Methods to Reduce Building Energy Consumption

With the development of science and technology, the density of modern buildings in urban areas has increased to a large extent, giving rise to a sharp increase in building energy consumption. Therefore, it’s of great significance to reduce the energy consumption in buildings. The paper discussed the factors of energy consumption in industrial, residential, and commercial buildings, which can be divided into space heating, cooling, water heating, and lighting. There are also several methods of cutting down on wasted energy in buildings in this paper, including the heat pump system, the green roof, and the use of the pyroelectric effect. The heat pump system is an equipment which can transfer heat from a cooler space to a warmer space. It transfers heat instead of generating it to save energy costs in an evaporation and condensation cycle. The cool roof is designed to reflect and absorb heat from the sun. As the roof temperature decreases, the urban heat island (UHI) is mitigated and it’s relatively easier to cool the inner temperature. The green roof, roof with vegetation, soil, and drainage layers, works similarly but it also produces fresh fruits. In addition, the thermoelectric effect can convert heat into electricity to produce energy based on the temperature difference. It can take advantage of electricity to create temperature differences as well. The essay introduced several methods to reduce building energy consumption, which can be useful in developing countries such as China to solve the problem caused by industrialization and mitigate carbon emissions.