Development and validation of energy signature method - Case study on a multi-family building in Sweden before and after deep renovation

Building energy use constitutes a large part of total energy use, both in the European Union and Sweden. Due to this energy use, and the resulting emissions, several goals for energy efficiency and emissions have been set. In Sweden, a large portion of multi-family buildings were built between 1960 and 1980, which have major energy savings potential. The purpose of this paper is further development and validation of previously introduced energy signature method and its inherent parameters. The method was applied on a multi-family building where thermal energy data supplied by the district heating company was available before and after deep renovation. Using IDA ICE, a building energy simulation (BES) software model was created of the building, to aid in validation of the energy signature method. The paper highlighted the accuracy of the proposed energy signature (PES) method and a sensitivity analysis on the inherent parameters have been performed. The results showed new ways of treatment of the thermal energy data and revealed how more information can be extracted from this data. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.Funding Agencies|Gavle Energi AB (GEAB), Gavle, Sweden