Energy performance and environmental quality of typical railway passenger stations in northern China

Abstract

In recent 20 years, the energy performance of public buildings has attracted substantial attention due to the potential for significant energy savings. As semi-open structures, railway passenger stations are noticeably distinct from other public buildings. This paper investigated current energy consumption situation of 36 railway passenger stations in northern China. The energy consumption of the railway passenger stations was divided into high, medium and low levels, with the annual average energy use indexes being 423 kWh/m², 222 kWh/m² and 101 kWh/m², respectively. Heating and cooling are the main energy consumers for major building services. The analysis also established a linear relationship between energy consumption and passenger flow density. However, the linear correlation was not evident where inconsistent operation and management occurred, as was often the case for small and medium sized stations. To further explore, the environmental quality which can reflect the operation and management levels was also tested in eight small- and medium-sized stations. The result showed that stations with high operational and management standards more closely approximated the linear curve and that stations with low standards were further away. Hence, the linear curve would represent the energy consumption levels of railway stations with high standards of operation and management.