Summertime has a positive effect on the energy balance of office buildings
In a new study, researchers from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research have found a positive effect of daylight saving time on the energy balance of office buildings. Thus, the time change can make a contribution to climate protection.
Researchers from the Urban Energy Systems-Lab of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research(Empa), based in Dübendorf, have studied the influence of the changeover from winter to summer time on the heating and cooling energy required by office buildings. They came to the conclusion that setting the clocks forward by one hour has a positive effect on the energy balance, according to a media release.
Accordingly, the scientists simulated the heating and cooling energy expended with and without daylight saving time for different climatic regions based on data from various office buildings in 15 American cities. In order to include the influence of climate change, they took into account not only the current climate, but also future climate scenarios up to 2050.
They were able to determine energy savings across all climate scenarios and zones. The highest possible saving was 3 per cent. “Since much more cooling than heating energy is consumed in summer, the time change has an overall positive impact on the energy balance of a building,” Massimo Fiorentini, one of the four study authors, is quoted as saying.
Therefore, in the debate about abolishing the time change, political decision-makers should not only consider the electricity savings, as has been the case up to now, but also the potential for energy savings in office buildings during summer time.
Nevertheless, the researchers see the clock change as only one of many possibilities for reducing energy consumption. Improving the building stock, behavioural changes and a general adjustment of working hours are also important building blocks in climate protection.