Author(s)

H. Al-Mutairi, J. Dewsbury & G. F. Lane-Serff

Abstract

Global energy statistics showed that oil is the most sought after energy source in the world. The economic burden on countries that are dependent on oil to produce electricity is noteworthy. Residential cooling is a significant consumer of electricity produced by oil in major oil producing countries with hot climates conditions. For this, Kuwait was selected for further analysis. By analysing official annual electricity statistics in Kuwait, residential cooling consumes 58.4% of the total delivered electrical energy at peak time on a hot summer day. Accordingly, the paper investigated orientation and grouping patterns of future houses in Kuwait to determine their impact on cooling load and electrical energy consumption. The popular DOE EnergyPlus simulation engine, through its interface with DesignBuilder Software, was used to obtain the cooling loads of the future houses. It was found that efficient orientation and grouping of houses, which is a zero cost energy conservation measure, can lead to tangible savings for future houses with approximately $US 33 million of power system capital costs, 15 GWh per year of electrical energy consumption and 11 kilotons per year of CO2 emissions. Keywords: energy demand, oil, residential cooling, building simulation, houses orientation and grouping. 1 World energy situation and consumption consequences The rapidly increasing use of energy in the world has caused concern about supply difficulties and serious environmental impacts. Fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil,

Keywords

energy demand, oil, residential cooling, building simulation, houses orientation and grouping.