Design and energy performance analysis of a hotel building in a hot and dry climate: a case study

In times of unprecedented climate change and energy scarcity, the design and delivery of energy-efficient and sustainable buildings are of utmost importance. This study aimed to design a hotel building for hot and dry climate conditions and perform its energy performance analysis using energy simulation tools. The model of the hotel building was constructed by a graphical tool OpenStudio and EnergyPlus following the ASHRAE Standard 90.1. To reduce the energy demand of the hotel, parametric analysis was conducted and building envelope parameters such as the thickness of insulation layer in the exterior wall and the roof, thermal conductivity of insulation layer, rate of infiltration, U-factor of windows, and thermal resistance of air gap in the interior walls (R-value), window-to-wall ratio, and orientation of the building were tested and the impact on the energy use of the building was analyzed. It was found that most of the design assumptions based on the ASHRAE standard were already optimal for the considered locality, however, were still optimized further to reach the highest efficiency level. Apart from this, three sustainable technologies—thermochromic windows, phase change materials, and solar panels—were incorporated into the building and their energy consumption reduction potential was estimated by energy simulations. Cumulatively, these sustainable technologies were able to reduce the total energy use from 2417 GJ to 1593 GJ (i.e., by 824 GJ or 34%). Calculation of payback period and return on investments showed that thermochromic windows and solar panels have relatively short payback periods and high return on investments, whereas PCM was found to be economically nonviable. The findings of this study are deemed to be useful for designing a sustainable and energy-efficient hotel building in a sub-tropical climate. However, the overall design and energy performance analysis algorithm could be used for various buildings with varying climate conditions