Elsevier

Applied Energy

Volume 86, Issue 10, October 2009, Pages 1949-1955
Applied Energy

Comparison of energy conservation building codes of Iran, Turkey, Germany, China, ISO 9164 and EN 832

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2008.12.024Get rights and content

Abstract

To improve the energy efficiency of buildings via compliance to regulation in Iran, Code No. 19 was devised in 1991. The code lacks high level aims and objectives, addressing the characteristics of Iranian buildings. As a consequence, the code has been revised and is not completely implemented in practice, and still remains inefficient. As with any energy coding system, this code has to identify the right balance between the different energy variables for the Iranian climate and way of life. In order to assist improvements to high level objectives of Code 19, this code is compared with ISO 9164, EN 832, German regulation, TS 825 of Turkey and China’s GB 50189 to understand how these have adapted international standards to national features. In order to test the appropriateness of Code 19, five case study buildings in Iran are assessed against Code 19 as well as Turkish standard TS 825 and the results are compared. The results demonstrate that Code 19 is efficient in calculations of building envelope, but it needs improvements in the areas of ventilation, gains from internal and solar sources. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for improving the code.

Introduction

During recent decades in Iran, energy consumption in domestic and commercial sectors has significantly increased, that nearly 40% of total energy consumption of the country is allocated to these sectors [1]. The energy used in domestic and commercial sectors is mostly fossil fuel (oil and gasoline) which within recent years has changed to natural gas. The first building code on energy conservation (Code No. 19) was compiled in 1991 by the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism. The code was simple and could be used either as mandatory or system performance method. For three different building types thermal transmittance coefficients U for each building component were introduced. Also a voluminal coefficient G m3/K was assigned for each building type, so that the G value of the designed building should be equal or less than that of the code. Ten years later the code was revised and improved with regard to the international standards. Two calculation methods were introduced, a mandatory method and a performance method. The mandatory method is used for small buildings and R m2 K/W values for each building component were assigned. In the performance method the heat transfer of a reference building with the same characteristics of the proposed building is calculated concerning the U values determined by the code, and the result should always be more than the total heat transfer H W/K of the proposed building. Some principals on mechanical and lighting systems were also added in the revised edition [2]. In this paper first building Code No. 19 is introduced and then comparisons with ISO 9164, EN 832, TS 825 (Turkish standard), German and China’s standards are made and the differences are discussed. Through this study five residential buildings, three in Tehran and two in Ardabil are compared using TS 825. This comparison is due to cultural and climatic similarities between these two neighboring countries. Those items which are essential for energy conservation and are considered in TS 825 may be included in the future revision of Code 19.

Section snippets

Building Code 19: energy conservation

As was previously mentioned, Code 19 was revised ten years after its first publication. Unfortunately, as a result of non-acquaintance of building specialists and controlling bodies with calculation methods inscribed in the code and unfamiliarity of constructors with methods of insulating building components the first version was not observed in practice. In the revised version two methods for calculation were introduced, mandatory and system performance. In the mandatory method which is used

Comparison of Code 19 with ISO 9164, EN 832, TS 825, German regulation and Chinese standard

In Table 1, Code 19 is compared with ISO 9164, EN 832, TS 825, German regulation and Chinese standard of GB 50189-2005 for public buildings [2], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]. In Iranian Code 19 and China’s standard, two prescriptive and system performance methods are introduced. In Code 19 the prescriptive method embodies buildings with heated floor area less than 1000 m2 and R m2 K/W values for building components are given whereas in China’s standard these values are given as K W/m2 K, that is thermal

Buildings’ properties

The five buildings under consideration are residential. Three of them are located in Tehran (temperate climate) and two in Ardabil (cold climate). The properties of buildings are summarized in Table 2. Buildings mostly in Iran and generally in these two cities have windows in north and south facades only and there are attached neighboring buildings on the east and west facades. Then in east or west sides either the number of windows is few or there are no windows at all. Roofs in these two

Purpose

Various standards compiled for energy efficiency in buildings observe different targets. In Turkish standard the aim is 50–70% reduction in energy consumption of buildings [9]. German regulation aims at 30% reduction [10]. In China standard it is 50% reduction in domestic sector’s energy consumption. Iranian Code No. 19 aims at reduction in energy consumption in general. A recent study has shown that by observing Code 19 in buildings this reduction can reach to 34% [11].

Type and scope

Code 19 and China’s

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank Dr. Susan Habib for her sincere collaboration on obtaining and translating the TS 825 Turkish text and Dr. Marjan Sarshar for her helpful comments concerning the paper. The authors are grateful to the reviewers for their valuable suggestions. The paper was revised according to their comments.

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