Energy Benchmarking of Existing Office Stock in Spain: Trends and Drivers

Abstract

Buildings play a central role in the clean energy transition, which is why it is vital to understand how energy is consumed in this sector. Energy performance certificate databases are considered a key source of information on the characteristics of built building stock. Despite a growing portfolio of studies based on information from such databases, little is known about energy consumption in offices. This paper explores the modelled energy performance of existing offices in Spain, using data from 13,701 energy performance certificates collected by the Catalan Institute of Energy (ICAEN) in 2013–2018. Offices were found to consume between 202.66 and 212.10 kWhp/m2·year and were mostly ranked in classes C and D (~64%). Offices with E, F or G labels represent ~28% of the sample while A and B energy ratings are very scarce (~8%). Key drivers of energy consumption variation were found to be the office type, construction period, climate zone, renewable energy use, energy certification procedure and motivation for obtaining an energy performance certificate. Ownership was not found to affect average calculated energy consumption. The results will help policy makers to plan future energy conservation strategies.

Examining Energy Efficiency Practices in Office Buildings through the Lens of LEED, BREEAM, and DGNB Certifications

“…The building type to search was chosen based on Gangolles et al's [58] study that concluded that there is a growing body of research utilizing energy performance certificate databases; however, there remains a limited understanding of energy consumption in office spaces. The studies by Armitage et al [59] and Hjortling et al [60] are the only studies referenced that conducted thorough analyses of final energy consumption within the office sector in England and Wales and in Sweden, respectively.…”

A new approach for national-scale Building Energy Models based on Energy Performance Certificates in European countries: The case of Spain

“…Refs. [ [31] , [32] , [33] ]. These studies are also of great interest for us, however, they focus only in one region of Spain and represent insights outdated now.…”

Baselines for Energy Use and Carbon Emission Intensities in Hellenic Nonresidential Buildings

“…In Catalonia, Spain, researchers exploiting data from about 14,000 certificates found that offices have an average annual energy use of 207.4 kWh/m 2 . Their energy ranking is mostly labeled in classes-C and -D (64%), while high energy ratings at the top ranked energy class A and -B are limited tõ 8% of the database [19]. NR buildings in Spain, were found to have slightly better energy performance than residential buildings, with an average energy consumption of 317.8 kWh/m 2 [15].…”