Energy performance analytics and behavior prediction during unforeseen circumstances of retrofitted buildings in the arid climate

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy consumption profile has been changed in several facilities as a response to the lockdown and other precautionary measures. Lockdown has reduced the electrical load consumption in commercial buildings. Accordingly, the energy cost savings have been reflected in the energy bills. However, such savings were not due to improvement of energy performance and equipment efficiency, but because of changes that occurred in the operating conditions and parameters. As a result, it was complicated to identify the real energy savings in the energy retrofit projects during this period. For the energy conservation and refurbishment projects, a challenge was faced to calculate an accurate energy savings amount and to track the energy pattern and performance during these lockdown months.This study discusses the energy behavior of retrofitted buildings that follows the energy performance contracting. It shows the improvement of energy consumption for one year for 30 studied buildings. It discusses the strategy to follow in the calculation of the energy savings during a full lockdown period. This article addresses the approach to be taken into consideration and its consequences to monitor the energy profile as per the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol.