The 9th International Conference for Basic Sciences

27 – 29 March, 2017, Cairo, Egypt.

Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development
Al-Azhar University – Faculty of Science (ISCAZ)

A METHODOLOGY FOR IMPROVING ENERGY PERFORMANCE IN

EXISTING OFFICE BUILDINGS IN EGYPT: A CASE STUDY

Lamiaa Abdallah(1) and Tarek El-Shennawy(2)

(1) Alexandria higher Institute for Engineering and Technology (AIET), Alexandria, Egypt
(2) Alexandria National Refining and Petrochemicals Co. (ANRPC), Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract:
Given the current energy crisis in Egypt, and knowing that the building stock in Egypt
consumes more than 60% of the electrical energy, clarify the importance of improving energy
performance in buildings. The issue becomes more important with Egypt’s commitment to the
17 goals of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development and Egypt declaration of its 2030
vision with its economic, environmental and social dimensions. Improving the energy
performance in buildings can be done by retrofitting the building envelope, using more efficient
energy-using equipment such as lighting and air conditioners, using renewable energy sources,
and altering the occupants’ behavior concerning energy usage. In this paper, a quick, easy-to-
implement methodology is proposed for implementation in existing office buildings. The
procedure combines both economic and environmental aspects of energy conservation methods
and prioritize them, along with the solution economics, energy saving and environmental
benefits. An office building in Alexandria, Egypt, is taken as a case study to examine the
effectiveness of the procedure. The results are easily presented to the decision makers with
both economic and environmental indices. The procedure can be applied to most non-
residential buildings.
Keywords: energy conservation –office buildings – CO2 emissions

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Energy & Environment
Energy is a key issue for development of any nation. However, using energy consumes finite
fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and natural gas), causes air pollution, environmental damage,
global warming and costs money. Among the many human activities that produce greenhouse
gases, the use of energy represents by far the largest source of emissions.
To generate electricity by conventional methods, a fossil fuel is burned (oxidized) to generate
heat (transforming chemical energy in the fuel to heat energy). This heat energy is used either
to convert water into steam in a steam turbine or in a combustion chamber to revolve a gas
turbine using the combustion gases (transforming heat energy to mechanical rotating energy).
This rotating turbine serves as the prime mover for an electric generator (transforming kinetic
energy into electrical energy), with an overall thermal efficiency approximately equal to 40%.

1
Let us assume that we have a certain amount of natural gas (or methane CH4). Since methane
is a hydrocarbon, a common way to convert its chemical energy into work is to combine it with
oxygen from the atmosphere and burn it to release its chemical energy in the form of heat.
Accordingly, methane and oxygen undergo a chemical reaction and produce water and carbon
dioxide, as shown in eq. (1):
CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O + heat (1)
The amount of CO2 released in order to generate 1 kWh of electric energy depends on the
carbon content in the fuel as shown in Table I [1].
Table I. Amount of CO2 in kg released to generate 1 kWh of electricity
Fuel Coal Petroleum Oil Natural Gas
CO2 released in kg/kWh 0.95 ~ 1 0.75 ~ 0.8 0.55
Despite the growth of non-fossil energy (such as nuclear, hydropower, solar and wind), the
share of fossil fuels within the world energy supply is relatively unchanged. In 2015, fossil
sources accounted for 80% of the world energy production. According to the International
Energy Agency (IEA), the annual CO2 emissions from fuel combustion reaches 36 GtCO2 in
2015, the hottest year recorded ever, with CO2 concentration of the atmosphere reaching 400
ppm. For the first time in the history of climate negotiations, an agreement among the leaders
of the world was signed on December 2015 at the United Nations (UN) 21ˢᵗ session of the
Conference of the Parties (COP21) on climate change in Paris. The agreement main goal was
to limit global warming to an increase of maximum of 1.5°C to 2°C by the year 2100 above
the 20th century level. Global warming of more than 2°C would have serious consequences,
such as an increase in the number of extreme climate events such as rise in sea level, droughts,
etc. [2].
The United Nations declares 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) to be achieved by
2030. The 7th goal is concerned about energy: ensure universal access to affordable, reliable,
and modern energy services, increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
and double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency [3].

B. Energy, Environment & Buildings

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), buildings consume about
40% of global energy, 25% of global water, and 60% of global electricity. Buildings also emit
more than 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under the business-as-usual
projection accompanied by rapid urbanization, emissions caused by the buildings sector may
more than double by 2050 [4].
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the buildings sector can
play a critical role in mitigating climate change by reducing energy consumption and GHG
emissions. The buildings sector has the most cost-effective and proven solutions for reducing
energy consumption and GHG emissions [5].
Retrofitting may involve improving or replacing lighting fixtures, ventilation systems, or
windows and doors, or adding insulation where it makes economic sense. Retrofitting existing
buildings has the potential to reduce energy usage by 30–40 % [6].
A number of studies had been carried out worldwide to analyze the effectiveness of retrofit
methods in different buildings. Some Studies focus on macro-vision concerning buildings in
cities, whether residential or non-residential [7-8]. Some other researchers focus on the unique
characteristics of buildings in various nations, climates and standard of living. In USA, the US
Department of Energy (DOE) conducted the market in an effort to save 50% of energy use in
its office buildings [9]. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in USA launched an
Energy Star program for rating and certifying buildings. To be certified, a building must earn
a score of 75 or higher on a 1-100 scoring system set by EPA for different types of buildings
[10]. In Europe, a Public Private Partnership (PPP) was established to achieve the goals of the

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European Union to limit its CO2 emissions by 80% in 2050, compared to 1990 figures [11].
Besides, the European Union aims to transform existing buildings to Near-Zero Energy
Buildings (nZEB) by minimizing the building need for energy and supplying this energy from
renewable sources [12]. It is worth noting that the USA aims at cost saving whereas the Eurpean
Union aims at CO2 reductions. Similar efforts are carried out in Japan [13]. The new-growing
economies, such as China [14] and India [15], with its increasing demand on energy, and its
potential on the CO2 emissions, are also aware of the importance of energy conservation
measures in office buildings and set national action plans for reducing energy consumption in
office buildings. It is worth noting that energy conservation in office buildings attracts even
the rich gulf countries, like Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [16].

C. Energy Efficiency & Energy Saving

Energy conservation and energy efficiency appear to be synonymous concepts and are often
used interchangeably in the energy field. However, there are some differences between the two.
Energy conservation is related to human behavior. Switching off lights when out of a room,
using daylight, using fans instead of air-conditioner, adjusting the air-conditioner to 24°C
instead of 20°C, use little amount of water during a shower, all these are energy conservation
actions. Energy efficiency is defined as the ratio between the output of the performance, and
an input of energy. Energy efficiency is used in the context of increasing or improving this
efficiency by having the same output (lighting level for example) while using less energy input.
Replacing incandescent bulbs with LED ones is an energy efficiency action. Energy saving is
the amount of energy saved, determined by measuring or estimating consumption before and
after implementation of one or more energy conservation and/or energy efficiency
improvement measures [17].

II. ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDINGS IN EGYPT

A. Energy Mix & Utilization in Egypt
According to the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) latest published annual report
for the fiscal year 2014-2015, the peak load was 28 GW, the total energy produced was 175,000
GWh whereas the total energy consumed was 146,000 GWh. The energy mix is shown in Fig.
(1), where 91% from the total energy generated is from thermal fossil fuel, 8% from
hydropower and 1% from renewables (wind and solar). The total fuel consumption for the
thermal power plants is 34 Million Ton of Oil Equivalent (Mtoe), from which 73.6% is from
natural gas and 26.4% is from residual petroleum oil [18].

hydro; 8%

gas + oil; renewables; 1%

91%

Fig. (1) Energy mix in Egypt (2014-2015)

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Applying the figures of table I to the Egyptian energy mix will yield 105 Million tons (Mt) of
CO2 emissions because of power production, about 47% of Egypt’s total emissions of 225
MtCO2 in 2014. This means that for the 175 GWh of electric energy produced in Egypt in
2014-2015, 105 MTCO2 are emitted, with an emission rate of 0.6 kg CO2 / kWh for the current
energy mix in Egypt. This means that for every 1 kWh of energy saved, an equivalent 0.6 kg
of CO2 will be reduced.

B. Buildings in Egypt
In 2015, Egypt declared its 2030 vision comprising economic, environmental and social
dimensions, in context with the UN 17 SDG’s [19].
Improving the energy performance in buildings can be a key player for Egypt’s action plan to
achieve its 2030 goals. According to the latest census report in Egypt, there was approximately
11.5 Million building in Egypt (2006), of which about 0.5 Million buildings are regarded as
office buildings [20].
According to [18], the electricity consumption in buildings in Egypt exceeds 60% of the total
electricity consumption in the fiscal year 2014-2015. Residential buildings accounted for
approximately 44% while governmental, commercial and other buildings accounted for
approximately 17% of the total consumption, as shown in Fig. (2).

Industrial
26%
Residential
44%

Commercial
13%

Governmental
Puplic lighting 5%
4% Agriculture Utilities
4% 4%

Fig. (2) Electricity consumption in Egypt by Sectors (2014-2015)

It can be concluded from the above survey that there is a large room for energy retrofit in the
existing office buildings in Egypt, which can reduce Egypt’s needs for energy, decrease fuel
imports and saves foreign currencies, can improve the environmental situation in Egypt and in
the same time, contributes to the global environmental efforts to have a better world. To
conclude this part, we can quote part of the speech of Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general,
during the “People’s Climate March”, where nearly half a million person walked in the streets
of New York in front of the UN headquarters to support climate actions: “There will be no plan
B, simply because there is no planet B”.

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C. Research in Energy Efficiency in Egyptian non-residential buildings
Three building energy codes were introduced in Egypt for residential buildings (2005),
commercial buildings (2007) and governmental buildings (2010). The Green Pyramid Rating
System was introduced in December 2010 to evaluate the performance of the new buildings in
comparison to other buildings, in terms of energy and environment performance [21]. It is
similar to EnergyStar and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) systems
in USA, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method)
system in the United Kingdom (UK), the Pearl (Istidama) system in United Arab Emirates. The
code is not mandatory and the government was unable to adopt and enforce the new code until
now. Adding to that, there were no guidelines provided in the code with regard to rank or
retrofit existing buildings.
Ayyad and Gabr showed how environmentally conscious architecture and planning are crucial
for future national development plans, as the country experiences a considerable challenge in
economic, social and environmental terms. They focused on how to have a “green” national
development plan [22].
Sarhan et al. highlighted that several factors could reduce the energy consumption in offices;
such as passive design, energy conservation plans, water management systems, controlled
lighting systems, use of renewable energy, limited use of active air conditioning system and
building envelope improvements. The paper focused on the building’s envelope, which with
careful design could reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint by up to 15%. An office
building (the Petroleum Complex) in Alexandria, Egypt is taken as a case-study to verify their
assumption [23].
Nayera et al. studied the energy performance in two administrative office buildings (Petrojet
Company) in Cairo. One building is a traditional classic building while in the other building
the designer considers energy efficiency and solar energy generated power contribution to the
power required. The evaluation is done by ENERGY STAR. The study concluded that energy
efficient lighting and HVAC systems used in the new building save 19% and 64% of the energy
used respectively and will save about 46% from the source energy used. In addition the GHG
emissions / m2 in the new building is half that of the existing one [24].
Radwan et al. studied the energy performance of a hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. The hospital
is considered a huge energy consumption building due to 24 h, 7 days availability, medical
equipment, and requirements for clean air and disease control. The study focused on proper
HVAC system sizing for energy efficiency improvement. The new system was compared to
the existing system and significant energy saving (41%) was found [25].
Aboulnaga and Mostafa studied the energy performance in a higher education building
(Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University). Energy consumption
in education buildings depends, mainly on the building’s activities, time of use and influx of
visitors and students and academic staff as well as the academic terms whether in winter
summer. The study concluded that retrofitting measures are important to reduce energy
consumption in higher educational buildings and cooling requirements in hot climate. One of
the most important measures in the retrofitting process of the building envelop, including its
roof are mainly glazing type and characteristics, and walls’ thermal insulation. Results show
that applying these retrofitting measures; energy use has been reduced by 15% from the
baseline energy use of an average of 14.6 kWh/m2 yearly [26].
In conclusion, the research studies show that there are extraordinary opportunities to reduce
the energy consumption of non-residential buildings including government, corporate and
other commercial buildings in Egypt. This stock of building shares similar energy consumption
pattern, which should push the policy makers to set an urgent energy conservation and code-
enforced retrofit measures to start a national retrofit process in non-residential building stock
in Egypt.

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 III. METHODOLOGY
Step (1): Data Collection
Building type – number of employees – working hours – building area – electricity and water
bills for at least 12 months – number and size of elevators – type of air conditioning system
and its power - number and power of computers, printers, copiers, and other office equipment
– available area of the roof – maximum recorded temperature during the year – types, numbers
and power of lighting fixtures – number and power of electric water heaters – any other loads
that consumes energy.
Step (2): Energy Audit & Energy Saving Opportunities
Assign an audit team (internal or external). An external auditor may have new look. Auditors
should be experienced and perform their audit according to the audit plan. The audit report
should conclude with energy saving opportunities.
Step (3): Evaluation of the Opportunities
Each opportunity will be evaluated in terms of energy saving and its equivalent CO2 reduction.
Each opportunity will be assigned a score within the rating system with high scores given to
projects with high energy saving. This will be column I in the final decision matrix.
Step (4) Financial Analysis:
Each opportunity will be financially evaluated using PayBack Time (PBT) and Net Present
Value (NPV). Opportunities with shorter PBT’s and higher NPV’s will be assigned high scores
in the rating system. This will be column II in the final decision matrix.
Step (5) Apply Organization’s Constraints
Each organization may have certain constraints such as funding problems (limit the application
of high investment projects), need to comply with laws (prefer environmental projects even if
not economically feasible), time zone limit (prefer projects with short implementation period),
etc. Within these constrains some opportunities may be ignored even if technically and/or
economically attractive.
Step (6) Prioritize Opportunities:
The project with highest energy & environment benefits will be assigned a score of 100 in
column I, and all other projects will take a score represents its energy savings compared to the
top project. On the other side, the project with highest financial benefits will be assigned a
score of 100 in column II, and all other projects will take a score represents its cost savings
compared to the top project.
The first column I is multiplied by a factor (0 < α < 1) representing the attitude of the
organization towards energy and environment, whereas the second column II is multiplied by
a complementary factor β (α + β = 1) representing the attitude of the organization towards
money saving. Note that if it is required to maximize energy saving and environmental benefits,
then put α = 1 and therefore β = 0 and the priority list of column I will be generated after
eliminating any projects subject to the organization constraints. If it is required to maximize
the financial benefits then put α = 0 and therefore β = 1 and the priority list of column II will
be generated after eliminating any projects subject to the organization constraints. If there is
equal preference then α = β = 50%.
It should be noted that this is the outcome of this research paper. Next steps can be adopted
from the newly arising Energy Management System (EnMS) according to the standard ISO
50001 with its Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle [27].
Another final note concerns the issuing of the Electricity law # 87/2015 in Egypt and its
executive regulations # 230/2016 [28]. The law mandates that each organization with a
contracted load exceeding 500 kW shall assign an energy manager and shall keep energy
records, shall set an energy saving plan and implement it, in addition to other functions detailed
in the executive regulations. This paper will help energy managers to organize their action
plans for energy saving in compliance with new regulations.

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 IV. CASE STUDY
Alexandria National Refining & Petrochemicals Co. (ANRPC) is a refinery based in El-Max,
Alexandria, Egypt. The company has an administrative building comprising of the following:
- Ground floor (Meeting Room + Reception + kitchenette + Shift Rooms)
- 1st floor (Chairman + General Managers + Follow up department + Secretaries)
- 2nd floor (Engineering Departments)
- 3rd floor (Human Resources (HR), Workers’ Affairs)
- 4th floor (Financial Departments)
Part of the building’s ground floor is used as shift rooms (working 24 hours / day, 7 days /
week). The building collected power data is shown in Table II. Table III shows the monthly
electricity consumption during 2015 & 2016 whereas Fig. (3) shows the consumption trend.

Table II. Energy Data for the building

Normal operating hours 7.30 am : 3.30 pm
From Sunday to Thursday
No. of Employees 180
Base Area 800 m2
No. of air conditioners 76
Total power of air conditioners 230 kW
Lighting Fixtures Number Tot. Power
Fluorescent 4*18W 625 45 kW
Spot CFL 2*13W 300 7.8 kW
Fluorescent Fixtures for shift rooms 50 3.6 kW
Spot CFL for shift area 25 0.65 kW

Table III. Monthly building electricity consumption in kWh*103

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2015 29 28 37 38 51 49 55 72 65 52 46 34
2016 30 32 38 43 54 54 63 71 48 53 47 31

Fig. (3) Building electricity consumption from Jan. 2015 to Dec. 2016

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Observations and Discussions:
- The building consumption follows a regular pattern with minimum load around 30,000 kWh
in winter months (Dec, Jan. & Feb.) and a maximum load around 60,000 kWh in summer
months (June, July & Aug.) with peak load of 70,000 kWh in Aug. and average load during
Autumn and Spring months.
- Sep. 2016 shows a deviation from that regular pattern due to the vacation of Eid Al-Adha for
4 days other than Friday and Saturday during this period. During 2015, 2 days of the vacation
coincide with Friday and Saturday; hence it has a little influence.
- We can conclude that the basic load (all loads except air conditioning) is in the range of
30,000 kWh monthly. When the employees start to use the air conditioners, the consumed
energy reaches its maximum value gradually and decreases gradually to the basic load.
- The total consumption during 2015 is 556,000 kWh and the total consumption during 2016
is 558,000 kWh. If we consider the yearly basic load (without air conditioners), it will be in the
range of 360,000 kWh. That means that the air conditioning load during the year is in the range
of 200,000 kWh approximately.
- Considering the normal lighting loads (53 kW) for approximately 250 working days per year
and 8 hours per day for normal lighting, this consumes about 105,000 kWh annually. In
addition to the lighting of the shift area (4 kW) for 365 days, 24 hours, consumes about 35,000
kWh annually. Therefore, the total lighting load sums up to 140,000 kWh annually.
- Other loads not mentioned in Table II include 2 elevators, 2 water pumps, 40 electric water
heaters in bathrooms, 80 computers, 20 printers, 10 copiers, a server, an Uninterruptible Power
Supply (UPS) system, acoustic system, fire alarm system, in addition to cooking heaters, coffee
machines, refrigerators, kettles, water dispensers and similar appliances. These loads consume
approximately (360,000 – 140,000) = 220,000 kWh annually. The distribution of the consumed
energy on these major loads is shown in Fig. (4).
- From this discussion we can suggest some energy saving opportunities to be analyzed
technically (energy saving wise) and financially according to the procedure proposed in section
III of this paper.

Plug Loads Air-

39% conditioning
36%

Lighting
25%

Fig. (4) Energy consumed in the building by type of load

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 V. ENERGY SAVING OPPORTUNITIES
A. Technology-Based Opportunities
1) Building Envelope
Replace the glazing system such that new glass allows sunlight to enter without heat energy.
This will decrease both the artificial lighting load and the air-conditioning load.
2) Lighting System
Replace non-efficient lighting fixtures with LED. An LED lamp consumes 10W will give the
same illumination as that of incandescent 100W lamp or an equivalent 20W Compact
Fluorescent Lamp (CFL). An LED 60*60 cm panel with approximately 40W may replace the
recessed fluorescent fixtures consuming 72W. Moreover, there will be no heat emitted from
conventional lights when using LED, and hence, the air-conditioner loads will decrease.
3) Air-Conditioning
Use central air-conditioning systems instead of old (more than 10 years) individual split units.
4) Office Equipment & Electric Appliances
Replace in-efficient appliances with newer ones with energy label A (or green color), with
lowest consumption and highest efficiency. Use a common plug with four or five receptacles
equipped with main ON/OFF switch to save phantom (standby) loads.
5) Elevators
Use motors with variable speed drives instead of two-speed motors.
6) Heating Water
Use solar water heaters instead of electric heaters.
7) Photo-Voltaic (PV) solar systems
Photo-Voltaic (PV) solar systems represent very promising opportunity in supplying part of
the building loads during the shining envelope, which coincides with the working time. The
panels may serve as shading plates for the roof and hence, decrease the air-conditioner loads.
B. Personnel Behavior
This is the most important, yet frequently overlooked, energy saving opportunity; personnel
behavior. This is related to culture, and the feeling of belonging to the organization and to the
nation. It needs a lot of training, awareness campaigns, brochures, incentives, etc. Some people
are by nature energy savers, engage them to be part of the energy-saving plans and encourage
them to make a general culture of energy saving in the place. Some actions like energy man of
the month or a screen with the instantaneous power consumed in the building will make people
involve. It is important to be clear that energy saving will not sacrifice the comfort of the
building occupants. On the contrary, it will increase the wellbeing but with less energy. Some
actions that can be taken by personnel include:
a) Switch off lights when you are out of room. Use switches to allow only part of the room
to be lit. Use day lighting where applicable. Decrease the lights of the corridors by at
least 50%.
b) Switch off the air conditioner when you are out of room. Adjust the set point of the air
conditioner to 24°C during summer and do not operate the conditioner during winter.
Always use refrigerant (Freon) which is environmental friendly. Use air curtains or
automatic sliding doors at the entrances of the building. Use automatic door shutters in
the rooms to keep the conditioned space closed.
c) Make sure to set the computer to sleep (energy saving) mode when not in use.
d) Do not operate the elevator for the first floor.
e) Encourage electronic memos inside the organization to decrease printing (this also will
save paper, another opportunity for environment).
f) If electric heaters are used, adjust the temperature to 50°C. Make sure that thermostats
are working well. Unplug the heaters if not in use.
g) For heating tea and coffee water, use central large kettles instead of individual ones.

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 VI. Financial Analysis
A. Financial Indicators
Several evaluation methods can be used, according to the company’s internal evaluation criteria
for investment. The most familiar methods are [29]:
i) Payback time (PBT)
The payback time represents the amount of time that it takes for a project to recover its initial
cost. When selecting from several projects, the project with the shortest payback is to be
preferred. The PBT can be calculated from Eq. (2):

ProjectTotalCost
PBT (year)= (2)
AnnualSaving

ii) Net present value (NPV)

Although widely used, PBT does not consider the time-value of money. The net present value
(NPV) of a project takes into consideration the present value of the cash flow which will be
obtained throughout the project lifetime. Projects with a positive NPV should be accepted,
since the revenues are enough to pay the interest and recover the initial capital cost before the
end of the life of investment. When selecting from several projects, the project with the largest
positive NPV should be chosen. The NPV can be calculated from Eq. (3):

N
Rt
NPV = - Co + ∑ t
(3)
t = 1 (1 + r )
Where Co is the initial investment, N is the lifetime of the project, t is the year counter, Rt is the
net Revenue in the year t and r is the discount (interest) rate.

B. Energy Prices
Energy Prices in Egypt were subsidized for a long time due to social and political reasons.
During the years from 2008-2009 till 2012-2013, the government energy subsidies were
approximately equal to the nation’s financial deficit. The subsidies reach 120 Billion Egyptian
Pounds in 2012-2013 (equivalent to 15 Billion US$). The subsidies for the electricity sector
are direct (through subsidized energy prices) and indirect (through subsidizing fuel prices to
power plants). After two revolutions in less than 30 months, the new government takes severe
energy reforms considering energy tariff. Energy subsidies had been a barrier for energy saving
plans for long time. Nowadays, the energy saving measures are very attractive due to increasing
prices of electricity and other energy resources (like natural gas, gasoline and water).
As for electric energy, which is the main energy form discussed throughout this paper, most of
the office buildings are supplied with a medium voltage (11 kV) cable to a transformer inside
the building. A distribution panel exists in the electricity room to distribute the power among
various loads through switches and circuit breakers. The energy prices increase drastically with
the beginning of the fiscal year (July) as shown in Table IV [30].

Table IV. Electricity prices in the last 2 years

Prior to July 2015 Monthly bill = 0.366 L.E. * Consumption in kWh
From July 2015 to June 2016 Monthly bill = 30 L.E. * Peak load in kW
+ 0.435 L.E. * Consumption in kWh
From July 2016 Monthly bill = 45 L.E. * Peak load in kW
+ 0.52 L.E. * Consumption in kWh

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Notes:
- Starting from July 2015, the monthly bill is subdivided into 2 parts; in addition to the
normal consumption in kWh, another factor concerning the peak load was added to the
bill. This factor represents the amount of power that is reserved for the customer by the
Electricity Company. The peak load is measured every months and its share in the bill
is updated every 3 months.
- Note that the Power is given in Watt (or kW) while Energy is given in kWh. A medium-
sized air-conditioner has a power of 2 Horse Power (1.5 kW) will consume 6 kWh of
energy if worked for 4 hours and 12 kWh of energy if worked for 8 hours.
- For example, if the peak load is 500 kW and the consumption is 60,000 kWh, then the
electricity bill will be as follows:
a) Before July 2015:
Monthly bill = 0.366 * 60,000 = 21,900 L.E.
b) From July 2015 until June 2016:
Monthly bill = 30 * 500 + 0.435 * 60,000 = 15,000 + 26,100 = 41,100 L.E.
c) From July 2016:
Monthly bill = 45 * 500 + 0.52 * 60,000 = 22,500 + 31,200 = 53,700 L.E.

The electricity bills for the case study building are shown in Table IV. Note how the energy
bills are increased (for approximately the same amount of consumption) from 285,000 LE
during 2015 to 400,000 LE during 2016 with an increase of 40% approximately.

Table IV. Monthly electricity bills in L.E.

Month Peak Load Consumption Monthly bill Remarks
(kW) (kWh) (L.E.)
Jan. 2015 189 28752 10,523
Feb. 2015 176 28134 10,297
Mar. 2015 201 36906 13,508 Annual energy consumption =
Apr. 2015 224 37647 13,779 556,000 kWh
May 2015 304 51107 18,705
June 2015 277 48809 17,864 Annual CO2 emissions =
July 2015 345 55217 34,373 333,600 kg
Aug. 2015 412 72424 43,849
Sep. 2015 427 64975 41,088 Annual Energy Costs =
Oct. 2015 344 52219 33,022 285,000 LE
Nov. 2015 260 45691 27,664
Dec. 2015 195 34324 20,782
Jan. 2016 195 29574 18,702
Feb. 2016 190 31962 19,611
Mar. 2016 204 37545 22,454 Annual energy consumption =
Apr. 2016 271 43293 26,950 558,000 kWh
May 2016 322 54012 33,140
June 2016 306 53786 32,565 Annual CO2 emissions =
July 2016 411 62515 51,016 334,800 kg
Aug. 2016 386 71008 54,290
Sep. 2016 352 47907 40,763 Annual Energy Costs =
Oct. 2016 334 53432 42,812 400,000 LE
Nov. 2016 242 42623 33,062
Dec. 2016 192 30769 24,654

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 VII. APPLICATION OF THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
Out of the list of opportunities discussed in section V, the company refused to change the
glazing system of the building, the very high cost of a new central air conditioning system (5
Million LE) makes this option not attractive in this stage. Some no or low cost opportunities
are accepted and implemented such as installing timers to switch off all electric water heaters
at 3 pm and distributing the lighting fixtures inside rooms on more than one switch. The motor
of one elevator is changed to variable speed but the energy saving calculations cannot be
estimated since there is no energy meter on this load. The 2 opportunities that sound attractive
to the company top management are replacing lighting fixtures with LED and installing PV
solar cells. These 2 opportunities will be discussed in details:
A. Replacing Lighting Fixtures with LED:
Energy & Environment
- 625 fluorescent lighting fixtures (72W) will be replaced with LED panels (40W)
Annual energy saving = 625 * (72-40) * 8 hours per day * 250 days per year / 1000
= 40,000 kWh
- 50 (shift) fluorescent lighting fixtures (72W) will be replaced with LED panels (40W)
Annual energy saving = 50 * (72-40) * 24 hours per day * 365 days per year / 1000
= 14,000 kWh
- 300 CFL Spots (26W) will be replaced with LED Spots (15W)
Annual energy saving = 300 * (26-15) * 8 hours per day * 250 days per year / 1000
= 6,600 kWh
- 25 (shift) CFL Spots (26W) will be replaced with LED Spots (15W)
Annual energy saving = 25 * (26-15) * 24 hours per day * 365 days per year / 1000
= 2,400 kWh
Total Annual Energy Saving from LED Lighting = 63,000 kWh (11.3% saving)
Annual CO2 reductions = 0.6 * 63,000 = 37,800 kg CO2 (11.3% saving)

Financial Analysis
Cost of new LED panels = 675 * 600 LE = 405,000 LE
Cost of new LED spots = 325 * 200 LE = 65,000 LE
Cost of Replacement = 20,000 LE
Cost of Tendering, transportation, other related costs = 10,000 LE
Total Cost of Project = 500,000 LE
Electricity bill saving (based on Jan. 2017 prices):
- Peak load will decrease by (32W * 675 + 11W * 325) = 25 kW approximately
- Annual saving from peak load reduction = 12 months * 45 LE * 25 kW = 13,500 LE
- Annual saving from reduced energy consumption = 0.52 * 63,000 kWh = 32,500 LE
- Summated energy savings = 46,000 LE
Note that the lifetime of LED = 10 years, compared to a lifetime of 2 years for fluorescent.
Other savings include the price to replace 50% of the fluorescent lamps or CFL’s annually:
- Saving cost of 50% of fluorescent lamps = 0.5 * 675 * 10 LE = 3,375 LE
- Saving cost of 50% CFL = 0.5 * 325 * 30 LE = 4,875 LE
- Saving cost of replacements of 50% of Lamps = 0.5 * 20,000 LE = 10,000 LE
- Summated maintenance savings = 18,250 LE
Total Annual Savings = 46,000 + 18,250 = 64,250 LE (16% saving)
BPT = 500,000 / 64,250 = 7.8 years
NPV (considering interest rate = 10%, and assuming that the energy prices and the re-lamping
costs will increase by 10% annually) = -500,000 + 10 years * 64,250 LE = 142,500 LE

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B. Installing PV Solar System:
The rooftop of the building (after subtracting the areas occupied by services) has a net area of
about 200 m2. Consulting one of the major PV installers, the following data is given: For
generating 1 kWh of solar energy, we need 10 m2 with cost of 15,000 LE approximately
- with an approximate cost of 300,000 LE.
Energy & Environment
- Based on the available area, a PV solar system that can generate 20 kW can be installed,
- Although the system will be installed all the time, however, this maximum power will
be gained only during sunshine envelope (approximately 6 hours daily, from 9 am till
3 pm). Therefore, the calculations will be as follows:
- Annual energy saving = 20 kW * 6 hours per day * 250 days per year
= 30,000 kWh (5.4% saving)
- Annual CO2 reductions = 0.6 * 30,000 = 18,000 kg CO2 (5.4% saving)
Financial Analysis
Cost of PV Solar System = 20 kW * 15,000 LE = 300,000 LE (including installation costs)
Electricity bill saving (based on Jan. 2017 prices):
- Peak load will decrease by 20 kW approximately
- Annual saving from peak load reduction = 12 months * 45 LE * 20 kW = 10,800 LE
- Annual saving from reduced energy consumption = 0.52 * 30,000 kWh = 15,600 LE
- Summated energy savings = 26,400 LE (6.6 % saving)
Note that the lifetime of Solar System = 20 years, and it is maintenance free.
BPT = 300,000 / 26,400 = 11.4 years
NPV (considering interest rate = 10%, and assuming that the energy prices and the re-lamping
costs will increase by 10% annually) = -300,000 + 20 years * 26,400 LE = 228,000 LE

C. Applying the methodology

From the energy & environment perspective, the 1st option (LED Lighting) will save more
energy and reduce larger amounts of CO2. From the financial perspective, the 2nd option (PV
Solar System) has a higher NPV value.
For ranking purposes, the project with highest energy & environment benefits will be assigned
a score of 100 in column I, and all other projects will take a score represents its energy savings
compared to the top project. For example, in this case, the LED project will be scored 100 and
the PV project will be scored (30,000/63,000*100) = 48. On the other side, the project with
highest financial benefits will be assigned a score of 100 in column II, and all other projects
will take a score represents its cost savings compared to the top project. So, the PV project will
be scored 100 and the LED project will be scored (142,500/228,000*100) = 63.
Based on the company policy, a factor α should be addressed to the preference of energy &
environment. To make things easier for the decision makers, the proposed procedure suggests
5 values for α as follows: 0, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%. The results for running the proposed
procedure are summarized in Table V.

Table V. Prioritizing energy saving projects

α β LED Scoring Solar Scoring Decision
0 100% 63 100 Solar
25% 75% 72 87 Solar
50% 50% 81.5 74 LED
75% 25% 91 61 LED
100% 0 100 48 LED

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 VIII. CONCLUSIONS
Egypt is facing energy and economic challenges that can render its vision for development by
2030. Buildings in Egypt consume more than 60% of electricity, and this figure seems to
increase each year due to the change in the life style of the people towards more and more
urbanization. This imposes a huge burden on the electricity sector to build new power plants
each year to match the rising demand. With limited natural resources of fuel, the government
has to import these fuels (which increases the foreign currency crisis) or rely on coal, which
will worsen the environmental situation.
Some energy efficiency codes are introduced by the government that concentrates on design of
new buildings, and unfortunately lacks any implementation mechanism. In this paper, the
authors showed that several opportunities are available to improve the energy performance in
existing buildings. A procedure is proposed that combines both economic and environmental
aspects of energy conservation methods and prioritize them, along with the solution economics,
energy saving and environmental benefits. An office building in Alexandria, Egypt, is taken as
a case study to examine the effectiveness of the procedure. The results are easily presented to
the decision makers with both economic and environmental indices. The procedure can be
applied to most non-residential buildings, which consumes about 17% of the total energy
consumption in Egypt. Applying LED light replacement and installing PV solar system can
save 19 % of the electrical energy, can similar percentage of the emitted CO2 and can save 23%
of energy costs. Applying the proposed procedure in the existing governmental, corporate, and
other office building can highly improve the energy performance in Egypt, decrease its need to
build new power plants, save foreign currency needed to import fuels, can cut CO2 reductions
and can reduce energy bills to the individual buildings.

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