Energy-efficiency interventions in housing: learning from the inhabitants

Crosbie, Tracey; Baker, Keith

doi:10.1080/09613210903279326

Cited by 82 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…Addressing this challenging typology presents an opportunity to deliver significant carbon reductions and increased occupant thermal comfort from improved building fabric performance [22,23]. However, this carbon reduction challenge is intensified by the underperformance of many interventions [24][25][26][27] and the low rate of refurbishment [28][29][30]. Just four percent of solid walls in the UK's pre-1919 properties are insulated [31] and it is unknown how many pre-1919 ground floors are insulated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat-flow variability of suspended timber ground floors: Implications for in-situ heat-flux measuring

Pelsmakers

Fitton

Biddulph

et al. 2017

Energy and Buildings

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Reducing space heating energy demand supports the UK's legislated carbon emission reduction targets and requires the effective characterisation of the UK's existing housing stock to facilitate retrofitting decisionmaking. Approximately 6.6 million UK dwellings pre-date 1919 and are predominantly of suspended timber ground floor construction, the thermal performance of which has not been extensively investigated. This paper examines suspended timber ground floor heat-flow by presenting high resolution in-situ heat-flux measurements undertaken in a case study house at 15 point locations on the floor. The results highlight significant variability in observed heat-flow: point U-values range from 0.56 ±0.05 to 1.18 ±0.11 Wm -2 K -1 .This highlights that observing only a few measurements is unlikely to be representative of the whole floor heat-flow and the extrapolation from such point values to whole floor U-value estimates could lead to its over-or under-estimation. Floor U-value models appear to underestimate the actual measured floor U-value in this case study. This paper highlights the care with which in-situ heat-flux measuring must be undertaken to enable comparison with models, literature and between studies and the findings support the unique, highresolution in-situ monitoring methodology used in this study for further research in this area.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat-flow variability of suspended timber ground floors: Implications for in-situ heat-flux measuring

Pelsmakers

Fitton

Biddulph

et al. 2017

Energy and Buildings

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“…However, the focus on technology alone appears to have its limitations. With regards to energy, for instance, occupant behaviour was found to be the major contributor to the variance in domestic energy consumption (Brohus et al, 2009, Crosbie andBaker, 2010) As Crosbie and Baker (2010) say: "It does not matter how much energy hypothetically could be saved by efficient technologies if no one wants to live in the properties, install or use efficient lighting and heating." In the endeavour to tackle this behavioural dimension, smart metering and Home Energy Management Systems (Hems) are being given increasing attention, both in academia and in commercial enterprises.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home energy monitors: impact over the medium-term

Dam¹,

Bakker²,

Hal³

2010

Building Research & Information

175

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Home Energy Management Systems (Hems), e.g. energy monitors, are intermediary products that can visualize, manage, and/or monitor the energy use of other products or whole households. Hems increasingly receive attention for their role in energy conservation in households. A literature review and a case study examine the mid-term effectiveness (> 4 months) of Hems. The case study present the results of a 15-month pilot with a domestic energy monitor in the Netherlands. It explores the extent to which participants manage to sustain their initial electricity savings over time, with a special focus on the development of habitual energy saving behaviour. The results show that the initial savings in electricity consumption of 7.8 % after 4 months could not be sustained in the medium to long term. A second finding is that certain groups of people seem more receptive to energy saving interventions than others. These participants quickly develop new habits and exhibit larger savings than other participants. Obviously, a 'one-size-fits-all' approach for home energy monitors cannot be justified. For Hems to be effective, a deeper understanding is needed embracing social science, contextual factors, usability and interaction design research.

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“…Energy efficiency, thermal comfort and sustainability are more recent trends as highlighted by the shift in political and industry discourse in Ireland. The propensity of occupants to undertake energy efficiency retrofits in their home is dependent on a similarly long list of interacting factors [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. It is thus understandable why the potential energy savings due to retrofit are difficult to quantify with any degree of accuracy since it relies on such a large and typically uncontrolled number of variables [22].…”

Section: Background To the Schemementioning

confidence: 99%

Case studies of cavity and external wall insulation retrofitted under the Irish Home Energy Saving Scheme: Technical analysis and occupant perspectives

Byrne

O’Donnell

et al. 2016

Energy and Buildings

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a b s t r a c tThe residential sector represents 27% of primary energy consumption in Ireland. This paper examines the case study of the Irish government's national grant scheme to encourage energy efficiency retrofit in private housing. That is the Home Energy Saving (HES) Scheme, later rebranded the Better Energy: Homes (BEH) Scheme. The methodology involved monitoring several homes immediately before and after retrofit alongside discussions with occupants. The examination focused on specific measures commonly introduced through the HES/BEH programme − cavity and external wall insulation. It has been found that a significant decrease in heat loss through the walls was measured in all cases. Regardless, the occupant played a considerable role in the change in energy use in the buildings, and the main motivation for retrofit was found to be comfort and not energy savings or environmental concerns. As a result, the actual energy savings are notably less than the potential savings had the pre and post comfort levels remained the same.

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Energy-efficiency interventions in housing: learning from the inhabitants

Cited by 82 publications

References 15 publications

Heat-flow variability of suspended timber ground floors: Implications for in-situ heat-flux measuring

Heat-flow variability of suspended timber ground floors: Implications for in-situ heat-flux measuring

Home energy monitors: impact over the medium-term

Case studies of cavity and external wall insulation retrofitted under the Irish Home Energy Saving Scheme: Technical analysis and occupant perspectives

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