A novel tool based on reduced order grey box model to support the estimation of the energy savings in building retrofits

Buildings account for about 40% of energy consumption in the European Union (EU) and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, making them the largest energy consumer in Europe. Energy performance contracting (EPC) as a tool to improve the energy efficiency of buildings can accelerate investments in cost-effective energy conservation measures (ECM) for existing buildings. However, there are many risks and barriers that can slow the adoption of EPC, such as the complexity of the process or the uncertainty of building performance after retrofit. The International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP®), originally developed to encourage investment in energy and water efficiency, energy management, and renewable energy projects, has the potential to reduce some of the EPC barriers. However, due to limited and uncertain information about existing buildings, applying this measurement and verification protocol to retrofit projects is often complex and requires the use of novel building simulation tools. To address the challenges of applying IPMVP® in building retrofit projects, promote the adoption of EPC, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, the research presented here developed ModSCO, a web application that supports a systematic assessment of energy performance using a novel Reduced Order Model (ROM) that can be used for (i) systematic quantification of energy savings achieved by ECMs (avoided energy consumption) and (ii) direct estimation of energy savings by exploring different building envelope retrofit scenarios. This thesis begins with a review of Energy Performance Contracting, followed by an research of the methodology based on ROM, which was chosen to overcome the EPC barriers. The thesis proceeds to describe the Reduced Order Grey Box Model (ROM), which serves as the core of ModSCO, the tool facilitating the estimation of energy savings in energy efficiency projects. A number of case studies are then discussed to demonstrate the accuracy and benefits of using the ROM as a novel method for estimating energy savings in building retrofits. Next, a description of the ModSCO web application and thus the front-end of ROM is presented along with a case study. Finally, the benefits derived from the research, the results and future work are discussed.

Publisher

University of Galway

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

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University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses)