ON ELECTRICAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS

Abstract

The paper deals with electrical energy efficiency in buildings. In the introductory section the main aspects of auditing electrical energy systems in buildings is addressed. In the second section the main sources of power losses in induction motors along with some features of the modern efficient inductor motors are briefly presented. The third one is devoted to the main topologies of variable speed electrical drives in buildings equipment (i.e. square wave and phase width modulation inverters). The final section deals with power quality issues determined by the variable speed drives in buildings (especially in air handling units, pumping and lighting). Concluding it can be noticed that even if variable speed electric drives contribute to improve energy efficiency, the power quality issues lower energy efficiency and consequently these problems must be cancelled or at least mitigated.