Iran has rich resources of energy. Lack
of attention to the real value of energy has led the country to the false pattern
of lavish energy consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to let the correct culture
of consumption prevail in the country by an exact monitoring of the general regulations
of buildings. The house section has 40% of total energy consumption in the country.
The big majority of buildings in Iran lack the recognized standards for the loss
of cooling or warming energy. Although the energy consumption per square meter in
Iran is two to three times higher than the global standards, the warmth comfortableness
has not been met in buildings. As a result, one of the main policies and priorities
of the government is to reduce the consumed energy in the housing and building section.
The main aim
of
implementing energy audit in buildings and houses is to realize their fortes
and the blind spots in energy consumption and then to suggest possibilities of optimal
use of energy.
The department
for building energy audit of the company Mabna commenced its activities with the
aim of creating new structures in this regard. Committed to the highly respected
idea of country’s development and depending on its background and experience in
doing energy audit activities in industry and also cognizant of the fortes and the
blind spots of the current methods of energy auditing in the world, the company
has concentrated on preparing and equipping standards in this domain. As one of
its first projects, the company has carried out the project “preparing the standard
method of measuring the energy function in building” for the Iranian Fuel Conservation
Organization.
The
distribution of energy use in the country
According to
estimates, the total amount of energy use in 1371 amounted to 12 billion dollars.
The number reached 20 billion dollars in year 1381, and it is foreseen that –in
case the same trend of energy use continues- the energy use in country will be the
same amount of energy production by the year 1386 and so the possibility of exporting
energy will be eliminated.
The main consumers
of energy in the country are as follows:
-
Industry 26.4%
-
Transportation 27.7%
-
House 32.8%
-
Commerce 8.2%
-
Agriculture 4.4%
-
Further consumers 0.4%
According to
the first diagram, the house section has the highest amount of energy use in the
country. If commercial consumption of energy is considered as that in House section,
then it will have more than 40% of total energy use of the country. At the same
time, this section has the highest amount of energy subsidy (diagram number 2).
Diagram of energy use in Iran
A comparison
of energy consumption per year in an Iranian family and a similar family in developed
countries reveals the big difference between them. This fact demonstrates the necessity
of an urgent reconsideration of energy use in the house section. Although there
is not a big financial burden for the energy use due to the low costs of energy
in the country, it is the government, which pays the subsidy, and consequently it
is quite comprehensible that savings on energy use in a national scale could lead
to great advantages. As a result, a main method of saving on energy in a high level
would be to optimize the energy use in buildings.
Diagram 2 – Energy
Subsidy in the Country (1378)
The
necessity of optimizing energy use in buildings
The advantages
of optimizing energy consumption in the house section can be summarized in the following
four sections:
-
A help to the economy of family
-
An increase in relative welfare as a result of
correct use of energy
-
A help to the national economy
-
A decrease in energy use and as a result a decrease
in pollutions resulted from that
Regarding the
necessity of optimizing energy consumption in the house section, the government
cabinet decided 1370 in the “ Discussion 19 of National Regulations for Building”
to make it obligatory to use the principles of optimizing the energy use in buildings.
However, due to the lack of sufficient monitoring of these regulations, an increase
in building energy consumption has been suspended since then.
According to
the “Discussion 19 of National Regulation for Building”, the different sections
of the country were divided into three groups depending on their need to energy;
sections with high need to energy, sections with moderate need to energy and sections
with low need to energy. Due to its special needs, the city of Tehran has been considered
separately.
In order to
determine a correct pattern and to achieve the required conditions, regulations
and standards in optimizing energy consumption in the house section, there is a
need to exploit appropriate instruments and methods. Energy audit is considered
here as a powerful instrument in recognizing the fortes and the blind spots and
in determining the optimizing measures to achieve the intended aim (optimizing energy
consumption).
Another considerable
point is the division of energy audit into micro and macro levels. In the first
level, the aim is to determine the energy consumption and its distance with the
ideal consumption in a special building and finally to offer the possibilities of
energy saving in order to get near to the ideal situation. In the latter level,
however, the aim is to prepare and to offer policies in energy saving. For this
level, it is necessary to assess the energy audit in many buildings, so that the
results can be extended to the whole building industry.
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