The role of the reference building in the evaluation of energy efficiency measures for large stocks of public buildings

Abstract

With the last European Directive 2018/844/EU, EU Member States have to outline effective strategies for the energy renovation of existing buildings, so as to achieve the objectives set respectively for 2030, 2040 and 2050, taking advantage of new financing instruments. In this process, public buildings are identified as important drivers for energy-behavioural changes among citizens and, in addition, they can benefit from encouraging mortgages for certified energy efficient renovations. However, the problem of dealing with existing public buildings is their sample size combined with the current necessity of significant renovations. In this scenario, the reference building acquires a key role as the starting model for the evaluation of primary energy needs and of retrofit measures. In this work, a reference building selected by a previous work is further analyzed, testing selected potential retrofit interventions by means of model simulation. The implemented measures are then evaluated using a cost-optimal approach, in order to integrate their priority with respect to cost-effectiveness. The aim of the work is to test on a building centrotype selected retrofit measures, to be then extended to the other buildings similar for their main geometrical and thermophysical features.

Investigation of Energy Consumption of Office Spaces with Active Workstations

“…By eliminating the need for 3D modeling and calibration, this approach can improve standardization and lower the engineering cost of modeling the building envelope [41]. While some believe that the reference building model's application may vary based on the region [42], this approach may be the most effective and can be extended to other cases as long as the appropriate configuration of the variables and their weightings are applied [43]. Therefore, many studies use the reference building model to quantify and calculate the heating and cooling energy consumption of the buildings to assess the impact of the key variables [44].…”

Simulation-based framework to evaluate resistivity of cooling strategies in buildings against overheating impact of climate change

“…Consequently, all the input parameters regarding the geometry, envelope properties, and operational conditions (schedule and condition of building, zone and space usage) can be derived by statistical analysis or expert assumptions or should reflect real typical conditions. Establishing reference building models provides a credible and robust model to evaluate the energy needs and retrofit measures [38] as well as thermal comfort and climate change adaptation measures. There are several studies that developed reference building models such as for educational buildings in Belgium [39], in Italy [40], in Ireland [41], in Australia [42], for office buildings in Korea [43], in England and Wales [44], for commercial buildings and residential buildings in the United States [33,45,46], and for residential buildings in thirteen European countries (Germany, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, France, Ireland, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Denmark) within the TABULA IEE-EU followed by EPISCOPE IEE-EU projects.…”

Energy Retrofit in European Building Portfolios: A Review of Five Key Aspects

“…Article [6, [84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91] Conference paper [92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105] [ [106][107][108][109][110][111][112] Review [113][114][115][116][117] After every publication in Table 1 was accurately analyzed, it demonstrates that the methodologies employed are rather heterogeneous, and sometimes they even show conflicting results. Hardly any research proposes a comprehensive study, covering all the aspects that should be considered, from the early audits to the final decision-making processes.…”

“…In [62], both the energy consumption and the reduction in CO 2 emissions were assessed for a non-residential building stock in Greece. School buildings were analyzed in [111], from a cost-optimal and cost-effective perspective, including the co-benefits of the renovation package. In [89], the energy consumption for space heating was used as a means to evaluate the quality of Rome's public school buildings.…”