The Integrated Building Design and Its Impact on Energy Conservation

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the concept of integrated building design approach and its application on energy conservation. It can also help designers and direct them to understand how to take advantage of the integrated approach in the design of buildings, so they can make decisions objectively. It seeks also to provide several concepts or innovative solutions for the design of buildings in application of an integrated energy efficient design. The main research problem is that energy consumption has recently become one of the vital issues, and as buildings (especially office buildings) are the main energy-consuming elements, it is necessary to find solutions during the design stage to avoid the problems resulting from the high use of energy. Hence, the study assumes that the buildings are one of the most energy-consuming elements, and that integrated design of the building can affect the energy conservation by decreasing the rate of energy consumption in buildings. Accordingly, the use of integrated design approach in buildings is considered among the main solutions to save energy. In order to verify these hypotheses, a systematic theoretical study of published literature and analytical descriptive study (case study) were both used. The first task focused on the concepts and methods ofintegratedbuilding design. The second task was a field work carried out on sample of office building as a case study to see how the application of integratedbuilding design and its impact to conserve energy and reduce consumption. Two cases were chosen, one is regional (Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC) Building - Bahrain), and the other is local (National Telecommunication Corporation (N.T.C) Tower - Sudan) .Both buildings were studied in terms of integrated building design and techniques used in these buildings to conserve energy.The study concluded to theresults and also recommendations as following: 1. Through theoretical study, it is found that office buildings are one of the most energy-consuming elements. 2. Integrated building design approach has an impact on energy conservation. 3. The use of integrated building design methods reduces energy consumption in buildings. 4. The application of integrated building design approach in buildings, generally, and office buildings in particular, can be considered as one of the good solutions that help to conserve energy. 5. Use of alternative energy (sun and wind), to be introduced in the design method of the building helps to reduce the rate of energy consumed by the building.