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Authors: Awatans Tripathi, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

This study presents a comparative analysis of carbon emissions and thermal comfort in an Indian affordable housing project, employing two envelope materials: EPS core technology and brick-andmortar construction. The study quantifies embodied and operational emissions through life cycle analysis to establish an emissions thermal comfort trade-off.


Keyword: Carbon emissions, thermal comfort, life cycle analysis, embodied carbon, discomfort hours
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2023, 13-15 December 2023, Ahmedabad, India +

Authors: Shreeparna Ghosal, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

In recent years, the adaptive model of thermal comfort has gained traction as a more robust alternative to fixed set-point-driven design, which considers various factors that impact human comfort, such as humidity, air velocity, mean radiant temperature, and ambient temperature. Nonetheless, it is crucial to recognize the limitations of such models and the potential for discomfort and stress. 


Keyword: Heat Stress, Natural Ventilation, Thermal Comfort, Climate change, WBGT
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2023, 13-15 December 2023, Ahmedabad, India +

Authors: Sneha Asrani, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla, Ravi Chaudhary, Monu Ratra, Ajay Jaiswal
Abstract:

Green Buildings were a market initiative to propel sustainability in the built environment. Various national and international Green Building Rating Agencies have formulated several region- and building typology-specific Green Building Rating Programs (GBRP).


Keyword: Green Building Rating Programs; Green Affordable Housing; Climate Resilience; Adaptation; Holistic Sustainability
Presented at: energise 2023, 1-4 November 2023, Goa, India +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla, Subham Das, Tej Chavda, Rahul Agnihotri, Lily Riahi, Benjamin Hic
Abstract:

The paper acknowledges that Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) occurs due to urbanization impacting earth surface characteristics, changes in the vegetation profile within urban regions, and increased anthropogenic heat. Without a common agreed-upon methodology with the various objectives that cities wish to accomplish, Indian cities are adopting methods to study UHIE that do not help them meet the original objectives and are often found to be less scientific.


Keyword: Urban Heat Island Effect, Level of Details, Fit for Purpose, Heat Action Plan, Outdoor Thermal Comfort.
Presented at: energise 2023, 1-4 November 2023, Goa, India +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla, Shivani S., Sakshi Nathani, Sachin Kumar, Sneha Asrani
Abstract:

Optimizing operational energy in buildings can increase the significance of embodied energy and associated carbon emissions. Promoting low embodied energy materials and construction processes is crucial for achieving low-carbon development while reducing operational energy. However, accessing reliable embodied energy data for construction materials in India poses a major challenge for conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) to quantify the environmental impact. 


Keyword: Embodied Energy, Life Cycle Assessment, Crowdsourcing Database, Construction Materials
Presented at: energise 2023, 1-4 November 2023, Goa, India +

Authors: Pamela Fennell, Ivan Korolija, Rajan Rawal, Martin Wieser Rey, Argyris Oraiopoulos
Abstract:

Urban Building Energy Models (UBEMs) are increasingly important tools for national and local authorities seeking to understand and manage their carbon emissions. As such tools move from the preserve of research into the more general application, interest in learning about their application is increasing. 


Keyword: UBEM, post-graduate education, urban-scale modelling, GIS, BPS
Presented at: Building Simulation 2023: 18th Conference of IBPSA, . 4-6 September 2023, Shanghai, China +

Authors: Minu Agarwal, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

This paper is based on a study that evaluates the efficacy of early Building Performance Simulation (BPS) users in critically examining their simulation model results with minimal external support. The objective of the study was to deepen the current understanding of challenges faced by early-users of BPS tools in setting up reliable simulation models.


Keyword: Pedagogy, Early BPS users, Bloom's taxonomy, Continous learning cycle
Presented at: Building Simulation 2023: 18th Conference of IBPSA, . 4-6 September 2023, Shanghai, China +

Authors: Sakshi Nathani, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla, Bhavya Pathak
Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to assess the embodied energy emissions of walling systems used in dwelling units of India over a reference period of 50 years. The Life Cycle Assessment is undertaken within the system boundary of cradle to gate, as defined in standard ISO 14044. 


Keyword: Embodied Energy, Walling Systems, Housing, India
Presented at: 5th International Conference on Building Energy and Environment (COBEE) 2022, 25-29 July 2022, Montreal, Canada +

Authors: Sneha Asranil, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla, Peter Graham, Priyanka Bhanushali, Arjun Desai
Abstract:

On an average, India has more than 3000 Cooling Degree Days (CDD). The multifamily public housing being constructed under India’s Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) is aimed at providing formal housing to the society’s Economic Weaker Section (EWS).  It is essential that this housing delivers thermally comfortable indoors to the occupants.


Keyword: PMAY, Residential Building Code, Eco Niwas Samhita, Adaptive Thermal Comfort
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2021, 24-26 October 2021, Muscat, Oman +

Authors: Srushti Thakur, Mona Iyer, Palak Patel, Sachin. S, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Municipal services account for 4% of the total electricity consumption in India. In wastewater management value chain, 40% - 80% of the operational expenditure is on electricity. Conventionally, energy efficiency studies and interventions focus on electro-mechanical aspects of pumping assets. 


Keyword: Wastewater management; Energy efficiency; Energy consumption; Urban Form; Urban Planning; Sustainable Cities
Presented at: International eConference on Water Source Sustainability (ICWSS21), 18-20 June, 2021 Roorkee, India +

Authors: Sakshi Sharma, Mona Iyer, Palak Patel, Sachin. S, Rajan Rawal
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Rapid urbanization has resulted in fast development and stress on the water cycle and energy consumption. Increased built and paved surfaces lead to increased surface runoff and urban flooding. This also increases the inflow in conduit-based, electromechanical stormwater systems of a city, resulting in more energy consumption. 


Keyword: Energy Consumption; Municipal Service; Stormwater management; Urban Planning; Energy Efficient; Urban Factors
Presented at: International eConference on Water Source Sustainability (ICWSS21), 18-20 June, 2021 Roorkee, India +

Authors: Sneha Bhattacharyya, Mona Iyer, Sachin.S, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Efficient service delivery in the Municipal Solid Waste Management sector by default implies regular waste removal from the habitation to a treatment or disposal facility. In the 21st century, such service delivery in large cities demands on the deployment of motorised vehicles for the transport of waste. However, the ULBs in India remain oblivious to the fuel consumption among the fleet deployed. 


Keyword: Fuel Consumption; Fuel Efficiency; Municipal Solid Waste Man-agement; Urban Form; City Level Assessment
Presented at: International Conference on Resilient and Liveable City Planning (RCLP - 2020), 20-23 January 2021, School of Planning and Architecture Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India +

Authors: Palak Patel, Mona Iyer, Sachin.S, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

The initiatives taken for energy efficiency in India have largely focused on street lighting, water pumping for irrigation, energy-intensive industries, and the building sector. Studies on the building sector have explored the relationship between built form and energy consumption in terms of solar energy, heat energy demand, and passive cooling. However, there is limited empirical research on municipal ser-vices like water pumping at the building level. 


Keyword: Water Pumping; Electricity Consumption; Urban Morphology; Residential Building Typologies; Building Level
Presented at: International Conference on Resilient and Liveable City Planning (RCLP - 2020), 20-23 January 2021, School of Planning and Architecture Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India +

Authors: Nidhi Rai Jain, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Final energy use for cooling in buildings has tripled between 1990 and 2016 to 2020 terawatt hours. Excluding China and Japan, India accounts for about 28% of the Room Air Conditioner (RAC) market in Asia. RAC penetration is comparatively lower at 5% in India but raising with 12% CAGR growth.


Keyword: RAC, ISEER, Comfort, Energy efficiency, Environment
Presented at: energise 2020, 11-13 February 2020, Hyderabad, India +

Authors: Shelly Vaish, Mona Iyer, Rajan Rawal, Sachin S, Shivani Chouhan
Abstract:

Municipal water supply systems account for the highest share of total electricity consumption out of the other energy-intensive municipal services such as wastewater pumping, treatment, and street lighting. The energy-efficiency in the sector has majorly been looked in terms of design and operational efficiency. 


Keyword: Urban form; Electricity consumption; Water distribution systems; Building stock
Presented at: The International Conference on Future Cities-2019, 11-13 December 2019, Roorkee, India +

Authors: Nidhi Rai Jain, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

In India, the energy end-use is anticipated to increase by 56% from 2014 to 2050. It shares 12% of total carbon emissions in the world by Room Air Conditioners (RACs). As increase in energy production using fossil fuels has an adverse effect on climate, there is an immediate need to focus on mitigation scenario.


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Presented at: 7th International Conference on Energy Research and Development (ICERD-7), 19-21 November 2019, Kuwait +

Authors: Pamela Fennell, Paul Ruyssevelt, Rajan Rawal, Veeren Poola
Abstract:

A review of existing large-scale building energy models was undertaken, highlighting their prevalence at geographically higher latitudes. The ability of these models to adequately represent cities in the global south is questionable and existing classifications are inadequate to describe the diversity of models that have been developed. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA. 02-04 September 2019, Rome, Italy +

Authors: Arjun Desai, Prasad Vaidya, Sanchi Pathela
Abstract:

Different methods are used for calculating the energy consumption of buildings. While the heat balance method, weighing factor method and thermal network methods are complex and require intense computing power, the degree-day and the BIN methods are relatively simple. In this study, we have used the degree-day approach published in CIBSE TM-41 to develop a Python tool to calculate the energy consumption of energy buildings on an hourly basis.


Keyword: Cooling Degree Days, Residual Cooling Degree Days, Passive strategies, Cooling energy, Balance Point Temperature
Presented at: Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA, . 02-04 September 2019, Rome, Italy +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Kartikay Sharma, Himani Pandya
Abstract:

This paper demonstrates the impact of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), India implementation in the city of Ahmedabad India. The study uses available administrative and property tax data from the local government in conjunction with building energy simulation to estimate the benefits of various energy conservation measures (ECM) proposed in the ECBC. The study compares ECM between two versions of the code titled ECBC 2007 and ECBC 2017. 


Keyword: Building Stock, Energy Code, Ahmedabad, Implementation, Energy Efficiency
Presented at: Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA, . 02-04 September 2019, Rome, Italy +

Authors: Christina J. Hopfe, Veronica Soebarto, Dru Crawley, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

In order to assist tertiary architectural education institutions as well as the architecture profession in developing course material and training packages related to Building Performance Simulation (BPS), we present the outcome of a survey conducted in Australia, India, the US and the UK. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2017: 15th Conference of IBPSA, . 07-09 August 2017, San Francisco, CA, USA +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Prasad Vaidya, Rajan Rawal
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India is witnessing a buzz of activity to promote energy efficiency in buildings at national and regional levels. These efforts range from policy measures, international programs, training courses and educational programs, research projects, advocacy programs by various organizations to individual efforts to design, construct and operate energy efficient buildings. 


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Presented at: 33rd International PLEA Conference, 02-05 July 2017, Edinburgh, Scotland +

Authors: Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal, Sophie Shnapp
Abstract:

As energy consumption from residential buildings is predicted to rise by more than eight times by 2050, it is of vital importance for India to develop energy-efficiency strategies focused on the residential sector to limit the current trend of unsustainable escalating energy demand. This study investigates impeded growth in energy consumption in the Indian residential sector and documents energy saving potentials that can be achieved with the focused policy and market efforts.


Keyword: energy efficiency policy, residential sector, energy saving potential, quantitative survey, simulation, envelope optimization, field survey, India
Presented at: ECEEE Summer Study 2015, 01-06 June 2015, Toulon/Hyères, France +

Authors: Amiya Behera, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawa
Abstract:

To achieve indoor environmental comfort conditions and to facilitate economic activities, building occupants use electric energy. In conventional scenario electric grid provides electricity to buildings. This study attempts to evaluate feasibility of CEPT University campus – an academic, research and development facility located in hot and dry climate zone in India, to become net zero energy campus. 


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Presented at: 15th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies (SET 2016), 19-22 July 2016, Singapore +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Prasad Vaidya, Sanyogita Manu
Abstract:

Various works carried out by Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy (CARBSE) at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, has been discussed in this paper. The objective of this project was also to develop a framework for Third Party Assessor (TPA) model to facilitate ECBC compliance and enforcement. 


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Presented at: International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (ICEEB), 17-18 December 2015, New Delhi, India +

Rajan Rawal, Prasad Vaidya, Sanyogita Manu, Yash Shukla
Abstract:

This paper traces the design and construction process of a net-zero energy building (NZEB) in a university campus in India. Climate resilient, high performance building design warrants an integrated and iterative design process with front-loaded analysis to arrive at an optimized solution. 


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Presented at: 31st International PLEA Conference, 9-11 September 2015, Bologna, Italy +

Authors: Srijan Kumar Didwania, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla and N.K. Bansal
Abstract:

The relevance of radiant space cooling system over conventional Variable Air Volume (VAV) space cooling system with reference to economics, system operation, installed capacity, energy consumption, and human thermal comfort has been studied for commercial office buildings in India. 


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Presented at: 1st International Conference on Energy and Indoor Environment for Hot Climates, 24-26 February 2014, Doha, Qatar +

Authros: Rajan Rawal, Srijan Didwania, Yash Shukla, Sanyogita Manu, Purvi Panchal
Abstract:

India has experienced an average economic growth of 10% since 1991 leading to the establishment of new commercial buildings. Amongst other initiatives, Indian government enacted the Energy Conservation Act in 2001 (EC Act 2001), predominantly for commercial buildings. Government of India is relying on mandatory building energy code and voluntary standards and labeling (S&L) program to foster energy efficiency in commercial buildings.


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2013: 13th Conference of IBPSA, 26-28 August 2013, Chambery, France +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Vinay Ghatti, Sanyogita Manu, Smita Chandiwala, Prasad Vaidya
Abstract:

Compliance with Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) of India can save up to 1.7 billion kWh annually. ECBC enforcement poses significant challenges to local governments who are responsible for enforcement given India’s 12th Five Year Plan’s compliance goals. This paper summarizes two important initiatives taken up in India for making implementation and enforcement easier, leap-frogging the challenges that have been experienced in other countries.


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Presented at: ECEEE Summer Study 2013, 03-08 June 2013, Toulon/Hyères, France +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Prasad Vaidya, Vinay Ghatt
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In the next 18 years, India will add 67% of the floor space projected for 2030, or about 2.3 billion square meters. Buildings consume 33% of total energy in India and this is growing at 8% per annum. For a large scale market change, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency developed the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC). Through mandatory ECBC compliance, India can achieve an annual energy saving of 1.7 billion kWh.


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Presented at: ACEEE Summer Study 2012 - Energy Efficiency in Buildings, 12-17 August 2010, California, USA +

Authors: Jalpa Gandhi, Rajan Rawal
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Urbanization has direct impact on the spatial structure of the city, which in turn results in the dramatic change of the overall immediate environment. High-rise, high density built areas provides multiple surfaces for the reflection of direct and indirect solar radiation as well as absorption & storage of the anthropogenic heat. It is often seen that this heat gets re-radiated & trapped due to neighborhood buildings causing changes in surface & ambient air temperature.


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Presented at: 5th International Conference on Energy Research and Development (ICERD-5), 9-11 April 2012, Kuwait +

Authors: Ashima Charnalia, Jyotirmay Mathur, Rajan Rawal
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The study focuses on ways to minimize interior lighting energy consumption (ILEC) in daytime use office buildings and proposes use of solar photovoltaic’s (SPVs) to suffice the remaining lighting energy requirement. The objective of the study is to attain interior lighting energy autonomy through Solar Photovoltaic’s. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2011: 12th Conference of IBPSA, 14-16 November 2011, Sydney, Australia +

Authors: Padmini Rajaram, Rajan Rawal
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Indian Standard Time (IST) is calculated with reference to 82.5° E longitude and the difference of +0530 hours from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The permanent advancement of IST was proposed in the previous study from +0530 to +0600 hours with reference to 90° E longitude and is estimated to 16% of savings in peak load electricity demand by analyzing all the power consuming sectors such as industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors of India


Keyword: Lighting energy consumption, Indian Standard Time, Office buildings, Energy Simulation, Occupancy schedules
Presented at: Building Simulation 2011: 12th Conference of IBPSA, 14-16 November 2011, Sydney, Australia +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Justin Wong, Rajan Rawal, PC Thomas, Satish Kumar, Aalok Deshmukh
Abstract:

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was launched in India in May 2007 under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. It offers two compliance approaches: Prescriptive and Whole Building Performance (WBP). According to the EC Act, compliance with the ECBC has to be expressed in terms of Energy Performance Index (EPI) which is the annual energy consumption per square meter of floor area, and is only possible via the WPB compliance approach.


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2011: 12th Conference of IBPSA, 14-16 November 2011, Sydney, Australia +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Anurag Bajpai, Satish Kumar, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

The world today is grappling with the challenge of balancing development through responsible use of natural resources. The challenge only becomes more pronounced for developing economies like India, where improving the quality of life of the masses needs to be mindful of already starved natural resources. To this effect, the advent of clean energy economy is an imminent solution since it has the potential to respond to the challenges and deliver the projected growth in a sustainable way.


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Presented at: ACEEE Summer Study 2010 - Energy Efficiency in Buildings, 15-20 August 2010, California, USA +

Authors: Leena Thomas, Richard de Dear, Rajan Rawal , Ashok Lall, PC Thomas
Abstract:

Before India’s building sector can fulfil its CO2 abatement potential, it is imperative for new build projects, especially those which provide for commercial and public functions, to eschew the energy-intensive designs that characterized western commercial buildings of the 20th century. 


Keyword: climate change mitigation, adaptation, thermal comfort, India
Presented at: Windsor Conference, 09-11 April 2010, London, United Kingdom +

Authors: Nikita Khatri, Rashmin Damle, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Hygrothermal behavior in materials can impact the energy consumption and thermal comfort of the building space. Commonly, cement plaster is used for plastering surfaces of a building space instead of the traditionally employed lime plaster. With this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the hygrothermal performance of cement and lime plastered surfaces. 


Keyword: Hygrothermal performance, bioclimatic architecture, lime plaster, India Model for Adaptive Comfort, Effective Moisture Penetration Depth model
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2021, 24-26 October 2021, Muscat, Oman +

Authors: Kartikay Sharma, Rajan Rawal, Pamela Fennell, Anmol Mathur, Paul Russyvelt, Dru Crawley, Iv
Abstract:

The advancement in the field of Urban Building Energy Modelling (UBEM) is assisting urban planners and managers to design and operate cities to meet environmental emission targets. The usefulness of the UBEM depends upon the quality and level of details (LoD) of the inputs to the model. The inadequacy and quality of relevant input data pose challenges. 


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Presented at: uSIM2020: 2nd IBPSA-Scotland uSIM Conference. 11-12 November 2020, Edinburgh, Scotland +

Authors: Charalampos Angelopoulos, Malcolm Cook, Yash Shukla, Eftychia Spentzou, Rajan Rawal, Lucian
Abstract:

Direct evaporative cooling (DEC) is one of the most commonly used cooling systems in many parts of the world with mainly hot and dry climatic conditions. Various simulation-based studies have been conducted to explore the potential of direct evaporative cooling in buildings. However, current dynamic thermal simulation tools use a simplified on/off control approach and do not allow modelling of situations where advanced algorithms are used in controlling DEC units. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA. 02-04 September 2019, Rome, Italy +

Authors: Shoumik Desai, Rajan Rawal
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The commercial and residential sector demands high cooling requirement, which is mostly achieved by using conventional cooling systems like split ACs, chillers or VRF. These systems currently produce 100 MT of CO2 per annum and hence contribute significantly to carbon emissions. 


Keyword: Indirect-direct evaporative cooling system, IDEC effectiveness, low energy cooling (LEC), energy consumption, thermal comfort
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2019, 10-11 April 2019, Dubai, UAE +

Authors: Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal, Nidhi Agarwal, Kaushik Biswas, Devendra Jain, Deepraj Samrah
Abstract:

Phase change materials (PCMs) are known for storing thermal energy by the virtue of their inherent latent enthalpies. Careful introduction of PCMs as thermal mass along with external insulation is likely to increase thermal comfort hours in naturally ventilated buildings and reduce cooling energy consumption in air conditioned buildings. 


Keyword: Phase Change Building Materials; High Performance Building; Buildings; Thermal Comfort;
Presented at: CLIMA 2016: 12th REHVA World Congress, 22-25 May 2016, Aalborg, Denmark +

Authors: Padmini Rajaram, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

The study aims at quantifying the savings in lighting energy consumption for office buildings in India due to the permanent advancement of Indian standard time from +0530 to +0600 GMT. The study initiates by walk through energy audit to evaluate lighting load and occupancy details for Ahmedabad and Kolkata. This data is used to develop reference models for simulations and determine lighting energy consumption.


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2011: 12th Conference of IBPSA, 14-16 November 2011, Sydney, Australia +

Authors: Divya Mullick, Rashmin Damle, Nikhil Bhesaniya, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Lime and cement are the commonly used walling materials in India. They are used as wall mortar and wall finish materials. Lime is a sustainable material with qualities such as breathability and better moisture transfer properties. Though it is a natural material, in contemporary construction practices, lime mortar or lime plaster has been replaced by cement mortar and cement plaster. 


Keyword: Heat and Moisture Transfer, Lime Plaster, Cement Plaster, Energy Consumption
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2023, 13-15 December 2023 +

Authors: Jahnvi Mehta, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla
Abstract:

This study is conducted to assess the transition in outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) due to the synergistic effects of high-density high-rise development in urban regions and increasing global temperature. The shifting climate of urban spaces impacts Outdoor thermal comfort (OTC), thus human behaviour and accessibility to outdoor spaces. 


Keyword: Outdoor Thermal comfort, Universal Thermal Climate Index, Urban Heat Island, Microclimate,ENVI-met
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2023, 13-15 December 2023 +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Tarjani Mehta, Yash Shukla, Susan Roaf
Abstract:

Thermally comfortable and energy-efficient buildings will play a pivotal role in radically reducing operational energy use and carbon emissions from the built environment. The emphasis in emission reduction strategies is now moving away from reliance on the marginal energy benefits of slightly more energy efficient machines for meeting emission reduction targets towards the provision of energy-sufficient buildings that not only protect occupants from the predicted more extreme climates of the future while also resulting in radical emission reductions.


Keyword: Carbon Emissions, Adaptive Comfort, Dynamic Setpoints, Natural ventilation, Ceiling Fans, Mixed Mode.
Presented at: The 8th International ICARB Conference 2023, 25-26 September 2023, Edinburgh Castle and Edinburgh City Chambers, Edinburgh, UK. +

Authors: Abraham Philip, Bhavya Pathak, Shaily Gandhi, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

The study presents a cost-effective and scalable method to determine the Window to Wall Ratio (WWR) and A/C status of existing buildings from ground-view façade imagery. Object Detection Classifier deploying Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN) is used to detect windows and buildings in visible images.


Keyword: machine learning, urban building energy model, thermal imaging, air-conditioning, window wall ratio
Presented at: The 5th International Conference on Building Energy And Environment (COBEE 2022), 25th to 29th July 2022, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. +

Authors: Snowy Christophel S, Minu Agarwal, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

As per the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) during the last two decades heat waves accounted for 5.6% of the all the disaster related global fatalities. Several cities have established heat wave management task forces that warn and prepare people for upcoming heat waves by various mitigation strategies and advisories.


Keyword: Occupant interaction, External movable shades, User proportion category, Passive resilience
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes, CATE’21, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, October 2021 +

Authors: Amanda Santiago, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Occupant's interaction with the external fenestration has a large impact on the indoor environment and energy consumption of buildings. The rapid increase in India’s residential cooling demand requires a better understanding of mixed-mode operations in residential buildings. This study attempts to understand occupant behaviour for window operation. 


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Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2021, 24-26 October 2021, Muscat, Oman +

Authors: Nikhil Singh Yaduvanshi, Rajan Rawal, Anmol Mathur
Abstract:

The Central Business District (CBD) of Ahmedabad in India, planned to be developed by 2040, will have increased floor space, three times of what it is in 2020. This will double the cooling energy demand if contemporary practices are followed. This research aims to develop building envelop retrofit strategies which minimize the lifecycle cost and the total annual cooling energy consumption in the coming decades, till 2040 with a rise in floorspace for the CBD of Ahmedabad. 


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Presented at: uSIM2020: 2nd IBPSA-Scotland uSIM Conference. 11-12 November 2020, Edinburgh, Scotland +

Authors: Krishna Patel, Rajan Rawal
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Growing urbanisation in India has led to the increasing development of high-rise buildings. To maintain the building aesthetics, the outdoor air conditioner (AC) units are stacked withing a recessed space. The heat rejected from these outdoor units (ODU) leads to increase in air temperature of the recessed space. This causes inefficient working of AC units. The paper reports the difference in results when on-site measurement data were compared to CFD simulation results.


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Presented at: BuildSIM-Nordic 2020: 1st IBPSA-Nordic Confrence, 13-14 October 2020, Oslo, Norway +

Authors: Saranya Anbarasu, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal, Deepta Sundar Mishra, Jayamin Patel, Charalampo
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Rapid urbanization, rising per capita income and a warming climate are significantly increasing the burden on the electricity grid throughout India(Rawal and Shukla, 2014). The combined use of natural ventilation (NV) and mechanical cooling (MC) systems is a potential solution to provide cooling and thermal comfort to building occupants. Mixed-mode (MM) buildings use NV and MC to provide a comfortable environment for the occupants. 


Keyword: Mixed-mode Buildings, Building Energy Simulation, Residential Buildings, Building Controls
Presented at: energise 2020, 11-13 February 2020, Hyderabad, India +

Authors: Luciano Caruggi de Faria, Malcolm J Cook, Dennis Loveday, Charalampos Angelopoulos, Yash Sh
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This paper presents four design charts (DC) to work as a simplified, easy-to-use and cost-effective tool to assist architects and building designers on sizing openings to deliver natural ventilation (NV) for cooling. The DC are derived from analytical techniques for four NV design systems based either on buoyancy-driven or wind-driven flow.


Keyword: Natural Ventilation, Design Chart, Analytical Model, Residential Apartment, India
Presented at: Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA. 02-04 September 2019, Rome, Italy +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Himani Pandya, Arjun Desai, Vishnu Vardhan, Yash Shukla, Sanyogita Manu, Agam
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The paper presents the case study of a Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB) located within the CEPT University campus, Ahmedabad. It starts with a narration on design and construction and provides an overview of the building envelope characteristics and operational strategies. Custom design and operation of the building management system (BMS) in order to synchronize the electrical consumption and generation using solar PV is described. 


Keyword: NZEB, Tropical, Thermal Comfort, Environment Monitoring, Building Management System
Presented at: Comfort At The Extremes (CATE) 2019, 10-11 April 2019, Dubai, UAE +

Authors: Christian Kohler, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Current prescriptive building codes have limited ways to account for the effect of solar shading, such as overhangs and awnings, on window solar heat gains. We propose two new indicators, the adjusted Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (aSHGC) which accounts for external shading while calculating the SHGC of a window, and a weighted SHGC (SHGCw) which provides a seasonal SHGC weighted by solar intensity. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2017: 15th Conference of IBPSA, . 07-09 August 2017, San Francisco, CA, USA +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Devarsh Kumar, Sanyogita Manu
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Indian real estate is trying to find appropriate solutions to provide thermally comfortable dwellings using passive design strategies. Historically, a big part of architectural teaching has been focused on learning about climate responsive strategies from vernacular buildings. However, such knowledge sharing was based on observational studies as opposed to long-term scientific field studies with quantitative outcomes.


Keyword: Vernacular dwellings, contemporary dwellings, climate responsive design, India Model for Adaptive Thermal Comfort, Ahmedabad
Presented at: 33rd International PLEA Conference, 02-05 July 2017, Edinburgh, Scotland +

Authors: Gargi Priyamwada, Rajan Rawal, Rashmin Damle
Abstract:

Reducing solar heat gain to achieve thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings is one of the key strategies adopted by architects in cooling dominated climate. Brick trellis and brick masonry wall are some visual expressions explored by architects. This study investigates the impact of surface modulation due to projections in brickwork on total solar heat gain.


Keyword: brick projection, solar radiation, micro shading, heat transfer, numerical analysis
Presented at: 33rd International PLEA Conference, 02-05 July 2017, Edinburgh, Scotland +

Authors: Francesco Babich, Malcolm Cook, Dennis Loveday, Rajan Rawal, Yash Shukla
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In recent years, there has been a proliferation of air-conditioning in both residential and commercial buildings in India. Mixed-mode buildings are buildings in which a combination of air-conditioning and natural ventilation is used to provide comfortable indoor environments. These buildings are likely to be less energy consuming than fully air-conditioned buildings, and further energy savings can be achieved by using air movement to increase the cooling setpoint temperature without jeopardizing the occupants’ thermal comfort. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2017: 15th Conference of IBPSA, . 07-09 August 2017, San Francisco, CA, USA +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Rajan Rawal, Gail Brager, Chinmay Patel
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In the context of climate change, reduction in operational energy of buildings has gained a prominent focus amongst researchers and practitioners. India and the U.S. have both used design strategies to provide comfortable indoor environments with no or marginal reliance on conventional energy sources, but often with significant differences in their approaches and historical context. In particular, certain locations in both countries offer opportunities to design and operate buildings that are naturally ventilated or mixed-mode (combining operable windows and mechanical cooling).


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Presented at: ACEEE Summer Study 2016 - Energy Efficiency in Buildings, 21-26 August 2016, California, USA +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Chinmay Patel, Rajan Rawal, Gail Brager
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India has a largely cooling dominated climate where space cooling accounts for approximately 31% of the energy consumed by commercial buildings. Deeper market penetration of air conditioning systems, higher income levels driving higher comfort expectations, and growing floor space have led to a steep rise in associated carbon emissions. 


Keyword: Occupant satisfaction, Post-occupancy evaluation, Mixed-mode buildings, Thermal comfort, Indian offices
Presented at: 9th Windsor Conference, 07-10 April 2016, London, United Kingdom +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Sanyogita Manu, Yash Shukla, Leena E. Thomas, Richard de Dear
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Regulating clothing is one of the most obvious behavioural responses to changing thermal conditions. The extent of clothing, in turn, affects thermal sensation and acceptability. A lack of extensive thermal comfort field studies in India has meant that there has been very limited data on clothing related occupant behaviour in Indian offices until now. 


Keyword: clothing, behavioural adaptation, thermal comfort, Indian offices, office users
Presented at: 9th Windsor Conference, 07-10 April 2016, London, United Kingdom +

Authors: Dennis Loveday, Lynda Webb, Purnima Verma, Malcolm Cook, Rajan Rawal, Keyur Vadodaria, Paul
Abstract:

As the climate changes, global use of air-conditioning will proliferate as solutions are sought for maintaining thermal comfort in buildings. This rises alongside increased purchasing power as economies grow, harbouring the potential to unleash an unprecedented growth in energy demand. Encouraging higher levels of air movement at warmer temperatures to maintain thermal comfort may offset the risk of increased air-conditioning use. 


Keyword: thermal comfort, residential/mixed mode, field studies, air motion, database
Presented at: 9th Windsor Conference, 07-10 April 2016, London, United Kingdom +

Authors: Hema Mulchandani, Agam Shah, Rajan Rawal, Charlie Curcija
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This paper presents study of application of Laser Cut Panel (LCP) with reference to availability of daylight in deep plan open offices. The study generates Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function (BSDF) data of LCPs using Radiance-genBSDF program, which was compared with measured BSDF data using goniophotometer. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2015: 14th Conference of IBPSA, . 07-09 December 2015, Hyderabad, India +

Authors: Veronica Soebarto, Christina Hopfe, Dru Crawley, Rajan Rawal
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Presented at: Building Simulation 2015: 14th Conference of IBPSA, . 07-09 December 2015, Hyderabad, India +

Authors: Chinmay Patel, Agam Shah, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

As our fast interdepended global world enters the depth of the 21st century, everyone’s immediate attention is to mitigate climate change by various means. One of the proven methods to address climate mitigation is to reduce energy consumption in buildings. The war with global energy crisis is getting intense every second we breathe. 


Keyword: daylighting, dynamic shading device, louvers, office building, hot and dry, India
Presented at: 31st International PLEA Conference, 9-11 September 2015, Bologna, Italy +

Authors: Anoop Honnekeri, Gail Brager, Sanyogita Manu, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:

Buildings account for 30% of energy consumption in India, and it is estimated that 70% of the projected commercial building stock by 2030 is yet to be built. The recently established five-year US-India Centre for Building Energy Research and Development (CBERD) project aims to address the barriers for adopting low energy consuming strategies in buildings in India, while exploring the lessons that can also be applied to the US context. 


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Presented at: 30th International PLEA Conference, 16-18 December 2014, Ahmedabad, India +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Vivian Loftness, Rohini Srivastava, Devanshi Dadia, Hetal Parekh, Agam Shah
Abstract:

To achieve net zero energy, façade designs must move from static dark glass monoliths to dynamic, climate responsive layers for balancing daylighting and shading, natural ventilation and mixed mode conditioning. While 5-15 year energy paybacks are sufficient to prompt some level of increased investment in facades, dynamic facades require the addition of triple bottom line (TBL) calculations that capture the economic, environmental and human benefits of high performance buildings. 


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Presented at: 30th International PLEA Conference, 16-18 December 2014, Ahmedabad, India +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Mona Doctor-Pingel, Anna Bakhlina, Vipal Krishnaraj, Philippe Bourdon
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India has a rich tradition of passive architectural design practice. There has been, however, little effort to study these design strategies to evaluate their effectiveness. This study analyses the climate responsiveness and thermal performance of domes and vaults in brick masonry. The study compares the performance of hemispherical domes and segmental vaults in a residence-office building for indoor conditions measured on hourly basis for one year. 


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Presented at: 30th International PLEA Conference, 16-18 December 2014, Ahmedabad, India +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal, Leena E. Thomas, Richard de Dear, Mithi Dave, Mih
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Free-running buildings (i.e. naturally ventilated buildings with no mechanical systems for heating or cooling) have the potential to be much more energy efficient than air-conditioned buildings. This paper is based on approximately 3200 instantaneous thermal comfort and 1500 long term background survey datasets from a large scale field study conducted in free-running Indian office buildings. 


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Presented at: 30th International PLEA Conference, 16-18 December 2014, Ahmedabad, India +

Authors: Rajan Rawal, Mithi Dave
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The increasing penetration and diversity of plug loads and their ubiquitous nature in work environments in India means that they are potentially significant consumers of electricity. End-use energy efficiency measures in buildings have largely ignored plug loads which might be attributed to a dearth of India-specific studies which quantify plug-load energy consumption and their usage characteristics through end-use measurements. 


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Presented at: 4th Masters Conference, July 2014, London Metropolitan University, London, United Kingdom +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal-
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This study aims to establish a correlation between thermal comfort and energy consumption for typical office buildings in India. Building envelope characteristics are varied to represent local energy code compliant case. Regression analysis is used to derive the aforementioned correlation using energy consumption and thermal comfort indices from the simulation output. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2013: 13th Conference of IBPSA, 26-28 August 2013, Chambery, France +

Authors: Rohini Singh, Rajan Rawal
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The paper attempts to analyze the relationship between surface colour reflectance and lighting power density for a given context. Analysis was based on digital modelling using validated lighting simulation tool. The study establishes itself on the premise that grey value of colour can be presumed to calibrate the luminous character of light. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2011, 12th IBPSA Conference +

Authors: Neha Singhal, Tanmay Tathagat, Rajan Rawal
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The purpose of this study is to determine appropriate daylighting devices for office buildings in the city of New Delhi, India. It addresses to those devices, which are available commercially such as light shelves, anidolic light ducts, and light tubes. It intends to understand the performance of these daylight devices to their maximum potential so as to increase the daylight availability and thereby reduce the electrical lighting loads. 


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Presented at: Building Simulation 2009: 11th Conference of IBPSA, 27-30 July 2009, Glasgow, Scotland +

Authors: Sanyogita Manu, Rajan Rawal
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The study is placed within the context of local building regulations in India. Building regulations, for fenestration in general and window openings in particular, are, to a large extent, ambiguous in nature. In the context of India, observations show that the regulations specify window size for the sole purpose of ventilation whereas windows are major role players in the thermal and daylighting performance of buildings.


Keyword: building regulations, windows, energy efficiency, thermal, daylighting, simulation, regression
Presented at: Building Simulation 2009: 11th Conference of IBPSA, 27-30 July 2009, Glasgow, Scotland +

Supported by:

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Govt. of India, Gujarat Energy Development Agency, U.S. Agency for International Development iNDEXTb (Industrial Extension Bureau) Govt. of Gujarat, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, New Delhi