Performance Gaps in Energy Consumption

The difference between actual and calculated energy is called the ‘energy performance gap’. Possible explanations for this gap are: construction mistakes, improper adjusting of equipment, excessive simplification in simulation models and, occupant behaviour. Many researchers and governmental instit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Paula van den Brom, Arjen Meijer, Henk Visscher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Delft University of Technology 2020-02-01
Series:A+BE: Architecture and the Built Environment
Subjects:
Online Access:https://aplusbe.eu/index.php/p/article/view/208
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849221838037581824
author Paula van den Brom
Arjen Meijer
Henk Visscher
author_facet Paula van den Brom
Arjen Meijer
Henk Visscher
author_sort Paula van den Brom
collection DOAJ
description The difference between actual and calculated energy is called the ‘energy performance gap’. Possible explanations for this gap are: construction mistakes, improper adjusting of equipment, excessive simplification in simulation models and, occupant behaviour. Many researchers and governmental institutions think this gap is mainly caused by the occupant. However, only limited evidence exists. Therefore, an analysis is presented of actual and theoretical energy consumption, based on specific household types and building characteristics. Using a large dataset (1.4 million social housing households), the average actual and theoretical energy consumption (gas and electricity) of different household types and characteristics (income level, type of income, number of occupants and their age) were compared for each energy label. Additionally, the 10% highest and lowest energy consuming groups were analysed. It is shown that taking combinations of occupant characteristics into account instead of individual occupant characteristics provides new insights in the influence of the occupant on residential energy consumption. For example: In contradiction to previous studies, low-income households consume more gas per m2 (space heating and hot water) than households with a high income for all types of housing. Furthermore, the performance gap is not only caused by the occupant, but also by the assumed building characteristics.
format Article
id doaj-art-443358e2e1dd4bb1abf96de6c2c4fc91
institution Kabale University
issn 2212-3202
2214-7233
language English
publishDate 2020-02-01
publisher Delft University of Technology
record_format Article
series A+BE: Architecture and the Built Environment
spelling doaj-art-443358e2e1dd4bb1abf96de6c2c4fc912025-08-26T11:31:41ZengDelft University of TechnologyA+BE: Architecture and the Built Environment2212-32022214-72332020-02-011003Performance Gaps in Energy ConsumptionPaula van den Brom0Arjen Meijer1Henk Visscher2TU Delft, Architecture and the Built Environment TU Delft, Architecture and the Built Environment TU Delft, Architecture and the Built Environment The difference between actual and calculated energy is called the ‘energy performance gap’. Possible explanations for this gap are: construction mistakes, improper adjusting of equipment, excessive simplification in simulation models and, occupant behaviour. Many researchers and governmental institutions think this gap is mainly caused by the occupant. However, only limited evidence exists. Therefore, an analysis is presented of actual and theoretical energy consumption, based on specific household types and building characteristics. Using a large dataset (1.4 million social housing households), the average actual and theoretical energy consumption (gas and electricity) of different household types and characteristics (income level, type of income, number of occupants and their age) were compared for each energy label. Additionally, the 10% highest and lowest energy consuming groups were analysed. It is shown that taking combinations of occupant characteristics into account instead of individual occupant characteristics provides new insights in the influence of the occupant on residential energy consumption. For example: In contradiction to previous studies, low-income households consume more gas per m2 (space heating and hot water) than households with a high income for all types of housing. Furthermore, the performance gap is not only caused by the occupant, but also by the assumed building characteristics. https://aplusbe.eu/index.php/p/article/view/208Household energyOccupant behaviourEnergy performanceEnergy consumptionbig dataenergy epidemiology
spellingShingle Paula van den Brom
Arjen Meijer
Henk Visscher
Performance Gaps in Energy Consumption
A+BE: Architecture and the Built Environment
Household energy
Occupant behaviour
Energy performance
Energy consumption
big data
energy epidemiology
title Performance Gaps in Energy Consumption
title_full Performance Gaps in Energy Consumption
title_fullStr Performance Gaps in Energy Consumption
title_full_unstemmed Performance Gaps in Energy Consumption
title_short Performance Gaps in Energy Consumption
title_sort performance gaps in energy consumption
topic Household energy
Occupant behaviour
Energy performance
Energy consumption
big data
energy epidemiology
url https://aplusbe.eu/index.php/p/article/view/208
work_keys_str_mv AT paulavandenbrom performancegapsinenergyconsumption
AT arjenmeijer performancegapsinenergyconsumption
AT henkvisscher performancegapsinenergyconsumption