Question-and-Answer Resource for the Building Energy Modeling Community
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Thank you for the reports! I will have a look at them and see if there are any similarities. It would indeed be a challenge to have the right hours. Right now we only focus on non-residential, non-industry buildings. The idea now is that we look at the hours the building is being used with the option of going deeper and looking at the number of people as well. If you have a security access card system the access to the building can already be defined much easier. It is also our goal to set it up as a certification system where the building owner or user will have to live up to certain criteria preventing "cheating" when the building is used.
Another way to verify if people are present is if the HVAC systems are used with certain setpoints, or with a certain air quality. In this case the residential part could be made more automatised and has (I think) the best chance of coming close to reality.
In the early and late hours less people will be present yes, but this would also be seen in the energy consumption. HVAC and lighting will be on, but the cooling loads will be less because of less people and in most if not all climate zones also a lower outdoor air termperature. Of course in winter the energy consumption will be higher, but this is also the reality right?
Again, this is just a concept that is far from finished. The goal is to make building owners aware of how efficient their building is being used in relation to the real and anticipated energy consumption and also as a verification of a certain ambition that has been set when the building was designed and built, but with leaving room for a different use for the building than was initially assumed.
Here in the Netherlands our governmental energy calculation method is static and far from accurate. An assumption is made for all building types in usage and capacity etc. Building simulations are not uncommon for offices and the like, but they are also not common and definitely not standardized. I think that is part of the reason why this discussion has started, since the market is not used to calculating it in such detail as with simulations. Quite a shame really...
