The Effect of Occupants’ Behaviour on the Building Performance Gap: UK Residential Case Studies

Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, Radwa Salem, Anastasia Mylona, Agha Usama Hasan and Hexin Zhang
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Ali Bahadori-Jahromi: Department of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, School of Computing and Engineering, University of West London, London W5 5RF, UK
Radwa Salem: Department of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, School of Computing and Engineering, University of West London, London W5 5RF, UK
Anastasia Mylona: Research Department, The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), London SW12 9BS, UK
Agha Usama Hasan: Department of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, School of Computing and Engineering, University of West London, London W5 5RF, UK
Hexin Zhang: School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, 10 Clinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Studies have shown that the assumptions used to create dynamic thermal models of buildings do not reflect their actual energy use. Bridging the energy performance gap is vital in ensuring that a designed or retrofitted building meets the energy performance targets. Using thermal analysis simulation software TAS, this paper presents a simulation model of seven different UK single family houses. The results from the various models are validated by comparing the actual energy demand against the simulated consumption. The simulation results show that the heating set point has the greatest impact on the simulated energy demand. The results also demonstrate that the energy demand of the dwellings can be reduced by applying window opening schemes and by controlling the heating setpoint temperature and schedule. Plug load consumption is also considered by using plug load data of real UK households, as obtained from a longitudinal study, and calibrating the model based on average plug load contributions for the households. The results showed that, by increasing the heating set point and window opening schedules by 10% from self-reported data, and by considering an additional 12% for plug loads, the energy performance gap is reduced to less than >15% for all examined houses.

Keywords: thermal analysis simulation; performance gap; residential homes; occupant behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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