Efficacy of Energy Conservation Measures and Building Energy Intensity of a Multi-Building Complex in Malaysia

Abstract

As Malaysia continues to develop at a fast pace, the number of buildings in this country rapidly increases. Commercial buildings which include office buildings are one of the three major energy consuming sectors, which includes industrial and transportation sectors. Most Malaysian government office buildings tend to consume energy inefficiently due to lack of energy optimization. This study aims to analyse the energy performance as well as the factors that influence energy consumption in government office buildings. The chosen buildings for this case study are six government office buildings located in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. In this study, literature review has been conducted on the common factors affecting energy consumption in office buildings. The energy consumption data of the buildings were collected and analysed by comparison among the buildings and the SketchUp software. The Building Energy Intensity (BEI) of each building was also calculated using the formula in MS 1525:2019. Literature review and results from the case study show that air-conditioning system is the major energy consumer in office buildings, followed by lighting system while other office equipment consumed the least energy. The findings also highlight that energy consumption in office buildings is affected by non-design factors such as building occupants’ behaviour, number of building occupants, outdoor temperature as well as passive design factors such as building orientation and window-to-wall ratio. Recommendations were derived based on the findings from literature review and the case study for best practices to optimize energy consumption in government office buildings in Malaysia.