Solutions to improve the energy efficiency of non-residential buildings: Evidence from Romania

Abstract

Energy efficiency in buildings can lead to lower costs and a smaller carbon footprint. There are now numerous standards, regulations and certifications in place to encourage the construction of sustainable buildings and the increase of energy efficiency in existing ones. One such certification platform that provides tools for analysing the sustainability and energy performance of a building is EDGE. Thus, the aim of this paper was to investigate the possibility of using this platform for analysing and testing solutions to increase energy efficiency on a storage building. The results showed that the platform allows analysing various measures for increasing energy efficiency and displays an approximate prediction as a result of these measures. By performing simulations in the platform, it is possible to check and choose the best measures leading to maximizing the energy efficiency of the building and to plan the investments. The article includes the analysis of a warehouse chosen as a case study, in which lighting was identified as an area of inefficiency and it was replaced with a more efficient system, as well as installing a photovoltaic power plant. These measures led to an increase in building energy efficiency of approximately 17%.

Keywords

• buildings
• energy efficiency
• solutions
• platform
• simulations