| Author: | Xu, Pengpeng |
| Title: | A model for sustainable Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) using Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) mechanism for hotel buildings in China |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Subject: | Hotels -- Energy conservation -- China. Hotels -- Environmental aspects -- China. Hotel management -- China. Architecture and energy consumption. Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Building and Real Estate |
| Pages: | xv, 221 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Among the building stocks in any country, there are more existing buildings than the new ones that are energy inefficient. Hotel building is one of the high-energy-consuming building types, and retrofitting hotel buildings is an untapped solution to help cut carbon emissions contributing towards sustainable development. Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) not only provides excellent opportunities to reduce overall energy consumption of all buildings in a city but also improves environment protection, rational resources use, and occupants' health. Sustainable development (SD) strategy has embraced many aspects of human activities and sustainable BEER is integrating sustainable development concept into existing buildings and retrofit projects. For BEER projects to fulfill the sustainable development strategy, various delivery models should be considered. Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) has been promulgated as a market mechanism for the delivery of energy efficiency projects, and yet there is a lack of effective performance indicators to measure the sustainability of BEER projects. EPC mechanism has been introduced into China relatively recently, and it has not been implemented successfully in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. The aim of this research is to develop a model for achieving the sustainability of Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) in hotel buildings under the Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) mechanism. The objectives include: (1) To critical review BEER and EPC from the perspective of sustainable development; (2) To develop a conceptual framework for sustainable BEER projects under the EPC mechanism; (3) To identify a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring the sustainability of BEER in hotel buildings; (4) To identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) under EPC mechanism that have a strong correlation with identified KPIs and sustainable BEER project; (5) To develop a model explaining the relationships between the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and the sustainability performance of BEER in hotel building. Literature reviews revealed the essence of sustainable BEER and EPC, which help to develop a conceptual framework for analyzing sustainable BEER under EPC mechanism in hotel buildings. 11 potential KPIs for sustainable BEER and 28 success factors of EPC were selected based on the framework developed through literature review and in-depth interview. A questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain the importance of selected performance indicators and success factors. Fuzzy set theory was adopted in identifying the KPIs. The 6 identified KPIs are: (1) Quality performance, (2) Hotel energy management, (3) Cost benefit performance, (4) Energy consumption & resources saving, (5) Health and safety, and (6) Stakeholders' satisfaction. Through a questionnaire survey, out of the 28 success factors, 21 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) were also indentified. Using the factor analysis technique, the 21 identified CSFs in this study were grouped into six clusters to help explain project success of sustainable BEER. They are: Project organization process; EPC project financing for hotel retrofit; Implementation of SD strategy; Knowledge and innovation of EPC, SD, and M&V (Measurement and Verification); Contractual arrangement; and External economic environment. The results indicate that the EPC professional team, client, ESCOs (energy service companies), and other related departments, who are directly or indirectly involved in this work, should make joint efforts to deliver sustainable BEER projects successfully. Finally, AHP/ANP approach was used in this research to develop a model to examine the interrelationships among the identified CSFs, KPIs, and sustainable dimensions of BEER. The findings indicate that the success of sustainable BEER in hotel buildings under the EPC mechanism is mainly decided by project objectives control mechanism, available technology, organizing capacity of team leader, trust among partners, accurate M&V, and team workers' technical skills. This study has the significant value of contributing to the body of knowledge on theory and project practice in sustainable BEER and Energy Performance Contracting. The ANP model developed in this study itself is the first attempt to investigate the success factors of EPC mechanism affecting the sustainability performance of hotel retrofits for building energy efficiency. Findings in this study provide valuable reference for practitioners to conduct BEER projects using EPC mechanism successfully. Furthermore, based on the results of this study, governments and industry associates could propose relevant policies to implement EPC successfully for sustainable BEER of hotel buildings. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b25226757.pdf | For All Users | 6.04 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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