A Methodology for Energy Simulation of Risedential Buildings: A Case Study for Amman

Abstract

Green buildings have been gaining in popularity over the past few years in Jordan. This is attributed to environmental and financial reasons directly related to energy consumption and cost. Energy sector in Jordan faces two main challenges which are the fast growing of energy demand and the scarcity of resources to fulfill this demand. Green buildings can save energy by designing them as near Zero Energy Buildings, where they produce amount of energy almost equal the amount of energy they consume. In special cases green buildings can be designed as Net zero energy buildings, where they produce as much energy as they consume. Jordan government encourage people to adopt net zero green buildings by issuing the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Law No. 13 of 2012, that allows selling excessive electricity to electricity companies. Despite these benefits of green buildings, they are not yet the norm in the building sector in Jordan. This can be attributed to the high construction cost of green building compared to traditional one. However, this may not be true if the whole life cycle cost of the building is considered, in which the cost not only include design and construction but also operation and maintenance as well. This paper aims to provide real life cycle cost analysis for a typical residential building in Jordan, and to search different effective building strategies and design scenarios that will lead to a successful near Zero Energy Building. The search will apply main green building strategies recommended for Jordan climatic zone. The outcome of this study is a list of best economically feasible design solutions and system selections that result in near Zero Energy Building in Jordan for residential buildings.