Thermal Shape Factor : The impact of the building shape and thermal properties on the heating energy demand in Swedish climates

In the year 2006, the energy performance directive 2002/91/EG was passed by the European Union, according to this directive the Swedish building code was supplemented by a key measure of energy use intensity (EUI). The implemented EUI equals some energy use within a building divided by its floor area and must be calculated in new housing estate and shown when renting or selling housing property. In order to improve the EUI, energy efficiency refurbishments could be implemented. Building energy simulation tools enables a virtual view a building model and can estimate the energy use before implementing any refurbishments. They are a powerful resource when determine the impact of the refurbishment measure. In order to obtain a correct model which corresponds to the actual energy use, some adjustments of the model are often needed. This process refers to as calibration. The used EUI has been criticized and thus, the first objective in this work was to suggest an alternative key measure of a buildings performance. The results showed that the currently used EUI is disfavoring some districts in Sweden. New housing estate in the far north must take more refined actions in order to fulfill the regulation demand, given that the users are behaving identical regardless where the house is located. Further, the suggested measure is less sensitive to the users’ behavior than the presently used EUI. It also has a significance meaning in building design as it relating the building shape and thermal properties and stating that extreme building shapes must undergo a stricter thermal construction rather than buildings that are more compact. Thus, the suggested key measure also creates a communication link between architects and the consultant constructors. The second objective of this thesis has been to investigate a concept of calibration using the data normally provided by energy bills, i.e. some monthly aggregated data. A case study serves to answer this objective, by using the building energy simulation tool IDA ICE 4.7 and a building located in Umeå, Sweden. The findings showed that the used calibration approach yielded a model considered as calibrated in eleven of twelve months. Furthermore, the method gives a closer agreement to the actual heat demand rather than using templates and standardized values. The major explanation of the deviation was influence of the users, but also that the case study building burden with large heat losses by domestic hot water circulation and thus, more buildings should be subjected to this calibration approach.