Heating demand as an energy performance indicator: A case study of buildings built under the passive house standard in Spain

Abstract

This paper aims to identify more simplified and appropriate energy performance indicators (EPIs) for residential buildings during their operational stage. The Spanish Energy Performance Certification methodology is used to evaluate the energy performance rate (EPR) of a selected sample of Passive House (PH) buildings. Results of the study indicate: all the certified PH buildings analyzed are nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEBs) under the Spanish certification system; disaggregate indicators (particularly heating and cooling demand), appear to be suitable EPIs for comparing buildings among different certification schemes and labels; the new Technical Building Code (TBC) offers greater flexibility in terms of creating NZEBs than previous laws, having the advantage that it involves very different (albeit closely linked) economic sectors, and represents a step forward in accomplishing the NZEB goal, and a clear boost to the renewable energies and energy efficiency in the Spanish building sector. However, it only states aggregate EPIs as limiting values, which may alter competition between different energy carriers/solutions. On the other part, the requirement level of the new TBC in relation to energy demand still needs to be verified. Moreover, the use of aggregate EPIs does not necessarily pave the way towards the “passive building” concept.