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Delivering a sustainable future for offices in Greece in the context of climate change: The case-study of a public office building

Giannikopoulos, C; (2008) Delivering a sustainable future for offices in Greece in the context of climate change: The case-study of a public office building. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

The iggo's has been the warmest decade globally leading to a dramatic climate change due to the j greenhouse effect and the consequent global warming. Allowing this trend to continue the planet is going to face a catastrophic climate change without precedent with various impacts. One of the most significant aims in the combat against climate change is the reduction of carbon dioxide and j other greenhouse gases emissions that are responsible for global warming. Under the Kyoto protocol, the developed countries need to reduce their GHGs emissions to 1990 levels by 2012. Energy consumption for building-related services in the European Union accounts for approximately 50% of the total energy consumption and the resulting C02 emissions (Richarz et al 2007). Hence, at first sight the best policy for a decrease is by improving the energy performance of new and existing buildings. The question to be solved, however, is which improvements at buildings could reduce energy consumption and accordingly C02 emissions In this context, the analysis of the energy consumption and the respective carbon emissions over a public large-scale existing office building in Greece can result in a comprehensive j understanding of how energy efficiency-upgrades can be critical when combating climate change. This analysis is made using thermal analysis software and extracting results about energy consumption that can be compared to the real data collected from the Building Energy Management System. Afterwards, potential improvements in the building envelope in terms of a more efficient control of solar gains are tested on the model and finally, photovoltaics are applied in order to generate zero-carbon electricity. The energy-efficiency upgrades suggested have achieved a total reduction in energy used for j heating and cooling by 11.9%, with the reduction in cooling far exceeding the respective reduction in heating. Consequently, 193 MWh that are equivalent to 117 tons of C02 are saved annually. As far as the application of photovoltaics is concerned, the roof installation can generate electricity equal to 10% of the annual building requirements in energy. In general, a successful energy-efficiency upgrade of an existing office building relies on the interconnections of three levels of improvements passive design techniques, systems efficiency and application of photovoltaics. Finally, the impact of energy-efficiency upgrade of office buildings in Greece can be very positive. However, appropriate legislation needs to come in force urgently in order to make energy-efficiency upgrades at existing buildings compulsory in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Delivering a sustainable future for offices in Greece in the context of climate change: The case-study of a public office building
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by ProQuest.
UCL classification:
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1568142
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