The impact of Energy Performance Certificates on building deep energy renovation targets

Charalambides, Alexandros G.; Maxoulis, Christos N.; Kyriacou, Orestis; Blakeley, Erik; Francés, Laura Soto

doi:10.1080/14786451.2018.1448399

Cited by 34 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…3 and detailed in Table 5, use of thermal default U-values and a standardised Y-value will result in a significantly lower-than-merited energy rating, particularly for pre-thermal regulation dwellings. P a g e | EPCs are the most prominent source of information on the energy performance of the EU's building stock (Arcipowska et al, 2014) influencing property renovation and purchasing decisions (Charalambides et al, 2019). Use of thermal default U-values and a standardised Yvalue results in significantly increased rated primary energy consumption and CO 2 emissions attributable to dwellings compared with energy consumption calculated using empirical EPC data (Ahern, 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Performance Certification: Misassessment due to assuming default heat losses

Ahern

Norton

2020

Energy and Buildings

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Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are issued when dwellings are constructed, sold or leased in the EU. Where the cost of obtaining the required data is prohibitive, EPC assessors use nationally applicable default-values. To ensure that dwellings are not assigned a wrongly-higher EPC rating, a standardised thermal bridging transmittance coefficient (Y-value) is typically adopted for all existing dwellings while worst-case overall heat loss coefficients (U-values) are used. Default U-values are applied to a specific building element type (roof, wall, floor etc.) based on building codes and regulations applicable at time of construction. Due to significant building fabric upgrades, default U-values are considerably higher than real U-values. This constitutes a systematic 'default effect' error typical of large national EPC datasets. For the dataset considered thermal default use overestimates potential primary energy savings from upgrading by 22% in dwellings constructed when thermal building regulation applied and by 70% in dwellings built before thermal building regulations. A methodology has been developed that derives from an EPC dataset, a method for calculating a realistic energy-improvement payback when use of pessimistic default U-values is unavoidable.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Performance Certification: Misassessment due to assuming default heat losses

Ahern

Norton

2020

Energy and Buildings

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“…In the context of these kind of analyses, EPCs have been used for: (1) energy planning at different scales (3) mapping the energy performance of buildings (Droutsa et al 2016, Gangolells et al 2016, Hjortling et al 2017; (4) evaluating regional appropriateness of the EPC methodology, accuracy of measurement or calculating uncertainties pertaining to the use of EPC to describe energy usage in the building stock (respectively Tronchin and Fabbri 2012, Mangold et al 2015, Abela et al 2016; (5) testing the impact of EPCs on the retrofit of buildings (Charalambides et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harvesting big data from residential building energy performance certificates: retrofitting and climate change mitigation insights at a regional scale

Gouveia

Palma

2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The reduction of energy consumption and the increase in energy efficiency is currently an important cornerstone of EU policy. Energy performance certificates (EPCs) were implemented as one of the tools to promote this agenda, and are used for the energy performance assessment of buildings. In this study, the characteristics of the Portuguese dwelling stock are regionally analysed using data from approximately 523,000 Portuguese residential EPCs. Furthermore, a bottom-up building typology approach is used to assess the regional energy needs impact of retrofitting actions and to estimate the heating and cooling energy performance gaps of the whole dwelling stock, as well as the potential CO 2 emissions resulting from the gaps' potential offset due to increase thermal comfort. The results show that Portuguese residential buildings have very low energy performance, with windows and roofs being identified as the most energy inefficient elements. Roof retrofitting has the highest potential for the reduction of energy needs. The estimated heating and cooling energy performance gap amount to very significant percentages, due to the poor performing building stock but also very low energy consumption levels, with probable consequences for the thermal comfort of occupants. Assuming the current energy mix, carbon emissions would be 9.8 and 20.2 times higher associated with heating and cooling, respectively, if the actual final energy consumption were to match the estimated theoretical values derived from building regulation. This study demonstrates several application cases and leverages the potential of the individual EPC, increasing the detail in the dwelling stock characterization and energy performance estimation, revealing its value for energy retrofit and climate change mitigation assessments, as well as establishing the ground for future work related to building retrofits, energy efficiency measure implementation, climate change mitigation, thermal comfort, and energy poverty studies.

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“…The authors claimed that on average, every 50 kWh/m 2 /year energy reduction is associated with a 1.5% increase in the list price. The EPC has induced the decision for building renovation [19] [20]. A survey involving 12 EU countries revealed that 73% of the respondents consider EPC as an important driver for building renovation [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The EPC has induced the decision for building renovation [19] [20]. A survey involving 12 EU countries revealed that 73% of the respondents consider EPC as an important driver for building renovation [19]. The recommendations accompanying the EPC provide guidance to building owners for potential improvements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of building energy performance certification schemes towards future improvement

Kubicki

Rezgui

2019

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

181

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The building sector accounts for 40% of the total energy consumption in the EU. It faces great challenges to meet the goal of transforming the existing building stocks into near zero-energy buildings by 2050. The development of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) schemes in the EU provides a powerful and comprehensive information tool to quantitatively predict annual energy demand from the building stock, creating a demand-driven market for energy-effective buildings. Properties with improved energy rating have had a positive impact on property investments and rental return because of the reduced energy bills. In addition, the EPC databases have been applied to energy planning and building renovations. However, it should be mentioned that the current evaluation system faces problems, such as not being fully implemented, delivering low quality and insufficient information to stimulate renovation, therefore requiring improvements to be made. This paper provides a review of the current EPC situations in the EU and discusses the direction of future improvements. The next generation EPC should rely on BIM technology, benefit from big data techniques and use building smart-readiness indicators to create a more reliable, affordable, comprehensive and customer-tailored instrument, which could better represent energy efficiency, together with occupants' perceived comfort, and air quality. Improved EPC schemes are expected to play an active role in monitoring building performance, future energy planning and quantifying building renovation rates, promoting energy conservation and sustainability. Highlights  Presentation of a brief review of the EPC-related directives  Review and comparison of the development of the EPC in EU member states  Discussion of the utilization of the EPC at the urban scale  Identification of the existing issues and shortcomings in the current EPC

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The impact of Energy Performance Certificates on building deep energy renovation targets

Cited by 34 publications

References 13 publications

Energy Performance Certification: Misassessment due to assuming default heat losses

Energy Performance Certification: Misassessment due to assuming default heat losses

Harvesting big data from residential building energy performance certificates: retrofitting and climate change mitigation insights at a regional scale

Review of building energy performance certification schemes towards future improvement

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