Abstract
Through monitoring of buildings, it can be proven that the performance of envelope elements and energy supply systems deteriorates with time. The results of this degradation are higher energy consumption and life cycle costs than projected in the building design phase. This paper considers the impacts of this deterioration on the whole building energy performance with the goal of improving the accuracy of long term performance calculations. To achieve that, simplified degradation equations found in literature are applied on selected envelope elements and heating system components of a single-family house in Germany. The energy performance of the building over 20 years is determined through simulations by EnergyPlus and MATLAB. The simulation results show that, depending on maintenance and primary heating system, the building can consume between 18.4% and 47.1% more primary energy over 20 years compared to a scenario in which no degradation were to occur. Thus, it can be concluded that considering performance drop with time is key in order to improve the decision-making process when designing future-proof buildings.
Highlights
The building sector is responsible for approximately 40% of the total energy consumption in the European Union (EU) [1]
This paper considers the impacts of this deterioration on the whole building energy performance with the goal of improving the accuracy of long term performance calculations
Due to this fact, improving the energy performance of buildings is key in reaching the EU target of 20-20-20 (20% CO2 emissions reduction, 20% increase in energy efficiency and 20% more energy from renewable sources until the year 2020 compared to the levels of 1990) [2]
Summary
The building sector is responsible for approximately 40% of the total energy consumption in the European Union (EU) [1]. Due to this fact, improving the energy performance of buildings is key in reaching the EU target of 20-20-20 (20% CO2 emissions reduction, 20% increase in energy efficiency and 20% more energy from renewable sources until the year 2020 compared to the levels of 1990) [2]. Recast [3] obliges EU member states to evaluate their national requirements on the energy performance of buildings following the so-called “cost optimal methodology”. Since the energy efficiency of buildings can be increased either by improving envelope thermal properties or by upgrading the technical equipment, different energy efficiency measures and measure packages were compared as part of this study
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