Track: Operations Research

Abstract

Nowadays, energy consumption in the building sector is considered one of the main contributors to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which is having an enormous negative environmental impact worldwide. Correspondingly, rising CO2 emissions have become a global environmental issue.  Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) have been deployed for evaluation of the ecological impact of the building sector will be used to analyze and assess ecological effects. The primary objective of this research is to consider the different phases of life cycle energy and CO2 analysis of a PV system integrated residential building by designing geometry, spaces, and thermal zones in Sketch Up and simulating the building and calculating the energy load in EnergyPlus. For illustrative purposes, a single residential building in Toronto was simulated. Moreover, carbon emissions of the residential building were calculated through LCA and compared with the case of added PV systems. It was found that there would be a significant reduction in operating cost, energy cost, and CO2 emissions. However, the capital cost would increase by integrating PV systems, but it would be less significant considering a higher carbon tax in the future.