Paper Title
Energy Efficiency And Green Building: A Case of Prince of Songkla University, Thailand
Abstract
Energy security is one of the global concerns. With energy management in buildings, it is essential to understand both patterns of energy consumption and status of energy conservation measurements. Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Hatyai Campus, located in the southern part of Thailand, has initiated the energy audit procedures applying to existing buildings with the aim of reducing energy consumption in the campus. This study investigated the electricity consumption focusing at lighting system in President�soffice (PO) building as the administrative functionsfor the university as a whole.Generally, electricity cost of research case study depends on 2 parts; 1) Capacity (Watt), and 2) Operating time (hrs). Therefore, energy consumption of a building can be reduced by reducing capacity of appliances and outlet and also decreasing the operating time. In practical, lamps in the building have been changed. Mostly, the T8 fluorescent lamps ( 8/8 inch) were replaced to T5 ( 5/8 inch).As the reduction of operating time 25%, switch to turning on 6 hrs instead of 8 hrs work time could save energy from 16570.32 to 12427.74 Watt equaled to 4,142 Watt saving. This could reduce cost of about 16984.58 Bht/month or 485 USD/month (At paying rate 4.07 Bht/Watt). The energy conservation measurement was also recommended in 4 time zones. The working time(8.30 � 16.30 hr) presented the highest energy consumption in a day. The peak demand was recorded in summer (March to April). The working and operating procedures from human result in peak of electricity consumption. Thus, users� activities for energy conservation greatly affect the amount of consumption.Significantly, the most effective approach to save energy is to increase the awareness of the users and staff to switch off the room lights and equipment before leaving. Alternatively, this could also be achieved by assigning a person to switch off all lights and equipment after work hours. The energy saving is not only one�s task responsibility but public participation is also required to provide sustainable academic community.
Keywords- Energy Audit, Energy Conservation,Energy Consumption, Energy Security, Public Awareness.