Abstract
This thesis presents a case study of a building model for the potential energy conservation through analysis and validation of annual energy consumption. The model of THE WELL building, located at the California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) campus, was developed in a complex 3D Building Information Model (BIM) based model within Autodesk Revit version 2019, and the energy model was simulated through (cloud-base) Insight 360. The model was then imported into eQUEST 3.65 software to validate the baseline model against the actual utility bill data. The baseline model was calibrated based on the building information available. Then the potential benefits of several possible energy conservation measures were quantified. Based on the eQUEST baseline simulation results, the predicted average of annual electricity consumption shows a deviation within 2.7% in annual basis, compared to the actual utility bill data, this result is in the acceptable range of ±5% of Mean Bias Error (MBE%) under International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP). For the predicted results of the natural gas consumption there was a discrepancy of 26% of the actual consumption in the annual basis. The energy Use Intensity (EUI) was found for the actual energy consumption at 59 (kBtu/ft²/year) which was within the range of the median EUI of the U.S Energy State database (51-62) (kBtu/ft²). The sensitivity analysis for the three energy conservation measures, showed that 14% of the total annual electrical consumption could be saved when using the higher efficiency lighting system applied. Reducing the operation hours in the alternative operation schedule indicated a 1.9% saving in annual electrical energy consumption. For the occupancy factor, it was shown an increase in annual electrical consumption by reducing the occupant density to 400 (ft²/person). The PVsyst software was used to develop the simulation report for the improvement proposal for the existing rooftop grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) array. The simulation results were compared to the existing PV system power production. The results showed that the proposed solar PV array model could provide power to the building equal to approximately 60% of the total annual electricity consumption when compared to the existing PV system at 18%.