Energy Performance and Cost-Effectiveness Assessment towards the Nearly Zero-Energy School Buildings in Mild Climates

The study presented an approach to accomplish the nearly zero-energy school building through the assessment of energy and economic performance of the design solutions with renewable energy systems. For energy use in the school building, the energy was mainly consumed by artificial lighting through the analysis of two years’ energy consumption. Available passive and active solutions were adopted to improve energy efficiency in the school building and the energy performance of each design solution was analyzed. To achieve the nearly zero-energy school building, the remaining energy was offset by solar PV panels. Comparing the payback time for design solutions with the PV systems, the most appropriate design solution was selected to achieve the nearly zero-energy school building design under mild climates. In sum, the present study has revealed the challenges of achieving nearly zero-energy school building design under the climate conditions in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the outcome of the study can lead to the development of a nearly/net-zero-energy building design under hot climates.

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