Performance of Energy Pile Foundation In Layered Soil : The Case of United Bank Headquarter Building
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Date
2020-02
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Currently the issues of sustainable energy demands become critical due to the rapid growth of
population and economy. The construction boom in the country has caused the rising of tall
buildings for luxury hotels, shopping malls, apartment blocks, etc., particularly in Addis
Ababa. The commercial and residential sectors already consume about 60% of the total
generated electricity of the country. These trends have undoubtedly influenced the growth of
energy demands of the country. Practical researches are indicating that energy demand
problems can be mitigated to some extent by using energy pile foundations. Energy
foundations are geostructures with a dual purpose: provides structural stability and enable the
supported buildings to have a heating and cooling system through exchange of heat with the
ground. To this end, the opportunities of meeting some of the country‟s energy demand by
introducing energy pile foundation in commercial and residential buildings of Ethiopia were
investigated by taking the new United Bank Headquarter Building as a case study. In order to
evaluate the performance of energy pile under thermo-mechanical loading condition and the
expected amount of energy yield, a preliminary design, simulation and economic analysis were
conducted for the existing foundation building using Matlab Programming and Abaqus
software. The results of the study revealed that during thermo-mechanical loading, the total
axial stress in the pile shows significant increases due to thermal loading that causes axial
expansion in the energy pile. In addition, the relative movement of the pile with respect to the
surrounding soil mobilizes downward shaft resistance at the upper part and upward shaft
resistance at NP. On the other hand, regarding the expected amount of energy extracted, the
results of the preliminary study indicated that a significant amount of energy,
719,283.60kWh/year, can be generated. This amount could covers 93.62% of the estimated
heating and cooling energy demand of the building. In addition, based on the current electricity
tariff of Ethiopia, up to 38,122.03 USD can be saved annually with such energy geo-structure
system. From this preliminary study outcomes, it can be concluded that energy pile foundation
shall be used an alternative means of energy source by taking the essential design consideration
of the additional axial stress due thermal loading.
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Keywords
Layered Soil, Energy, Pile Foundation