Morshed Alam

Achieving energy efficiency in government buildings through mandatory policy and program enforcement

Government buildings are responsible for a significant proportion of energy consumption worldwide, for example, in Australia, up to 41.5 PJ energy was consumed by government buildings in 2011–2012. While the newly constructed buildings may be energy efficient, the existing buildings, which account for more than 85% of the total building stock, were built prior to the time when energy rating systems was put in practice and are consequently energy inefficient to a large degree. Reducing the energy consumption in existing government buildings is essential, as it will not only reduce the costs and environmental impacts, but also show governments’ strong commitment towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. Furthermore, successful building energy retrofit projects are the showcases to the general public, encouraging other sectors (e.g. commercial) to conduct building retrofits for energy savings. Recognising these benefits, several state governments in Australia have introduced building energy efficiency policies and programs. This paper reviewed the energy efficiency policies/programs in five States in Australia: Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, and Queensland in terms of respective policies and targets, implementation methods and current progress. The lessons learned from these programs were also discussed. This research revealed that the key factors for a successful government building energy retrofitting program are 1) having a properly enforced energy efficiency mandate with clear energy saving targets, 2) establishing an expert facilitation team and 3) implementing suitable financing and procurement methods.

Mitigation of heat stress risks through building energy efficiency upgrade: a case study of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract People spend most of their time indoor during a heatwave period, as such assessment of indoor heat stress is an important issue for public health care. In this study, the impact of building energy efficiency in mitigating the risks of experiencing heat stress by the occupants different energy-rated dwellings was investigated under the 2009 Melbourne heatwave scenario. First of all, distributions of different energy-rated houses and the percentage of people living in those houses were calculated. Indoor heat stress conditions of the different energy-rated houses were calculated using building simulation software EnergyPlus and two well-established heat stress indices: wet bulb globe temperature and discomfort index. The results showed that residents of 0.9 energy star-rated houses are approximately 50% more vulnerable to experiencing heat stress during a heatwave compared to the residents of 5.4 energy star-rated houses. It was revealed that upgrading energy efficiency of existing dwellings could be one of the most effective heatwave mitigation measures. If the entire lower energy-rated houses can be upgraded to 5.4-star, the percentage of people that are at risk of being exposed to extreme heat stress conditions for 6 h could reduce from 50% to only 4%.

Behavior Change of Building Users and Energy Consumption

This article aims to identify and gain an understanding of the internal and external factors that affect building occupants’ energy consumption behavior, which includes biological, psychological, socioeconomic, sociodemographic, contextual, government regulations, time, physical environment, and building characteristics. Based on these factors a series of intervention programs and strategies are proposed aiming to change occupants’ behavior towards energy saving based on the well-known theory of planned behavior. The intervention strategies include feedback system, education, government incentive and policy, and social/peer influence strategies. In addition, the standard economic theory was introduced to provide a theoretical base for modeling the negative effect of energy price on energy consumption behavior. It should be pointed out that in addition to the implication of building energy saving practice, the frameworks, strategies, and factors presented in this article also provide pointers for future research.