Energy Consumption In United States Office Buildings Since The1950’s And Its Lasting Effects

In2009China over took the United States as the world’s largest total energyconsumer. However, if we look on the energy intensity per floor area or per capita, UnitedStates office buildings consume more than three times the amount of energy comparedwith Chinese office buildings. Since1980commercial floor area in the United States hasgrown by54.8%and17%of all commercial floor space are office buildings. Large officebuildings in particular only account for5%of total floor space but consume55%of totalenergy consumption in office buildings. The average energy consumption of an officebuilding in the United States is285kilowatt hours per square meter. This high level ofenergy consumption can be attributed to many things including: HVAC equipment, lighting,plug loads, window treatments and building operation. Since1950the energy consumptionof office buildings in the United States has been rising even though new energy efficienttechnologies have been introduced. Over time office buildings have changed in terms ofuse, architectural style and operation. Many things have lead to this high level of energyconsumption including poor architectural design in terms of energy efficiency, a lack ofenergy efficiency policies, and extremely low energy prices during a time of economicprosperity in the United States, which lead to an oversight related to energy efficiency.The main goal of this research was to directly analyze the energy consumption ofAmerican and Chinese office buildings. This was achieved by analyzing energyconsumption data for an office building in the United States and one in China. Looking atthe energy consumption over a typical day gives insight into the operation schedule of thebuilding. Looking to see what these two buildings have in common and what things aredifferent helps to give a better understanding of where these buildings consume the mostenergy and why. By using real time data from office buildings behavioral habits can beestablished that affect building energy consumption. By looking at energy consumptiondata over a typical day, the building operation can be established. This shows energyconsumption during operation and non-operation hours and helps to see where energy canbe saved.