Transforming an existing facility into an Energy Plus building

The goal of this study is to transform the Advanced Vehicle Test Facility into an Energy Plus Building by improving the thermal characteristics of the building, replacing an outdated HVAC system with a ground source Geothermal heat pump, implementing a Wi-Fi enabled programmable thermostat to control temperature set points, and installing additional solar panels on the roof. The goal can be achieved by reducing annual energy consumption from approximately 96,000 kWh to approximately 18,000kWh while producing approximately 21,000 kWh per year of solar energy which will transform the AVTF into one of the first Energy Plus Buildings in the Tennessee Valley. The out of pocket cost for the improvements is approximately $82,000 which will reduce the annual utility costs by approximately $7,810 for a return on investment of 9.5% with a simple payback period of 11 years while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1,200 tons over the next 20 years.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Labrie, Marc-Olivier

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bailey, J. Ronald
• Fomunung, Ignatius; Damshala, Prakash; Sutton, William H.; Walker, Randy
• College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Renewable energy sources
• Geothermal resources
• Ground source heat pump systems
• Buildings -- Environmental engineering
• Buildings -- Energy conservation
• Solar energy

Licence

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/108

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1108