Proc. of the 4rth International Conference on Power Generation Systems and Renewable Energy Technologies (PGSRET)
10-12 September 2018, Islamabad, Pakistan
978-1-5386-7027-9/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB): A Case Study of
Net Zero Energy Home in Pakistan
Muhammad Irfan
1
, Naeem Abas
*2
, Muhammad Shoaib Saleem
3
1,2
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat campus, Gujrat, Pakistan
1
m.irfan795@yahoo.com
2*
naeemkalair@uog.edu.pk
3
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Sialkot campus, Pakistan
3
muhammad.shoaib@skt.umt.edu.pk
second.com
Abstract— The common issue all the nations facing these days
is the climate change. The entropy of the environment is increasing
with the passage of time which affects the ozone layer and
increases the global warming potential. The change in climate is
mainly due to the emission of Green-House Gases (GHGs) which
are produces from emission of gases and use of fossil fuels for
generation of electricity in Pakistan. Most of the energy is used in
commercial buildings as well as in residential buildings. It is the
requirement of the hour that buildings are constructed in such a
way that they consume lesser amount of energy due to efficient
design and generate on-site energy for own utilization as well as to
export extra energy to the utility. These Net Zero Energy Buildings
(NZEB) use energy from utility only when these sources are
unavailable. NZEB play a vital role for sustainable energy
utilization, energy security and being environment friendly. This
paper gives a comparative analysis of electricity consumption in a
conventional building and a NZEB. The concept of smart
metering is also used to analyze the advantages of NZEB.
Keywords— entropy, greenhouse gas, net zero energy buildings,
sustainable energy, energy security.
I. Introduction
The crucial need of life is energy and it is basic element to
boost up the economy of a country. Pakistan is facing severe
shortage of energy, depending upon the foreign energy sources
although it is rich in renewable energy sources [1]. In 1947,
Pakistan had only 60MW of energy at the time of dependence.
In the beginning the energy sector of Pakistan had made some
remarkable growth but this progress would not continue in
positive manners [2]. Pakistan is heavily populated and
underdeveloped country and it needs a critical revolution in
education sector [3]–[5]. To keep the Pakistan on progressive
path and give its citizens the standard lives, the country requires
the constant source of energy. On the other hand, the country is
facing a severe energy crisis and incapable to accomplish the
requirements of domestic energy [6]–[10]. There is a huge
electricity outage in the country. The country is thrown into
darkness by the electricity shortage for more than 10 to 12 hours
a day. This demand supply gap is not suddenly appeared. The
main causes of this tragedy are inattentiveness, poor planning
and negligence [11]. For the growth of industry and the
socioeconomic progress of a country, the electricity is very
important as a backbone. Worldwide the production of
electricity is increasing due to the fast growth in inhabitants and
the use of modern technology in every field of life [12].
Pakistan mainly depends on the fossil fuels (natural gas and
imported oil) to generate electricity. The global warming and
air pollution are increasing day by day due to the use of these
fossil fuels in the thermal power plants [6]. This imported oil
is a burden on the economy of a country. Pakistan has huge
renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomass etc.) to
generate electricity [13]. Advances in solar, wind and wave
energy technologies have reduced renewable, and alternative
energy sources cost as compared with fossil fuels [14].
The practical proof of a country is its per capita
consumption of energy which tells about the standards of living
of its people. The residential or commercial buildings consume
a large amount of energy in the scenario of total energy
consumption. In this way the energy consumption plays a vital
role in climate change, which cannot be controlled by using less
energy. Nevertheless a method called NZEB, should be adopted
to overcome this problem [15].
The best option is NZEB because these buildings are
linkage of efficient technology of energy and renewable energy
exploitation. The policy makers and concerns focus on NZEB
because these are energy efficient and environmentally
welcoming. These buildings can store energy and sell the
excess energy to the national grid or nearby building by smart
grids and smart metering [16]. In a NZEB the energy used by it
totally depends on RES (Renewable Energy Sources), which is
created from wind, geothermal or solar etc. It means that the
energy consumption in a NZEB is zero logically. The NZEB
does not increases the GHG in the atmosphere and not
responsible for climate change. These buildings take some
amount or total amount of energy from grid and return the
energy to the grid at the other time. Some buildings produce
extra energy throughout the year is called “energy- plus
buildings.” The concept of zero energy is that the energy
produces and remains conserved [16].
The construction of NZEB is very important because the
energy demand and pollution are increasing day by day. Any
individual can easily implement the NZEB because there is no
political risk to do that. In Pakistan, there is a huge potential of
wind and solar energy. Wind may not be available throughout
the country, but solar energy is abundantly available. In this
paper, solar energy is utilized to make the buildings energy
efficient. In Pakistan solar systems in use are not cost effective
and energy efficient. As solar systems have a high capital cost
but electricity generation is almost free from it because there