a public building and the performances of STDFCU, and normal fan-coil unit (NFCU) in cooling mode are analyzed from several aspects, including their energy consumption and indoor temperature distribution in summer. Meanwhile, the performances of STDFCU, NFCU, and FHC in heating mode are analyzed including energy consumption and zone comfort in winter. The result shows that ASHP+STDFCU system can save 15–22% energy compared to traditional ASHP+NFCU system and thus has a 13–24% higher COP than ASHP+NFCU system depending on the weather condition in summer. What’s more, STDFCU and FHC in heating mode can reduce system energy consumption up to 20%, and the air distribution in the room is more uniform in winter.

Heat/energy recovery technologies are exclusively applied in buildings so that more energy can be saved. Based on previous literatures, this chapter presents an analysis over the heat/energy recovery technologies in buildings. Firstly, the significance of heat/energy recovery technologies for building energy consumption was given briefly and some terms were introduced. Secondly, the components of a general heat/energy recovery system including heat exchanger, fan, and duct were explained. Particularly, as the core of heat/energy recovery system, different heat exchangers, such as fixed-plate, heat pipe, thermosyphon, loop and rotary wheel heat/energy exchangers were described in details. Then the performance indexes of heat/energy recovery system will be introduced and some impact factors on the performance will be discussed. Also, this chapter presents an analysis over experimental methods and rigs of these indexes. Together with that, the models in the literature for heat and mass transfer in the heat/energy recovery system to predict the performance were mentioned in details. Lastly, some typical application of heat/energy recovery in integrated energy-efficient system in buildings including heat/energy recovery ventilation, run-around heat/energy recovery system, heat pump with heat/energy recovery, and other potential application with heat/energy recovery in buildings were described to demonstrate the practical application of heat/energy recovery in buildings.

Building energy consumption, which consists of residential and commercial buildings, accounts for around 20–40% of the total delivered energy consumption worldwide. It is vital to analyze the current building energy consumption to find out the main energy consumption targets with energy saving potentials, and hence to provide guidelines for efficient building energy system design and retrofitting.This chapter revolves around the energy consumption of commercial buildings and residential buildings in China and selected foreign countries. First, the current building energy consumption of China, which is divided into four categories, is analyzed. Then, the detailed energy consumption of each part of the energy system in commercial buildings is discussed. Afterward, ways to increase the efficiency of air conditioning systems are particularly analyzed. Next, it presents an analysis of and a comparison between the energy consumptions regarding different energy consumption end users of residential buildings in China downtown and selected countries, namely USA, Japan, and Italy. The differences of air conditioning energy consumptions among these countries are explained from the prospect of types of air conditioning systems, namely centralized and split air conditioning systems.This chapter helps to understand the energy consumption situations of commercial and residential buildings and the directions for increasing the efficiency of air conditioning systems are proposed.

This chapter presents a state-of-the-art review on the available thermal energy storage (TES) technologies by sensible heat for building applications. After a brief introduction, the basic principles and the required features for desired sensible heat storage are summarized. Then, material candidates and recent advances on sensible heat or cold storage adapted for building application are discussed, each with its own characteristics, advantages, and limitations. A large section of the chapter is devoted to the sensible TES technologies for buildings, both for short-term (daily) and for long-term (seasonal) storage. Each technology is described in detail including different aspects: basic principle, development status, performance and costs, potential and barriers, today’s R&D activity focus, etc. Comparisons on the advantages and limitations between different TES technologies are also made. Finally, conclusions and future directions are summarized.

This chapter presents a detailed overview on the use of phase change materials (PCMs) for being used in various building applications particularly from the viewpoint of reducing fossil fuel-based energy consumption in the buildings for HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) and other applications. Buildings form the major portion (30%) of the total energy consumption worldwide; thus there exists an ample opportunity to exploit the latent heat of PCMs for thermal regulation in buildings. Also the growing concerns over environmental issues which are directly linked with the emission of greenhouse gases through building air conditioners have made us to rethink and critically examine the alternate and sustainable techniques as per the building’s requirement. Use of phase change materials particularly in the last decade has gained a significant attention from all round the globe not only from research point of view, but its use now has also become commercially viable for various thermal energy storage-based building applications. The chapter follows a comprehensive approach, i.e., starting from the introductory concepts like sensible and latent heat, classification of phase change materials, and selection criteria for PCMs to the most advance techniques like microencapsulation adapted for various building applications which have been discussed in sufficient detail. The large amount of stored latent heat and the peculiar isothermal nature of heat addition and rejection during phase change have made phase change materials (PCMs) an ideal candidate for storage-based thermal regulation in buildings. Special attention has been given to PCM’s use in building applications categorized as (i) water and air heating applications, (ii) HVAC/solar absorption systems for building, (iii) building integrated systems (walls, ceilings, and floors), and (iv) other useful techniques like Trombe wall, PCM shutters, and PCM concrete.

On one hand, physical adsorption, also named physisorption, is a process that can be used to storage thermal energy with an energy density higher than sensible or latent storages. On the other hand, in Europe, 26% of the final energy consumption is related to the energy systems of households [1, 2], and 80% of this energy is needed for heating purposes [1, 2]. The consequence is the development of thermal energy storage systems, based on physisorption, for building application. The objective of this chapter is first to present the basics concerning physisorption heat storage. Then, three scales are developed from an experimental point of view: the material scale, the reactor scale, and the system scale.

Absorption technology has the potential to store space heating in green solar buildings, an advantage because it can store excess heat available during the summer until the following winter’s heating period. Its operating conditions are compatible with the use of conventional solar heat collectors. The absorption heat storage systems include the same components as the well-known absorption chiller, to which two or three storage tanks are added. The system’s principle, functioning, and design are explained in this chapter. The operating phases (charge, storage, and discharge) of the absorption storage cycle are presented and explained for the lithium bromide–water couple. The impact of the operating conditions on the system’s performance and its integration into a building are also discussed. A major issue in the development of this technology is finding and choosing the ideal absorption couple. The criteria to consider for this choice are presented, and some of them are discussed for seven possible absorption couples. Existing absorption systems are presented. This technology is still in its early days, and therefore only demonstration prototypes exist at this time. The different challenges that remain to overcome by the research and engineering communities to lead this technology to commercial profitability are at the microscale, the component level, and the system macroscale. The future directions of these developments are summarized in the last section of this chapter.

There are numerous benefits associated with the addition of electrical energy storage (EES) systems in buildings. It can increase the renewable energy penetration in building, improve power supply grid, and stabilize the building’s electrical energy system. This chapter discusses the utilization of EES in built environment, which accounts for an integral share of global electricity end use and CO₂ emissions. In this chapter, the role of EES in building electricity system has been first examined. Several different renewable energy technologies are then reviewed. In particular, two popular and feasible energy storage technologies, i.e., battery and pumped hydro storage, are highlighted. Furthermore, a case study was conducted for a residence house in Shanghai, demonstrating that the grid connected solar photovoltaic system with battery storage performs better than the system without energy storage. Some suggestions on EES for built environment are also provided for further study to achieve a high renewable energy fraction and improve energy flexibility in buildings.

Sorption thermal energy storage (STES) technology is a promising thermal energy storage method which many scholars hold avid interest on recently as it has charming advantages of high energy storage density and negligible heat loss during storage periods. This system is suitable to supply space heating and hot water for buildings by storing solar energy or other low-grade heat. The working cycle of this system is divided into two modes, which are listed as follows. During the charging process, the input heat is stored in the form of chemical potential by breaking the binders between the sorbate and the sorbent. Then, the sorbate and the sorbent are kept separated during the sorption period. The discharging process is motivated by the connection between the sorbent and the sorbate, which release sorption heat for heating supply when needed. Generally, the sorption materials are composed of solid adsorbent, liquid absorbent, chemical reactor, and composite sorbents. The STES system is classified as closed system and open system according to its configuration. Besides, it can also be divided into long-term storage system and short-term storage system based on the designed storage time span. Thermochemical characterizations of sorption materials, system design, and proposal of system cycles serve as the main aspects of the investigation of STES technology.In this chapter, the high-end STES technology of solar energy storage, which is applied in buildings, is concluded, including the sorption energy storage mechanics, sorption materials, system design, as well as typical prototypes and projects.

The heat flows through the building envelopes take a large part in the cooling or heating load of a room. Therefore, the thermal performances of building envelopes have a significant influence on the heating or cooling energy consumption in buildings. In this chapter, several passive building walls in building envelopes are introduced, with more attention on phase change material (PCM) walls and green walls. The benefits of PCM walls and the PCM containment in building walls are first summarized, and then the experimental and numerical research studies on the optimal PCM location in the wall are presented. In addition, the energy-saving potentials of green walls are discussed, and their functions of improving air quality are also analyzed.

With the acceleration of urbanization, forests, agricultural fields, and suburban lands are replaced with impervious surfaces. Thus, it is of great necessity to recover green space in city, so as to maintain environmental quality. Green or vegetated roof is a potential remedy for this problem. Indeed, establishing vegetation on rooftops can provide numerous ecological benefits, including retention of storm water, mitigation of the urban heat island effect, carbon dioxide reduction, pollution reduction, noise reduction, and biodiversity enhancement. Besides, the green roof is an efficient measure to improve the energy performance of the building. A mathematical model for vegetated soil, which aims to estimate the foliage and soil surface temperature as well as its dynamic thermal behaviors, has been established. By providing detailed soil and foliage properties and meteorological conditions, the vegetation model can well predict the soil surface temperature and heat flux. Benefit-cost analysis is described for its economic value that green roof can be competitive when social benefits are included, where localities policies and funding strategies might be necessary. The green roof needs a proper design to achieve its best values. It is of great significance to determine the roof purpose, consider the roof bearing load, design the roof components, and choose proper plants.

Proper utilization of natural ventilation can provide large ventilation rate without the consumption of energy. This chapter introduces the prediction, measurement, form, and design of natural ventilation along with an example. The prediction model includes single-zone model, multi-zone model, and CFD model, among which CFD model is the most frequently used tool to analyze airflow distribution inside or around buildings. Porous screens fixed on openings to prevent insects and particulates could increase the airflow resistance through openings, resulting in great reduction in ventilation rate. Tracer gas methods are considered as the most commonly utilized method to measure ventilation rate, especially the tracer gas concentration decay method. As natural ventilation is driven by wind or buoyancy, the commonly used natural ventilated building form includes wind-driven ventilation form, buoyancy-driven ventilation form, and the combination of those two. In addition, measures which can be used to enhance natural ventilation performance such as atrium ventilation, ventilation cap, and solar chimney are also involved. A general procedure of natural ventilation design includes architectural plan, system layout, component selection, vent sizing, control strategy development, and detailed design drawing. The opening size is calculated based on factors such as certain geometry, climate, and building’s configuration. The methods of opening size calculation consist of direct methods and indirect methods. Direct methods are derived from simple buildings where the ventilation rate is a simple function of the governing parameters. Indirect methods try different opening size combinations and identify the best one based on network models. Besides, an existing architecture example and its natural ventilation performance are also introduced.

Compared to conventional “active” environmental control system, passive solar system is a better alternative option for thermal comfort conditioning inside the buildings. The judicious use of simple passive systems can significantly reduce the building’s energy consumption for space heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting. Hence, this chapter presents an overview of the major development of various building integrations of passive solar concepts such as Trombe wall, roof ponds, and BIPV/T. More importantly, their structures, working principles, as well as advantages and defects have been highlighted. On this basis, two types of theoretical methods involving heat balance model and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are described and compared. Finally, various assessment factors for passive solar building are summarized from three aspects: energy, environment, and economy. Hopefully, this chapter can provide a good knowledge base for architects or related engineering designers in the field of passive solar design.

Building accounts for more than 40% of the total energy consumption, and excess solar heat gain from glazing results in indoor space overheating and thus high cooling energy demand in modern cities. To eliminate the issue from the bottom, shading technology utilization has come to be treated as an important aspect of many energy-efficient building design strategies. Well-designed Sun control and shading systems cannot only dramatically reduce the solar heat gains and lessen cooling requirements, thus improving thermal comfort of building interiors, but also improve the natural lighting quality and enlarge occupant visual comfort by controlling glare and allowing view out. These often lead to increased occupants’ satisfaction and productivity. Based on previous literatures in the shading technology field, this chapter hereof aims to present an analysis of different types of shading technology for glazing, their thermal/optical properties and energy performance introduced, design method of fixed horizontal shading described, and general design recommendations summarized.

The electromagnetic spectrum within the waveband (~380–780 nm) is defined as light mainly for visual sensation. In addition, the designs of natural light and artificial light are both primarily on basis of the visual demands of occupants. Thus, the minimized constant lighting level is regulated within design standards considering the health risk from radiation. However, people prefer a natural light cycle than a constant one, and the effect of lighting extends much further by recent photobiology researches. The discoveries of the third photoreceptor cell on retina and its neural pathway, which primarily relate to circadian system, indicate that lighting has a significant nonvisual effect on health, mood, and productivity. Besides, it strongly suggests that the lighting demand of nonvisual effect is very different from that of the visual one, and artificial lighting is not an appropriate means to satisfy the nonvision system. Nevertheless, daylighting is capable to stimulate both the visual and the nonvisual systems.To investigate the daylighting environment of Chinese buildings, this paper assessed the nonvisual effect of different design levels in Chinese daylighting design standard (GB/T 50033-2013). As for the evaluation method, the constant relation between vertical illuminance and horizontal illuminance was used to convert the maintained horizontal illuminance of different design levels to the illuminance which reached the eyes (vertical illuminance). Then the nonvisual effect could be calculated by a dose-response function between the nonvisual effect and the illuminance at eyes. Moreover, this function was proposed on basis of the static researches of threshold values which only considered spectrum and intensity. The nonvisual effect of the design levels I-V was respectively 100%, 100%, 71%–100%, 38%–60%, and 5%–16% with the ratio of vertical illuminance to horizontal illuminance varying from 1.5 to 2.0. Since the design standard adopted the overcast sky conditions based on the worst principle, the daylighting of levels I–III was adequate in the major rooms of public buildings where most occupational people stayed during the day considering the actual illuminance which was higher under normal sky conditions. However, if there was a consideration that the aged people who often stayed at home and needed much higher illuminance with the degradation of eye function, the level IV of the daylighting for major residential rooms should be improved. Besides, although the daylighting of level V was extremely low, its effect might be ignored as the short dwell time in transition space. What is more, a field measurement was conducted to validate the evaluation results in a typical room which adopted the design level of III, which demonstrated that the average nonvisual effect of a room in the field measurement was in accordance with the evaluation results mentioned before.

Solar energy is an inexhaustible clean energy, which can make a significant difference in current energy situation. With the energy-saving rate being about 75%, solar building has become one of the most important regions in green buildings. However, solar systems may encounter many problems during the practical application due to the existing defects such as low energy density, instability, and discontinuity, along with high demand of continuity and comfort for building cooling/heating.Integration of solar systems with heat pumps could solve those problems effectively. Meanwhile, it could achieve various functions such as heating, air conditioning, and water heating with compact structure, various patterns, safe and reliable operation, stable performance, and long service life. Through various collector types, integration systems could realize the perfect integration with the buildings. Hence, the integration of solar systems with heat pumps serves as an energy-efficient technology with high potential in development and application.This paper first presents the introduction and classification for solar systems and heat pumps, so as to explain their respective merits and demerits. Then, the integration methods of solar systems with different heat pumps, such as air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, and absorption heat pumps, are introduced. Finally, the paper expounds the evaluations, including the applicability, stability, and economy for each system.

Ground source heat pump is able to transform the low-grade heat energy into the high-grade heat energy through the energy stored in the soil and a small amount of power so as to make full use of all energy and alleviate environmental pollution. It is considered as a “green” system, mainly because of its use of geothermal energy, a type of renewable energy, which has enormous potential to reduce the CO₂ emission as well as the fossil fuel consumption. Currently, the GSHP has integrated with many other kinds of energy technologies, such as photovoltaic generator, solar energy, thermal storage, cooling tower, and organic Rankine cycles. As for different kinds of energy technologies integrating with GSHP, the thermodynamics performance and the cycling configurations of the integrated system differ in many ways. In this chapter, all discussions about the integration of GSHP with other technologies are presented including the topics of GSHP integrated with photovoltaic generator, solar energy, thermal storage, cooling tower, as well as organic Rankine cycles, respectively. Additionally, the most typical schematic diagrams, recent developments, practical projects, and case study of some integrated system are shown in this chapter.

The extensive use of fossil fuels has led to a series of energy and environmental issues. Generally speaking, energy conservation and using energy alternatives are two useful solutions to energy-related issues. Obviously, CCHP is a powerful tool to increase energy efficiency, and renewable energies are ideal energy alternatives. So the integration of them is a promising solution to energy-related issues. The integration of CCHP and renewables makes for a very strong proposition since it leads to the supply of clean energy. This chapter introduces the integration of CCHP systems with renewable energy. The integration of CCHP systems with each kind of renewable energy is presented in detail in each section.

Smart building is based on the development of information technology. With certain controlling technologies integrated in buildings, it can help buildings achieve energy reduction and convenience. In this chapter, five main parts of smart building are introduced which are Building Automation System (BAS), Office Automation System (OAS), Communication Automation System (CAS), Generic Cabling System (GCS), and Building Management System (BMS). It also introduces the fundamentals of smart building including the classification of control system which are Operation Guiding System, Direct Digital Control System, Supervisory Computer Control System, Distribution Control System, and Fieldbus Control System. After the fundamentals, three smart building energy applications are discussed in the chapter which are demand-driven HVAC operation management, indoor localization-based smart building service, and home energy management systems. Finally, two cases about an office building and smart apartments are discussed as case study.

This chapter presents an introduction of an integrated energy system in a green building based upon the research experience in a green energy lab (GEL) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. As a comprehensive platform for investigating state of the art technology in green buildings, GEL is equipped with advanced HVAC systems, renewable energy power systems, smart control systems, etc. The study on high-efficient air-conditioning system attaches great focus on green buildings as this system accounts for most of the energy consumption in a building. A case study of an integrated renewable air-conditioning system in GEL is conducted, including the high-performance heat pumps (water source and ground source) and the solar-assisted air-conditioning system. In addition, renewable energy source is another focus for the sustainable design of green buildings. A 6.72 kWp solar photovoltaic arrays and a 5 kWp wind turbine are installed in GEL as the renewable energy power system. In order to have a stable power supply, a micro-smart grid is formed by connecting the renewable energy power system with the national grid. Moreover, a home energy management system (HEMS) for a smart control and management of the energy system is included. Both the design and performance of the integrated energy systems are summarized, which is instructive for the design and operation of green buildings in Shanghai and other areas with similar geographic or climate conditions.

Green buildings can meet the requirements for building energy-saving and environmental protection policies in most countries. In order to achieve these targets, the priority is given to the design of air-conditioning systems when a green building is designed. Besides, in most green building standards, there are many contents that are related to the air-conditioning systems. For the purpose of achieving more energy-saving potentials of HAVC in buildings, many aspects should be paid attention to, such as the adaptability of an air-conditioning system in different districts and climatic environments, energy consumption of an air-conditioning system in designed full life cycle, system performance at part-load conditions, and so on. Furthermore, after an air-conditioning system is designed, a data acquisition system that monitors the air-conditioning system and analyzes its system performance also needs to be set, in order to ensure that the concepts in the design period have been achieved. Certainly, more energy-saving potentials of the air-conditioning system can be found in the system performance analysis.In this chapter, the system performance in a specific year is introduced and the relationship among outdoor temperature, temperature settings of heat pump, and system performance is found. Finally, by analyzing the energy consumption of the system, the waste during operation is identified, and then a better operation management strategy of the air-conditioning system may be further proposed.

In this chapter, a case of the combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system in Shanghai, China, is introduced by experimental test results and analysis. The system mainly consists of a 25 kW micro-cogeneration unit, a 2 m3 hot water storage tank, and a 23 kW single-effect absorption chiller. Firstly, the constitution, detail information, and test methods of this system are introduced. Then their steady and dynamic performances are showed and analyzed. Based on the steady and dynamic performance, some suggestions for CCHP system designing are provided. The process of the cogeneration unit from start-up to shutdown can be divided into four phases: warm-up phase, transition phase, normal operation phase, and cooldown phase. There is a long period of time before the steady state. The performance of the unit in this duration is much poorer than that in the steady state. Moreover, much heat is lost during the cooldown phase. Frequent start-up and shutdown should be avoided whenever possible. The hot water storage tank can achieve a good effect of buffering and isolation. The temperature at the top of the tank has small fluctuation. For the tank in this case, the flow and temperature distribution of the tank is very different in the charge process, charge and discharge process, and discharge process. In this case, at least 10% of the volume of the tank cannot be used. The optimization of flow distribution can help to make full use of the tank. In aspect of the absorption chiller, the temperature of hot water can fluctuate wildly when the generation capacity is changed. The performance of the absorption chiller is good at the off-design condition (COP is around 0.7). For the internal combustion engine-based unit, the mixed effect absorption chiller is the most suitable device. It can recover the heat from jacket water and flue gas, respectively, and achieve a better COP (0.75–0.95).

Shanghai International Shipping Service Center (SISSC) is a new landmark in term of sustainability, located in the northern Bund. It has successfully received a number of green building certifications and honorable reputation. The project has a few special design features which includes the design of the inner basin alone Huangpu River, high volume ratio,reusing system of rainwater, gray water and water from Huangpu River, river-water source heat pump energy center, etc. This chapter focuses on the river-water source for the heat pump district heating and cooling (DHC) construction project, the project is studied by means of reviewing its advantages and current application, analyzing the design features of water intake and drainage. Then the energy center unit selection and system design and energy efficiency evaluation results of the project are discussed, and the subsequent operation optimization research work is summarized.

This paper introduces the HVAC system of SRIBS Xinzhuang Comprehensive building, which was awarded 3-star green building design certification in 2010, as well as the 2nd place of Green Building Innovation Award. What’s more, it gives a brief analysis of the different operating strategy during the year, and the building performance of the actual energy consumption, the indoor environmental parameters and user satisfaction with the method of post occupancy evaluation. After the comparison between the actual performance and the initial architectural and HVAC design, it summarizes the most essential factor to realize operation of energy saving for the building.

Combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system plays a significant role in efficient utilization of energy. In this chapter, a case study on energy system in a green building in Tianjin is presented. As for the energy system, a typical CCHP system is proposed including a power generation unit (PGU), an absorption chiller, and a ground heat source pump (GSHP) to substitute conventional electric chiller and auxiliary boiler. Then a matrix modeling approach is presented to optimize the CCHP system. Modeled in a matrix form, the CCHP system can be viewed as an input–output model. Energy conversion and flow from the system input to the output is modeled by a conversion matrix including the dispatch factors and components efficiencies. By designing the objective function and determining the constraint, the optimization problem of minimizing the comprehensive performance (CP) of operational cost, carbon dioxide emission, and primary energy consumption is solved. Thus the size of the PGU and GSHP is optimized using the linear search method. After that an illustrative case study is conducted to present the effectiveness, and results show that the thermal load and electric load are well satisfied by the proposed system no matter judging from the typical daily aspect or monthly aspect or annual aspect. Finally, the on-site energy matching (OEM) and on-site energy fraction (OEF) are employed to evaluate how much on-site generated energy is exported or wasted and how much demands are covered by the on-site generated energy. The results showed that the produced energy of the CCHP system is not fully used, while it can well satisfy the end user load.

This chapter gives an overview of the current development of the indirect evaporative cooling technologies, PV and PV/T solar energy systems, natural ventilation systems, heat recovery systems, and low-energy lighting technologies. And the fundamentals of these techniques are introduced. The cases of the application of the above technologies in the UK and Europe have been presented. This chapter also introduces some low/near-zero-energy buildings in the UK and Europe, with various renewable and energy efficiency technologies applied in these buildings.

Absorption cooling systems are able to utilize both gas burner and solar collector as the heat source. The gas-driven absorption cooling can work in the double-effect configuration with high efficiency. It is stable but has high gas consumption. The solar hot water-driven absorption cooling usually adopts the single-effect configuration. It is clean and energy saving but hard to work continuously. In this chapter, a LiBr-water absorption chiller that can be driven by both gas firing and solar hot water is introduced. The chiller combines both single-effect solar absorption cooling and double-effect gas absorption cooling. The solar-driven part of the chiller works first. The gas-driven part of the chiller is activated when the solar hot water temperature is not high enough or the cooling output is insufficient. In this way, the utilizations of both heat sources can be optimized. A cooling and heating system in a hotel was built based on this chiller. The typical working conditions of this system were tested and analyzed. This combined solar-gas-driven system saved 49.7% of the gas consumption compared with the conventional gas-driven system.

In rural areas of northern China, cooking, household appliances, and winter heating make up the basic energy consumption which almost totally depends on coal until now while renewable energy, such as solar energy, biomass, and wind energy, is abundant in these areas. Great efforts have been made to meet one of basic energy demands with renewable energy. However, unsteady renewable energy has significantly challenged the reliability of the renewable energy system and users’ expectations. Hence, in order to meet multilevel energy demands above with solar energy and biomass and to efficiently overcome the influences of seasons, climates, environment temperature, and other factors on renewable energy production, an energy system of combined heating, power and biogas (CHPB), was developed and tested in a 117.07 m2 insulated rural building. The CHPB system is composed of solar water collectors, PV arrays with batteries, thermostatic biogas digesters, and other devices. Besides, to keep the temperature of the biogas digester stable, the solar water collector is also used to heat the building in winter. PV arrays with batteries supply electricity for the system and household appliances, while biogas is used for cooking. The CHPB system shows favorable performances in heating period of 2014–2015, according to the theoretical analysis on efficiency, conservation, and environmental benefits of the system in winter.The energy supply performance of CHPB in winter is studied experimentally. The test results show that: (1) During the heating periods, the energy supplied by the system used for building heating meets 69% of the building needs. When the daily average ambient temperature is higher than 3 °C, the system is capable of meeting the energy demands of building heating completely, while when the accumulated daily solar radiation is less than 14 MJ/m2, the system fails to meet the energy demands of building heating; (2) The total biogas produced by the system in the test is 110.71m3, with an average methane content of 54.74% which always meets the cooking fuel demands of the residents; (3) Most of the time, the daily electricity generation is higher than the electricity consumed by CHPB and relies on batteries. Besides, the generated electricity had met the demands of CHPB all the time, and the system can meet the electricity demands of the residents partly in the heating periods and completely in the nonheating periods.

In this chapter, the status-in-quo of green buildings in Australia was provided by introducing the practical application of different types of energy system, includingSolar thermal cooling systemGeothermal heat pumpsPCM cold storage in cooling systemSystem control strategyA combination of innovationsThe chapter aims to contribute information on how much energy saving can be achieved in the building sector and how long the pay-back period is, for which a case study is provided for each type of energy system. These analyses are available in the results of the practical operation of energy systems after the completion of building construction, through which the incipient system design has been proven key to the energy saving of successful cases. Although building materials and construction process is not considered in the analyses, these case studies also indicate a rather high importance of material and resource use during building construction.