Energy Savings by Improved Envelope Design: A Case Study of Office Buildings in Lucknow India

This study aims to investigate the energy-saving potential of using energy conservation building codes (ECBC) for two commercial office buildings in Lucknow. DesignBuilder software was used to create calibrated simulation models of the selected buildings with existing specifications for estimating savings using ECBC recommended design strategies for building envelope. A previous study examining six office buildings in Lucknow showed average energy consumption of almost 135 and 316 Kwh/m²/year in government and private office buildings. With the application of ECBC compliant envelope, energy saving was 13 and 58 kWh/m²/year, and percentage saving varied by 10% and 20% in these government and private office buildings. Based on these assessments and patterns of energy utilization in commercial buildings, potential energy savings in Lucknow for the next five years have been estimated to be 10,362 MWh/year, which is significant and structures a pertinent base for this study.