Interactive feedback tool for occupants based on a tuned building energy model

It is a well-known fact that there is a gap between the theoretical energy performance and the actual energy use of a building. The behaviour of occupants has a large influence on this energy use. Within the BIM4Ren H2020 project we developed a feedback tool for occupants that gives insight in the effect of behaviour on the amount of energy use required for heating and cooling. The tool has a front-end in which the occupant can see their current behaviour, as well as their actual energy use. By changing their initial behaviour virtually, they will get feedback about the effect on their actual energy use. The back-end of the tool contains a reduced order simulation, based on the ISO 52016-1:2017 hourly method to calculate the energy needs. In deviation from the standard, the most important parameters that describe user behaviour are directly obtained from the occupants by a questionnaire. The model is tuned on the real situation using the behavioural data and measurement data. The feedback tool will help occupants understand better why their energy use is higher than expected despite the renovation, or help them save even more energy by educating them on the effect of their behaviour.

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