Case Study of Industrial-Building Energy Performance in a Cold-Climate Region in a Developing Country
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 30, Issue 2
Abstract
Most industrial buildings in developing countries such as China have excessively high energy consumption, and the portion used by HVAC systems is significant. This investigation used a winery building in a cold region in northern China as a case study to analyze industrial-building energy performance. A lack of communication, cultural differences in design requirements, and poor construction quality were the primary factors that led to excessive air leakage, insufficient building insulation, and poor indoor air distribution. This investigation developed a set of methods to evaluate building-energy use, air leakage, condensation, thermal insulation, and indoor air distribution. A number of remedial measures were proposed, and some of them have been proven to be effective. In developing countries such as China, the lessons learned in this project will be useful for designing and constructing energy-efficient industrial buildings with desirable indoor environments.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by Mr. Wei Huang of the China Metallurgy Architecture Design Institute, Ms. Yueli Liu of the Chinese Academy of Building Science, and Prof. Junjie Liu of Tianjin University. Several graduate and undergraduate students from Tianjin University helped with the experimental measurements in the winery building. Their contributions are appreciated. The authors are also thankful to the owner and general contractor of the winery building, who provided convenient access and invaluable assistance for this study.
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© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 7, 2014
Accepted: Dec 2, 2014
Published online: Jan 5, 2015
Discussion open until: Jun 5, 2015
Published in print: Apr 1, 2016
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