Decoupling of building energy use and climate

• Published in: Energy and buildings 2011-10, Vol.43 (10), p.2961-2963
• Main Authors: Mohareb, Eugene A., Kennedy, Christopher A., Harvey, L.D. Danny, Pressnail, Kim D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Bioclimatic building; Building technical equipments; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Climate; Correlation; Decoupling; End users; Energy consumption; Energy efficiency; Energy management and energy conservation in building; Energy use; Energy use intensity; Environmental engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Green buildings; Heating; Heating degree days; LEED; Types of buildings
• ISSN: 0378-7788
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.06.032

► Examines certification and implementation practices for low-energy buildings. ► Assesses energy consumption from global examples of green buildings. ► Provides empirical evidence of the decoupling of energy use intensity and climate. Energy use intensity (EUI) and climate have a well documented correlation, which is generally applied in building energy management. Green buildings have sought to greatly reduce energy consumption and a number of examples are documented in the literature. A sample of high performance buildings constructed in a variety of global locations is analyzed here, and provides evidence that measures to reduce energy consumption have reduced EUI to the point where its correlation with heating degree days is no longer apparent. This result suggests that end-user behaviour is the next major hurdle in lowering the energy consumption of greener buildings.