7.2.2 Commercial and Institutional Buildings
This sub-section includes different building types, such as offices, retail
stores, schools, hospitals, hotels, warehouses, theatres, and places of worship.
However, within each building type, such as office buildings, the buildings
are often similar in both developed and developing countries, inviting similar
energy-saving strategies. Electricity is the dominant energy source, providing
70% of the resource energy demand in the industrialised countries (EIA, 1994).
However, energy sources vary greatly among countries, e.g. coal is the dominant
heating source for commercial and institutional buildings in China, while other
sources are dominant in other countries.
As with residences, the mitigation technologies for commercial buildings can
be divided into three categories. Building envelope strategies vary, depending
upon the size and type of building and the climate. Wall and roof insulation
is important in many building types. Modern commercial office buildings have
higher internal heat loads from equipment and people, decreasing the importance
of insulation and raising the importance of window and glazing systems. Building
equipment strategies emphasise heating and cooling, efficient lighting, energy
management control systems, and office equipment efficiency. Renewable technology
strategies include photovoltaics, active and passive systems and daylighting.
Too often overlooked, renewable strategies are most effective when integrated
into the building orientation, shape, and design, and can be important in constraining
the growth of energy consumption in urban settings. In the near future, the
growing use of Internet-based information systems may change the shape of the
workplace with dispersed and at-home work stations. The restructuring of the
electric power industry is placing more attention on time-of-day pricing and
encouraging the incorporation of load-shedding by agreement and energy storage
systems within commercial buildings.
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