Building optimization combined with solar heating and cooling in Nepal
Abstract
To meet future heating and cooling needs in buildings, energy efficiency is required at both the technical level of a system and at the building energy efficiency level, followed by the integration of renewable energy. The BEEN project (Building Energy Efficiency in Nepal) aims to establish energy-efficient construction in Nepal, taking into account the country's climatic and topological characteristics. As Nepal's building stock expands rapidly due to economic and population growth, the country has one of the highest urbanization rates in the world. Therefore, the project is active in various areas, such as developing passive design guidelines, manuals and training programs for experts and policy makers, as well as providing technical support to several building case studies. The presented study links improving the energy efficiency of buildings with their coverage by solar heating and cooling systems. Two buildings are used as case studies, one is an office building in a warm climate in Rupandehi district and the other is a hotel building in a cold climate at high altitude in Mustang district. It turns out that a combination of different measures can reduce the total cooling demand by 75% and the sensible heating demand by 98% and increase interior comfort.
Keywords
Building optimization, Solar heating, Solar cooling, Energy efficiency, Passive house