Energy-saving Design in Cold Regions

What is it about?

With the popularization of open-shelf reading in university library, the change of use mode leads to the change of space mode, and gradually develops from corridor mode to large-scale and deep composite centralized space organization mode. However, the large and deep open reading space and atrium space in university libraries increasingly rely on artificial lighting, mechanical ventilation and mechanical temperature regulation to meet the comfort needs of space thermal environment. Moreover, the improper control of passive design strategy in the early stage further leads to the reduction of indoor thermal environment comfort and the increase of building energy consumption. In the early stage of architectural design, through reasonable passive space layout design, the use of air conditioning equipment can be greatly reduced, energy consumption can be reduced, and the goal of green development can be achieved. Through extensive collection and analysis of 23 university libraries built in cold climate region, by making a statistical study on the building type, building area, number of floors, building scale and building plane aspect ratio, summarizing and extracts the prototype. Referring to the typical cases in cold climate area, two core groups that reading spatial variable group and atrium spatial variable group are proposed by controlling a single variable, in which each group has four plane layout modes. The dynamic energy consumption simulation software DesignBuilder is used to simulate the annual cooling, heating and lighting load of each group in cold climate region, and the results are converted into energy consumption values for analysis. The final results show that among the four combination modes of reading spatial variable group, the overall energy consumption of compound type is the smallest, and the energy-saving rate is the highest, up to 3.71%. The overall energy consumption of parallel type and surround type is little difference, and the overall energy consumption of surround type is the highest. The energy-saving rate of the four groups of reading modes is as follows: compound type > decentralized type > parallel type > surround type. The total energy consumption of the atrium partial staggered floor group is lower than that of the non staggered floor group. Among the four combination modes of the atrium spatial variable group, the overall energy consumption of the organization form of the atrium partial staggered floor to the south is the smallest, the energy-saving rate is the highest, reaching 5.84%, and the energy-saving rate of the atrium partial staggered floor to the north is the lowest. Therefore, in the preliminary scheme design stage, low-performance spaces such as traffic auxiliary space can be placed at the building boundary to form a buffer zone similar to the transition space, so as to alleviate the negative impact of the external adverse climate environment on the internal space. At the same time, it can be considered to carry out partial staggered floor design of the atrium, and give priority to arranging the atrium on the south side, which is not only conducive to reducing the overall energy consumption of the building and achieving the energy-saving goal, but also enhance the diversification of vertical sections and promote the interest of the internal space of modern university libraries.

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Photo by Appolinary Kalashnikova on Unsplash

Photo by Appolinary Kalashnikova on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The article is important for the following reasons: 1. It addresses the issue of increasing energy consumption in university libraries due to the change in use mode and space mode, and the reliance on artificial lighting, ventilation, and temperature regulation. 2. It emphasizes the significance of passive space layout design in the early stage of architectural design to reduce the use of air conditioning equipment, lower energy consumption, and achieve green development goals. 3. Through the analysis of 23 university libraries in cold climate regions, it proposes two core groups of spatial variables (reading spatial variable group and atrium spatial variable group) and different plane layout modes for each group. 4. Using the DesignBuilder simulation software, it simulates the energy consumption of each group and identifies the most energy-efficient configurations, such as the compound type for reading spaces and the atrium partial staggered floor to the south for atrium spaces. 5. The article provides practical suggestions for placing low-performance spaces at the building boundary to form a buffer zone and considering the partial staggered floor design of the atrium, which is beneficial for reducing overall energy consumption and enhancing the interest of the internal space of modern university libraries. 6. It highlights the importance of optimizing the functional spatial organization in university libraries to achieve a balance between innovative demands, comfort, and energy efficiency for sustainable development in cold regions.

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