Energy Efficient Buildings Vs Zero Energy Buildings

As we know that in the current time, energy crisis is about to strike the door of almost every nation within a decade or two. Therefore, it becomes quite significant to take care of one of the most energy consuming industry which is construction industry. As, we know that in the domain of AEC industry, the embodied energy involved is comparatively much higher than most of the other industries in the current scenario. Building industry itself, counts for almost 40 % of the total global energy uses.

But one of the major drawbacks of this industry remains the higher magnitude of the inefficiency than its efficiency in the case of the most of its output. Therefore, it becomes quite important to understand that it is very much required that the AEC industry must follow with either energy efficient buildings or zero energy buildings.

In this case it becomes very important to understand that what exactly zero energy building means. Basically zero energy building has been classified under two sections, namely :–

1. Stand Alone Zero Energy Buildings

Stand Alone Zero Energy Buildings basically refers to those buildings which have been designed in such a way that it will be able to meet all of its energy requirements, without interaction of the grid and depending only on the renewable sources of energy. These types of zero energy buildings are better for remote areas where electricity is not frequently available. These are designed for the peak load value of the house which requires a good enough investment.
But, the basic deficiency which follows these types of building is the wastage of energy as it is designed for the maximum load of the house.

Area under blue shade is the magnitude of energy production while under red shade is the energy consumed.Therefore, energy-waste will be given by the difference of these two areas under curve. This means, in the given case, building’s efficiency will be ≤1 under any circumstances.

2. Hybrid Zero Energy Buildings

Hybrid Zero Energy Buildings basically refers to those buildings which have been designed in such a way that it will be able to meet all of the net energy requirements of the building. In these types of building the energy production of the system are designed in such a way that it always remains in between the peak load and average minimum load, but it is exactly decided in such a way that the amount of surplus energy produced should must remain equal to the amount of energy required from the grid. In this case, building remains in Zero energy state, but simultaneously it requires lesser amount of initial investments.

There are few of the basic advantages of using this system because of the fact that those countries where these systems exists, have followed the policy to promote these systems by paying back for the energy supplied to the grid at a higher rate than the energy supplied from the grid. This means that although practically efficiency cannot be one but maximum efficiency can be achieved in this system.

Grid Interactive Energy Efficient Buildings

Grid Interactive Energy Efficient Buildings basically refers to those buildings which have been designed in such a way that it will be able to meet the energy requirement of the home for the average minimum energy load which is generally required in that specific home. But for the remaining energy requirements, it depends upon the power grid supply system. These types of buildings are designed for the average minimum load value of the house which do not requires a good enough investment.

Area under blue shade is the magnitude of energy production and the area under red shade is the magnitude of energy consumed. Therefore, amount of energy required continuously in the given day time is produced by the home of its own using renewable sources of energy. The amount of energy required from the grid will be given by the difference of these two of the areas under curve. This means that in the case of the Grid Interactive Energy Efficient Buildings, efficiency cannot be 1 under any circumstances but it will always be better than the Stand Alone Zero Energy Buildings.