TY  - JOUR
UR  - http://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.02.033
SP  - 997
TI  - What do empirical findings reveal about modelled energy demand and energy ratings? Comparisons of gas consumption across the English residential sector
KW  - Energy demand; gas consumption; residential sector; national building energy models; Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP)
N2  - Energy ratings and national housing energy models are useful for energy policy evaluation and development, but limited empirical validation of energy demand estimates is available across residential sub-sectors. This study used data from a sample of over 2.5 million gas-heated dwellings in England from the National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework (NEED) to compare with estimates of 2012 gas consumption from the Cambridge Housing Model (CHM), a national energy stock model. The analysis quantified differences by dwelling type, size, and age band. It also compared variations in gas consumption from NEED dwellings with that expected from Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) bands. The findings show that the CHM overestimates average gas consumption from NEED for all dwelling types built before 1930, most notably for large detached dwellings. For other dwellings built since 1930, the model estimates were in relatively close agreement with NEED data. Furthermore, a simple comparison between estimated gas consumption and NEED data suggests savings from upgrading dwellings to at least EPC band C would be substantially lower than expected. Findings raise question regarding assumptions used in models and EPC ratings, including occupancy and space heating patterns, and have implications for development of energy models and policy regarding energy efficiency programmes.
Y1  - 2019/06//
VL  - 129
A1  - Summerfield, AJ
A1  - Oreszczyn, T
A1  - Palmer, J
A1  - Hamilton, IG
A1  - Li, FGN
A1  - Crawley, J
A1  - Lowe, RJ
ID  - discovery10071911
SN  - 0301-4215
N1  - This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher?s terms and conditions.
EP  - 1007
JF  - Energy Policy
AV  - public
ER  -