Are the energy efficient rates (RVRs) approximate in different climatic locations for the same building with the same reform?

Abstract

This paper studies the annual heating and cooling energy consumption and the variation law with the tools of characteristic temperature method (CTM) when making the same energy-saving measures on the same building under 43 different climate conditions. It can be found that for the same building, under different climate conditions, the maximal difference in annual energy consumption is up to more than 70 times and after improving building envelope, annual heating and cooling energy reductions are greatly different under various weather conditions, which illustrates that building energy consumption and its reduction is completely dependent on climate conditions; and the energy-saving potentiality and economic value with the same measures are quite different under various climatic conditions. Nevertheless, annual energy efficient rates of cooling are approximate (33.9–39.8%) for the same building with the same energy efficient measures in 43 climate conditions with quite different climatic conditions, and those of heating are also approximate (between 16.2% and 19.5%). This paper proves again the common rule that climate conditions determine energy consumption while energy efficient rates depend on the energy efficient measures.