scholarly journals A GIS-Based Procedure for Estimating the Energy Demand Profiles of Buildings towards Urban Energy Policies

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Ferrari ◽  
Federica Zagarella ◽  
Paola Caputo ◽  
Giuliano Dall’O’
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Dynamic Simulations ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Smart Energy Systems ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
Definition Of

Assessing the existing building stock’s hourly energy demand and predicting its variation due to energy efficiency measures are fundamental for planning strategies towards renewable-based Smart Energy Systems. However, the need for accurate methods for this purpose in the literature arises. The present article describes a GIS-based procedure developed for estimating the energy demand profiles of urban buildings based on the definition of the volumetric consistency of a building stock, characterized by different ages of construction and the most widespread uses, as well as dynamic simulations of a set of Building Energy Models adopting different energy-related features. The simulation models are based on a simple Building Energy Concept where selected thermal zones, representative of different boundary conditions options, are accounted. By associating the simulated hourly energy density profiles to the geo-referenced building stock and to the surveyed thermal system types, the whole hourly energy profile is estimated for the considered area. The method was tested on the building stock of Milan (Italy) and validated with the data available from the annual energy balance of the city. This procedure could support energy planners in defining urban energy demand profiles for energy policy scenarios.

scholarly journals Application of Urban Scale Energy Modelling and Multi-Objective Optimization Techniques for Building Energy Renovation at District Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11554
Author(s):  
Fahad Haneef ◽  
Giovanni Pernigotto ◽  
Andrea Gasparella ◽  
Jérôme Henri Kämpf
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Multi Objective Optimization ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Energy Efficiency Measures ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Efficiency Measures

Nearly-zero energy buildings are now a standard for new constructions. However, the real challenge for a decarbonized society relies in the renovation of the existing building stock, selecting energy efficiency measures considering not only the energy performance but also the economic and sustainability ones. Even if the literature is full of examples coupling building energy simulation with multi-objective optimization for the identification of the best measures, the adoption of such approaches is still limited for district and urban scale simulation, often because of lack of complete data inputs and high computational requirements. In this research, a new methodology is proposed, combining the detailed geometric characterization of urban simulation tools with the simplification provided by “building archetype” modeling, in order to ensure the development of robust models for the multi-objective optimization of retrofit interventions at district scale. Using CitySim as an urban scale energy modeling tool, a residential district built in the 1990s in Bolzano, Italy, was studied. Different sets of renovation measures for the building envelope and three objectives —i.e., energy, economic and sustainability performances, were compared. Despite energy savings from 29 to 46%, energy efficiency measures applied just to the building envelope were found insufficient to meet the carbon neutrality goals without interventions to the system, in particular considering mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Furthermore, public subsidization has been revealed to be necessary, since none of the proposed measures is able to pay back the initial investment for this case study.

scholarly journals Urban energy performance calculation based on EPBD standards. GIS4ENER tool

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gema Hernandez-Moral ◽  
◽  
Víctor Iván Serna-Gonzalez ◽  
Francisco Javier Miguel Herrero ◽  
César Valmaseda-Tranque
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Energy Planning ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
Performance Calculation

Climate change will have a strong impact on urban settings, which will also represent one of the major challenges (world’s urban population is expected to double by 2050, EU buildings consume 40% final energy and generate 36% CO2 emissions). A plethora of initiatives address this challenge by stressing the underlying necessity of thinking globally but acting locally. This entails the inclusion of a varied set of decision-makers acting at different scales and needing robust, comprehensive and comparable information that can support them in their energy planning process. To this end, this paper presents the GIS4ENER tool to support energy planners at different scales by proposing a bottom-up approach towards the calculation of energy demand and consumption at local scale that can be aggregated to support other decision-making scales. It is based on three main pillars: the exploitation of publicly available data (such as Open Street Maps, Building Stock Observatory or TABULA), the implementation of standardised methods to calculate energy (in particular the ISO52000 family) and the use of Geographic Information Systems to represent and facilitate the understanding of results, and their aggregation. The paper presents the context, main differences with other approaches and results of the tool in Osimo (IT).

Dynamic Geospatial Modeling of the Building Stock To Project Urban Energy Demand

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (14) ◽  
pp. 7604-7613
Author(s):  
Hanna M. Breunig ◽  
Tyler Huntington ◽  
Ling Jin ◽  
Alastair Robinson ◽  
Corinne D. Scown
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Geospatial Modeling ◽  
Urban Energy

scholarly journals Shortcomings and Suggestions to the EPC Recommendation List of Measures: In-Depth Interviews in Six Countries

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Gonzalez Caceres
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Great Portion ◽  
The Eu

Dwellings built between 1945 and 1980 have the largest energy demand in the EU, which by 2009 represented 70% of the final energy use in buildings. A great portion of these dwellings have not been retrofitted and most of them were not built with any energy efficiency measures, since most of the energy regulations were implemented after the oil crisis in the 70s. To face this issue several actions were taken in the EU, among these, the implementation of Energy Performance Certification, which includes a Recommendation List of Measures (RLMs) to retrofit the property. The main objective of this study is to identify the weaknesses of the RLMs and to suggest changes to improve the quality and impact of this feature. The results indicate that to retrofit an existing building, the RLMs lack information for decision-making. The study suggests important barriers to overcome for achieving potential energy reductions in existing residential buildings, highlighting improvements to the recommendation content and its implementation.

scholarly journals Investigating Bundled Approaches To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Toronto 2030 District

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Ritsma
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Energy Reduction ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Urban Core ◽  
Energy Models

Building energy models are an effective tool for evaluating energy reduction opportunities in both design phase and post-occupancy scenarios. By merging building energy models with city scale building stock data, it is possible to analyze energy performance at a greater breadth, providing more informed policy decisions and solutions to energy demand asymmetries in urban metropolises. This study examines the energy reduction potential for office buildings in the Toronto 2030 District, by testing individual and bundled energy conservation measures and greenhouse gas reduction strategies using a reference building energy model. When extrapolated across Toronto’s urban core, simulation results determined that standard interventions on the existing office building stock have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 91.5%, in line with 2030 District initiatives.

scholarly journals The application of the EN ISO 52016 standard and its Italian National Annex to assess the heating and cooling needs of a reference office building

2021 ◽  
Vol 312 ◽  
pp. 06003
Author(s):  
Franz Bianco Mauthe Degerfeld ◽  
Ilaria Ballarini ◽  
Giovanna De Luca ◽  
Vincenzo Corrado
Keyword(s):  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Dynamic Calculation ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Building Energy Performance ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Energy Simulations

The EN ISO 52016-1 standard presents a new simplified dynamic calculation procedure, whose aim is to provide an accurate energy performance assessment without excessively increasing the number of data required. The Italian National Annex to EN ISO 52016-1, currently under development, provides some improvements to the hourly calculation method; despite many works can be found in literature on the hourly model of EN ISO 52016-1, the National Annexes application has not been sufficiently analysed yet. The aim of the present work is to assess the main improvements introduced by the Italian National Annex and to compare the main results, in terms of energy need for space heating and cooling. To this purpose, an existing building representative of the Italian office building stock in Northern Italy was selected as a case study. The energy simulations were carried out considering both continuous and reduced operation of the HVAC systems. The options specified in the Italian National Annex were firstly applied one by one, and then all together. The variation of the energy need compared to the international base procedure is finally quantified. For the premises and the scope above discussed, the present work is intended to enhance the standardisation activity towards the adoption of more accurate and trustable calculation methods of the building energy performance.

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

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Newton ◽  
Arezoo Shirazi ◽  
Pernille Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Building Energy Performance ◽  
Smart Building ◽  
Building Technology ◽  
Occupant Comfort

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.

scholarly journals Designing an Energy-Resilient Neighbourhood Using an Urban Building Energy Model

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4445
Author(s):  
Niall Buckley ◽  
Gerald Mills ◽  
Samuel Letellier-Duchesne ◽  
Khadija Benis
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Model ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Sources And Sinks ◽  
Urban Modelling ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Land Covers ◽  
Test Scenarios

A climate resilient city, perforce, has an efficient and robust energy infrastructure that can harvest local energy resources and match energy sources and sinks that vary over space and time. This paper explores the use of an urban building energy model (UBEM) to examine the potential for creating a near-zero carbon neighbourhood in Dublin (Ireland) that is characterised by diverse land-uses and old and new building stock. UBEMs are a relatively new tool that allows the simulation of building energy demand across an urbanised landscape and can account for building layout, including the effects of overshadowing and the potential for facade retrofits and energy generation. In this research, a novel geographic database of buildings is created using archetypes, and the associated information on dimensions, fabric and energy systems is integrated into the Urban Modelling Interface (UMI). The model is used to simulate current and future energy demand based on climate change projections and to test scenarios that apply retrofits to the existing stock and that link proximate land-uses and land-covers. The latter allows a significant decoupling of the neighbourhood from an offsite electricity generation station with a high carbon output. The findings of this paper demonstrate that treating neighbourhoods as single energy entities rather than collections of individual sectors allows the development of bespoke carbon reducing scenarios that are geographically situated. The work shows the value of a neighbourhood-based approach to energy management using UBEMs.

Building Energy Simulation with On-Site Weather Station

2016 ◽  
Vol 859 ◽  
pp. 88-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radu Manescu ◽  
Ioan Valentin Sita ◽  
Petru Dobra
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Simulation ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Building Energy Simulation ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Heating And Cooling

Energy consumption awareness and reducing consumption are popular topics. Building energy consumption counts for almost a third of the global energy consumption and most of that is used for building heating and cooling. Building energy simulation tools are currently gaining attention and are used for optimizing the design for new and existing buildings. For O&M phase in existing buildings, the multiannual average weather data used in the simulation tools is not suitable for evaluating the performance of the building. In this study an existing building was modeled in EnergyPlus. Real on-site weather data was used for the dynamic simulation for the heating energy demand with the aim of comparing the measured energy consumption with the simulated one. The aim is to develop an early fault detection tool for building management.

Urban Building Energy Planning With Space Distribution and Time Dynamic Simulation

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Fu ◽  
Zhonghai Zheng ◽  
Hongfa Di ◽  
Yi Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Space Distribution ◽  
Energy Planning ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Simulation Tool ◽  
Time Dynamic ◽  
Urban Energy

It is important to deal with energy saving in buildings of one city level, and plan the energy system from one building to one city level. We strongly suggest conducting urban building energy planning (UBEP) in the urban planning field in China. There are two main characteristics of an urban building energy system. First, the terminal building energy demand is dynamically timely. Second, the energy demand, energy sources supply, energy equipments, and networks of heating, cooling, gas, and electricity, are distributed in an urban space. It is meaningful to conduct an innovative urban energy planning with space distribution and time dynamic simulation. Therefore, an UBEP simulation tool, developed by our research group, is introduced. Finally, a case of energy planning in Beijing City in 2010 for heating and air conditioning system is dynamically simulated and analyzed. To meet the same building energy demand in Beijing, such as heating, air conditioning, gas, and electricity, different energy equipments, such as boiler, combined heating and power, combined cooling, heating, and power system, and heat pump based on different energy sources, such as coal, gas, and electricity, should be planned alternatively. Also, an optimum urban energy system with high energy efficiency and low environmental emission can be achieved. This simulation tool contains most models of heating and cooling energy systems in China. We can validate the models with statistical data from previous or present simulation, and the simulation results in future planning can serve as guidance for the construction of municipal energy infrastructure. We can conclude that simulation in time dimension shows the characteristics of dynamic load in each nodes of the energy flow. The objective is to present the comparison of different scenarios and optimize the planning schemes.

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