Energy Savings Calculations for Heat Island Reduction Strategies in Baton Rouge, Sacramento and Salt Lake City

Steven Konopacki and Hashem Akbari, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Keywords

Abstract

This paper summarizes our efforts to calculate the potential annual energy savings, peak power avoidance and annual CO2 reduction from heat island reduction (HIR) measures (i.e., shade trees, reflective roofs, reflective pavements and urban vegetation) in three cities: Baton Rouge, Sacramento and Salt Lake City. We focused on three building types that offer most savings potential: single-family residence, office and retail store; and characterized each by old or new construction and with a gas furnace or electric heat pump. We simulated the impact of HIR measures on building cooling and heating energy use and peak power demand using the DOE-2.1E model. Our simulations included the impact of (1) strategically-placed shade trees near buildings, (2) use of high-albedo roofing material on building, (3) combined measures 1 and 2, (4) cooling of ambient air resulting from implementation of HIR measures, and (5) combined measures 1, 2 and 4.

The results show that in Baton Rouge potential annual energy savings of $15M could be realized by rate-payers from the implementation of HIR measures, additionally, peak power avoidance is estimated at 133 MW and the reduction in annual carbon at 41 kt. In Sacramento the potential benefits are estimated at $26M, 486 MW and 92 kt, and in Salt Lake City, $4M, 85 MW and 20 kt.