Embodied energy and operational energy: Case studies comparing different urban layouts

While significant progress has been made in reducing Operational Energy; Embodied Energy has been largely ignored. However, these topics are strongly linked and should be considered as a “Balance Equation”, where all factors must be carefully measured in order to avoid the excesses of both. A comparative study of urban layout and form utilising VIRVIL plugins (in Sketchup) with HTB2 (Heat Transfer in Buildings) indicates that urban layout have an impact on the Operational and Embodied Energy of buildings. The case studies analysed in this paper suggest that there is an advantage of Mid-rise type of buildings in terms of Operational Energy, however the Embodied Energy scenarios are less clear and seem to depend more on the use of the building

Representing dynamic storage in a national calculation method

With the growth of domestic renewable energy generation, the suitability of and need for increased self-consumption becomes more apparent. Mechanisms for self-consumption are progressively being developed within the EU. This could reduce the stress on power supply systems by reducing the amplitude of potentially large energy fluctuations. In addition, the future decrease in feed-in tariffs is likely to increase the economic viability of such methods. The potential take up of such methods will require National Calculation Methods to be capable of evaluating their impact on individual dwellings’ consumption. The objective of this research is to develop a method of representing dynamic processes such as techniques of increasing self-consumption in steady state National Calculation Methods. In this paper, a method of feeding data into and out of a steady state model to simple external models with shorter time steps is explored. As a preliminary trial, the detailed modelling of PVs and battery storage is considered and a method developed for evaluating its impact within the UK’s National Calculation Method for dwellings – the Standard Assessment Procedure. It was demonstrated that with slight changes to the current Standard Assessment Procedure methodology, results of detailed simulations of dynamic processes could be incorporated in future versions. It is hoped that the example of a detailed external PV and battery storage calculation presented in this paper provides a possible approach to achieving the likely future requirement: for National Calculation Methods to be capable of evaluating the impact of self-consumption techniques on dwelling’s energy performance