Module 5: Utility of Solar Energy in Buildings & Green Composites for Buildings

Module – 5

Utility of Solar energy in buildings

By using the latest Solar Energy Technologies, buildings can save around 30-40% on their
energy use. We can also become a net-zero Energy Building owner when we create more
energy than we utilize. Undoubtedly, Solar Powered Buildings with proper use of technology
are more efficient in energy consumption.

Reasons behind buildings opting for solar sources

⚫ Increasing energy consumption.

⚫ Environmental consciousness.

⚫ Global climate change.

⚫ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) implication/ advantage

for Corporate buildings.

⚫ Attraction towards cleanest, renewable energy.

⚫ High social value and an increase in the value of the property.

Types of Solar Energy Technologies

Currently, solar energy is harnessed using three primary technologies.

1) Photovoltaic (PV) – directly convert light to electricity.

2) Concentrating solar power (CSP) – heat is being used from the sun (thermal energy)
to drive electric turbines, utility-scale.
3) Solar heating and cooling (SHC) systems – accumulate thermal energy to supply hot
water and air heating and/ or conditioning.

1) Photovoltaic (PV)

PV absorbs direct sunlight through the photovoltaic effect to produce an electric

current.

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Module 5: Utility of Solar Energy in Buildings & Green Composites for Buildings

2) Concentrating solar power (CSP)

CSP technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver. The energy
from the concentrated sunlight heats a high temperature fluid in the receiver. This heat - also
known as thermal energy - can be used to spin a turbine or power an engine to generate
electricity.

3) Solar heating and cooling (SHC) systems

It collect the thermal energy from the sun and use this heat to provide hot water, space
heating, cooling, and pool heating for residential, commercial, and industrial applications.

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Solar Passive Cooling and Heating of Buildings

⚫ It is least expensive means of cooling a home which maximizes the efficiency of

building without any use of mechanical devices.

⚫ It rely on natural heat- sinks to remove heat from the building. They derive cooling
directly from evaporation, convection and radiation without using any intermediate
electrical devices.

⚫ The engineering required to create these systems includes carefully selecting materials
for the building envelope- including the building's walls, floors, roofs, windows and
their glazing materials - and determining their proper orientation.

⚫ Passive heating and cooling strategically captures or shades against solar radiation.

⚫ Technologies include windows, ventilators, solar chimneys and trombe walls.

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Module 5: Utility of Solar Energy in Buildings & Green Composites for Buildings

Solar Passive heating and Cooling systems in Buildings

Elements of passive solar design

Following are the elements of passive solar design

1) The light collector – ‘Aperture’

The light collector refers to large, sun-facing glassed (windowed) areas in the home at which
sunlight can enter the building.

Natural light streaming through your home is not only beautiful and a natural mood enhancer,
but it serves two purposes for energy efficiency. Great use of natural lighting means we can
use artificial lighting less, and sunlight also adds warmth, reducing the need for additional
heating in winter.

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In Summer, the sun sits higher in the sky, so wide eaves help to reduce the amount of sunlight
and heat entering the home.

2) The Heat Absorber

This is a hard, darkened surface, which could be a masonry wall, floor, or water container,
that sits in the direct path of the sunlight and absorbs heat throughout the day, storing it in the
‘thermal mass’ behind.

3) The Thermal mass

The thermal mass is the material that retains or stores the heat produced by sunlight. This
could be a sun-facing brick wall or a concrete slab. The ‘absorber’ is the dark outer surface
exposed to the sun, the thermal mass is the material beneath this surface that retains the sun’s
energy (heat) that it will release into the home throughout the day.

4) The Distribution

This is the method by which the stored energy or heat collected in the thermal mass circulates
throughout the house. This may include fans or ducts, or just the natural behaviour of the
thermal material – a wall, for example – which radiates warmth collected throughout the day
into the home overnight.

5) Control

Here’s where the design is controlled to suit the season. The sun hangs lower in winter, so
although the climate is cooler, sunlight is able to penetrate through sun-facing windows
well. In summer, the sun sits higher in the sky, so the home’s eaves (roof overhang) shade
the sun from the light collector and heat absorber, allowing less heat to penetrate inside.

Another example of the control element is airflow and ventilation. Take advantage of the
breeze by placing windows to capture and circulate the cool air throughout the home.

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Management of Solid Waste

Different types of Wastes

⚫ Solid wastes – These are the unwanted substances that are discarded by human society.
These include urban wastes, industrial wastes, agricultural wastes, biomedical wastes and
radioactive wastes.

⚫ Liquid wastes – Wastes generated from washing, flushing or manufacturing processes in

industries are called liquid wastes.

⚫ Gaseous wastes – These are the wastes that are released in the form of gases from
automobiles, factories or burning of fossil fuels like petroleum. They get mixed in the
other gases in atmosphere and occasionally cause events such as smog and acid rain.

Types of Solid Wastes

Broadly there are 3 types of waste which are as follows.

(1) Household waste is generally classified as Municipal waste

(2) Industrial waste as Hazardous waste

(3) Biomedical waste or Hospital waste as Infection waste.

Causes of Solid Waste

The increase in the quantity of solid waste is due to:

⚫ Overpopulation : with rising urbanization and change in lifestyle and food habits,
amount of solid waste has been increasing rapidly and its composition changing.

⚫ Affluence (material comfort)

⚫ Technological advancement.

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Effects of solid waste

4R’s Concept in Solid Waste management

A number of waste prevention techniques are available, and they are

commonly summarized as popularly known as 4R: Refuse, Reuse, Recycle and Reduce.

To overcome the problem of solid wastes, following steps need to be taken:

(1)Wherever possible, waste reduction should be preferred.

(2) Every effort should be made to reuse of produced wastes.

(3)Recycling should be the third option for the wastes.

(4) There are several options for recycling. Such options should be selected taking in view
social and economical acceptability.

(5) Attempts should be made to recover materials or energy from waste which cannot be
reduced, reused or recycled.

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Module 5: Utility of Solar Energy in Buildings & Green Composites for Buildings

Management of Sullage water and Sewage

Sullage or Gray Water

Water that already has been used domestically, commercially and industrially and is the
leftover, untreated water generated from washing machines, showers, bath tubs, bathrooms
and wash basins.

Aerobic and biological treatments are used as primary grey water treatment to remove
dissolved and suspended biological matter, followed by ultra-filtration to prevent particles,
bacteria and viruses that passing through.

Sewage Water

Sewage, commonly known as black water, is wastewater from toilets. Because of pathogens
and grease contamination, kitchen and dishwasher water is also considered black water. It is
also known as brown water.

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Module 5: Utility of Solar Energy in Buildings & Green Composites for Buildings

Treatment process of Sewage Water

Urban environment and Green building

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Module 5: Utility of Solar Energy in Buildings & Green Composites for Buildings

Green composites

Sustainable materials that have matrices composed of natural fibers are known as green
composites.

Advantages and disadvantage of Green composites

Various low energy approaches to water management

1) Rainwater harvesting

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to
run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep

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pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation. Dew and fog can also be
collected with nets or other tools. Rainwater harvesting differs from stormwater harvesting as
the runoff is collected from roofs, rather than creeks, drains, roads, or any other land surfaces.
Its uses include watering gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with proper treatment,
and domestic heating. The harvested water can also be committed to longer-term storage or
groundwater recharge.

2) Groundwater recharge

Groundwater recharge is the enhancement of natural groundwater supplies using man-made

conveyances such as infiltration basins, trenches, dams, or injection wells. Aquifer storage
and recovery (ASR) is a specific type of groundwater recharge practiced with the purpose of
both augmenting groundwater resources and recovering the water in the future for various
uses.

Groundwater is recharged naturally by rain and snowmelt and to a smaller extent by surface
water (rivers and lakes). Recharge may be impeded somewhat by human activities including
paving, development, or logging. These activities can result in loss of topsoil resulting in
reduced water infiltration, enhanced surface runoff and reduction in recharge. The use of
groundwaters, especially for irrigation, may also lower the water tables. Groundwater
recharge is an important process for sustainable groundwater management since the volume-
rate abstracted from an aquifer in the long term should be less than or equal to the volume-
rate that is recharged. Recharge can help move excess salts that accumulate in the root zone to
deeper soil layers, or into the groundwater system. Tree roots increase water saturation into
groundwater reducing water runoff. Flooding temporarily increases river bed permeability by
moving clay soils downstream, and this increases aquifer recharge.

3) Drip irrigation

Drip irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and
nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil
surface or buried below the surface. The goal is to place water directly into the root zone and
minimize evaporation. Drip irrigation systems distribute water through a network of valves,

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pipes, tubing, and emitters. Depending on how well designed, installed, maintained, and
operated it is, a drip irrigation system can be more efficient than other types of irrigation
systems, such as surface irrigation or sprinkler irrigation.

4) Sewage water treatment

Sewage treatment is the process of removing contaminants from municipal wastewater,

containing mainly household sewage plus some industrial wastewater. Physical, chemical,
and biological processes are used to remove contaminants and produce treated wastewater (or
treated effluent) that is safe enough for release into the environment. A by-product of sewage
treatment is a semi-solid waste or slurry, called sewage sludge. The sludge has to undergo
further treatment before being suitable for disposal or application to land.

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