Building energy intensity measurement for potential retrofitting of zero energy building in higher learning institution

Abstract

Energy is currently world debate and being a prominent issue especially in industrial, transportation, residential and service sector. Service sector that includes all commercial and public buildings are also being the major contributor of global energy consumption. Higher Learning Institution (HLI) are among public buildings that the energy demand has become a critical issue, in which HLI need to spend a considerable high amount of money annually for electricity consumption. This energy issue somehow can be improved by implementing the retrofit to existing building which employed energy efficient technology, where it involves modifications using sustainable building criteria. This paper highlighted various options for building retrofitting which from lean steps, green technology and clean energy. M50 building in Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was chosen as a case study and in situ energy audit of Building Energy Intensity (BEI) was conducted by identifying the types of equipment and machinery used in the building together with its period of operations and their power usage under typical operation. The outcome of the study proposed the retrofit strategies that are suitable to be implemented towards zero energy building. It is a cornerstone of reducing the energy usage with sustainability efforts together with economic stimulus packages.