Abstract
Nowadays, there is growing interest in all the smart technologies that provide us with information and knowledge about the human environment. In the energy field, thanks to the amount of data received from smart meters and devices and the progress made in both energy software and computers, the quality of energy models is gradually improving and, hence, also the suitability of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs). For this reason, the measurement of the accuracy of building energy models is an important task, because once the model is validated through a calibration procedure, it can be used, for example, to apply and study different strategies to reduce its energy consumption in maintaining human comfort. There are several agencies that have developed guidelines and methodologies to establish a measure of the accuracy of these models, and the most widely recognized are: ASHRAE Guideline 14-2014, the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) and the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). This article intends to shed light on these validation measurements (uncertainty indices) by focusing on the typical mistakes made, as these errors could produce a false belief that the models used are calibrated.
Highlights
One of the main focuses of governments’ policies in almost every country is the energy supply.Energy security has a direct impact on social welfare, the level of the economy and the safety of a country, and for this reason, all possible energy savings in all sectors are important
The Measurement and Verification (M&V) protocols are critical due to their capacity to evaluate the scope of each Energy Conservation Measure (ECM)
Normalized Mean Bias Error (N Mean Bias Error (MBE)) is subject to cancellation errors; the use of this index alone is not recommended
Summary
One of the main focuses of governments’ policies in almost every country is the energy supply. The energy savings potential of the buildings sector is high (approximately 10% and 40% in hot climates), and for this reason, the optimization of its energy consumption is a key factor in the governments’. In this scenario, the Measurement and Verification (M&V) protocols are critical due to their capacity to evaluate the scope of each Energy Conservation Measure (ECM). (...) calibration includes following defined procedures that identify what parameters of the instrument, meter, or model may be adjusted, determining what is an acceptable level of accuracy or uncertainty, and documenting the process and results [8]”. We wish to stress that we hope not to offend anyone cited in this paper because the mistakes highlighted are typical due to the unclear existing references
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