Determining of the role of ventilation in residential energy demand reduction using a heat-balance approach

• Published in: Building and environment 2018-10, Vol.144, p.508-518
• Main Authors: Cosar-Jorda, P., Buswell, R.A., Mitchell, V.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cost analysis; Demand; Disaggregation; Electricity; Energy consumption; Energy demand; Energy demand reduction; Heat balance; Households; Indoor air quality; Physical tests; Reduction; Residential buildings; Residential energy; Smart home; Ventilation; Window opening
• ISSN: 0360-1323; 1873-684X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.08.053

Ventilation in domestic buildings can have a significant impact on energy consumption but it is notoriously difficult to quantify, requiring physical test methods that are cumbersome and costly to apply. Energy demand reduction analyses routinely neglect the impact of ventilation and so offering well balanced advice for specific households is not possible. This paper describes a simple steady-state, heat-balance calculation method that is supplemented with monitoring data to model the effectiveness of reducing ventilation rates to minimum standards for individual homes. A key step is to determine the daily mean air change rate and the method is shown to yield plausible estimates that can then be used to establish the impact on energy demand. The benefits of the approach include improved energy demand disaggregation, customised energy demand reduction assessment and offers a means to underpin the development of better models of ventilation for building performance analysis. Left: results from the Hybrid Heat Balance calculation of air change rates in four households (blue) compared to the predictions from BREDEM (orange). Right: the total annual energy consumption is shown by the dark blue bar, the light blue bar top right indicates the proportion of the total that is electrical consumption. The other light blue bar (bottom-left) shows the impact of minimising ventilation on energy consumption and the green bar is the resultant consumption after a number of energy demand reduction measures have been applied. [Display omitted] •A steady-state, heat-balance approach for the determination of air change rate is described.•Individualised ventilation energy demand dissaggregation is demonstrated on a sample of homes.•Customised energy demand reduction analysis is presented.•The sensitivity of the method to the variability, magnitude and characteristics of ventilation on energy consumption demonstrated.