In addition to building codes and regulations, voluntary housing certification standards also play an important role in the energy efficiency of housing. Each of these standards was established in response to a set of specific demands for high performance housing. Consequently, the energy conservation technologies and design approach applicable could be very diverse and dynamic. This paper is aimed to provide a comprehensive review for the state-of-the art housing standards with a focus on energy efficiency. It was observed that these standards normally evaluate energy efficiency based on percentage savings of the design with energy conservation measures compared to a reference case. The net-zero energy balance between energy consumption and on-site energy generation is considered the highest level of performance. This paper examines if this approach is adequate and prompts future research in order to improve the effectiveness of housing standards in defining sustainable housing.
<p>Building energy performance is subject to influences such as weather variations, changes in the building conditions, as well as changes in occupant behaviour and operational schemes. This research builds on and improves the efficacy of the Degree-days Ratio-based method, a commonly used weather normalization method, by way of introducing a weighting exponent and excluding the consumption values during the “Shoulder Season” months in the dataset for deriving an indicator of the changes in building condition or system operations over years. These two proposed schemes were tested using both simulated and measured space heating and cooling energy consumption data. Prototype commercial building models were simulated with published Typical Year (CWEC2016) and Historical Year Weather Data (CWEEDS 1998-2014). Based on standard deviation and CVRMSE figures between the normalized values and the reference value simulated using Typical Year weather data, the proposed method resulted in less year-to-year energy consumption variations when compared to two conventional methods. The measured energy consumption data of an in-service Case Study Building were weather-normalized to derive an energy consumption variation trend. Normalizing with the proposed method yielded a more definitive energy consumption variation trend which is indicative of the long-term energy performance due to changes in building condition and operational schemes. </p>
<p>Building energy performance is subject to influences such as weather variations, changes in the building conditions, as well as changes in occupant behaviour and operational schemes. This research builds on and improves the efficacy of the Degree-days Ratio-based method, a commonly used weather normalization method, by way of introducing a weighting exponent and excluding the consumption values during the “Shoulder Season” months in the dataset for deriving an indicator of the changes in building condition or system operations over years. These two proposed schemes were tested using both simulated and measured space heating and cooling energy consumption data. Prototype commercial building models were simulated with published Typical Year (CWEC2016) and Historical Year Weather Data (CWEEDS 1998-2014). Based on standard deviation and CVRMSE figures between the normalized values and the reference value simulated using Typical Year weather data, the proposed method resulted in less year-to-year energy consumption variations when compared to two conventional methods. The measured energy consumption data of an in-service Case Study Building were weather-normalized to derive an energy consumption variation trend. Normalizing with the proposed method yielded a more definitive energy consumption variation trend which is indicative of the long-term energy performance due to changes in building condition and operational schemes. </p>
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