TY - JOUR
T1 - The existing residential building stock in UAE
T2 - 6th Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering, ACE 2018
AU - Tabet Aoul, Kheira A.
AU - Hagi, Rahma
AU - Abdelghani, Rahma
AU - Akhozheya, Boshra
AU - Karaouzene, Rajaa
AU - Syam, Monaya
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the United Arab Emirates University through the SURE Plus Undergraduate research funded project (105).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © GSTF 2018.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - -The building industry accounts for the largest percentage of the total energy use and carbon emissions globally. The per capita electricity consumption in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the highest in the world, of which the built environment accounts for 70% of energy consumption, as compared to the global average of 40%, mainly due to the need for cooling. The residential sector as the dominant infrastructure component in a city carries a heavy energy usage for cooling to mitigate the local extreme hot climate. A condition further exacerbated by the lack of an energy building code until 2010. Hence, this paper explores the opportunities for building energy efficiency retrofitting in an existing representative residential unit in Al Ain city, UAE. First, thermal leakage through the building envelope was audited through infrared thermography to identify the impact of time, workmanship and construction quality on the building thermal efficiency. Then, building envelope upgrades were tested through energy simulation. The objective is to identify energy upgrade opportunities and prioritize retrofitting solutions. Residential units in two housing complexes built over a decade apart were selected for testing in Al Ain city, UAE. Thermal testing at critical points including corner wall junctions, roof junction, windows frames and external glazed sliding doors was carried out. The auditing highlighted some common thermal behavior and variances, including a critical need for building envelope insulation as expected. Newer units, however, had significant thermal anomalies around building’s junctions, indicating that building’s age may not be the main referent for a retrofitting priority. Workmanship and construction quality may be a more critical factor. The older unit that showed less thermal leakage compared to the newer unit has been selected for energy simulation to test the building envelope upgrades. The results indicate potential annual electricity savings up to 48.6% through building envelope insulation leading to a 50% reduction of CO2 emissions.
AB - -The building industry accounts for the largest percentage of the total energy use and carbon emissions globally. The per capita electricity consumption in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the highest in the world, of which the built environment accounts for 70% of energy consumption, as compared to the global average of 40%, mainly due to the need for cooling. The residential sector as the dominant infrastructure component in a city carries a heavy energy usage for cooling to mitigate the local extreme hot climate. A condition further exacerbated by the lack of an energy building code until 2010. Hence, this paper explores the opportunities for building energy efficiency retrofitting in an existing representative residential unit in Al Ain city, UAE. First, thermal leakage through the building envelope was audited through infrared thermography to identify the impact of time, workmanship and construction quality on the building thermal efficiency. Then, building envelope upgrades were tested through energy simulation. The objective is to identify energy upgrade opportunities and prioritize retrofitting solutions. Residential units in two housing complexes built over a decade apart were selected for testing in Al Ain city, UAE. Thermal testing at critical points including corner wall junctions, roof junction, windows frames and external glazed sliding doors was carried out. The auditing highlighted some common thermal behavior and variances, including a critical need for building envelope insulation as expected. Newer units, however, had significant thermal anomalies around building’s junctions, indicating that building’s age may not be the main referent for a retrofitting priority. Workmanship and construction quality may be a more critical factor. The older unit that showed less thermal leakage compared to the newer unit has been selected for energy simulation to test the building envelope upgrades. The results indicate potential annual electricity savings up to 48.6% through building envelope insulation leading to a 50% reduction of CO2 emissions.
KW - Building envelope
KW - Existng residential buildings
KW - Retrofitting
KW - Thermal imaging
KW - Thermal leakage
KW - UAE
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U2 - 10.5176/2301-394X_ACE18.202
DO - 10.5176/2301-394X_ACE18.202
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85051713145
SN - 2301-394X
VL - 0
JO - Proceedings of the Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering
JF - Proceedings of the Annual International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering
Y2 - 14 May 2018 through 15 May 2018
ER -