ENVIRONMENTAL/CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
Assignment : Development of Sustainable Home with Net Zero Energy
Assignment requirements
Write your assignment in a report format using academic language. Use your research (correctly in-text referenced) to provide evidence and support for your beliefs and arguments. Your report must have the following sections:
- Title
- Summary (or abstract)
- Introduction
- Different sections for the 6 requirements. You may use subheadings if required.
- Discussion and Conclusion
- Reference List
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
- The project gives you an opportunity to develop ‘Your Home (YH)' using your existing knowledge of traditional buildings and to redesign this house [Re-designed Home (RH)] to meet ‘net-zero-energy' as a sustainable building design and construction approach.
Note: YH can be the building where you now live or any existing or proposed residential building at any location. Alternatively, you can choose one of the sample house model provided.
- Compare your RH with your YH on the energy and emissions aspects;
- ‘Net-zero-energy' requires that the sum of
- Embodied energy of building construction
- Energy related to operation (daily energy consumptions) and maintenance (replacement),
- Energy related to wastes and disposals
MUST BE completely offset by your on-site renewable energy supply over the period of the service life of building (e.g. 40 years);
- The net zero design strategies may include minimising construction material consumptions by recycling
and reuse, more energy efficient operation, together with the use of renewable energy.
ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS
1. Review low/zero-carbon design technology under the aspects of,
1) selection of low carbon construction materials,
2) innovative construction process,
3) management of operative energy consumption and consumption behaviour,
4) choice of renewable energy systems,
5) recycle and reuse.
2. YH Details
Provide the details of YH under the following aspects,
- Detail your developed/provided house model (YH) in terms of its location, building type, floor plan and its surroundings
- Report the construction materials and elements used in YH
- Describe the construction process for YH
- Detail heating/cooling, hot water, and appliances of YH
Note: Estimation of an amount of construction materials and relevant carbon emissions is NOT required in this section, but should be done in section 4.
3. RH Details
Provide the details of ‘Redesigned Home (RH)' that you have proposed to meet ‘net-zero-energy' under the following aspects
- Your selection of construction materials for RH with minimum embodied carbon emissions
- Your selection of construction materials for RH, which require less maintenance/replacement (durable) over its service life
- Your approach to reuse and recycle construction materials for RH
- Your selection of construction process that has less carbon emissions for RH
- Your energy management design to reduce energy consumption for heating/cooling,
- Your energy management design to reduce energy consumption for hot water, and appliances
- Your selection of on-site renewable energy (design details should be used in section 5)
4. Estimate the annual and total energy and carbon emission over the service life of YH and RH (e.g. 40 years) (35 marks)
- Estimate embodied energy (EE) and emission of YH and RH
- Estimate embodied energy and embodied carbon (EC) emission related to the construction of YH and RH
- Estimate energy and carbon emission related to maintenance (e.g. replacement of building structures or elements over the service life of YH and RH)
- Estimate energy and carbon emission from wastes of YH and RH.
Note: ICE Table included in your ‘learning materials' in Blackboard could be used for the assessment of embodied carbon, but be aware of its limitations.
- Estimate operating energy and carbon emission in relation to the daily usage for hot water, and all
appliances of YH and RH.
Note: Daily usage could be estimated based on the hours of usage and the energy rating of each appliance.
- Estimate operating energy and carbon emission in relation to the daily usage for heating and cooling of YH and RH.
- Develop YH and RH heating and cooling models based on the seasonal requirement and periods of operation.
- Estimate energy consumption and corresponding carbon emission for heating and cooling
5. Use HOMER to design on-site renewable energy supply to achieve ‘net-zero-energy' over the service life of RH (e.g. 40 years)
- Develop and describe HOMER Model by using the design option described in section 3 for your renewable energy system of RH.
- Provide the average hourly energy consumption table based on the operational energy demand that you determined in Section 4.
- Provide the details of the inputs of climate and parameters of your renewable systems for HOMER (You may report the screenshots of Homer window).
- Provide the details of cost information including grid electricity cost, renewable system cost, buyback price of renewable energy, and discount rate (4%).
- Detail and explain HOMER outputs of your design.
- Evaluate the "net-zero-energy" criteria for the life cycle of the RH.