Strategies to Improve the Performance of Energy Efficient Office Building towards a Net Zero Building (A Retrofitting Case of Composite Climate)

The U. S energy information administration (EIA) states that building sector consumes about 47 % of energy, which is almost half of the total energy produced.74.9 % of all the electricity produced in the U. S is used just to operate building. Energy consumption through commercial sector contributes to 19 % of the total energy consumed by the building sector. Energy consumption in buildings for operating building i. e. heating, cooling, and lighting is required to be reduced. Literature study has been done to understand different design strategies which should be considered in the early stages of designing of an office building. This paper initially focuses on the strategies which should be considered to reduce the overall energy consumption of an office building and then meeting the net zero energy goal by covering the minimized energy demand by applying the renewable energy source. This approach is simulation based which has been done by design builder software. Firstly, the energy consumption demand of the building has been estimated. Subsequently, sustainable building approaches for energy conservation have been integrated to reduce the overall energy demand of the building. Finally, renewable energy sources are implemented in order to offset the minimized energy demand of the building. Thus having a net zero energy IT office building.