A study of the energy efficiency management in Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design (G-SEED)-certified apartments in South Korea

Abstract

With an increase in the number of Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design (G-SEED)-certified apartments in South Korea, people are receiving incentives from the government to purchase them. Since 2013, many benefits for G-SEED-certified buildings have been offered, such as tax reductions and deregulation of building codes/guidelines. As beneficial incentives are granted to G-SEED-certified buildings, follow-up management of the buildings is also necessary. However, to date, there are no appropriate follow-up management systems or legal regulations for G-SEED-certified buildings. Buildings that are certified by G-SEED in Korean housing buildings account for 6.25% of Korea's total area. In addition, G-SEED certification has been obtained for more than 20% of the total completed housing area (2014-2017). Therefore, the energy efficiency-management of G-SEED certified buildings is also very important economically for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, domestic and foreign energy efficiency follow-up management systems were analyzed, and the amount of energy that is used by apartment houses with incentives was investigated. We have identified problems with the G-SEED system by analyzing evaluation methods, evaluation items, and points of G-SEED certification in related research studies. We also compared the energy consumption of an apartment building with G-SEED certification with that of adjacent complexes, thereby applying original research methods. The results show that energy use in G-SEED-certified buildings was not efficient. Accordingly, the study confirms that continuous management after G-SEED certification by establishing a follow-up management system is needed. In this study, domestic and foreign follow-up management systems were compared, problems with the apartment housing information management system run by the government were examined, and improvement measures were suggested.