The Application of Zero Energy Building Concept in the Malaysia Green Technology Corporation Office...

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Malaysian Technical Universities International Conference on Engineering & Technology (MUiCET 2011)

THE APPLICATION OF ZERO ENERGY

BUILDING CONCEPT IN THE MALAYSIAGREEN TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

OFFICE BUILDING

Ng Ban Huat1, Zainal Abidin bin Akasah

2

Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UTHM

[email protected],

[email protected]

Abstract

Zero Energy Building (ZEB) which possess high energy efficient design and utilizes renewable energytechnology in order to fulfill its energy needs. Malaysia Green Technology Corporation office building is a

building designed base on ZEB concept; however Building Energy Index (BEI) for Malaysia Green Technology

office building has yet to achieve zero. This research focuses on the application of ZEB concept in Malaysia

Green Technology Corporation office building; secondly to identify the problems causing BEI of the studied

office building which did not achieve zero BEI; and lastly to propose approaches that can improve energy

efficiency for the office building. Interviews session with the office building management team, architect and

energy consultant have been carried out in order to achieve research objectives. Outcome of the research shows

that energy efficient design and renewable energy technology applied in the office building are passive design,active system, and Building Integrated Photovoltaic system (BIPV). The inefficiency at the cool part of the

cooling system, air movement, and chillers are the problems that have been identified. Recommendations such as

improving the efficiency of the cooling system, enhancing the air movement in the building, reduce the chillers
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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1.1 INTRODUCTION

The over usage of fossil energy is the main contributor

towards global climate change [1]. This is due to the

excessive consumption of fossil energy will end up

releasing large amount of greenhouse gases. The

worlds fossil energy consumption rate has reached 82

percents [2].

Hence, the improvement of energy efficiency,

increasing the usage of renewable energy; preservationof a healthy building indoor environment; and

increasing the sustainability of natural resources are

among the approaches catching the worlds attention

[3].

Zero Energy Building (ZEB) is the building that

fulfills the needs stated above and capable in reducing

the dependence of fossil energy usage. This is because;ZEB manage to produce the amount of energy needs

by the buildings through environmentally friendly

manner.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The development of energy efficient building or ZEB

is important, because the increase of buildingselectricity consumption contribute to the higher release

of greenhouse gasses compared to other sectors. This

is because; most of the electricity consumed by

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION

(i) What are the ZEB components applied in the

office building?

(ii) What are the problems causing the Building

Energy Index (BEI) of the office building yet

to achieve zero?

(iii) What are the approaches that capable to

increase the energy efficiency of the office

building?

1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The research objectives of this study are:

(i) To identify the application of ZEB concept in

the office building.

(ii) To identify the problems causing the Building

Energy Index (BEI) of the office building yet

to achieve zero.

(iii) To propose the approaches capable to increase

the energy efficiency of the building.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This research is in aim to contribute to the following

parties:


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(vi) Ministry of Energy, Green Technology, and

Water (KeTTHA), as the ministry responsible

in commercialize the activities related to green

technology as stipulated in Tenth Malaysia

Plan.

1.6 RESEARCH SCOPE

(i) This research was carried out in Malaysia

Green Technology Corporations office

building, Bandar Baru Bangi;

(ii) This research is focused on the ZEB

components applied in the office building. The

information is retrieved through the interview

with the buildings management team and the

architect involved during the design process.

(iii) This research is focus on the problems causing

the office buildings BEI did not achieve zero.The term energy used in this research is

referring to the energy used during the

operation of the building. The data were

retrieved through interview with the buildings

management team, and;

(iv) To acquire views from the office buildings

management team, architect, and energyconsultants involved during the design

process.

(iii) Building: Building is a structure such as a

house, church, or factory that has a roof and

walls [10].

ZEB concept emphasizes on the application of

commercial or residential building.

Hence, ZEB concept can be simplified as

follows: A Zero Energy Building (ZEB) is a

residential or commercial building with

greatly reduced energy needs through

efficiency gains such that the balance of

energy needs can be supplied with renewable

technologies [11].

2.3 FACTORS AFFECTING THE

BUILDINGS ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Factors affecting the buildings energy consumption

can be divided into two category, they are, non designfactors and passive design factors [12].

2.3.1 NON DESIGN FACTORS

Non design factors are the factors affected by:

(i) Occupancy and management;

(ii) Environmental standards; and(iii) Climate.

2.3.2 PASSIVE DESIGN FACTORS


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(i) Building orientation and shape

(ii) Thermal mass

(iii) Day lighting

(iv) Passive ventilation

(v) Solar thermal collector

(vi) Plug load reduction

2.4.2 ACTIVE SYSTEM

Active system involves the mechanical and electrical

approaches in order to improve energy efficiency of

the building. Heat, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

(HVAC) are the mechanical system, light and

electrical motor are the electrical system:

(i) Active mechanical system

(ii) Electrical power system

2.5 RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY

Renewable energy can be generated on-site by three

different techniques, photovoltaic, wind energy, and

biomass [14].

2.5.1 PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL (PV)

Photovoltaic system is a system capable to convertlight energy into electrical energy [15].

2.5.1.1 TYPES OF PV

Guidelines for Energy Efficiency in Buildings, four

typical buildings are defined to represent different

expected levels of energy use in Malaysia. These four

levels are: worst case, base case, proposed standard

case and good practice case.

(i) The worst case represents buildings that are

among the most energy intensive buildings

that might be encountered in Malaysia today.

BEI = 240 kWh/m/yr.

(ii) The base case building reflect a typical range

of construction and energy use features now

prevalent in Malaysian new commercial

building construction. BEI = 166 kWh/m/yr.

(iii) The proposed standard case reflects the level

of energy efficiency expected to be achieved

by the proposed Guidelines. BEI = 136

kWh/m/yr.

(iv) The good practice case represents a

combination of energy efficient practice

(including daylighting) that surpasses the

requirements of the Guidelines proposed. BEI

= 98 kWh/m/yr.

3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology is an important part in

executing an academic research. The purpose of the


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3.4 DATA COLLECTION

In the research methodology, the obtained data can be

categorized into two categories; they are primary data

and secondary data.

3.4.1 INTERVIEW

Interview is a method to obtain the information or data

from respondent through verbal communication, the

responses from the interviewed respondent can be

either opinions or advises. The information is very

important because the interviewed respondent can

explain the answer thoroughly. Interview will allow

two ways communication between the interviewed

respondent and researcher, this situation can contribute

the additional opinions and different perspectives:

(i) Malaysia Green Technology Corporations

management team.

(ii) Ruslan Khalid Associates Sdn. Bhd. is the

architect firm which involved during the

design of Malaysia Green Technology

Corporation office building.

(iii) IEN Consultants Sdn. Bhd. is the energy

consultant of Malaysia Green TechnologyCorporation office building.

3.4.2 OBSERVATION/FIELD OF STUDY

4.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH

OUTCOMES

There are two types of method that had been being

used throughout the research in order to achieve the

research objectives; they are interview and

observation/field of study.

4.1 THE APPLICATION OF ZEB CONCEPT

IN THE OFFICE BUILDING

The application of ZEB concept in Malaysia Green

Technology office building can be classified in to two

categories, they are:

(i) Energy efficient design

(ii) Renewable energy technology

4.1.1 ENERGY EFFICIENT DESIGN

(i) Passive design

(ii) Active system

4.1.1.1 PASSIVE DESIGN

(i) Building orientation

The orientation of the office building is north-southaxis orientation, where, the building walls that has

large surface area is being designed to locate

perpendicular to the north-south axis, while the


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Figure 4.1: Malaysia Green Technology Corporation

office buildings orientation

(ii) Insulation system

(a) Internal wall

The internal walls are installed with a layer of rockwool insulation in order to reduce thermal effects in

the office building.

Slanting roof

Mineral wool is installed on the slanting roof as shown

in Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3: Mineral wool layer is installed on theslanting roof [18].

Uppermost floor

Polystyrene layer is installed on the uppermost floor of

the office building as shown in Figure 4.4, wherein the

roof of the uppermost floor housed the Building

Integrated Photovoltaic System (BIPV).

Figure 4.4: Polystyrene layer is installed on theuppermost floor of the office building [18].

(iii) Daylighting


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Figure 4.5:(a) Diffuse daylight admitted through

skylight [18].

(b) Spectrally selective glazing.

(c) Daylight source from sky light

Daylight source from atrium roof

Light source from PV panel acts as atrium roofallowing daylight enter the building through PV panel

as shown in Figure 4.6.

Figure 4.7: (a) Diffuse daylight entered into building

[18]

(b) Mirror light shelf

(c) High reflective surface on the ceiling

surface

Internal layout

Workplace is placed near to the window so that

daylights are permitted to enter into the workplace

area thoroughly while storage room is placed in the


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Shading

Shading plate, fixed ram unit, and step-in design are

the types of shading applied in the office building as

shown in Table 4.2 (Please refer to Appendix II).

Reduced internal load

Reducing plug load is the approach taken by Malaysia

Green Technology Corporation in order to reduce the

internal load. PC with CRT monitor are replaced by

laptop or PC with LCD monitor as shown in Figure 4.9(Please refer to Appendix III).

4.1.1.2 ACTIVE SYSTEM

(i) Cooling system

Cooling system of the building encompasses rainwater

collection, trickling cool roof, cooling tower, chiller,Air Handling Unit (AHU), Phase Change Material

(PCM), and radiant cooling system.

(a) Trickling cool roof

Trickling roof is an alternative approach to replace

cooling tower. At the night time or during the low

operation period, temperature of the water fromrainwater collection tank is reduced by draining

through trickling cool roof, the process is assist by

radiation convection evaporation and also the low

(b) Cooling tower

Cooling tower used in the Malaysia Green Technology

Building has high energy efficient characteristic. The

usage of cooling tower is complement to trickling cool

roof. Cooling tower will function when trickling cool

roof is not function.

(c) Rainwater collection

The filtered rainwater will be used for cooling

purposes, and also for the irrigation system of the

building. Rainwater collection tank has normal

capacity which is 5280 gallon of water and its efficient

capacity is 3700 gallon of water.

(d) Phase Change Material (PCM)

Phase Change Material (PCM) tank used in the

building has dimension 3m x 3m x 2.5m as shown inFigure 4.12.

Figure 4.12: Phase Change Material (PCM) [18]


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Figure 4.14: VAV and VSD system installed in

Malaysia Green Technology Corporation office

building [18].

(g) Radiant cooling system

Chilled slab

Chilled slab is the slab installed with PEX pipe which

function to flow coolant under the floor so that the

temperature in the room can be reduced through

reduction of floor. Figure 4.15 shows PEX pipe

installed on the slab during the construction.

Fi 4 15 PEX i i ll d h l b d i h

(ii) Energy efficient lighting system

(a) Energy efficient electrical lighting system

Energy efficient light, for example T5 and CFL are

installed with proper circuit system, the goal is to

reduce energy consumption. LED task light used in the

building has 6.2 watt energy consumption rate. The

energy efficient lights of the building have 300-400

lux. as shown in Figure 4.17.

Figure 4.17: (a) Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL)

(b) Fluorescent Light

(c) LED Light


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4.1.2 THE PROBLEMS CAUSING BUILDING

ENERGY INDEX (BEI) OF THE OFFICE

BUILDING DID NOT ACHIEVE ZERO

4.1.2.1 BUILDING ENERGY INDEX (BEI)

Figure 4.18 (Please refer to V) shown that Building

Energy Index (BEI) of the Malaysia Green

Technology office building is 67-75 kWh/m2/year.

The index shows that, energy produced by PV panels

is still unable to fulfill the buildings energy needs.

4.1.2.1 PROBLEMS CAUSING BUILDING

ENERGY INDEX (BEI) DID NOT

ACHIEVE ZERO

Problems causing Building Energy Index (BEI) did not

achieve zero is attributed to the cooling system design

of the building.

(i) Cold side of cooling system

The problem is due to the cold side of the cooling

system where the Phase Change Material (PCM) or Ice

Storage did not turn into ice during the operation. This

is due to supply water of the Chiller did not reach 7

degree Celsius continuously for at least 8 hours when

it reach the Phase Change Material (PCM) tank.Currently, the temperature of the supply water reached

11 degree Celsius and above. Due to that reasons

chiller has to operate longer hour during the day in

(iii) The oversized Chiller

The size of the current Chiller is 85 rth, it is too big

and tends to consume more energy during its

operation.

4.1.3 THE APPROACHES THAT CAN

IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF

THE OFFICE BUILDING

4.1.3.1 DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY

CONSUMPTION FOR MALAYSIA

GREEN TECHNOLOGY

CORPORATION OFFICE BUILDING

Figure 4.20: Distribution of energy consumption for

Malaysia Green Technology Corporation office

building [18].

Based on Figure 4.20, the highest energy consumption

rate is cooling system, 72 percents, followed by others


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(ii) Increase the air flow in the building

Air flow in building can be improved through the

installation of fan coil unit (FCU) in every level of the

building. The installation of FCU as shown in Figure

4.22 manages to improve the buildings air flow. This

is because more chilled air can be channeled to the

room in shorter time and its operation of the chiller

can be reduced.

Figure 4.22: Fan coil unit

(iii) Reduce the chiller size

The current chiller size has to be reduced to 45 rth. A

smaller chiller will consume less energy compared to

large chiller.

(iv) Increase the temperature of slab radiantcooling system

The original temperature of the slab radiant cooling

(vi) Solar cooling system

Solar thermal cooling is one of the types of solar

cooling system. Solar thermal cooling uses solar

thermal collector to ignite the absorption type of

cooling system. Absorption cooling system can

function well by only using thermal energy; hence,

energy consumption can be reduced.

(vii) Use desiccant in solar cooling system

Desiccant like silica gel has ability to eliminate air

moisture and its function is important to make sure

cooling system can operate effectively. The desiccant

can be regenerated by using solar thermal energy and

not electricity.

5.1 CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATION FOR FUTURE

RESEARCH

The summary of the research is the discussion of the

objectives outcomes determined during the

preliminary research. Besides that, recommendation

for future research is given for a thorough research in

the coming study

5.2 FIRST OBJECTIVE OUTCOME

The ZEB concept applied in the office building are

passive design, active system, and renewable energy

technologies. These systems have features that


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5.5 RECOMMENDATION FOR FUTURE

RESEARCH

The results obtained from this study have led to a

number of aspects to be considered in the future study.

The recommendations are as follows:

(i) Study on Energy Management System (EMS)

of Malaysia Green Technology Corporation

office building.

(ii) Study on maintenance system of energy

efficient buildings.

(iii) Study on application of PV panel in residential

building (etc.: energy efficient house in

Malacca).

(iv) Study on implication of energy efficient

building from the aspects of (economy, indooror outdoor environment, and occupants

wellbeing).

(v) Study on energy efficiency of UTHM

buildings (etc.: UTHM library).

5.6 CONCLUSION

Overall, a continuous study is needed in order to

improve energy efficiency of buildings. Particularly

for the country like Malaysia have advantages in using

Zero Energy, High-Performance Green Buildings.

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What Americas Building Industry Must Do.Dicapai pada Mac 31, 2010, di

http://www.di.net/articles/archive/3097/

[5] Kok, C. (2009, Oktober 31). Malaysias GreenEnergy Gap. The Star. Dicapai pada Julai 1, 2010,

darihttp://thestar.com.my/

[6] Choong, M. Y. (2009, Disember 15). Major

breakthrough. The Star. Dicapai pada Julai 2,

2010, darihttp://thestar.com.my/

[7] Butti, K. & Perlin, J. (1980). A Golden Thread,

2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology.

dlm. Hernandez, P. & Kenny, P. (2009). From Net

Energy to Zero Energy Building: Defining Life

Cycle Zero Energy Buildings (LC-ZEB) [versi

elektronik]. Energy and Buildings, 42(6), 815-821.

Dicapai pada Mac 17, 2010, darihttp://www.sciencedirect.com/

[8] Soanes, C. & Stevenson, A. (2006). The Oxford

Dictionary of English. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

[9] Walter, E. (Ed.) (2005). Cambridge Advanced

Learner's Dictionary. 2nd ed. New York:

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[10]

Summers, D. (Ed.) (2003). LongmanDictionary of Contemporary English. 4th ed. New

York: Longman.

[11] Torcellini, P., Pless, S., & Deru, M. (2006).
http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/buildingtechnology/documents/FederalRDAgendaforNetZeroEnergyHighPerformanceGreenBuildings.pdfhttp://www.bfrl.nist.gov/buildingtechnology/documents/FederalRDAgendaforNetZeroEnergyHighPerformanceGreenBuildings.pdfhttp://www.bfrl.nist.gov/buildingtechnology/documents/FederalRDAgendaforNetZeroEnergyHighPerformanceGreenBuildings.pdfhttp://www.bfrl.nist.gov/buildingtechnology/documents/FederalRDAgendaforNetZeroEnergyHighPerformanceGreenBuildings.pdfhttp://www.di.net/articles/archive/3097/http://www.di.net/articles/archive/3097/http://thestar.com.my/http://thestar.com.my/http://thestar.com.my/http://thestar.com.my/http://thestar.com.my/http://thestar.com.my/http://www.sciencedirect.com/http://www.sciencedirect.com/http://www.sciencedirect.com/http://thestar.com.my/http://thestar.com.my/http://www.di.net/articles/archive/3097/http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/buildingtechnology/documents/FederalRDAgendaforNetZeroEnergyHighPerformanceGreenBuildings.pdfhttp://www.bfrl.nist.gov/buildingtechnology/documents/FederalRDAgendaforNetZeroEnergyHighPerformanceGreenBuildings.pdfhttp://www.bfrl.nist.gov/buildingtechnology/documents/FederalRDAgendaforNetZeroEnergyHighPerformanceGreenBuildings.pdf


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[17] Kannan, K. S. (2007). Development of an

rating system for office building. Dicapai pada

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[18]

Lojuntin, S. A. (2010, Mei). Green EnergyOffice BuildingA Low Carbon FootprintBuilding. [handout]. Malaysia Green Technology

Corporation.
http://www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB11464.pdfhttp://www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB11464.pdfhttp://www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB11464.pdf


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APPENDIX I

Level Layout plan

Level One

Level Two

Ground Level


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APPENDIX II

Types of shading Photo

Plate shading:

Fixed ram unit


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APPENDIX III

Figure 4.9: Energy consumption rate based on types of computer used (Malaysia GreenTechnology Corporation, 2010).


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APPENDIX IV

Types of PVpanel

PV Panel Information

Package A

Poly-crytalline

Panel 394 nos

Produce 47 kWp

356 meter square

Package B

Amorphous

silicon

Panel 95 nos

Produce 6kWp

100 meter square

Package C

Mono-

crystalline, see

through

Panel 64 nos

Produce 12kWp

110 meter square


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18

APPENDIX V

Figure 4.18: Building Energy Index (BEI) of Malaysia Green Technology Corporation Office Building (Malaysia Green Technology

Corporation, 2010)


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19

APPENDIX VI

Figure 4.21: Schematic diagram of cooling system (Malaysia Green Technology Corporation, 2010)

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