Building That Consumes Zero Energy

FOLLOWING the success of the low-energy office, which houses the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry headquarters in Putrajaya, the Malaysian Energy Centre (PTM) has taken the initiative to develop the region’s first zero-energy office (ZEO) building of PTM.

The building in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor marks another milestone towards the adoption of sustainable-building concept in the country. The ZEO was designed to be energy-efficient, thus consuming y little fossil fuels with energy index of 40kWh/m(2)year compared with a conventional office building of 250-300 kWh/ m(2)year.

Being a pilot project for sustainable office buildings of the future, where fossil fuels will have to be used judiciously for provision of cooling and lighting features, the building demonstrates that the ZEO concept can be realised using available technologies, while taking full advantage of daylight.

Electricity generated by building-integrated-photovoltaic (BIPV) panels is integrated into the design, feeding electricity into the network and shaving the peak power demand of the grid during daytime.

This demonstrates how a combination of advanced energy-saving techniques and integration of renewable energy sources into a building’s design can lead to a building with nett zero energy consumption. It also optimises the usage of the electric grid during off-peak hours.

This building consumes only 40 kWh/m(2)year – achieved using a range of advanced energy efficiency measures. These measures include:

* Advanced building architecture: the windows face only north and south, and the double pane spectrally selective glazing filters allow only “cool” visible light in. The interior of the building receives enough daylight to make the building 100 per cent lit during daytime, with very little radiation heat.

* Daylight is the main light source of energy for the building, and light is supplemented by roof lights and light shafts that transmit cool daylight;

* Lights are switched on in the evenings and during dark periods in day time. Lights are on only for short periods.

* The photovoltaic (PV) system of the building provides all the electricity the building needs on a daily or monthly basis. During the day, the PV system produces excess electricity that is exported to the TNB grid.

* Cooling produced during nighttime is stored in two different systems. Some is stored in a storage tank, where the melting point of the storage medium is 10 degrees Celsius. The rest of the cooling load is stored under concrete floor slabs.

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