Creating a Greener Future Through Engineering Sustainability

MAIN BODY

Objective

• To Analyse the concept of energy-efficient building.
• To study various processes and technologies that can be used to develop energy-efficient buildings.
• To evaluate various factors that are related to the implementation of sustainable concepts in the building design and construction process.

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Energy Efficient Building

 The concept of energy efficient building can be explained as a building that is designed to provide a significant reduction of energy needed for heating and cooling which is independent of energy and various equipment that are normally used in buildings to heating and cooling in the building. There are two types of concepts that are normally used in energy-efficient buildings which are preferred by engineers to obtain energy in building. The first concept is about electrical energy and the other one is heating energy. Solar energy is majorly considered an important renewable energy that can be implemented in energy-efficient buildings. There are two processes used by engineers to produce energy or utilize the energy packets that are available in the sunlight. This energy of sunlight can be obtained with two processes or techniques which are known as active solar energy and other one is passive solar energy. Both processes can be used in the development of energy-efficient processes.

Active solar Energy

Active solar energy is considered a process where different mechanical and electrical devices are used as converters in order to utilize the energy of the sun to produce electricity. By using this process particular buildings can be provided with an electrical supply with zero pollution. This is one of the best sustainable ways to produce the required electrical energy within the building. There are mainly two processes used in energy-efficient buildings to solar energy are- photovoltaic solar technology and other one is solar thermal technology. These technologies can be implemented in the building for various purposes.

Photovoltaic technology is considered the technology of the future. Solar photovoltaic technology is one of the finest ways of electrical energy production. In this process, solar panels are used which are made of semiconductor materials like silicon and germanium (Zainordin, Abdullah, and Ahmad, 2018).  These solar panels are placed on the roof or in an open area to get maximum exposure to sunlight. These panels are connected to the battery using various wires. These batteries are connected to with panel with an inverter circuit to store and supply electrical supply to the load. This is how solar energy is converted into electrical energy. Solar technology can be used for two different purposes to maintain the need of sustainability in the building. This technology can be used for electrical production and heating purposes in the building. To generate electricity with this process it is important to establish a small power plant. In this process heat energy is converted into kinetic energy then it is converted into mechanical energy to rotate the turbine to rotate the shaft of the generator. This is how electrical energy can be produced and the rest of the heat can be utilized for the heating operation. This is how active energy can be used in order to

Passive Solar Energy

The concept of passive solar energy can be considered as a process that does not include any conversion or technique to utilize the energy that is available in the form of Photons. In this process, the heat energy of sunlight is directly utilized to perform a heating process in buildings in the winter season. It is also used to perform various heating operations (Bas, Acay, and Ozarslan, 2019). This is one of the most efficient ways to get an alternative solution for electrical power and related electrical equipment. Passive solar energy can also be explained as a process that does not use any mechanical such as a blower, fan, or pump to distribute the solar heat from the collector. In this process, the engineers take advantage of natural heat flow in order to distribute the heat in the building. There are some materials are used in passive solar energy to store and deliver heat. These material which are used in the passive energy are known as thermal masses. There are three main processes used in these processes in the passive solar system which are- direct gain, indirect gain, and greenhouse addition.

Direct Gain- In the direct gain method the heat energy of the sunlight is directly used to perform the heating process. For example in this process buildings are designed with large size glass windows that are faced to the south and are used to gain direct heat from sunlight.

Indirect Gain- In this process, solar radiation is used to heat the wall that is situated near the window to deliver the heat of sunlight slowly to the interior of the house. There are some openings available to reduce the direct impact of sunlight. The process that is used in this process bottom opening in the wall is provided to provide a vent in order to enter the cold air between the wall and the glass window and the upper vent is used to get heated air in the room (Hay and Ostertag, 2018). By this process scientific principle of air is used to slowly deliver heat into the room. This is how indirect gain can be used in an energy-efficient building.

Green House- This process is used for multiple purposes where a greenhouse or sun space is used to grow some plants and the rest of the heat is used to provide heat to the internal area of the building. This is how heat can be utilized for various purposes.

This is how the concept of direct, indirect, and greenhouse is used in the passive solar energy in the energy-efficient building to reduce the pollution and need for electricity pieces of equipment within the building.

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Factors that need to be considered in Designing Energy Efficient Building

There are various factors can be considered in the processes of sustainable building design and construction. Consideration of this factor can help the engineers implement various innovative technologies and ideas in order to keep the operations of the organization pollution-free. Some of the main considerations that need to be made in the process of designing energy-efficient buildings are- the selection of site, site development, material, life cycle analysis, operational energy, active systems using renewable energy sources, and energy management. These are some of the main factors in the energy-efficient building. All these processes are designed in a manner to reduce the waste in buildings and reduce the production of agents that can cause pollution. This is how sustainability can be maintained in the building. In the selection of a site, different things are analyzed in order to reduce the impact of the construction process on the environment. To maintain this standard land with high ecological sensitivity value (Pavel and Blagoeva, 2018). Aspects like vulnerability to flooding, land close to water sources, and distance from cultural and commercial facilities are also considered to keep operations cost-effective and less harmful to the environment.

There are some site development procedures are also followed in order to maintain less impact on local situations. The building site is also considered for various evaluations to keep the construction site free from construction issues. The impact of building development is also evaluated for existing open places and streets. For the building construction process concepts and processes that are related to reuse and recycling are considered to reduce the use of natural resources in order to maintain sustainability (Fastenrath and Braun, 2018). The material which is selected for the construction process is finalized after evaluation of its impact on the environment and environmental sustainability. These materials are also tested for humidity, fay light, temperature, organic compound, and thermal comfort to implement technologies like solar passive systems in buildings.

For energy-efficient buildings operational energy consumption is also considered in order to analyze the amount of energy that is used in building for various operations. For example, heating energy, energy for lighting, cooling, and heating are also considered in the evaluation process. There are some active systems are also need to be used in buildings to supply the required electrical energy in the building (Shove, 2018). The energy that is required to operate water heater, heat pumps, and heat recuperation also needs to be evaluated for the estimation of the size of solar panels on the roof. This is also important for the engineers to implement some control, monitoring, and management systems to maintain an energy loss minimum. In energy-efficient buildings, there are some heat, water, light, and smoke detectors to reduce the chances of operational and energy management failure. For waste reduction within the building, different technologies are used for water flow management, control of lighting systems, water supply management, and water treatment plants. By using these technology engineers reduce various factors that can increase the sustainability of the building. After considering all these factors engineers use various tracking and maintenance systems to reduce the probability of major technical failures within the building.

Apart from the technical considerations, there are some geographical considerations used in the designing process of the building to utilize natural resources like sunlight, rainwater, and wind to maintain the use of conventional energy sources minimum within the building to achieve the goal of nearly zero pollution (Jia and Lee, 2018). This process of sustainable engineering also can help to minimize the impact on the environment and natural resources.

Advantages of Energy-Efficient Building

There are various advantages of using sustainable engineering for the building construction and development process to minimize the impact of human activities on the environment. Some of the most important advantages of this concept are-

Long term cost-effectiveness

Energy-efficient buildings are very beneficial for the long term. The technologies that are used in energy-efficient buildings are mostly renewable and available for free. For example, solar power is mainly used in energy efficient house. This is how these sustainable technologies can help to minimize long-term costs.

Less Emission of Waste

The processes that are used in the building are based on smart technology and sustainability principles. It also can be explained as the processes that are used in the building are based on the principle of reuse and recycling. These processes reduce the overall waste that is produced in the building. Waste management practices within buildings also help to reduce the amount of waste.

Better Thermal Comfort

The building is designed by considering various geographical factors to maintain the temperature in the building without using heating equipment. The direction and position of the building are decided as per the position of the sun in winter and summer. This can provide better thermal comfort inside the building.

Improved Health Standards

The technology which is used in a building is based on renewable energy and sustainable process (Kheiri, 2018). The impact of this technology is not harmful to both humans and the environment. So energy energy-efficient buildings are safer and healthier for people to live in.

High Value

People are more concerned about the sustainability factor of building and they value this new concept of building defining. People are willing to improve their living standards and they also consider sustainable factors to ensure the safety and security of the environment. This is how the concept of an energy-efficient house is valued highly by people.

Environmental Friendly

The concept of energy-efficient buildings is effective for environmental sustainability.  It can help engineers develop various developments in business to reduce the impact of human activity on the environment and natural resources.

Affecting Factor

There are some factors that can affect the implementation of sustainable engineering in building development. Some of the main issues for this concept are- the cost of sustainable technology is too high as compared to other technology. The implementation process of this technology is typical and time-consuming. Sometimes it also needs extra resources to manage a balance between various factors within the building. The processes that are based on sustainability are a little bit slower than other processes.

CONCLUSION

This report concludes the importance of a sustainable engineering concept that can be used in developing the process of building to achieve sustainability goals. This report has been considering various innovative technologies and processes to develop energy-efficient buildings that are based on the principles of sustainable engineering. The idea of energy-efficient building has been analyzed in detail to develop effective knowledge regarding various processes that can be used in the construction process and building designing process. Mainly there are three aspects of energy-efficient building that have been provided in the article which are- nearly zero energy passive building design, use of low energy building material, and use of efficient pieces of equipment for low operational energy requirements with the integration of renewable energy production technology for various applications. This is how three aspects of energy-efficient building have been considered in order to understand the concepts of sustainable building.  Various sustainability factors also have been explained that need to be considered in the designing and construction process.

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