Relationship between U-values, energy demand and life cycle costs in office buildings

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This volume of the Young Cities Research Briefs presents the New Generation Office Building as a pilot project of the Young Cities Research Project, focusing on energy and cost implications related to various thermal resistances of the building envelope. It consists of two chapters: the first outlines an alternative design for a very low energy office building, detailing the project's main objectives, applied concepts, and architectural plans. The second chapter examines the energy demand and life cycle costs of the office building with different U-values, aiming to identify the optimal U-value for the warm, dry climate of Hashtgerd New Town, Iran. Using dynamic energy simulation, the study calculates heating and cooling energy demands across nine building envelope variations. Results indicate that while thermal insulation benefits winter performance, it can negatively impact summer efficiency, necessitating specific design adaptations for warmer months. The cost analysis evaluates initial, maintenance, energy, and life cycle costs over a 15-year period for the nine case studies. Although some insulation cases yield energy cost savings, overall costs increase due to additional insulating materials. Since energy costs represent only 5% of total life cycle expenses, these savings do not significantly affect the overall life cycle costs.