Defining and demonstrating a smart technology configuration to improve energy performance and occupant comfort in existing buildings: a conceptual framework

PurposeTo achieve the building and property by 2050, decarbonisation goals will now require a significant increase in the rate of improvement in the energy performance of buildings. Occupant behaviour is crucial. This study seeks to guide the application of smart building technology in existing building stock to support improved building energy performance and occupant comfort.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows a logical partitioning approach to the development of a schema for building energy performance and occupant comfort. A review of the literature is presented to identify the characteristics that label and structure the problem elements. A smart building technology framework is overlaid on the schema. The framework is then applied to configure and demonstrate an actual technology implementation for existing building stock.FindingsThe developed schema represents the key components and relationships of building energy performance when combined with occupant comfort. This schema provides a basis for the definition of a smart building technologies framework for existing building stock. The study demonstrates a viable configuration of available smart building technologies that couple building energy performance with occupant comfort in the existing building stock. Technical limitations (such as relatively simple building management control regimes) and pragmatic limitations (such as change management issues) are noted for consideration.Originality/valueThis is the first development of a schema to represent how building energy performance can be coupled with occupant comfort in existing building stock using smart building technologies. The demonstration study applies one of many possible technology configurations currently available, and promotes the use of open source applications with push-pull functionality. The schema provides a common basis and guide for future studies.

Long-Term Monitoring Strategies for Increasing EPCs Reliability

Energy retrofit strategies for buildings represent a major challenge for the achievement of EU decarbonization goals. In 2002, the Energy Performance of Building Directive introduced energy certificates to measure and compare building energy performance, to frame the more suitable renovation actions, and develop financing schemes. However, since its implementation, this instrument remained quite unexploited. In this framework, the EPC RECAST H2020 project aims at developing a new generation of EPCs with a focus on existing residential buildings. Within the project, the paper focuses on the monitoring strategy that has been defined and tested to validate, with real data, what is declared in Energy Performance Certificates.

The EN-TRACK Energy Efficiency Performance Tracking Platform for Benchmarking Savings and Investments in Buildings. Data Model Development

This paper is related to the H2020 project EN-TRACK, dedicated to developing a platform for gathering data on the performance of energy efficiency investments in buildings. The project aims to collect and harmonize data from different sources and provide services supporting investors and building owners in decision-making and de-risking building retrofit projects. The paper focuses on the methodology and the semantic technologies used in the development of the platform’s data model, which enables the interoperability of data, and supports the service functionalities for tracking building energy performance and benchmarking savings from energy efficiency investments.

A structured method to define goals when developing a building energy performance assessment method in a legislative framework

To boost the energy performance of buildings, the EU has established a legislative framework including the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Through this document, EU state members are incentivized to set up a Building Energy performance Assessment Method (BEAM), tailored to the specific needs of the country. There is no standard definition for the energy performance of a building. Since the options are numerous, it is important for the policymaker to define the goals of their specific BEAM first, before developing the BEAM itself. The definition of these goals is a subjective matter and can differ when asked to different organizations in the building sector. To comprehend the desires and perspectives from each different group, a structured overview of the goals that are important for the specific region is needed. For this paper, a method was developed to provide this structured overview and was tested on the legislative energy performance of buildings (EPB) framework of Flanders, Belgium. The Flemish framework was initiated in 2006 and is still in action today. The method consists of two steps. In the first step, a multi-level tree structure for goal mapping based on the Goal Breakdown Structure (GBS) was developed. The main goal, reducing global warming, is on top of the tree structure, which then subdivides into many sub-goals on different levels. An example of a goal on the lowest level of the structure could be the insulation level of the walls. In the second step, prominent stakeholders in the Flemish building industry, including policymakers, researchers, manufacturers, contractors and building owners, were surveyed to capture their expectations from a BEAM and to query whether the current BEAM corresponds with those expectations. The goal of this survey was to receive qualitative, not quantitative input from the stakeholders. In total, 33 respondents completed the survey. The survey results showed that, in general, the desired goals have not changed substantially compared to the pre-set goals in 2006. Trias Energetica is still the preferred guideline for the decision-making process of the building owner, although its absolute power has decreased slightly and seems to be more prone to the conditions. The current indicator for the overall energy needs (E level) is still strongly preferred, while the recently introduced S level (assessment of the envelope) attracts mixed feelings in terms of usefulness to the entire EPB framework. The overheating indicator receives the most critique for not being accurate enough due to the simplified, single zone BEAM

A comparative benchmarking study of multi-storey residential buildings in two periods of energy saving efforts: the 1980s and the 2010s

In 1990, Technological Institute (TI) in Denmark made a benchmarking study of 92 typical multi-storey buildings covering 23 000 dwellings. The study included measurement data from the 1970s and the years after the energy crises. This study showed that over a period of less than 20 years a significant reduction in energy consumption took place. In a new similar study, TI and Aalborg University have analysed 62 buildings covering 18 000 dwellings including measurement data from the last 20 years. This time, the data covers a period with an increasing focus on the carbon-emission impacts of energy consumption. As opposed to the first benchmarking study, the new 20-years study shows that the heat consumption has been almost constant over the last 20 years. This paper presents a comparative study of the two sets of measurements and evaluates energy saving efforts and individual building energy performance. Furthermore, the paper compares two different ways of deriving benchmarks from the data and demonstrates how utilizing change-point models/energy signature as opposed to the more traditional mean annual values per heated area, significantly increases the usability.

Neural network for indoor airflow prediction with CFD database

Energy efficiency and indoor thermal comfort are both important in built environment, making it necessary to simultaneously take into consideration of the two aspects, building energy performance and indoor environmental quality, at the design stage. Coupled simulation between building energy simulation (BES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enables providing each other complementary information with regard to building energy performance and detailed indoor environment conditions; however, the main drawback of CFD in computational cost limits its application. Neural networks (NNs) are considered as promising alternatives for CFD due to their advanced modelling abilities and high-speed computational powers. This research aims to confirm the feasibility of NN for indoor airflow prediction, which extends previous studies from two-dimensional to three-dimensional indoor space for more realistic conditions. The NN receives boundary conditions as input and outputs corresponding velocity and temperature distributions. Comparisons were made between NN predictions and CFD simulations regarding accuracy and time consumption on testing cases. The results show that the NN reproduces indoor airflow and thermal distributions with relative errors less than 12%. Time consumption for predicting the testing cases is reduced by 80% with the NN. The feasibility of NN for fast and accurate indoor airflow prediction is confirmed.