在已開發國家中建築物的能源消耗量為能源使用總量的四分之一以上, 且於歐盟與美國的建築物能源消耗量已高於工業與運輸業的能源消耗量, 故建築物的能源效率已成為一個全球性的能源策略研究課題。基於一個常用的能耗模擬軟EnergyPlus 的缺點—輸入參數多且耗時, 本研究以Energyplus 為基礎提出一個「簡化的模擬流程」以估計建築物(包含商業與住宅等用途) 的能源消耗量。本研究所提出簡化模擬流程是以一個已存在的建築物模型(稱為Benchmark Model)為基礎, 修改其中關鍵的輸入參數如建築面積、材料結構、排程、天氣文件、窗牆比和屋簷長度。而所修改的模型可使用繪圖軟體SketchUp 來幫助呈現。在本研究中, 我們透過例子說明所提出的簡化模擬過程如何容易地應用於探討不同尺寸的屋簷對於建築物能源消耗的影響。結果顯示,屋簷長度對於中等規模的建築物是一個顯著的因子, 且屋簷長度為0.25米時成本效益最佳。

The energy consumption of buildings in developed countries comprises more than one quarter of total energy use in their countries. In the EU and the US, buildings consume more energy than industry or transport . As a result, energy efficiency in buildings has become a global research topic for energy policy. Motivated by the time-consuming disadvantages of EnergyPlus, a commonly used energy simulation software, this study proposes a ``simplified simulation process” based on EnergyPlus to estimate energy consumption for buildings, both residential and commercial. The proposed simplified simulation process is based on revising an existing building model, named the “benchmark model,” in terms of some key input parameters, including building size, material and structure, schedule, weather profile window-wall ratio, and shading length. The proposed revised model can be easily implemented in a graphics software named SketchUp. In this research, we illustrate how the proposed simplified simulation process can be easily used to explore the effects of building energy consumption as functions of different eaves size. Results show that eave size is a significant factor for moderate-size buildings and that the most cost-effective eave length is 0.25 meter.

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