Exploring the Limits of Energy Efficiency in Office Buildings Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • This paper explores the limiting energy efficiency for the energy uses in a particular office building. This limit might be viewed as the "Carnot efficiency" for the entire building. It assumes that all energy-consuming services in the building are provided at the minimum energy value that does not violate physical law. Rigorous physical limits such as the Carnot efficiency are used where applicable; in other cases, a plausible approximation has been adopted. Based on the assumptions made, it would be possible to provide all of the energy-based services currently provided in the building using approximately 0.2kWh/(ft2-yr). This limiting value is less than 1% of the energy used by a typical office building in the United States. Examination of expected advances in individual technologies suggests that it may be possible to construct a building that uses approximately 0.8kWh/(ft2-yr) within the next decade. 2011 American Institute of Physics.

name of conference

  • PHYSICS OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY II: USING ENERGY EFFICIENTLY AND PRODUCING IT RENEWABLY

published proceedings

  • PHYSICS OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY II: USING ENERGY EFFICIENTLY AND PRODUCING IT RENEWABLY

author list (cited authors)

  • Claridge, D. E., & Tanskyi, O.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Claridge, David E||Tanskyi, Oleksandr

publication date

  • January 2011