There is a growing interest in reducing energy consumption and the associated greenhouse gas emissions in every sector of the economy. The residential sector is a substantial consumer of energy in every country, and therefore a focus for energy consumption efforts. Since the energy consumption characteristics of the residential sector are complex and inter-related, comprehensive models are needed to assess the technoeconomic impacts of adopting energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies suitable for residential applications. The aim of this paper is to provide an up-to-date review of the various modeling techniques used for modeling residential sector energy consumption. Two distinct approaches are identified: top-down and bottom-up. The top-down approach treats the residential sector as an energy sink and is not concerned with individual end-uses. It utilizes historic aggregate energy values and regresses the energy consumption of the housing stock as a function of top-level variables such as macroeconomic indicators (e.g. gross domestic product, unemployment, and inflation), energy price, and general climate. The bottom-up approach extrapolates the estimated energy consumption of a representative set of individual houses to regional and national levels, and consists of two distinct methodologies: the statistical method and the engineering method. Each technique relies on different levels of input information, different calculation or simulation techniques, and provides results with different applicability. A critical review of each technique, focusing on the strengths, shortcomings and purposes, is provided along with a review of models reported in the literature.

Modeling of end-use energy consumption in the residential sector: A review of modeling techniques

Large-scale deployment of intermittent renewable energy (namely wind energy and solar PV) may entail new challenges in power systems and more volatility in power prices in liberalized electricity markets. Energy storage can diminish this imbalance, relieving the grid congestion, and promoting distributed generation. The economic implications of grid-scale electrical energy storage technologies are however obscure for the experts, power grid operators, regulators, and power producers. A meticulous techno-economic or cost-benefit analysis of electricity storage systems requires consistent, updated cost data and a holistic cost analysis framework. To this end, this study critically examines the existing literature in the analysis of life cycle costs of utility-scale electricity storage systems, providing an updated database for the cost elements (capital costs, operational and maintenance costs, and replacement costs). Moreover, life cycle costs and levelized cost of electricity delivered by electrical energy storage is analyzed, employing Monte Carlo method to consider uncertainties. The examined energy storage technologies include pumped hydropower storage, compressed air energy storage (CAES), flywheel, electrochemical batteries (e.g. lead–acid, NaS, Li-ion, and Ni–Cd), flow batteries (e.g. vanadium-redox), superconducting magnetic energy storage, supercapacitors, and hydrogen energy storage (power to gas technologies). The results illustrate the economy of different storage systems for three main applications: bulk energy storage, T&D support services, and frequency regulation.

Electrical energy storage systems: A comparative life cycle cost analysis

Predicted vs. actual energy performance of non-domestic buildings: Using post-occupancy evaluation data to reduce the performance gap

[1] Lithology describes the geochemical, mineralogical, and physical properties of rocks. It plays a key role in many processes at the Earth surface, especially the fluxes of matter to soils, ecosystems, rivers, and oceans. Understanding these processes at the global scale requires a high resolution description of lithology. A new high resolution global lithological map (GLiM) was assembled from existing regional geological maps translated into lithological information with the help of regional literature. The GLiM represents the rock types of the Earth surface with 1,235,400 polygons. The lithological classification consists of three levels. The first level contains 16 lithological classes comparable to previously applied definitions in global lithological maps. The additional two levels contain 12 and 14 subclasses, respectively, which describe more specific rock attributes. According to the GLiM, the Earth is covered by 64% sediments (a third of which are carbonates), 13% metamorphics, 7% plutonics, and 6% volcanics, and 10% are covered by water or ice. The high resolution of the GLiM allows observation of regional lithological distributions which often vary from the global average. The GLiM enables regional analysis of Earth surface processes at global scales. A gridded version of the GLiM is available at the PANGEA Database (http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.788537).

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2012GC004370

The new global lithological map database GLiM: A representation of rock properties at the Earth surface

With the increasing demand for more energy efficient buildings, the construction industry is
faced with the challenge to ensure that the energy efficiency predicted during the design is
realised once a building is in use. There is, however, significant evidence to suggest that
buildings are not performing as well as expected and initiatives such as PROBE and
CarbonBuzz aim to illustrate the extent of this so called "Performance Gap". This paper
discusses the underlying causes of discrepancies between detailed energy modelling predictions
and in-use performance of occupied buildings (after the twelve month liability period). Many
of the causal factors relate to the use of unrealistic input parameters regarding occupancy
behaviour and facilities management in building energy models. In turn, this is associated with
the lack of feedback to designers once a building has been constructed and occupied.
This paper aims to demonstrate how knowledge acquired from Post-Occupancy Evaluation
(POE) can be used to produce more accurate energy performance models. A case study focused
specifically on lighting, small power and catering equipment in a high density office building is
presented. Results show that by combining monitored data with predictive energy modelling, it
was possible to increase the accuracy of the model to within 3% of actual electricity
consumption values. Future work will seek to use detailed POE data to develop a set of
evidence based benchmarks for energy consumption in office buildings. It is envisioned that
these benchmarks will inform designers on the impact of occupancy and management on the
actual energy consumption of buildings. Moreover, it should enable the use of more realistic
input parameters in energy models, bringing the predicted figures closer to reality.

Predicted vs. Actual Energy Performance of Non-Domestic Buildings

Design and experimental testing of the performance of an outdoor LiBr/H2O solar thermal absorption cooling system with a cold store

This study has been undertaken to gain a better understanding of how to allow for energy storage in the design of a future built environment where renewable energy systems will play a significant role.

Electricity storage solutions are a key element in achieving high renewable energy penetration in the built environment. This paper presents an overview of electricity storage technologies and their distinct characteristics. The currently available technologies have been classified according to the means by which each can be used in supplying energy to buildings.

As the storage market is evolving rapidly, the analysis provides an up-to-date evaluation of different storage options with regard to scale, reliability and site-specificity among others.

It is concluded that Li-ion batteries, which today have a limited use in the built environment, and Zn–air batteries that will be commercialised in 2013/14 are amongst the most promising technologies for buildings due to their exceptionally high energy density. They are expected to play an important role in reliable, economical and energy efficient building design in the future. NaNiCl batteries, which are currently used in vehicles, are also considered an important technology for buildings, because of their high cycle lifetime and their high peak power capability.

/pdf/characteristics-of-electrical-energy-storage-technologies-kud1l5jbiy.pdf

Characteristics of electrical energy storage technologies and their applications in buildings

Residential Cogeneration Systems: European and Canadian Residential Non-HVAC Electric and DHW Load Profiles For Use in Simulating the Performance of Residential Cogeneration Systems

DISCLAIMER This report is distributed for information purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Operating Agent (Government of Canada through the Department of Natural Resources Canada) nor does it constitute an endorsement of any commercial product or person. All property rights, including copyright, are vested in the Operating Agent on behalf of the International Energy Agency Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems Programme (IEA/ECBCS) for the benefits of the Annex 42 Participants provided, however, that the Participants may reproduce and distribute such material, but if it shall be published with a view to profit, permission should be obtained from the IEA/ECBCS. In particular, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Operating Agent. Neither the International Energy Agency, (IEA) Canada, its ministers, officers, employees nor agents make any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the use of any information, apparatus, method, process or similar items disclosed in this report, that such use does not infringe on or interfere with the privately owned rights, including any party's intellectual property or assume any liability or responsibility arising out of this report. The International Energy Agency (IEA) was established in 1974 within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to implement an international energy programme. A basic aim of the IEA is to foster cooperation among the twenty-four IEA participating countries and to increase energy security through energy conservation, development of alternative energy sources and energy research, development and demonstration (RD&D). The IEA sponsors research and development in a number of areas related to energy. The mission of one of those areas, the ECBCS-Energy Conservation for Building and Community Systems Programme, is to facilitate and accelerate the introduction of energy conservation, and environmentally sustainable technologies into healthy buildings and community systems, through innovation and research in decision-making, building assemblies and systems, and commercialisation. The objectives of collaborative work within the ECBCS R&D program are directly derived from the ongoing energy and environmental challenges facing IEA countries in the area of construction, energy market and research. ECBCS addresses major challenges and takes advantage of opportunities in the following areas: • exploitation of innovation and information technology; • impact of energy measures on indoor health and …

Residential cogeneration systems: A review of the current technologies. A report of subtask A of FC+COGEN-SIM: The simulation of building-integrated fuel cell and other cogeneration systems

Ian Paul Knight

Papers

Design and experimental testing of the performance of an outdoor LiBr/H2O solar thermal absorption cooling system with a cold store

Characteristics of electrical energy storage technologies and their applications in buildings

Residential Cogeneration Systems: European and Canadian Residential Non-HVAC Electric and DHW Load Profiles For Use in Simulating the Performance of Residential Cogeneration Systems

Residential cogeneration systems: A review of the current technologies. A report of subtask A of FC+COGEN-SIM: The simulation of building-integrated fuel cell and other cogeneration systems

Small power equipment loads in UK office environments