Introduction

Buildings account for more than one third of the worlds primary energy demand [1],
and a substantial share of this energy is used to maintain room air temperatures at
around 20C. Because of the low temperature level, the actual demand for exergy in
space heating and cooling applications is low. In most cases, however, this demand is
met by high grade energy sources, such as fossil fuels or electricity. The building
sector therefore has a high potential for improving the quality match between energy
supply and demand.

The exergy concept has so far been applied to the built environment by relatively few
researchers. For example, the concept has been used for analyses of building services
in buildings (e.g. space heating system [2,3], thermal energy storage [4], solar assisted
domestic hot water tank integrated ground-source heat pump systems [5], solar water
heating systems [6] and a solar box-cooker [7]). Some researchers (e.g. [8, 9]) have
also been applied the concept for analyses of energy and exergy ows in buildings.
There have been only a few research studies (e.g.[10,11]) on the relevance of the
exergy concept for design of buildings and building services. As a consequence, the
exergy concept is only used by a small group of people in the building profession at
this moment. Exergy methods might seem cumbersome (or complex) and the results
might seem difcult to interpret and to understand. In this work, a method of exergy
analysis of buildings and HVAC systems is extended, based on a model where energy
ows develop from the energy demand of the building towards the energy supply
side.

[1] ECBCS, Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Service, International

Energy Agency, 2007 http://www.ecbcs.org.
[2] M. Shukuya, Energy, entropy, exergy and space heating systems, in: Proceedings
of the Third International Conference on Healthy Buildings, Singapore, (1994), pp.
369374.
[3] H. Asada, E.C. Boelman, Exergy analysis of a low temperature radiant heating

system, Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 25 (3) (2004)

197209.
[4] I. Dincer, On thermal energy storage systems and applications in buildings, Energy
and Buildings 34 (4) (2002) 377388.
[5] A. Hepbasli, Exergetic modeling and assessment of solar assisted domestic hot
water tank integrated ground-source heat pump systems for residences, Energy
and Buildings 39 (12) (2007) 12111217.
[6] H. Gunerhan, A. Hepbasli, Exergetic modeling and performance evaluation of
solar
water heating systems for building applications, Energy and Buildings 39 (5)
(2007) 509516.
[7] H.H. O ztu rk, Energy and exergy efciencies of a solar box-cooker,
International
Journal of Exergy 1 (2) (2004) 202214.
[8] D. Schmidt, Design of low exergy buildingsmethod and a pre-design tool,
International Journal of Low Energy and Sustainable Buildings 3 (1) (2004) 147.
[9] L. Itard, Implementation of exergycalculations in an existing software tool for
energy-ow calculations in the early stage, in: Proc. 9th Conf. on Int. Building
Performance Simulation Association Conference, Montreal, Canada, 2005.
[10] P. Sakulpipatsin, Exergy efcient building design, Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of
Architecture, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, 2008.
[11] G. Wall, Exergy needs to maintain real systems near ambient conditions, in: S.S.
Stecco, M.J. Moran (Eds.), A Future for Energy, Pergamon, Florence, Italy, 1990.

Every energy system analysis, including analyses of air ventilation, heating, cooling,
lighting and surface insulation in built environments, is based on energy balances
stemming from the rst law of thermodynamics; however the energy balance method
did not account for energy quality [7,8]. Therefore, exergy analysis was additionally
suggested because it includes both the rst and the second laws of thermodynamics,
thus allowing the assessment of both energy quantity and quality.

Exergy is dened as the maximum theoretical work obtainable from the interaction of
a system with its surrounding environment until equilibrium is reached [7].
Consequently, exergy is the potential of a given energy ow to be transformed into
high quality energy [8]. .

The maximal amount of work that can be extracted is then directly linked to the
temperature gradient between the system and its cold storage. Based on this principle,
one of Bejans researches described how exergy could be used as a tool to evaluate the
value inherent in heat uxes occurring across different temperature gradients [9].
Hence, for small temperature differences, the exergetic value of the heat ux can be
minimized with respect to the energetic value.

The major benet of the low exergy design concept is decreasing the exergy demand
in the built environment. Increasing exergy efciency entails a reduction in potential
damaging impacts on the surrounding environment [11]. Based on the exergy
principle, the CO2 emissions from using fossil fuels in built environments are
substantially reduced as a result of the use of more efcient energy conversion
processes [10]. Regarding studies conducted on LowEx systems, Shukuya [11]
described the exergetic approach for a better understanding of the built environment
[12]. One of Schmidts researches reported combining energy and exergy analyses
were required in the calculations to achieve thermal loss [13]. Thus, analyzing energy
and exergy is an important approach to determine not only the quantity of energy to

be saved, but also to improve the quality of the energy consumed by designing more
efcient systems.

Description of the reference building, the building services and the building
simulation

Background of Diamond Building

The Suruhanjaya Tenaga Diamond Building was designed and built with the concept
of a sustainable building with consideration to the following aspects:
1.

reduction in fossil fuels

2.

water conservation

3.

sustainable building materials

4.

waste minimization and avoidance

5.

indoor environmental quality

6.

traffic and transport management

7.

construction and demolition management plan

This building is expected to have an energy index of 85 kWh/m 2/year, in contrast with
the standard index of 135 kWh/m2/year (MS1525).
The diamond shape is found to be the most aerodynamic and effective form to prevent
air infiltration through the advantage of tilted facade.

Figure: Energy efficient building (Based on Building Energy Index (BEI) , as Jun 2010)

Design Strategy

The Diamond Buildings design strategy is encapsulated through four main aspects,
namely Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Indoor Environmental
and Outdoor Environmental Quality.
The building energy index (BEI) is a measurement on the total annual energy used in
a building in kilowatt hours divided by the floor area in square meters. The BEI of a
typical office building in Malaysia has an average energy index of 210kWh/m2 per
year. The Diamond Building is designed with a BEI of 85kWh/m2 per year at 2,800
hours usage - a 65% reduction in energy consumption. At present, the buildings
average BEI is at 65kWh/m2 per year.

Figure: Targeted Building Energy Index - 85 kWh/m2/year.

Floor Slab Radiant Cooling

Another unique point about the ST Diamond Building is the floor slab cooling system.
The radiant cooling from the floor slab is achieved by cooling the reinforced concrete
floor slabs with chilled water by 19C using polyethylene-reinforced thermal pipes
embedded in the concrete slab. The concrete slabs act like a thermal storage, which
will be charged every night from 10 p.m. to 6am and be cooled to around 22C.
During the day-time, the system is shut off, and floor slab passively absorbs heat
gains from people, computers, solar gains etc. During the day, the floor slab increases
its temperature by about 1C only to be cooled down again the following night.
By doing so, this reduces cooling transport energy by 64% because it is more efficient
to transport cooling with water than with air. Also, with much of the cooling being
shifted to the slabs, so the AHU system can be down-sized about 30%. By shifting
30-40% of the cooling to night time, the ST Diamond can save cost from the lower
off-peak energy rates and from reduced maximum demand charge. In fact, the

building management system was used to reduce the peak demand by another 50% by
sequencing the start-up of the AHUs.

Figure: floor slab delivered 40% of cooling (increase thermal comfort & reduce peak
load)

Building exergy calculation method

The building exergy calculation method is dened for each variable presented in the
building energy model. Equations for thermal exergy calculations in more detail are
mentioned in [10]. Thermal exergy values considered in the study assume that there is
no chemical reaction occurring and no pressure changed in the exergy carrier.
Thermal exergy values are derived from physical exergy [21] and calculated by using
Eq. (5a) (when the temperature of the thermal energy source T is constant) or Eq. (5b)
(when T is not constant, changing from T1 to T 2). This method is applicable for
thermal exergy calculations in a steady state process, assuming that contributions such
as from kinetic energy and potential energy can be neglected or do not play a role at
all in exergy values [21].
E th Qrev (1

To
)
T

T
Eth c p (T2 T1 ) To ln 2
T1

According to the energy balance for a zone (Eq. (1)), thermal exergy values of the
thermal energy are calculated as given in Eqs. (6) (13).
For DQair:
E th DQair (1

To
)
T

For Qheating and Qcooling :

E th , heating Qheating (1

To
)
T

Eth ,cooling | Qcooling (1

To
)|
T

In Eqs. (6) (8), To and Ti are assumed constant during the time interval considered.
For Qinf and Qvent:

T
T
Einf Qinf 1 o ln i
T To To


Tvent ,out
To
E vent Qvent 1
ln

Tvent ,out Tvent ,in Tvent ,in

For Qtran , because the boundary of the energy balance for a zone in Eq. (1) does not
include the walls (but only the inside wall surface nodes) E tran is calculated as the
summation of the thermal exergy value of Qtran,i at Tsurface,i on all the walls:
E th ,tran

Qtran ,i (1 To )
E

th ,tran ,i

Tsurface ,i
i 1
i 1
n

For Qgain , thermal exergy values of Qgain depend on temperatures of the thermal energy
sources Tsource,i that are assumed constant:
E th , gain

To
Q gain ,i (1
E

th , gain ,i

Tsource ,i
i 1
i 1
n

For Qsol , thermal exergy value of Q sol is calculated in the same way as calculation of
Eth,gain [22]:

T
Eth , sol Q sol 1 o
Tsun

The exergy losses of the interactions of solar radiation with the atmosphere (e.g.
absorption by atmosphere and clouds; scattering of solar radiation by small particles
in the atmosphere) are considered to be negligible in Eq. (13). Alternatively, various
approaches to the exergy calculation of solar radiation have been developed. These
approaches are reported by Petela [23] and Candau [24]. From these literatures,
researchers focus mainly on the three radiation exergy relations, as derived by Petela
[25], Spanner [26] and Jeter [22]. Petela [25] derived the formulae for the exergy of
thermal radiation. Spanner [26] proposed his approximate formula for the direct solar
radiation of exergy. Jeter [22] based on the analysis of heat engine, came to the result
that the exergy of heat radiation is determined by the Carnot efciency.
According to other researchers, no new concepts on the heat radiation exergy formula
have been brought to date except developing the existing results with some specics
for solar radiation [23]. Mostly, the effects of dilution of radiation and geometry

conguration of the earthsun system were considered [23]. These three approaches
give approximately the same result of the exergy value of solar radiation, calculated
where To = 293.15 K and T sun = 6000 K. The difference between the results from the
three approaches is in maximum 2% of that calculated by using the Jeter approach.
So, for the sake of simplicity, the Jeter approach is used in this work (Eq. (13)).

According to the energy balance for surfaces in Eq. (4), thermal exergy value in the
wall i (Eth,surface,i), thermal exergy value of thermal energy ow from the inside surface
i to the zone air (Eth,com,i,i ) and thermal exergy value of thermal energy ow from the
outside surface i to environment (Eth,com,o,i), are calculated by using Eqs. (14) (16).
The thermal exergy values Eth,com,i,i and Eth,com,o,i are calculated for the convective and
radiant parts (Qconv and Qrad ) separately. Eq. (5a) and the equation of Petela [23] are
used for the calculations in the convective and radiant parts, respectively.

Tsurface ,i ,i
To
E th , surface ,i DQsurface ,i 1
ln

Tsurface ,i ,i Tsurface ,o ,i Tsurface ,o ,i

To

Eth ,com,i ,i Qconv ,i ,i 1

Tsurface ,i ,i Tstar

Tsurface,i ,i
ln
Tstar

To
To
4
1
Qrad ,i ,i 1

3 Tsurface ,i ,i
3 Tsurface ,i ,i

where Tstar is the star temperature. The star temperature Tstar is an articial
temperature. It is dened by Seem [27] to calculate an energy value of the long-wave
radiation exchange between the surfaces within the zone and the convective thermal
energy ows from the inside surfaces to the zone air. This method considers the
parallel energy ow from a wall surface by convection to the air node and by radiation
to other wall and window elements.

Tsurface , o ,i
To
E th ,com ,o ,i Qconv ,o ,i 1
ln

Tsurface ,o ,i To
To

To
To
4
1
Qrad , o ,i 1

T
3
T
3
surface , o , i

surface ,o ,i

DQ surface,i is the accumulated thermal energy in the wall i, T surface,i,i and T surface,o,i are
the inside and the outside surface temperatures, respectively. Q com,i,i is the (convective
and radiant) thermal energy ow from the inside surface to the zone air and Q com,o,i is

the (convective and radiant) thermal energy ow to the outside surface from
environment. In addition, by using TRNSYS, a window is thermally considered as an
external wall with no thermal mass, partially transparent to solar, but opaque to longwave internal gains [20]. The exergy and energy of electricity are identical because
electric energy can in theory be totally converted into mechanical work [28].

2.4. Exergy calculation method for HVAC systems

The thermal exergy values that are required by HVAC systems, where they are
transferred via the emission and control system, distribution system and energy
conversion system (see Fig. 1), can be calculated by using Eq. (5). Exergy loss
occurring in the HVAC systems is dened as the difference between the exergy input
and the exergy output of each system (Ein,I - Eout,i ). In the study, the HVAC systems are
also assessed in terms of the system energy efciency (Q,i) and the system exergy
efciency (E,i). For each system, the system energy efciency is dened as the ratio
between the energy output and the energy input of the system (Q out,i /Qin,i ), and the
system exergy efciency is dened as the ratio between the exergy output and the
exergy input of the system (Eout,i /E in,i). More details of the calculations of exergy (E),
exergy losses (Eloss), the system energy efciency (Q) and the system exergy
efciency (E) of the subsystems are described in [10].

The Exergy method applied to HVAC systems

Schmidt [8] developed a methodology for exergy analysis of buildings based on an
approach from demand to supply side. As demand, the author dened the useful
energy demand required to satisfy the various energy building end uses (e.g. space
heating tasks or hot water requirements), and as supply, the energy and exergy
demand are evaluated at primary energy sub-system. Further studies [11,12,16,17]
also have used this method for energy and exergy steady-state calculations. In this
study, the fundamentals of this method were included into a model developed in
TRNSYS, introducing some features, such as renewable and non-renewable energy

considerations and dynamic assessment of the energy and exergy loads. The method is
illustrated in Fig. 1 and the related mathematical model is described in this section.
According to Fig. 1, Demand corresponds to the thermal energy required for the
space heating requirements of the building, assuming an indoor air temperature of
20C. Supplyz refers to the primary (fossil) energy demand, after efciencies and
energy losses of all sub-systems are taken into account. Each heating option is
associated to a so-called Energy Supply Network (ESN), which is dened as a
combination of four sub-systems: power plant (i), heat generator (ii), emission system
(iii) and air room (iv). The heat generator could be powered directly by fuel or
electricity, which is generated at the power plant (i). Two different energy resources
are considered as the inputs: renewable energy resources (RER-local + RER-nation)
and non-renewable energy resources (NRER), according to the schematic of Fig. 1. In
the current study, only primary energy ows derived from NRER were included into
the energy and exergy assessements.
The integration of RER into sub-systems (i) or (ii) is only treated as reduction of
demand associated to NRER. In Fig. 1, the room (iv) is the ultimate sub-system of the
ESN, corresponding to the sub-system with the minimum exergy requirement to
perform the space heating task. Conceptually, it corresponds to the mechanical work
required to power a reversible heat pump device, operating between indoor and
outdoor conditions. The evaluation of the exergy demand at room (iv), Ex iv is given
by Eq. (1).

where, QH,iv is the space heating load at room (iv), T0 is the reference (dead state)
temperature and Tiv is the required room air temperature (in this study, it is 20C).
The heating load at room may be obtained by a static approach, using established
conventional methods or, using dynamic simulation tools. In this study, TRNSYS 16
[19] was used to assess the hourly heating load of the building, using the weather data
provided by softwares database, corresponding to different outdoor environments.
The emission system (iii) corresponds to a conventional water-to-air heat exchange,

usually called as radiator or fan coil in HVAC terminology. At this sub-system, no

energy losses were considered, so from the energy conservation principle applied to
the systems (iii) and (iv), QH,iii = QH,iv. Although, the exergy rate at the emission
(iii) is given by Eq. (2).

where, QH,iii is the heating load at emission (iii), Tin and Tret are the inlet and return
water temperature, respectively, T0 is the reference temperature. Since, there is not
information related the electric auxiliaries loads were neglected by the current
analysis. The heating system at (ii) may be powered directly by fuels (including both
fossil and renewable sources) or electricity. The energy supplied rate at (ii), Es,ii, is
given by Eq. (3), where QH,iii is the thermal load at emission (iii), fth,RER is the
thermal fraction derived from RER, and ii is the thermal efciency of the heat
generator (or COP, for heat pump technologies). From Fig. 1, the thermal load
produced by the heat generator (ii) is given by

The energy supplied at (ii) could be assumed as primary energy, when the system is
powered directly by primary-fossil sources, ( Es,ii = Ep,ii) or simply as an electric
load, ( Es,ii = Wel,ii ) for electric based heating systems. The term (1 fth,RER)
outlines that inputs derived from RER are not accounted as input. For fuel based
heating systems, the related primary exergy rate at (ii), Exii is given by the product
of Ep,i and the quality factor of the fuel, Fq,ii as given by Eq. (4). For electric based
heating generators,
.
For electric based heating systems, regarding an equivalent comparison based on
same type of supplied fuel, the primary energy associated to electricity production
should to be accounted. Therefore, the related performance of the electric power plant

should be incorporated into the analysis. The energy and exergy load at the power
plant for electric-based heating systems are given by Eqs. (5) and (6), respectively.

where, Wel,ii is the electricity demand at heat generator (ii) given by the sum of
electricity produced at the powered plant (i) and from RER-nation, i is the thermal
efciency of the power plant and Fq,I is the quality factor of the supply source. The
parameter fel,RER is the fraction of electricity produced from RER.

No.
1-4
5
6
7

Function
Wall
Ceiling
floor
Window (glazing)

Result and Discussion

Area
100
100
100
42.5-glazing, 7.5 frame

Thickness
0.17

Figure: Graph indicating the operation intervals of floor slab cooling and air handling
unit, Charles Loo IEN consultants.

Figure: Sectional perspective showing the embedded thermal pipes in the concrete
slab for radiant cooling Photo Credit Greening Asia Emerging Principles for
Sustainable Architecture.

Figure: Recorded data showing the tabulation of ceiling surface temperature and room
temperature, CharlesLoo, IEN Consultants.

Internal Air Quality and Thermal Comfort

A green building puts equal amount of attention on occupants well being too. By
using low VOC paints and carpets, which are certified by Green Label certification,
the total volatile organic compounds parts per billion is sufficiently low to satisfy the
indoor air quality criterion. A 12 month post occupancy comfort survey was carried
out to collect occupants responses regarding thermal comfort, glare comfort and odor
problems. The result is over 80% of the occupants expressed satisfaction. The thermal
comfort is addressed by the usage of CO2 sensors that regulates the demand control
variable air volume (VAV) ventilation system. IAQ measurements throughout the
different levels of the building indicates the CO 2 parts per million (ppm) is less than
500 ppm, hence, giving the occupants plenty of fresh air, as the maximum limit is
1000ppm. The basement car park is natural ventilated through the sunken garden and
equipped with carbon monoxide and temperature sensors in the event if mechanical

ventilation is needed. However, observations have shown that it is virtually not used,
as the natural ventilation is normally sufficient.

Figure: ST Diamond Building energy break-down for year 2011