Impact of furniture on the energy consumption of commercial buildings

Energy consumption is rapidly growing in the world leading to the depletion of energy resources and a negative environmental impact. Electricity and natural gas accounts for about 93% of the total energy consumed in a building. Typically nearly 70% of the total energy use of a building can be credited to space heating, water heating, lighting, and cooling all combined [1]. The large consumption translates to a cost of more than $30,600 per year [2]. Reducing the run time of the HVAC systems of a commercial building will enable cost and resource savings. This paper analyses how furniture design impacts the energy consumption of a building. As furniture in a commercial building occupies more than 50% of the volume of the room, a larger amount of energy is required to heat or cool the room due to the thermal mass of the material of the furniture. This paper focuses to bring out the difference in time taken to heat or cool a room with and without furniture, thus highlighting the difference of run time of the HVAC systems. The simulations conducted in Energy2D [3] bring out the differences in run time by reducing the surface area of furniture. Thus bringing out a method of reducing energy consumption and running cost, resulting in lower damage to the environment.