Prioritization of Effective Building Energy Consumer Parameters by AHP Deployment

The building sector is responsible for one-third of global final energy consumption and thus environmental damage, carbon dioxide production. Some reasons for ever increasing building energy consumption : climate change, increase in household electricity load , the growth of real estate, fast-growing household electrical appliances, changes in industrial structure, huge energy consumption of the existing buildings, and the lack of strict government supervision. The world's total energy requirements are mostly used in sectors such as transportation, industry, residence, commerce, etc.. Although most of the energy consumption during the period 1973 to 2009 belonged to the industrial sector, it can be said that the proportion of residential buildings is very high and is increasing rapidly.. World Statistics published by the Department of Energy, United States of America in March 2010 shows that most houses widely use energy for heating and hot water and then cooling and lighting. Therefore, the revision of quality architectural design of buildings, based on the climatic principles , will be very effective in optimizing fuel consumption so that the energy consumption can be controlled wisely and optimally. On the other hand the use of renewable energy technologies can provide energy surplus of buildings and eliminate the problems associated with fossil energy in great extent.Adopting conservation measures on a large scale does allow reducing both electricity and total energy demand from present day levels while the building stock keeps growing. They simulate climate-dependent hourly building energy demands at user-defined scales, typically an individual state or utility zone. Due to the effective role of energy in economic development and its increasing consumption in parallel with the growth of human communities , considering resource constraints and preventing from facing with an energy crisis, the need for conservation through management application is necessary which demands new strategies and approaches in both environmental and architectural revisions for design and building. In particular, the high energy consumption especially in buildings is a major problem in developing countries which has economic and environmental impacts of prime importance while it is considered to be the most significant cornerstone of growth in different dimensions. Buildings , it is statistically shown, account for a third of total global energy consumption. Energy consumption in buildings is increasing due to several factors including climate change, increasing electrical energy consumption in households, real estate development, diversity of modern appliances, changes in industry structure, very high energy consumption in existing buildings and the lack of adequate supervision of the state.. Therefore, efforts must be focused on the control and management of energy consumption . The purpose of energy management is reducing energy consumption in a way that is logical and economical and can cause no negative effects on welfare and thermal comfort. So, a focus for building energy consumption efforts is of great importance. The occupant behavior and building manner can both increase the building energy consumption, especially residential ones.In the building quality part, there are many techniques affects on building energy consumption, which divide to passive and active. The passive ones are the techniques that related to the body and design of a building as material, utilization of solar radiation on the bodies, length and width of building, insulation, window, and so on without electrical or other energy portfolio, but the effect of these parameters was not equal. Therefore, this study presents an approach to determine the effect of main parameters of some of the building techniques on energy consumption. In this study, these parameters were identified and evaluated and finally were Prioritized. Not all of the parameters has equal role on energy consumption, which the mentioned weights indicated. The remainder of the paper organized as follows. Firstly, the parameters were identified by research and interview. The effective parameters recognized as the alternatives of the mentioned hierarchy3 step trees, which can be listed as follows: occupants; built area; Step No.; Proximity degree; Window to wall ratio; Length to width ratio; Side. Secondary, the questionnaire performed and completed by experts as architects, mechanical engineers and energy engineers. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and its applications in surveys related to buildings were presented. Up to now, the AHP method has been widely applied in the general policymaking in buildings. Next, the effective parameters on energy consumption evaluated, and in next section the AHP for the approach concernedexplained and resultsoffered. Finally, the last Section includes the concluding remarks. The weights and priorities of the effective parameter are illustrated. As a result, considering weight of factors in building designing process, the different parameters of BO can be classified and evaluated: First, the main effective parameter is window to wall ratio. Depends on the weight of this parameter (0.36), the window area and materials are important for building designers. Another main parameter is side no., if a building has 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 side, its energy consumption differs fundamentally. Choosing the main direction, side and the side no. are all associated. One of the main results is about the building area depending on energy consumption, which considers having the main role, but in present survey concluded that the third effective parameter is area. The least effective parameter is occupant number, due to energy load of building space and quality, not building occupant. Urban designers and Architects considering Building Orientation (BO) and its parameters can design buildings that are energy efficient. If building orientation )BO( is considered, solar radiation absorbed by the surface structure of the building will become more favorable, and consequently the energy consumption will be reduced. However, if the building orientation (BO) is considered along with climatic factors, there will be direct effect of increased energy costs. In addition , urban designers must greatly pay attention to building sides while determining the building blocks as the transmitting surfaces are from outdoor to indoor in summer and vice versa in winter. Architects must also pay attention to different ratios of windows to create the proper ratio of heat transfer in the buildings. The materials used in the buildings are of great importance.