Building energy simulation of traditional listed dwellings in the UK: Data sourcing for a base-case model

Abstract

The need for improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions has made retrofitting existing homes a priority today. A research project has been designed with one of its aims to propose a framework to intervene in traditional listed dwellings (TLDs) to reduce their environmental impact in England, with a special focus on South-East region. Selected case studies in the City of Brighton and Hove, have been modelled and simulated in their status quo using Dynamic Energy Simulation (DES). The models, calibrated using monitored energy and indoor conditions data, are then to be used to simulate the effect of permissible retrofit interventions. DES requires accurate sourcing of multiple input data, to ensure that the models created, closely resemble the real case study dwellings in their energy performance and thermal behaviour. This process can be extremely challenging in the case of simulation of TLDs, where most of the envelope’s construction is unknown and intrusive tests are not usually permitted. The data sourcing process is even more complex in the case of dwellings in use, because of the variability of occupancy profiles and patterns of use over time. Providing a brief overview of the methodology adopted in this study, this paper describes, in detail, the approach devised to ensure that the most credible datasets are collected from different sources for generating models that accurately represent the real case study dwellings in their status quo and can be used in the following stages of the analysis to asses potential retrofit interventions.