Energy and economic life-cycle analysis of an office building

This thesis investigates the life-cycle economic and energy implications of a commercial office building, located in Vancouver, British Columbia. The work is based on the premise that the commercial building stock is designed and built to sub-optimal levels of performance. In the present context, the criteria for analyzing optimality are defined in terms of energy and monetary accounting. The building is designed in compliance with the energy efficiency code for Vancouver. The energy performance of the building is improved to achieve an energy efficient office building through the adoption of a series of design strategies. Conclusions resulting from the work are: • The operating performance of the case study building may be improved 77% through the adoption of simple, proven technologies. As a result, the life-cycle energy may be reduced 66 to 68% for building lives of 40 and 80 years, respectively. • The life-cycle embodied energy is 0.21 GJ/m2.yr and 0.16 GJ/m2.yr. for building lives of 40 and 80 years, respectively. These figures are valid for all the building configurations studied. • For a building life of 40 years, the life-cycle energy is reduced from 1.6 to 0.54 GJ/m2.yr by the cumulative adoption of energy conservation strategies. This corresponding to a 66% reduction in energy consumed. For a building life of 80 years, the life-cycle energy is reduced from 1.55 to 0.49 GJ/m2.yr by the cumulative adoption of energy conservation strategies. This corresponding to a 68% reduction. Reducing the operating energy of the case study building results in a savings with a net present value of $0,246 million and $0,253 million for building lives of 40 and 80 years, respectively. If only those strategies which are cost effective are implemented, a 60% reduction in operating energy may be achieved. The corresponding decrease in life-cycle energy is 50% and 48% for building lives of 40 and 80 years, respectively. Methodological pluralism is a central characteristic of the energy debate. Competing models and their solutions provide a number of policy alternatives based on pricing, utility sponsored DSM, and regulatory options. Al l strategies provide opportunities to reduce energy consumption, and should continue to form components of future policy initiatives.Science, Faculty ofEarth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department ofGraduat