Impact of building envelope design on energy consumption of the Auckland library

Abstract

This pilot study is to investigate impact of building envelope design on energy consumption of Auckland public libraries. There are about 55 public libraries in Auckland. Monthly energy consumption data for a whole year and building plans of the 18 libraries (33% of the total number of public libraries in Auckland) are were used for the study. The study is to investigate relationships between daily mean energy consumptions per unit volume of library building indoor space (kWh/m3/day) and library building envelope design data.Although it is difficult to purely identify the clear relationship between a single design datum and the energy consumption for different library buildings when other building design factors also affect energy consumption simultaneously in different strengths. The study shows that the relationship between the increase in the design datum’s variation such as ratio of building surface to volume and the trend of energy consumption can still be identified. The study presents energy profiles and identifying major design factors related to energy consumption of Auckland public libraries