Policy options towards an energy efficient residential building stock in the EU-27

The EU-27 residential building stock offers high potential for energy efficiency gains. The policies already in place or proposed to improve the energy efficiency and thus the environmental performance focus on new buildings and major renovations of existing buildings. However, there might be additional measures that could lead to further energy efficiency improvements. In particular, the installation of roofs or windows that show a high thermal efficiency outside major renovations offer a large improvement potential. In this study, the potential environmental and economic impacts of two types of such policy options were analysed: first, measures that require high energy efficiency standards when roofs or windows have to be replaced; and, second, measures that accelerate the replacement of building elements. The results suggest that the two policies offer the potential for substantial additional energy savings. In addition, the installation of energy efficient building elements comes at negative net cost. When the replacement of building elements is accelerated, however, the additional costs do not outweigh the energy cost savings.     

Energy certification of buildings: A comparative analysis of progress towards implementation in European countries

The Energy Performance Building Directive (Directive 2002/91/EC) introduced the compulsory energy certification of buildings in the EU from 2006 and it has played a key role in the common policy to monitor and reduce energy consumption. In order to assess the experience gained in this field in Europe overall, and in particular against the highly diverse settings of the different European nations, this paper examines the extent to which the Directive has been implemented by the 27 EU Member States. This is done via a comparative analysis assisted by two different indicators: of uniformity and of excellence. The measure of uniformity makes it possible to assess the degree of harmony of the individual Member States with regard to the parameters laid down by the European Commission, while the measure of excellence allows the Member States to be appraised and the “best” performers to be identified, i.e. the leaders as regards energy certification of buildings. The analysis conducted reveals how varied the situation regarding energy certification in each country is in terms of implementation and scope of application and it also reveals that most countries are still at a halfway stage towards achieving excellence.     

Climatic zoning and its application to Spanish building energy performance regulations

The main requirements of European Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD) are the application of minimum energy performance requirements for new buildings and certification of the energy performance of buildings. Its transposition into the national law of member states of the European Union has signified the appearance of new and more onerous requirements in terms of construction quality from the point of view of energy performance, and in terms of the procedure for certification of the energy performance of buildings. In both cases, the levels required tend to be based on climatic conditions, fundamentally in countries such as Spain, where the climatic variability is very pronounced. This paper presents a methodology developed for the climatic zoning of the localities not included in the above-mentioned regulations in order to facilitate their application. By way of example, the method is shown which was used to generate the climatic files and carry out the subsequent climatic zoning of all the municipalities of the region of Andalusia in southern Spain.     

Energy performance assessment of existing dwellings

The existing buildings stock in European countries accounts for over 40% of final energy consumption in the European Union (EU) member states, of which residential use represents 63% of total energy consumption in the buildings sector. Consequently, an increase of building energy performance can constitute an important instrument in the efforts to alleviate the EU energy import dependency and comply with the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is also in accordance to the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD), which has come to effect on 4 January 2006. The energy performance assessment for existing dwellings (EPA-ED) is a new methodology supported by software, developed in the framework of a European project that focuses on energy related issues for existing residential buildings, in line with the EPBD. This paper presents an overview of the method and software that can be used to perform building energy audits and assess buildings in a uniform way, perform demand and savings calculations, provide owners with specific advice for measures to improve energy performance, issue an energy performance certificate for existing buildings, and include some representative results from the pilot studies performed in several European countries. Also the sister-method EPA-NR, on non-residential buildings, currently under construction, is introduced.     

浅析新欧盟标准EN15232:建筑自控与建筑管理系统对建筑能效的影响

本文对EPBD以及相关标准进行了简要介绍,并着重介绍标准EN15232。     

Public energy performance policy and the effect on diffusion of solar thermal systems in buildings: A Dutch experience

Energy performance policy is an important element in the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (Directive 2002/91/EC—in short: EPBD, published 4 January 2003), which the European Commission is now urging all European member states to introduce for the building sector by 2006. One of the expected benefits of energy performance policy is that it can help to introduce innovations such as solar thermal systems. However, few studies have analysed this so far. This paper describes the extent to which the penetration of solar thermal systems in the residential building sector is directly related to energy performance policy in the Netherlands. The concept of energy performance policy is explained and the effects of using energy performance policy for several years in the Netherlands are described, through the results of an empirical study. Statistical analysis appears to show no association between Dutch energy performance policy and the application of solar thermal systems in the domestic sector.     

Comparison of the simplified methods of the ISO 13790 standard and detailed modelling programs in a regulatory context

The CEN standards that support the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requirement for calculation of the energy consumption of buildings allow various methods to be used for the same calculation. The impact of using the different methods within the updated ISO 13790 standard for space heating and cooling energy calculations was examined with a parametric analysis of a common building specification. The impact was assessed by considering the energy band, which would be assigned for the building based on the calculation results. The standard describes three different methods that can be used for the calculations: a monthly quasi-steady state method, a simplified hourly method and detailed simulation. For most cases studied, differences in the building rating given by the various methods were a maximum of one band. More significant differences were noticed in some cases. Parameter values in the monthly method were determined, which would lead to improved matching.     

政策法规对建筑节能的作用——欧盟经验参考

简要介绍了欧盟建筑能效指令EPBD的主要内容,并从建立建筑能耗计算方法、规定建筑最小能耗要求、建立建筑能耗证书制度等方面分析建筑节能政策对欧盟国家建筑节能的影响,以便为我国建筑节能政策的制定和执行提供参考。     

The impact of Energy Performance Certificates on building deep energy renovation targets

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) on the renovation of buildings. Thus, through the European project ENERFUND, 2 online web-based surveys were conducted in 12 countries of the European Union. It was shown that the results varied significantly both between countries and age groups and, that, on average, EPCs did play a role both in renovation decisions and whether to rent/buy a certain flat. In addition, this paper presents major key drivers and parameters related to energy renovation investment mobilisation and suggests actions that can contribute to the promotion of investments for deep energy renovation of buildings. Furthermore, it highlights potential benefits and effectiveness of using retrofitting online tools, such as the ENERFUND tool, pinpoints market failures in the building sector and provides suggestions on increasing the deep energy renovation market in Europe.     

Regulatory energy calculations versus real energy use in high-performance houses

How accurately can official energy performance calculations assess the real energy use in high-performance houses? This question was investigated by analysing 537 dwellings. Data on building characteristics and calculated performance from the Flemish Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) database were complemented with data from energy utilities and surveys of inhabitants, their socio-demographic characteristics and user behaviours. While the real and theoretical energy uses were strongly correlated, the official calculation method overestimated the heating energy use of most houses while neglecting important electricity end uses. The prediction error varied strongly between individual cases. Two options within the calculation procedure had a significant impact on these prediction errors: the use of default values for the air tightness of the building envelope and the reported return temperature of the space heating system. The simplified calculation of net domestic hot water consumption and the real heating of the master bedrooms also affected prediction accuracy. However, extrapolations are hazardous due to the risk of selection and non-response biases implied by the approach and the need for further research into the causalities. Nonetheless, the findings stress the importance of accurate input data and realistic default values for calculation models used for high-performance buildings.