Assessing operational energy costs and energy performance of buildings using measured data

The overall process for ECOtool service is presented in the figure below. The procedure starts with the energy data collection at the building/dwelling level by the user. The overall process is further explained through its implementation on one demonstration site. 

As shown in the image above, there are four different parts involve in the process: the user, the ECOtool Service, and the BIM‑SPEED platform:

• The user has to start two different process:
  1. Energy data collection: First, the user has to collect the energy data needed by the ECOtool, and with these data has to fill the ECOtool template and upload to the BIM-SPEED platform database.
  2. Use ECOtool Service: The user has to open the BIM-SPEED platform, and select the project on which to generate the ECOtool results, and select the .xlsx file to launch the ECOtool Service. The ECOtool Service GUI opens automatically showing the selected .xlsx file, then the user has to select to launch the tool. After that, a warning appears with the information that the tool is working on the back-end, and the user can close the window. Once the results are ready, the ECOtool automatically uploads the file to the previous selected folder.
• ECOtool Service: The ECOtool extracts the information contained in the .xlsx file selected by the user and parses the XML file used as input for the ECOtool. ECOtool then performs the calculations and generates a new .xlsx file by adding the text “_result” and stores it in the same folder previously selected by the user.
• BIM-SPEED platform: The BIM-SPEED platform allows to launch different services hosted on it, being able to launch the Ifc4Acoustic Parser GUI (Graphical User Interface) from the platform following the user’s commands.

The details of the implementation of this tool in a demonstration cases are covered in the next section.

DEMONSTRATION SITE – ARCAYA5 and ALDABE26, VITORIA, SPAIN

The demonstration site is located in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, with the residential building Manuel Díaz ARCAYA5 (MDA5) and ALDABE26 (ALD26), included as demo cases of the BIM-SPEED project.

The first step is to download the template that will be used to include energy consumption information. As shown in the image below, the user needs to access the usage agreement before downloading it:

 

Once the owner of each building has collected the data needed to complete the template used as input for the ECOtool, previously downloaded from the ECOtool service, the next step is to complete the template and upload it to the project folder. Using the data provided by the owner, the information collected by the MDA5 building is:

 

And for the ALD26 building, the information provided by the owner is:

Once the template of the both buildings are completed, the next step was to launch the ECOtool service through the BIM-SPEED platform. As shown in the image below, the .xlsx file of the building is automatically loaded into the tool:

After launch the tool, in the interface a warning appears, indicating that you can now close the tool's interface. As shown in the image below:

The results in .xlsx format were stored in the BIM-SPEED platform automatically:

These results of the calculation are shown in the figure below, where it can be seen that the options chosen in the renovation for the each building considerably reduce all the indicators, except the Payback period, which is still higher than 100 years.

For the MD5 building, the results are:

The results obtained show a clear reduction in all calculated indicators, compared to the baseline status. The operational primary energy demand has been reduced compared to the baseline data, and the payback period is 35.30 years. The GWP is also considerably reduced with the renovation proposal used.

For the ALD26 the results obtained are:

 

This building (ADB26) shows a greater reduction in GWP than the previous one, and the payback period is 40.74 years. This building has an increase in OEC and OPED, with renovation only being efficient if the indoor thermal comfort of the dwellings has been achieved, compared to the state before the building was renovated.

 

DEMONSTRATION SITE – Duplex building in Gdynia, POLAND

The demonstration site is located in Gdynia, Poland, with a duplex building, included as demo case of the BIM-SPEED project. The steps to follow are the same that the explained for the demo site explained before

Once the owner of the building has collected the data needed to complete the template used as input for the ECOtool, previously downloaded from the ECOtool service, the next step is to complete the template and upload it to the project folder. Using the data provided by the owner, the information collected by the Gdynia building is:

 

The results obtained from this demo, using the data provided by the owner are:

With these results, we can deduce that the proposed intervention has significantly reduced the Operational Primary Energy Demand, and the GWP has been considerably reduced. The Operational Energy Costs are lower than in the baseline, its reduction is almost half compared to the baseline. The Payback Period is 68.62 years. The intervention is not cost-effective in terms of return on investment, but it is cost-effective in environmental terms.

The ECOtool defines in this document allows to achieve a reduction of time in the calculation of a set of indicators related to the occupation and maintenance phases of the building renovation process: Operational Energy Cost, Operational Primary Energy Demand, Global Warming Potential and the Payback Period, compare with the conventional practices that means do not use the ECOtool to automatize these calculations. This process is faster and more accurate than the manual process because it is a mathematical process based on defined equations

The exchange requirements of the ECOtool are the following:

INPUTS:

1. XLSX file: including: Net floor area (in square meters), investments costs (in €), maintenance costs (in €/month or €/year); other costs for energy services (example, renting of energy supply meters (in €/month or €/year); final energy consumption in electricity (full year is required in residential typology, but for example, could start in March 2019 to March 2020); final energy consumption for different fuels (full year is required in residential typology, but for example, could start in March 2019 to March 2020); energy price (in €/KWh); C0₂ emission factor per type of energy source (in KgCO2/kWhfe); primary energy factor (in kWhpe/kWhfe)

 

OUTPUTS:

1. XLSX file: The KPIs obtained as results an included in the .xlsx file are:
   1. (BS.OEC) Operational Energy Costs [€/m2year]
   2. (BS.PP) Payback Period [years]
   3. (BS.OPED) Operational Primary Energy Demand [kWh/m2year]
   4. (BS.GWP) Global warming potential [tCO2eq/m2year]