Committee Chair

Bailey, J. Ronald

Committee Member

Fomunung, Ignatius; Damshala, Prakash; Sutton, William H.; Walker, Randy

Department

Dept. of Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The goal of this study is to transform the Advanced Vehicle Test Facility into an Energy Plus Building by improving the thermal characteristics of the building, replacing an outdated HVAC system with a ground source Geothermal heat pump, implementing a Wi-Fi enabled programmable thermostat to control temperature set points, and installing additional solar panels on the roof. The goal can be achieved by reducing annual energy consumption from approximately 96,000 kWh to approximately 18,000kWh while producing approximately 21,000 kWh per year of solar energy which will transform the AVTF into one of the first Energy Plus Buildings in the Tennessee Valley. The out of pocket cost for the improvements is approximately $82,000 which will reduce the annual utility costs by approximately $7,810 for a return on investment of 9.5% with a simple payback period of 11 years while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1,200 tons over the next 20 years.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to J. Ronald Bailey, PhD, P.E. for his assistance and guidance on this thesis. Dr. Bailey has been an inspiration as well as a mentor in this research. I would like to thank my committee for their help finalizing this project. I would also like to thank John Halliwell from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Andrew Frye from the Tennessee Valley Authority for providing performance data for a 8 kW solar array that was installed in 2012. Funding for this study was provided by a grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2014

Subject

Renewable energy sources; Geothermal resources; Ground source heat pump systems; Buildings -- Environmental engineering; Buildings -- Energy conservation; Solar energy

Keyword

Geothermal; Solar; Renewable; Green; Energy; Plus

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xii, 56 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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