Impacts of Common Simulation Assumptions in Sweden on Modelled Energy Balance of a Multi-family Building

Abstract

Here, we explore key input parameters and common assumptions for energy balance analysis of residential buildings in Sweden and assess their impacts on simulated energy demand of a building. Our analysis is based on dynamic hour-by-hour energy balance modelling of a typical Swedish multi-storey residential building constructed in 1972. The simulation input parameters studied are related to microclimate, building envelope, occupancy behaviour, ventilation, electric and persons heat gains. The results show that assumed indoor temperature set points, internal heat gains and efficiency of ventilation heat recovery systems have significant impact on the simulated energy demand. For microclimate parameters, the outdoor temperature, ground solar reflection and window shading gave significant variations in the simulated space heating and cooling demands. We found that input parameter values and assumptions used for building energy simulation vary significantly in the Swedish context, giving considerably different estimated annual final energy demands for the analysed building. Overall, the estimated annual final space heating demand of the building varied between 50 and 125 kWh/m2 depending on the simulation dataset used. This study suggests that site-specific parameter values may be appropriate for accurate analysis of a building’s energy performance to reduce data input uncertainties, as such factors may have a significant impact on building energy balance and energy savings of retrofit measures.