abstract

Educational sector is growing drastically as a result of upward trend of population. These schools require
tremendous quantities of energy units to be generated and consumed. As a result, this will impact
negatively on the environment by increasing the carbon emissions and depletion of non-renewable
energy resources. Moreover, the harsh climate condition contributes substantially to increase the energy
consumption in various weather zones in the world. Therefore, several energy efficiency plans have
been developed to improve the energy performance of the schools facilities globally. Hence, this paper
discusses the energy management program as a sustainable strategy that applicable on the schools. This
program is designed for the schools to improve the energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and
adopting the best management practices during the operating stages. This research has developed a
customized energy management program for one of the schools in UAE. It has concluded the findings by
using computerized hourly thermal modeling. The energy model has evaluated the proposed energy
conservation measures and the best practices that were generated by the energy management program
steps. This case shows that the energy performance could be improved substantially by 35%. Thus, the
energy use index of the audited school that adopted the energy management program has reduced from
438 kWh/m
2
/year to 285 kWh/m
2
/year. The proposed energy management program has been articulated
in this study as a consecutive and linear progression. This methodology presents several steps to mitigate
the carbon emission by addressing the sustainability dimensions; economic, environment and social
aspects. This study discusses the steps and the work flow of developing the energy management program
and the anticipated outcomes for the school's buildings. The program considers practical ECMs
along with the students and teachers participation and interaction. Furthermore, it highlights the success
criteria that assure the sustainability of the energy efficiency at the operating life cycle of school's
facilities.
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