Impacts of Semester Dates Shift following Asian Universities to Electricity Demand Case Study the Faculty of Architecture Building, Kasetsart University

Abstract

Universities in Thailand has moved their semester duration to match with most universities in Asian beginning at theacademic year 2014in order to accommodate more foreign student admission and exchanges of students and facultiesas well as avoid raining season that make the travelling difficult in the country. However, many problems have arose especially inefficiency teaching and studying activities in summer with high temperature and long weekends as the most importanceThai cultural event is in April.Hot weather also increases electricity demand. This study aimed to prove the increased electricity demand using the Faculty of Architecture, Kasetsart University buildings as case studies. Electricity demands and electricity expenses in budget year 2012 were compared with budget year 2014 and 2015. It has been found that the electricity expenses during summer months from March to June have increased15%-21%. Electricity demand for the whole year has increased7.8% in 2014 and 9.5% in 2015. However, as 2014 and 2015 were less hot than 2012 and have lower electricity price, the total electricity expenses increased only 2.8% in 2014 and 1.3% in 2015 comparing to 2012.