Efficient space heating in a Portuguese Public Building Replacement of a Liquefied Petroleum Gas Boiler by Heat Pump

Abstract

Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of the total world annual energy consumption, putting them among the largest end-use sectors. Especially important has been the increase of energy consumption in HVAC systems, which has become essential in the demand for thermal comfort. The introduction and recent amendments to the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive demonstrate growing recognition among the policy community of the importance of energy efficiency in the building sector. The implementation of energy efficient measures, without compromising comfort level of building’s occupants, can significantly reduce energy consumption in buildings, the energy bills and the correspondent greenhouse gas emissions. In the building sector there are several energy conservation measures that can be implemented to reduce building energy consumption, namely four main areas: space heating, space cooling, domestic hot water and artificial lighting. This paper presents a simple case study used to compare an efficient electric heat pump with a conventional system for a public building space heating purposes. The study has been performed using two software tools: Cype and EnergyPlus.