Development of Energy Conservation Programs for Commercial Buildings based on Assessed Energy Saving Potentials

Thailand is a developing country whose energy demand is continuously increasing. However, Thailand has limited energy resources, and half of the energy consumed is imported. Buildings account for the largest sector, which shares 53% of total electrical energy consumption in Thailand. Over half of this consumption is due to the large commercial buildings. This study aims to propose energy conservation programs focusing on these large commercial buildings. The energy consumption data were extracted from various sources to develop the building performance models, which were then employed to project its energy consumption for the next 20 years (2030). The analysis shows that the energy consumption from the large commercial buildings in 2030 will nearly double the consumption in the base year (2010) if there is no energy conservation program implemented. However, implementation of the proposed programs of building energy code (BEC) and building energy labeling (BEL) integrated with a rolling plan of the program revision show technically a high potential for savings of electrical energy up to 50% from the total consumption in 2030. Implementation of a program for high efficiency stove and burner can help save additional LPG for cooking and fuel oil for water heating 40% from the total fuel demand in 2030.