A bottom-up building stock model for tracking regional energy targets-A case study of Kočevje

Abstract

The paper addresses the development of a bottom-up building stock energy model (BuilS) for identification of the building stock renovation potential by considering energy performance of individual buildings through cross-linked data from various public available databases. The model enables integration of various EE and RES measures on the building stock to demonstrate long-term economic and environmental effects of different building stock refurbishment strategies. In the presented case study, the BuilS model was applied in the Kočevje city area and validated using the measured energy consumption of the buildings connected to the city district heating system. Three strategies for improving the building stock in Kočevje towards a more sustainable one are presented with their impact on energy use and CO2 emission projections up to 2030. It is demonstrated that the BuilS bottom-up model enables the setting of a correct baseline regarding energy use of the existing building stock and that such a model is a powerful tool for design and validation of the building stock renovation strategies. It is also shown that the accuracy of the model depends on available information on local resources and local needs, therefore acceleration of the building stock monitoring on the level of each building and continually upgrading of databases with building renovation information is of the utmost importance.