Effects of Building Occupancy on Indicators of Energy Efficiency

Abstract

Abstract:The potential to reduce energy consumption in buildings is high. The design phase of the building is very important. In addition, it is vital to understand how to measure the energy efficiency in the building operation phase in order to encourage the right efficiency efforts. In understanding the building energy efficiency, it is important to comprehend the interplay of building occupancy, space efficiency, and energy efficiency. Recent studies found in the literature concerning energy efficiency in office buildings have concentrated heavily on the technical characteristics of the buildings or technical systems. The most commonly used engineering indicator for building energy efficiency is the specific energy consumption (SEC), commonly measured in kWh/m 2 per annum. While the SEC is a sound way to measure the technical properties of a building and to guide its design, it obviously omits the issues of building occupancy and space efficiency. This paper studies existing energy efficiency indicators and introduces a new indicator for building energy efficiency which takes into account both space and occupancy efficiency.

Selection of Energy Efficiency Projects for Dwelling Stock to Achieve Optimal Project Portfolio at the Regional Level by Applying LCC. An Analysis Based on Three Scenarios in the South-Muntenia Region of Romania

“…The issue of energy efficiency and energy efficiency improvement has been addressed from multiple points of view [1,2,10,[18][19][20][21][22][23] until this study was carried out. As compared to other previous studies [2,10,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] the research carried out has studied the issue of projects for increasing the energy efficiency of the dwelling stock at regional and county level, showing that an optimal portfolio of projects at the regional level can be created by using LCC as a criterion for setting up this portfolio.…”

“…As compared to other previous studies [2,10,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] the research carried out has studied the issue of projects for increasing the energy efficiency of the dwelling stock at regional and county level, showing that an optimal portfolio of projects at the regional level can be created by using LCC as a criterion for setting up this portfolio. LCC ro was determined in the research, corresponding to the optimal portfolio of projects at a regional level.…”

“…Other studies have focused exclusively on the value of the price risk reduction to a consumer that can be achieved with investments in energy efficiency [9]. Studies have shown that the potential for reducing the energy use of buildings is immense [10,11]. The magnitude of the impact of the reduction in energy use depends on the phase of the construction life cycle in which energy efficiency measures are implemented.…”

Sharing indoor space: stakeholders’ perspectives and energy metrics

“…Another approach is to develop a comprehensive metric including both occupancy and floor area by adjusting the area-based metric, usually by dividing it by another variable (Dooley 2011;Escrivá-Escrivá, Álvarez-Bel, & Peñalvo-López 2011;Huovila et al 2017;Lindberg et al 2018;Sekki et al 2015Sekki et al , 2017. Escrivá-Escrivá et al (2011) use metrics normalised per floor area and time of use or vacancy, respectively.…”

“…Brinkø & Nielsen (2017) developed a typology of shared facilities and a guide for municipalities to implement sharing in their premises. Höjer & Mjörnell (2018) and Huovila, Tuominen & Airaksinen (2017) also highlight the importance of using the right performance metrics for decision support, in particular for energy performance. Traditional operational energy metrics based on floor area (kWh/(m 2 a)) have been widely studied (Abu Bakar et al 2015) and are commonly used in certification and regulation, e.g.…”