User related input data for energy usage calculations the case of low-energy schools in Sweden

In order to calculate building energy usage, apart from the technical characteristics, user related factors needs to be determined. Unless the user related factors are determined by specific project, the idea is to apply a standardized list of input data for a normal operation during a normal year, so the calculated energy value does not depend on variation of these factors. Such list was issued by Boverket (The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning) in a document named BEN1 in 2016, and updated in BEN2 in 2017. A disadvantage of this list is that, the part about schools is based on references that are rather older and sparse and needs to be updated. This paper investigates the user related input data in 10 newly built low energy schools in Sweden and compares those to BEN2. It also compares the schools’ calculated energy performance to the BBR25 requirement, the latest national building codes and recommendations. The schools are investigated in this research as there is a demand for about 1000 elementary schools to be built in Sweden in the coming 10 years. The paper shows significant user related effect to energy usage and importance for the standardized user related input data for energy calculations. Future research aims to verify these calculations and user related input data with measured data for the chosen schools