Abstract
This research compares domestic metered energy data, for both gas and electricity consumption, against characteristics drawn from a building stock model of Greater London, UK. The energy analyses are limited to houses (single-building, single household) with one standard electricity meter and one mains gas meter as the principal subset. This provides a sample of almost 1.2 million, or 75%, of London’s stock of houses. Energy use was normalised by calculated floor area, providing an energy use intensity (EUI; kWh/m2/yr), which allows properties of all sizes to be compared. Examination of EUIs of each built form versus Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) current energy efficiency (Asset Rating value) indicates weak, or very weak, correlation between the two, particularly for electricity. Practice relevance The study demonstrates how a detailed building stock model may be used for the analysis of metered energy use in the buildings of urban areas: in this case houses. The analyses examine some aspects of the data that constitute the stock model, such as built form and age, which are held at the scale of what can be considered to be individual buildings. The model currently covers Greater London, but is being built for other urban areas of England and Wales, thus giving it the potential to aid different layers of government or other actors in their efforts to reduce energy use in the building stock—both domestic and non-domestic. Some aspects of the model, such as the calculation of floor areas, should be replicable, where these data are accessible.
Highlights
energy use intensity (EUI) for total delivered energy use were generated using the floor areas calculated from the geometry of each building within the 3DStock model
In combination with a detailed building stock model and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), these have been analysed for trends that may be of use to policymakers and interested parties at the local and national scales
When examined in groupings of attached status with age bands, energy use intensities (EUIs; kilowatt hours (kWh)/m2/yr) of houses, based on recorded fuel consumption, do not always track the energy performance predicted by their EPCs
Summary
An example of the implementation of policies to achieve these aims is the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (BEIS 2020) intended to improve building energy performance whilst reducing fuel poverty. To meet such policy aims, it is first necessary to understand the current composition of the building stock, which consists of many individual buildings with a range of physical characteristics, including size. As building size is a prime determinant of gross delivered energy use, it is necessary to allow for this using normalisation by a standardised metric, such as building volume or floor area, to generate a comparable energy use intensity (EUI) applicable across combinations of other building characteristics
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have