Papers by Kumar Biswajit Debnath
Exploring the solar energy potential for multistoried commercial office buildings in a dense CBD area of a mega city
Motijheel Commercial Area, the main central business district (CBD) of Dhaka city, Bangladesh has... more Motijheel Commercial Area, the main central business district (CBD) of Dhaka city, Bangladesh has already been found through many studies to cause urban heat island (UHI) effect due to its densely built multistoried commercial buildings and lack of green areas. These buildings consume significant amount of electricity to accommodate the lighting facilities, mechanical means for ensuring thermal comfort and operating electrical appliances for a huge number of occupants. This research seeks the potential of solar energy generation by using the prospective roof and elevation surface areas of these buildings, which takes significant part in causing augmentation of mean radiant temperature against the existing electricity consumption rate. Also, this research aims to establish a comparative analysis between existing electricity demand and the solar electricity generated to explore the potential of solar energy harvesting in a densely built urban area. In addition to it, the influence of choice in lighting technology (incandescent, florescent, CFL and LED) would be further examined to see their contribution in electricity demand. This study may contribute in policy development for the already densely built high electricity demanding commercial urban areas into self-sustaining low electricity demanding urban zones.
Evaluating the Humidity Responsiveness of Bacterial Cellulose for Application in Responsive, Breathable Building Skins
Rilem bookseries, 2023
Transforming farming value-chains in sub-Saharan Africa through social and economically inclusive sustainable energy solutions (TRANSFARM)
38th International Conference of CIB W78, Oct 15, 2021
The lockdowns induced by the COVID-19 pandemic has been forcing people to work and school from ho... more The lockdowns induced by the COVID-19 pandemic has been forcing people to work and school from home. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on residential grid electricity and decentralised solar energy consumption in 100 houses from southwestern UK homes with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). We analysed highly granular (1-minutely) grid electricity and decentralised solar energy consumption data for April-August 2020 compared to the same months in 2019 for the same houses for the study. Our study showed statistically significant differences during and after the lockdown period in energy demand, where minutely average electricity demand was 1.4-10% lower during April-August 2020 than in 2019. Our analysis showed that the grid electricity consumption in homes reduced 24-25%, whereas the self-consumption from solar PVs increased 7-8% during the lockdown (April and May 2020) as compared to 2019, predominantly in the morning and afternoon, which might be due to working and schooling from homes during the lockdown.
Why is Bangladesh’s electricity generation heading towards a GHG emissions-intensive future?
Carbon Management
Impact of the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown on the residential electricity consumption
Building Simulation 2021 Conference, Sep 3, 2021
Extreme disruptive scenarios such as pandemic lockdown force people to alter regular daily routin... more Extreme disruptive scenarios such as pandemic lockdown force people to alter regular daily routines, impacting their energy consumption pattern. The implication of such a disruptive scenario for a more extended period on energy consumption is uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on residential electricity consumption in 100 houses from the southwestern UK. For the study, we analysed highly granular (1-minutely) electricity consumption data for April-September 2020 compared to the same months in 2019 for the same houses. Our study showed statistically significant differences during the lockdown period (the analysed six months) in energy demand. The minutely average electricity demand was 1.4-10% lower during April-September 2020 than in 2019. Our analysis showed that not all houses had similar type of changes during the lockdown. Some houses demonstrated a 38% increase in electricity demand, whereas some houses showed a 54% reduction during the lockdown period compared to 2019. Some houses showed significantly higher electricity use during the morning and afternoon than in 2019, which might be due to working and schooling from homes during the lockdown.
In a rapidly warming world, sustainable cooling is directly related to the protection of fresh an... more In a rapidly warming world, sustainable cooling is directly related to the protection of fresh and nutritious food, medicines, and the population from extreme heat for work conditions, the economic productivity of the working population, and income generation. This study aimed to understand how rural communities are meeting their nutrition, livelihood, health, living space, and mobility requirements regarding the role of cooling. We selected three villages as case studies in Maharashtra, India and conducted household surveys, in-depth interviews of key informants, focus group discussions (FGDs), and social mapping building typology study. The objective was to assess the rural community cooling to propose a community cooling hub (CCH) framework that could be economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable for the three villages. Our study showed that agriculture, dairy, buildings (domestic and commercial), and healthcare require cooling intervention in the studied communities...
Effect of Building Fabric on the Electricity Demand for Space Cooling for Attaining Thermal Comfort in a South Indian Community Building
Innovative Renewable Energy, 2022
Decarbonisation of energy systems of South Asian developing economies through regional collaborations
Economic small group research points to groups as more rational decision-makers in numerous econo... more Economic small group research points to groups as more rational decision-makers in numerous economic situations. However, no attempts have been made to investigate whether groups are affected similarly by behavioral biases that are pervasive for individuals. If groups were also able to more effectively avoid these biases, the relevance of biases in actual economic contexts dominated by group decision-making might be questioned. We consider the case of anchoring as a prime example of a well-established, robust bias. Individual and group biasedness in three economically relevant domains are compared: factual knowledge, probability estimates and price valuations. In contrast to previous anchoring studies, we find groups to successfully reduce, albeit not eliminate, anchoring in the factual knowledge domain. For the other two domains, groups and individuals are equally biased by external anchors. Group cooperation thus reduces biases for predominantly intellective tasks only, while no such reduction is achieved when judgmental aspects are involved.
Diffraction of Sound as a Side Effect of Noise Pollution at Road Junctions of Dhaka City
"A good number of buildings are located very close to road junctions in Dhaka City. Due ... more "A good number of buildings are located very close to road junctions in Dhaka City. Due to poor setback, building edges hinder visibility. Traffic noise travelling from a main road to a secondary road and vice versa, diffracts at building edges creating virtual images of noise source. This may cause confusion and lead to accidents. It is established that noise threatens human health. But it is not much explored how this unique phenomenon of sound diffraction at road junctions, as a side effect of noise pollution, may create confusion and cause accidents. From instrumental measurements and practical observations, this study identifies evidences of sound diffraction, virtual position of noise source and its effect on erroneous perception at road junctions. This paper suggests proper setbacks of buildings, appropriate geometry of building edge and suitable acoustical properties of finish materials to eliminate diffraction of sound at road junctions of "Dhaka city."
Exploring the solar energy potential for multistoried commercial office buildings in a dense CBD area of a mega city
Motijheel Commercial Area, the main central business district (CBD) of Dhaka city, Bangladesh has... more Motijheel Commercial Area, the main central business district (CBD) of Dhaka city, Bangladesh has already been found through many studies to cause urban heat island (UHI) effect due to its densely built multistoried commercial buildings and lack of green areas. These buildings consume significant amount of electricity to accommodate the lighting facilities, mechanical means for ensuring thermal comfort and operating electrical appliances for a huge number of occupants. This research seeks the potential of solar energy generation by using the prospective roof and elevation surface areas of these buildings, which takes significant part in causing augmentation of mean radiant temperature against the existing electricity consumption rate. Also, this research aims to establish a comparative analysis between existing electricity demand and the solar electricity generated to explore the potential of solar energy harvesting in a densely built urban area. In addition to it, the influence of choice in lighting technology (incandescent, florescent, CFL and LED) would be further examined to see their contribution in electricity demand. This study may contribute in policy development for the already densely built high electricity demanding commercial urban areas into self-sustaining low electricity demanding urban zones.
Buildings, 2020
According to the India Energy Security Scenario 2047, the number of residential air conditioner (... more According to the India Energy Security Scenario 2047, the number of residential air conditioner (A/C) units may increase seven-fold by 2037 as compared to 2017. Also, the related energy consumption might increase four times in the next two decades, according to India’s National Cooling Action Plan. Therefore, the study of occupant cooling behaviour is essential to reduce and manage the significant electricity demand, helping to formulate and implement climate-specific cooling policies, and to adopt low-energy and low-cost technologies at mass-market scale. The study aims to analyse residential electricity consumption in order to investigate occupant behaviour, especially for thermal comfort by using space cooling and mechanical ventilation technologies. Among the five climate zones in India, this study focuses on the occupant behaviour in a warm-humid climate using Auroville as a case study, where climate analysis of the past 30 years demonstrated progression towards unprecedented w...
Sustainability, 2021
In a rapidly warming world, sustainable cooling is directly related to the protection of fresh an... more In a rapidly warming world, sustainable cooling is directly related to the protection of fresh and nutritious food, medicines, and the population from extreme heat for work conditions, the economic productivity of the working population, and income generation. This study aimed to understand how rural communities are meeting their nutrition, livelihood, health, living space, and mobility requirements regarding the role of cooling. We selected three villages as case studies in Maharashtra, India and conducted household surveys, in-depth interviews of key informants, focus group discussions (FGDs), and social mapping building typology study. The objective was to assess the rural community cooling to propose a community cooling hub (CCH) framework that could be economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable for the three villages. Our study showed that agriculture, dairy, buildings (domestic and commercial), and healthcare require cooling intervention in the studied communities...
Frontiers in Energy Research, 2018
Emerging economies with rapidly growing population and energy demand, own some of the most expens... more Emerging economies with rapidly growing population and energy demand, own some of the most expensive power plants in the world. We hypothesized that corruption has a relationship with the capital cost of power plants in developing countries such as Bangladesh. For this study, we analyzed the capital cost of 61 operational and planned power plants in Bangladesh. Initial comparison study revealed that the mean capital cost of a power plant in Bangladesh is twice than that of the global average. Then, the statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation between corruption and the cost of power plants, indicating that higher corruption leads to greater capital cost. The high up-front cost can be a significant burden on the economy, at present and in the future, as most are financed through international loans with extended repayment terms. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the review of the procurement and due diligence process of establishing power plants, and for the implementation of a more transparent system to mitigate adverse effects of corruption on megaprojects.
Sustainable Cities and Society, 2020
The energy assessment of single buildings and of larger areas of built environment, although exhi... more The energy assessment of single buildings and of larger areas of built environment, although exhibiting similarities in terms of technique, have in the past often used different approaches to energy modelling. The growing availability of empirical data and the capability of building modelling software has, more recently, allowed these differences to be reduced. This paper demonstrates, across two very different case-studies in UK and India, that techniques for community energy modelling can be used in a way that maintains detail in energy demand characteristics, thus helping to bridge the gap between detailed building assessment and higher-level energy system modelling. However, understanding the portability of such techniques requires an understanding of energy characteristics that can be specific to a geographic area. This study documents these important differences and proposes a more transferrable approach to detailed community energy modelling.
Nature Energy, 2018
Energy planning models (EPMs) support multi-criteria assessments of the impact of energy policies... more Energy planning models (EPMs) support multi-criteria assessments of the impact of energy policies on the economy and environment. Most EPMs have originated in developed countries and are primarily aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing energy security. In contrast, most, if not all, developing countries are predominantly concerned with increasing energy access. Here, we review thirty-four widely used EPMs to investigate their applicability to developing countries and find an absence of consideration of the objectives, challenges, and nuances of the developing context. Key deficiencies arise from the lack of deliberation of the low energy demand resulting from lack of access and availability of supply. Other inadequacies include the lack of consideration of socio-economic nuances such as the prevalence of corruption and resulting cost inflation, the methods for adequately addressing the shortcomings in data quality, availability and adequacy, and the effects of climate change. We argue for further research on characterisation and modelling of suppressed demand, climate change impacts, and socio-political feedback in developing countries, and the development of contextual EPMs.
Energy Procedia, 2015
Bangladesh, the eighth largest populous country in the world, has a significant rural population ... more Bangladesh, the eighth largest populous country in the world, has a significant rural population (70%), which is contributing to the energy demand of the country. The major portion in energy demand of rural households is biomass energy. With the improvement in GDP the rural energy demand would switch to more electricity intensive demand pathway. This paper focuses on a bottom up approach towards modelling the aggregated energy demand of rural households of Bangladesh form the year 2010 to 2050. The combination of four level scenarios of four variables (population, GDP electrification index, public energy conservation index) would forecast lowest, highest and optimum energy demand pathways for rural households of Bangladesh. The study not only considers the electricity demand of the rural household, but also it would render the opportunity to concentrate at the detail user end energy demands (e.g. liquid fuel, biomass etc.).
Transformation of Retail Shopping Environments from Natural Context to Artificial Environment in the Context of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dhaka city has a around history of about 400 years, where trade and commerce played an important ... more Dhaka city has a around history of about 400 years, where trade and commerce played an important role. The retail shopping environments of Dhaka city evolved progressively over this time period. In the recent times with the increase in the population, the numbers of retail shopping environments have increased significantly. But these shopping environments are developing into high consumption areas of electricity as a result of introvert design approach. In this study, it is found that the energy consumption is rising because of the minimum or no use of natural daylight and ventilation. A field based case study was conducted to review the daylight inclusion and the utilization of natural ventilation in the design of retail shopping environments representing the historical periods. In spite of the presence of retail shopping environments before 1950, the study was conducted from the period of 1950-70. The use of electricity in retail shopping environments of Dhaka was started from tha...
Cumulative Community Solar Power Plant: Possibilities and Challenges in Bangladesh
Just like every other country, Bangladesh has her own set of challenges and possibilities, one of... more Just like every other country, Bangladesh has her own set of challenges and possibilities, one of which is the power sector. The discourse of this study is a Cumulative Community Solar Power Plant (CCSPP). A power plant that will be community based. The paper also includes the calculations for exemplary situations, simulations and estimations of realistic applications, which will help to rationalize the prospects of the CCSPP. With the rapid increase in population and therefore urbanization, the concept of CCSPP can help us to find alternate ways to generate more green sources for power.
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Papers by Kumar Biswajit Debnath