Assessing Building Performance in A Low Carbon Home: A comparative study of the energy modelling representing design and as-built phase

Zhang, Xinyi; Fitton, Richard; Diaz Hernandez, Heidi; Henshaw, Grant; Sitmalidis, Anestis; Tsang, Christopher; Swan, Wiliam

Abstract

Buildings, as the second-largest carbon emitter, play a significant role in decarbonising efforts to achieve net zero in the UK. The proposed Future Homes Standard aims to ensure a 75-80% reduction in carbon emissions by increasing the building energy efficiency including decreasing U values and use of more efficient services for all new homes constructed from 2025, as compared to the current regulations. As a result, there is a need to assess the operational energy use of newly built homes that meet the criteria of the Future Homes Standard.
Due to the limited scope of energy monitoring systems in homes, the current residential assessment reports from the building industry mostly rely on building energy modelling. Existing research has demonstrated that for non-net-zero homes, significant differences persist between in situ energy measurements and energy simulation results, despite accurate modelling based on the design stage. The extent of such discrepancies in net zero homes (low carbon homes) is still uncertain and requires further investigation.
To address this issue, this study focuses on low carbon homes. It compares the building performance resulting from two energy models representing the design and as-built phases. The building energy modelling aims to replicate the test house in DesignBuilder, a dynamic building energy modelling software, as closely as possible, considering both the design and as-built phases. Parameters representing the as-built phase are obtained from in situ measurements. Measurements are carried out under controlled conditions at Energy House 2.0 at the Univer-sity of Salford, a unique research facility with two environmental chambers capable of simulating a wide range of weather conditions. The low carbon home eHome2 is built in one of these environmental chambers. The study examines this low carbon home through four metrics: energy use, operational carbon emissions, thermal comfort and energy costs.

Citation

Zhang, X., Fitton, R., Diaz Hernandez, H., Henshaw, G., Sitmalidis, A., Tsang, C., & Swan, W. (in press). Assessing Building Performance in A Low Carbon Home: A comparative study of the energy modelling representing design and as-built phase.

• Conference Name: eceee 2024 Summer Study on energy efficiency: sustainable, safe & secure through demand reduction
• Conference Location: Chamouille, France
• Start Date: Jun 10, 2024
• End Date: Jun 15, 2024
• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 27, 2024
• Series ISSN: 2001-7960 (online)/1653-7025 (print)
• ISBN: 978-91-988270-2-6 (print)
• Publisher URL: https://www.eceee.org
• Related Public URLs: https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Summer_Studies/2024/