Energy Efficiency in Building: Case of Buildings at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

K. M. Odunfa^1*, T. O. Ojo¹, V. O. Odunfa², O. S. Ohunakin³

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
²Department of Estate Management, The Polytechnic Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
³Department of Mechanical Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/jbcpr.2015.31003                

Abstract

Nigeria today faces serious challenge in providing adequate energy to meet the needs of her citizenry. Efforts are currently geared towards generation of more energy to ease the problem. While these efforts are commendable, it is equally desirable to explore ways to minimize consumption of generated energy. The objective of this work is to investigate the effect of building orientation on energy demand in buildings. This paper considered the use of standard design considerations, fundamental cooling load equations and the guidelines stipulated by the American Society of Heating, Cooling and Air conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The study takes the designs of three buildings within the University of Ibadan, Nigeria into consideration with the view to harness the energy saving potentials through building orientation and selection of efficient cooling equipment. The results obtained were 155.34, 224.75, 86.35 kW and 163.60, 232.04 and 90.64 kW for the three lecture envelopes including the Faculty of Science, CBN and the Department of Chemistry lecture theatres using the North-South and East-West building orientations respectively. Increase in energy demand of 7.96, 7.29 and 4.29 kW was thus obtained with the East-West building orientation over North-South. Energy efficiency is thus guaranteed with North-South building orientation.

Keywords

Energy Efficiency, Orientation, Cooling Load, Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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