Assessment of green practices and retrofitting techniques in research institutions: Case study of Pakistan‐based university

Abstract Buildings and their construction contribute to significant greenhouse gas emissions globally, which can be reduced by retrofitting of existing buildings to make them greener. This study evaluates the building energy efficiency potential through a simulated energy analysis using Ener‐Win and FORTRAN softwares. The baseline model of Center for Advanced studies in Energy (CAS‐E), University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar, Pakistan building is investigated for real‐time energy data acquisition. Electrical energy, fuel consumption and its environmental as well as financial cost has been calculated. A set of retrofitting techniques are suggested in the study to reduce the carbon footprint of the building while increase self‐sustainability in term of energy. Integration of 84 KW grid‐tied solar photovoltaic‐diesel hybrid system. 26 KW of the generated electricity is consumed by the building whereas remaining electricity is exported to the grid by net‐metering. The levelized cost of energy of this PV‐Diesel hybrid system has USD 0.041/KWh. Annually, the recommended system saves 1306 kg CO 2 compared to baseline model. The annual SO x and NO x emissions of this system are approximately 5.66 and 2.77 kg respectively. The recommended hybrid photovoltaic system has a payback period of 4.19 years with initial cost of USD 192/m 2 and USD 172/m 2 in future projections, having total cost of USD 365/m 2 .