Developing Future UK Energy Performance Standards: The St Nicholas Court project, Final Report

The St Nicholas Court Project was set up to explore the implications of an enhanced energy performance standard for new housing for the design, construction and performance of timber framed dwellings. The energy performance standard, EPS08, is modelled on proposals made by the DETR in June 2000 for a possible review of Part L of the Building Regulations in the second half of the present decade. The overall goal of the project was to support the next revision of Part L through an enhanced body of qualitative and quantitative evidence on options and impacts. The seeds of the project were contained in a report – Towards Sustainable Housing - commissioned by Joseph Rowntree Foundation at the start of the last review of this part of the Building Regulations. The project itself has been based on the St Nicholas Court Development which involves the design and construction of a group of 18 low energy and affordable dwellings on a brown field site in York (see site plan below). The research project was established in two stages. Initial funding was provided by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the spring of 1999. This ensured the involvement of the research team from the outset of the development process. Additional funding was provided from late 2000 by the Housing Corporation and by the DETR through the Partners in Innovation programme (responsibility for which now lies with the DTI). The research project was originally divided into five phases – project definition, design, construction, occupation, and communication and dissemination. Delays in site acquisition initially allowed the design phase to be extended, but ultimately forced the abandonment of the construction and occupation phases, and the scaling down of the communication and dissemination phase. Despite the delays, the development itself will now go ahead, with construction starting in mid-2003

Thermal mass, insulation and ventilation in sustainable housing - An investigation across climate and occupancy

Sustainable housing standards are reviewed including the UK 2005 building regulations, the UK Advanced Standard and EU Passive-house Standard. Conflicts between the standards are highlighted. The significance of insulation, orientation, ventilation, thermal mass, occupancy, gains, shading and climate on predicted energy performance is illustrated. An ESP-r model is then used to investigate these factors across a range of climates and occupancy / gains scenarios. The investigation covers both heating and cooling energy requirements. The relative importance of key factors is quantified and a matrix of results presented with conclusions. The role of simulation in informing design decisions is demonstrated as well as the importance of considering climate and occupancy/ gains patterns

Illinois Lo-Cal House

The increasing scarcity of fuels makes it imperativeto include more energy conservation features in our housing. This circular describes the design, construction, and predicted performance of a house that uses approximately one-third of the energy needed to heat a house of the same size which is built to meet 1974 insulation standards (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development standards for houses located in areas having a heating season of between 4500 and 8000 degree-days). Because of its low-energy requirements for heating, the house has been called the "Illinois Lo-Cal House." If the Lo-Cal House is compared to the typical house of 1950, the savings are even more dramatic. The two features which account for the exceptional reduction are: 1) Superior insulation 2) Solar orientation Of the reduction, about 80% or more is due to the heavy insulation. The remaining reduction is due to the location of most of the windows in the south wall, where they act as solar collectors

The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience

Because of the global commons nature of climate change, international cooperation among nations will likely be necessary for meaningful action at the global level. At the same time, it will inevitably be up to the actions of sovereign nations to put in place policies that bring about meaningful reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases. Due to the ubiquity and diversity of emissions of greenhouse gases in most economies, as well as the variation in abatement costs among individual sources, conventional environmental policy approaches, such as uniform technology and performance standards, are unlikely to be sufficient to the task. Therefore, attention has increasingly turned to market-based instruments in the form of carbon-pricing mechanisms. We examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the major options for carbon pricing: carbon taxes, cap-and-trade, emission reduction credits, clean energy standards, and fossil fuel subsidy reductions.: Global Climate Change, Market-Based Instruments, Carbon Pricing, Carbon Taxes, Cap-and-Trade, Emission Reduction Credits, Energy Subsidies, Clean Energy Standards

Modelling of double ventilated facades according to CEN Standard 13790 method and detailed simulation

The European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) encourages the use of technologies in buildings that can potentially improve their energy performance. Double ventilated façades can often have a positive contribution to this objective and their effect has to be quantified during the calculation of the overall energy performance of the buildings. The updated EN ISO 13790 Standard is part of the new set of CEN Standards that have to be delivered to support the EPBD requirement for a general framework for the methodology of calculation of the total energy performance of buildings. It contains a method to calculate the contribution of the double ventilated façades to the annual heating and cooling requirements of buildings. At the same time (validated) detailed simulation tools, which are also allowed in this Standard, offer an alternative way to quantify the effect of the double ventilated façades on the buildings' energy performance. This paper examines a case study where the ESP-r simulation program and the method described in the Standard were used for a common building specification to investigate the impacts from a double ventilated façade on the energy performance of the building. It discusses the potential differences that might appear when a detailed simulation tool (ESP-r) is used with constrained (according to the Standard) inputs and also unconstrained inputs, compared to the outputs obtained from the method described in the Standard. Some parametric studies are included to show whether the same trends are obtained using both the method in the Standard and the detailed simulation approach

Low carbon housing: lessons from Elm Tree Mews

This report sets out the findings from a low carbon housing trial at Elm Tree Mews, York, and discusses the technical and policy issues that arise from it. The Government has set an ambitious target for all new housing to be zero carbon by 2016. With the application of good insulation, improved efficiencies and renewable energy, this is theoretically possible. However, there is growing concern that, in practice, even existing carbon standards are not being achieved and that this performance gap has the potential to undermine zero carbon housing policy. The report seeks to address these concerns through the detailed evaluation of a low carbon development at Elm Tree Mews. The report: * evaluates the energy/carbon performance of the dwellings prior to occupation and in use; * analyses the procurement, design and construction processes that give rise to the performance achieved; * explores the resident experience; * draws out lessons for the development of zero carbon housing and the implications for government policy; and * proposes a programme for change, designed to close the performance gap

Baseline tests of the battronic Minivan electric delivery van

An electric passenger vehicle was tested to develop data characterizing the state of the art of electric and hybrid vehicles. The test measured vehicle maximum speed, range at constant speed, range over stop-and-go driving schedules, maximum acceleration, gradeability and limit, road energy consumption, road power, indicated energy consumption, braking capability and battery charge efficiency. The data obtained are to serve as a baseline to compare improvements in electric and hybrid vehicle technologies and to assist in establishing performance standards

Energy efficiency of social housing existing buildings – a portuguese case study

The European energy performance building regulations, Directive 2002/91/EC - Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) of the European Parliament and Council, require that new buildings present minimum standards of energy efficiency. Accordingly the Portuguese regulations require that new buildings comply with minimum requirements on the energy performance and must have an energy performance certification through witch an energy efficiency label is attributed to the housing. It also require that existing buildings must have an efficiency energy label when submitted to a commercial transaction or to a deep rehabilitation. To achieve this goal the study of energy performance of existing buildings must be done. As many essentials elements to determine the U-factor and other thermal parameters are unknown, Portugal developed a simplified methodology to achieve the thermal performance of existing buildings. The aim of this paper is to present the study of the energy performance of a set of social dwellings that were constructed during the decade of 80, constructed before the former building thermal comfort specifications came into force. During the study the referred methodology was applied and conclusions of the energy efficiency label obtained were put out as the encountered difficulties. The study also compares the results obtained by the simplified methodology and by the detailed methodology that is required by Portuguese building thermal comfort specifications

Performance assessment methods for boilers and heat pump systems in residential buildings

According to the European Commission, 40% of the total energy use belongs to the buildings sector. That corresponds to 36% of CO2 emissions in the European Union alone. Currently, HVAC systems are the major energy users in the building sector. Therefore, there is a necessity to assess the performance of different energy/comfort systems in buildings. However, finding a way to mitigate the performance gap between the calculated and real energy use in dwellings is of great importance. In Flanders, the Energy Performance and indoor climate regulation (EPB) dates back to 2006. Since the building context related to energy demand has changed significantly over the past years, investigation on how to evolve building energy assessment method framework in the EPB regulation in Flanders by dealing with the current issues will be indispensable. In 2017, new EN52000 series of standards have been published, containing extensive methods of assessing the overall energy performance of buildings. The main focus of this article is to analyze the assessment methods for the energy performance of boilers and heat pumps for residential appliance by comparing methodology stated in respected Energy performance and indoor climate regulation in Flanders (EPB), EcoDesign regulations and EN52000 standard series. The aim for future research is to determine the parameters that mostly influence the performance and in a next step compare the predicted performance to real energy use

Capturing uncertainty in operation, behavior and weather in building performance assessment : an Egyptian case study.

New building energy standards have recently been proposed for Egypt. There is however insufficient data on the performance of existing buildings to provide a baseline for assessment of the impact of these new standards or other possible upgrade measures. In common with the rest of the world, there is also no standard design assessment method which takes account of the inherent uncertainty in operation, behavior, and weather. This paper first explores the current energy and environmental performance of offices in Egypt through a simple energy survey of multiple offices and more detailed investigation of an individual office building. The observed indoor thermal environment is compared against adaptive and non-adaptive thermal comfort standards. A method is then proposed for assessment of building performance which takes account of uncertainties in operation, behavior and weather through the definition and use of representative input parameter sets. The application of the method is illustrated for energy and thermal comfort performance of a typical Egyptian office building. The more general applicability of the method in design and policy, and potential for further developments, are discussed