The Study of Electricity Consumption in Buildings at Khon Kaen University

Abstract

This research aims to study the electricity consumption in buildings at Khon Kaen University. The research involved surveys and data collection on electricity consumption between 2017 and 2022. The study found that educational buildings accounted for approximately 52%of the university's total electricity consumption. Among the educational buildings, the Faculty of Medicine had the highest average electricity consumption equal to 27,265,716 kWh, accounting for 60% of the total electricity usage for educational buildings. After analyzing the electricity consumption of buildings based on their area, number of students, and the Specific Energy Consumption, it was found that the Faculty of Medicine had the largest building area per student, the highest electricity consumption per student, and the highest Specific Energy Consumption equal to 74.55 kWh per square meter per year. Therefore, the Faculty of Medicine serves as a case study for identifying strategies to improve energy efficiency and applying them to other buildings within Khon Kaen University. When comparing the Specific Energy Consumption of educational institutions or public universities, it was found that the educational buildings at Khon Kaen University still had a significantly higher Specific Energy Consumption than more than half of the institutions studied. This indicates a high tendency for electricity consumption, highlighting the need for energy conservation improvements in the university's educational buildings. To reduce electricity consumption, it is recommended to improve the buildings’ envelope materials and building systems in accordance with the standards of the Ministry of Energy. This can help reduce electricity consumption by 10-20%. or save electricity costs about 34-69 million baht per year. For efficient and sustainable energy usage, it is also important to establish a working group for energy conservation, appoint energy managers, and implement energy management systems in buildings. Additionally, continuous public awareness campaigns should be conducted to promote energy conservation among building users.