Indoor environment and energy consumption analysis for a university academic building

Abstract

Abstract An energy audit was conducted on a university building located within the main campus of Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Melaka, Malaysia. Some of the physical parameters particularly energy consumption, air velocity, airflow, operating temperature, relative humidity and lighting intensity were compared to the Malaysian Standards 1525:2014. This work aims at understanding the comfort level of the occupants and investigates the impact of lighting changes to the overall energy consumption. Based on the data collected, the team could estimate the current energy consumption for all floors. As expected, the air conditioning recorded the highest rate consumption at 72% of electricity usage in the building, followed by the consumption of lighting at 18% and other equipment only 10%. The average operating temperature was recorded at 22.758°C, which is less than that of the recommended range of 24°C - 26°C The average humidity was about 68.31% while the average lighting intensity was recorded at 461.422 lux. Additionally, the Building Energy Index (BEI) for the 2016-2017 period is 128.53 kWh/m²/year and 137.55 kWh/m²/year for 2017/2018. BEI values in 2017-2018 were a little higher than that specified in MS 1525:2014 Standards, which is 135 kWh/m²/year.