Energy saving in office buildings. A case study in Rome through the use of DOE2 and other simulation tools

A large office building has been the object of a detailed feasibility study in order to select the most effective actions for energy saving in space cooling. Actions concerning the modification of building envelope layout, including materials, shading devices, colours, and retrofit insulation have been tested together with a set of improvements of the lighting system and an extensive use of daylighting strategies. Building energy performances under the various retrofit hypotheses have been assessed by means of DOE-2.1E. Changes in consumption of both electricity and fuel have been evaluated through all year round simulation. The integration of daylighting with lighting controls was simulated using a specific software (LUMENMICRO) in combination with DOE-2. All the actions have been classified according to their economic, energy and environmental performances.