A Consumer Oriented Tool for Dwelling Energy Retrofit Measure Assessment

Daire ReillySchool of Civil Engineering

Prof. Aidan DuffyDr. Michael Conlon

David Willis

29/11/2013

– Industry sponsored project: IRCSET Enterprise Partnership Scheme with ESB Electric Ireland– Co- funded by ‘DIT Fiosraigh Extension of

Funding’ scheme

Motivation1. Climate change

– GHG + CO2– Global Warming

3. Potential to save– Buildings 40% of total EU energy

consumption– Sector with largest potential to save

energy– Retrofit is one of cheapest ways

to save energy– Ireland has one of the least

efficient housing stocks

2. Energy Policy– Kyoto, Cancun,Copenhagen– Europe 20 20 20

– Efficiency– Buildings

– Ireland: NEEAP

4. Information Gap– No method for consumers to

choose between performances of competing building retrofit measures.

– Reliance on general stats and info from companies selling products.

– Lack of unbiased accurate dwelling specific advice

Aim– To remove the barriers of uncertainty and

lack of information from the consumer and to promote energy efficiency and renewable technology investment;▫ by providing economic and

environmental performance information for competing energy efficiency and micro-generation retrofit measures calibrated on a case by case basis for individual dwellings

Objectives– Review energy industry standards in energy demand and

energy efficiency/micro-generation modelling.

– Develop and validate/verify consumer orientated dynamic techno-economic models which can be used to estimate the financial and environmental performance of energy efficient and micro-generation technologies when applied to individual dwellings within the Irish housing stock.

– Optimise the model to output not only the most appropriate retrofit measures for the dwelling under study but to determine the optimised combination of retrofit measures suitable for the dwelling.

Thesis Layout/Method

Best Practice Review– Electric Ireland ‘in-house’ dwelling energy assessment method

(HALO Surveyor Payback Calculator)▫ Review result: HSPC not fit for purpose

– Use of aggregated data– No capture of thermal performance indicators of external envelope, or wall

construction type– Use of ‘typical house’ methodology in conjunction with DEAP– No consideration given to occupancy pattern/ actual fuel use– Averaging of results across a range of house types, sizes– Assumptions regarding retrofit measures

– DEAP▫ Review: should not be used to assess individual dwellings for energy retrofit

– Asset rating methodology– Assumed occupancy– Standardised heating temperatures and schedules– Electricity use not considered

– Literature

Prototype: Energy Wizard– An online resource for Irish

Energy consumers▫ Predicts performance of retrofit

measures▫ Asset rating based calculation

technique▫ Calibrated to actual demand

– Dual purpose▫ Address the disparity between

the project timelines of industry and academic endeavours

▫ Serve as a prototype for end product

– Question type– Interface– Technical nature of

questions/jargon

Energy Wizard: Method

Floor Area

Walls (u-value)

No. of st

oreys

Walls (area)

Therm

al Capa

city of b

uilding

Ventilation Method

Number of si

des sheletered

Living Room Area

No. of fl

ueless gas fi

res

Insulation Thickness

Orientation

Thermal b

ridging fa

ctor

Suspended Wooden Floor

Proportion of lighting

that is

low energy

Cental Heatin

g Pump

Constr

uction ty

pe

No. of g

as boile

r flue fa

ns

Warm Air h

eating syste

m present

Storage Losse

s

Distrib

ution Losse

s

-30%-20%-10%0%10%20%30%

-60.00% -49.00% -38.00% -27.00% -16.00% -5.00% 6.00% 17.00% 28.00% 39.00% 50.00%0

50010001500200025003000350040004500

Reduced data set models vs. base line

less 10 variablesless 20 variablesless 30 varables

Freq

uenc

y

Quick Quote

Requirements Elicitation for a User Oriented Model

– User Oriented– Model on dwelling by dwelling basis – Consider existing fuel consumption and operating schedules– Provide an end report with financial implications – Correlate with energy retrofit technologies recommended by SEAI and

EU Directive 2006/36/EC.– Hourly (or smaller) time-steps– Implications of combinations of retrofits in addition to individual

performances– Survey questions must be jargon free– Only recommend retrofit measures that are practical/ feasible– Must not use standardised operating conditions and heating schedules– U-values of heat transfer elements for its operation (attic, external

walls, and windows)– External wall construction type– Air change rate/ permeability of the structure– Efficiency of the heating system– Heating fuel type– Location of the dwelling– Orientation of the space available for solar thermal or PV devices– Hot water demand– Existing lighting fixture wattages– Existing operating schedules for heat and electricity– External temperature– Fuel prices and carbon intensities– Feed-in-tariff info– Solar irradiance– Replacement lighting fixture wattages– Installation and capital costs associated with each retrofit measure– Thermal transmittance values of retrofit insulation and windows– SEAI grant information

Scope

User

Data Sources Available– Smart metering trials for both

electricity/gas– Data mining /cluster analysis to

form representative groups– Archetypal representations of

Irish building stock– TABULA– SEAI BER database– Appendix S – DEAP manual

– Fuel Costs– SEAI– Supply Companies published

tariff details– Half hour resolution weather

files MET Eireann

– Retrofit measures capital and installation costs– ESB Electric Ireland contractor

list– Grants associated - SEAI

– Air Source Heat Pump– Manufacturers performance

information– Solar Thermal and PV

– Peer reviewed models available through Dublin Energy Lab research group

– CODEMA – Energy surveys

– Heating System Efficiencies– SEAI

System Overview

Boiler Dwelling

Heat Loss AreasApplicances

Lighting

Controls/inputs

Heat

Electricity

Weather

Building Regulations

RetrofitGeneration

Bord Gais

Smart

Meter Data

ESB Smart Meter Data

TABULA/ BER

Database/ Appendix S

MET

Eireann

Weather

Literature

SEAI

/ Data Sources

Supplier Tariff

Details

Available models € ESB

Concept

Energy Profile Assignment: Clustered Smart Meter Data

Normalised time-of-use profile selection

Annualised representative profile

– What was your annual electricity expenditure last year?

– Which of the following is your supplier tariff?

– On a typical weekday, what times is the house unoccupied?

– On a typical weekday what time does the last person go to bed?

– On a typical weekday what time does the first person get up?

Archetypal Dwelling Assignment

– TABULA dwelling categorised by type, age, wall construction– age bands based on building

regulations (Pre 1978, 78-82, 83-93, 94-04, 05+)

– Types: Detached, semi D etc– Wall construction : stone,

hollow, cavity– TABULA supplemented with

BER database and DEAP Appendix S for:– Missing values– Typical infiltration rates– Typical areas.

– What type of house is it?

– During which age band was it built?

– What is the external wall construction?

– What is the floor area of the dwelling?

Buildings Elements Retrofit– Cavity wall, internal dry lining, external wall,

attic insulation, windows– Heat balance approach

– Internal temperature is only unknown– hlc changes to reflect retrofit and Qtotal is re-

evaluated

Other Retrofits– Boiler Upgrade

▫ Input : New and old efficiencies ▫ Output : Direct heat savings

– PV ▫ Input : weather files▫ Output : annual generation

profile– Solar thermal

▫ Input : weather files▫ Output : reduction in energy

required from boiler– ASHP

▫ Input : weather files▫ Output : Electricity profile

– Lighting??

Assessment/Optimisation/Ranking

– Each before and after scenario has a cost (capital + installation) and a saving

– Measures are evaluated on the basis of payback period▫ Performance shown in:

– Annual financial saving– kWh reduction– CO2 reduction

– Combinations of measures:▫ Each measure is given a priority weighting▫ Priority weightings allow combinations to be assessed in

order– Solar thermal before boiler upgrade– Building elements before boiler

– Combinations of measures are evaluated on the basis of payback period▫ Performance shown as above

– User presented with output report showing measures and associated savings as per Energy Wizard report pictured

Contribution– A new approach to constructing dwelling energy simulation tools

▫ A consumer orientated energy simulation package using real billing details to construct annual profiles from which simulations are performed

– Construction of simulation tool that requires no technical knowledge/specialized training and can be used by the ‘average’ consumer

– The first time that Irish electricity smart meter data has been used to cluster customers in conjunction with dwelling energy performance models

– The first time that Irish gas smart meter data has been used to cluster customers in conjunction with dwelling energy performance models

– A dwelling specific financially optimised solution to energy retrofits option combinations performed for a range of retrofit options on a case by case basis.▫ Combining pricing details from Irish contractors supplying retrofit measures with the

retrofit options analysed▫ Using tariff structures and plans (from Irish energy market)

– Stochastic sensitivity analysis of asset rating type building energy simulation input parameters for the Irish housing stock▫ And presentation of methodology for application to other national housing stock.

Thank you for listeningQuestions???