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.

Impact of Adding Comfort Cooling Systems on the Energy Consumption and EPC Rating of an Existing UK Hotel

“…While TRY files are used for predicting average energy consumption and compliance with the UK building regulations [37,38], DSY files are used for overheating analysis [38]. The hotel is less than 15 miles from central London; therefore, London TRY was used as the weather file, which was fully Sustainability 2020, 12, 2950 6 of 16 adopted without any alterations [39]. The minimum and maximum external temperatures are −3.2 and 30.7 • C, occurring at March 2nd and July 14th respectively.…”

Near Zero-Energy Buildings in Lebanon: The Use of Emerging Technologies and Passive Architecture

“…It could be predicted that NZEBs and energy-efficient buildings are more likely to experience overheating. Their finding suggests that the incorporation of shading devices, double glazing as opposed to triple glazing, and utilizing natural ventilation are currently some of the most effective ways to mitigate the risk of overheating [9][10][11][12][13][14]. According to a 2013 study, a sophisticated analysis using "association rules" and the "a priori principle" found a strong link between cooking and watching television-when households used cooking appliances, there was a 74% chance that the television would also be on.…”

Investigating the Potential Impact of Future Climate Change on UK Supermarket Building Performance

“…Furthermore, all the floor areas of the supermarket were divided into zones such as entrance lobby, store, sales area, warehouse, bakery, welfare canteen, cloakrooms, staff toilets (male and female), corridor, meeting room, utility, cash room, IT room, and customer Water Closet (WC) so that they can be assigned their respective internal conditions adhering to the national calculation method. As for the weathering profile, London TRY files will be used as the store is based in London making them the closest/most appropriate weather files [36]. These TRY files are used for predicting average energy consumption and compliance with the UK building regulations [37].…”