Energy Efficient Passive Building: A Case Study of SODHA BERS COMPLEX

A composite climate case study has been carried out of a newly-constructed, passive-cooled, four-story building in Varanasi (UP), India. This four-story, passively-cooled building is known as SODHA BERS COMPLEX (SBC). In the design of the SBC building, most of the older cooling concepts such as orientation, cross ventilation, day lighting, unglazed Trombe walls, earth sheltering, wind towers etc. were considered. Additionally, a solar water heating system, a roof top PV system and a photovoltaic thermal greenhouse dryer have also been integrated, in order to meet the energy demand of buildings. The total initial embodied energy, CO₂ emission, annual energy saving and CO₂ credit of SBC have all been evaluated. Based on the present study, it has been seen that during harsh summers and cold climatic conditions, the earth sheltering/basement (≅ 28°) and first and second floors (≅ 18–20°) are the most comfortable zones from a passive cooling/heating point of view respectively. It has also been observed that there are approximately 4740 tons of earned CO₂ credit with (i) a payback period of 20 years, and (ii) one unit of energy saving of ₹3 for an average 10° temperature difference between the room and the ambient air temperature.