Grassie, Duncan; (2024) Indoor environment assessment of energy retrofitting the UK school building stock in the context of socio-technical data crowdsourcing and modelling constraints. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The UK non-domestic stock is responsible for 18% of UK carbon emissions and school buildings comprise 10% of the non-domestic stock by floorspace. Energy retrofit opportunities could be identified and tracked by policymakers and engineers through aggregated feedforward of stock-level performance from building stock models. However time and capital constraints of gathering nationwide fabric and operational datasets restricts efficacy of performance analysis. Building users could provide such datasets at scale through data crowdsourcing, by compensating users through feedback of relevant individualised building performance. However, successful utilisation of such an approach requires better understanding of the design of feedback and feedforward in terms of how it motivates and informs building users and policy makers/engineers respectively. In addition, constraints of data gathering and requirements of building stock modelling, which crowdsourcing will inform, need to be identified. Feedback and feedforward design was synthesised from nine stakeholder sessions. Crowdsourced data quality was analysed based on 181 records within the existing CarbonBuzz platform, while availability of fabric and operational datasets was derived from 139 responses to a newly created schools questionnaire. For input and output modelling requirements, a UK classroom stock model was generated. Scenario and parameter analysis incorporating 195 archetypes, 24 pairwise retrofit and indoor environment quality (IEQ) improvement scenarios and seven energy and IEQ performance criteria, was carried out. Provision of information on the correlation of energy performance with attainment and learning environment was identified as important for feedback and feedforward design. Building disaggregation was deemed desirable for decision making, despite low completeness of disaggregated datasets within CarbonBuzz, and could be addressed through providing individualised school campus layouts for reference. Updates to existing geometry and fabric datasets, archetypes and building operation rules have also been identified. Stock modelling demonstrated increasing effectiveness of night-time ventilation in preventing overheating as retrofit is applied. While mitigation of impact of classroom orientation on overheating can be achieved through IEQ improvement measures, geometry impacts on attainment are unaffected by retrofit or IEQ improvement. Including individualised glazing ratio and terrain features in future modelling were also identified as critical for feedback of energy and IEQ performance. This research will inform the design of a modelling platform for schools to evaluate stock-level retrofit strategies.

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