Potential of Upgrading Federal Buildings in the United Arab Emirates to Reduce Energy Demand

Abstract The efforts of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) government regarding sustainable developments are remarkable. However, the challenge relies within the existing buildings. Lately, many strategies and initiatives have been launched to manage energy demand, as well as energy supply. In this paper, a federal building in the UAE is chosen as a case study to assess the potential of upgrading its energy efficiency performance. Passive and active strategies are implemented in order to reduce the energy demand from grid electricity. This building is chosen to represent a broader message of the country's vision towards sustainability both locally and globally. VE IES simulation software is used to assess the impact of each strategy from both categories (passive and active) on reducing energy consumption. Different scenarios are applied to highlight the optimal strategy for each category. The optimal retrofit approach is defined and assessed to reach the maximum reduction from grid electricity. The results reveal that implementing passive measures, such as shading elements and upgrading walls and windows’ thermal insulation, provide18.5% saving of cooling energy consumption and 14.5% in total grid electricity consumption. Moreover, active measures, such as enhancing COP of cooling system and varying the cooling set-point, increase savings in electricity up to 65%. To form a complete image of a holistic retrofit, the results of a previous study conducted on the same building regarding the lighting system retrofit is considered in this study as well.