Benchmarking building energy performance: Accuracy by involving occupants in collecting data - A case study in Germany

Energy quantification methods; Energy performance certificate; Data-driven methods; Building data collection; Building energy performance; Energy efficiency

Abstract :

[en] Energy performance certificates (EPC) aim to provide transparency about building energy performance (BEP) and benchmark buildings. Despite having qualified auditors examining buildings through on-site visits, BEP accuracy in EPCs is frequently criticized. Qualified auditors are often bound to engineering-based energy quantification methods. However, recent studies have revealed data-driven methods to be more accurate regarding benchmarking. Unlike engineering methods, data-driven methods can learn from data that non-experts might collect. This raises the question of whether data-driven methods allow for simplified data collection while still achieving the same accuracy as prescribed engineering-based methods. This study presents a method for selecting building variables, which even occupants can reliably collect and which at the same time contribute most to a data-driven method's predictive power. The method is tested and validated in a case study on a real-world data set containing 25,000 German single-family houses. Having all data collected by non-experts, results show that the data-driven method achieves about 35% higher accuracy than the currently used engineering method by qualified auditors. Our study proposes a stepwise method to design data-driven EPCs, outlines design recommendations, and derives policy implications.

Research center :

- Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) > Other

Disciplines :

Energy
Management information systems

Author, co-author :

Wederhake, Lars

Wenninger, Simon

Wiethe, Christian

Fridgen, Gilbert ; University of Luxembourg > Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SNT) > FINATRAX

Stirnweiß, Dominic

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

Benchmarking building energy performance: Accuracy by involving occupants in collecting data - A case study in Germany

Publication date :

2022

Journal title :

Journal of Cleaner Production

ISSN :

0959-6526

Volume :

379

Pages :

134762

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Focus Area :

Security, Reliability and Trust
Sustainable Development

Additional URL :

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652622043347

FnR Project :

FNR13342933 - Paypal-fnr Pearl Chair In Digital Financial Services, 2019 (01/01/2020-31/12/2024) - Gilbert Fridgen

Available on ORBilu :

since 10 November 2022

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Bibliography

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