Investigating the potential impact of energy-efficient measures for retrofitting existing UK hotels to reach the nearly zero energy building (nZEB) standard

Abstract

The existing non-residential building stock can generally be considered energy-inefficient. The ECUK 2017 report states that the final energy consumption for commercial buildings remained static. The 2010 recast Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD) has set out a requirement for commercial and residential buildings to be nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs) by 2020. Despite this, within the UK, a definition does not exist at the national level for commercial nZEBs (new or existing). This paper utilises the EU zebra2020 data tool to set a standard based on the existing UK nZEB commercial building stock. The aim of this paper is to investigate and assess the potential of various energy-efficient measures (EEMs) and their contribution to reducing energy consumption, primary energy consumption (PEC), and CO2 emissions whilst taking into consideration the energy and cost savings of those measures. The analysis is carried out using Thermal Analysis Simulation software (Tas, Edsl). The model validation obtained a performance gap of less than 5%. The results show that it is possible to achieve the nZEB standard for older UK hotel buildings if several measures are implemented and the initial selection of EEMs is carefully investigated. Based on the results, reaching the nZEB target should first take into consideration improving the building fabric and/or building envelope elements to lower the energy demand. Once the energy demand of the building is lowered, the incorporation of a renewable/microgeneration system is essential to meeting the nZEB target.