Design Parameters Affecting Energy Consumption of University Educational Buildings in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Area of China

Abstract

The number of colleges and universities in China has been increasing year by year. University buildings have tremendous energy-saving potential due to their high personnel density and energy consumption demand. However, there is a lack of research and regulations focusing on such buildings and taking functional requirements, operating patterns, and climate conditions into account. In the HSCW zone of China, the overlap of energy consumption peak and universities’ winter and summer vacations will lead to improper or excessive implementation of energy-saving measures in practice. This research study on a university teaching building in Shanghai simulated the energy consumption with EnergyPlus (Version 22.1.0) to compare the variation trend of the building’s energy consumption (heating, cooling and annual energy consumption) under different design parameter settings. The influence of orientation and window–wall ratio on the energy consumption intensity of classrooms of various sizes was analyzed, and design strategies were proposed. The research indicates that the annual energy consumption of educational buildings in hot summer and cold winter areas can be reduced by approximately 44.4% during vacations. However, cooling energy consumption remains 18.0–19.4% greater than heating energy consumption. The energy intensity of classrooms decreases as the space size increases. Medium-sized classrooms, with an energy intensity ranging from 44.2–47.6 kWh/m2, require priority in energy-efficient design owing to their considerable quantity and high utilization. The findings offer design suggestions for the optimal orientation and window-to-wall ratios of classrooms of different scales, which can be used as a reference for the design of university teaching buildings and the energy-saving retrofit of existing campus buildings.