evaluation method

Any assessment of the local deployment of NRE systems must be capable of quantifying the temporal energy demands and the local supply potentials. It must be able to determine the degree of match between supply and demand, and assess the impact of demand reduction measures on this match. It must also be able to quantify any adverse impacts on the public electricity supply network. Databases of seasonally varying demand profiles as used by the UK Electricity Association, the UK Electricity Network Operators and the Western US Electricity Suppliers covered the range of domestic, commercial and industrial buildings. While the profiles adequately represented existing buildings, they did not allow enough flexibility when applied to new buildings. The ESP-r dynamic building energy model was therefore employed, this lead to the development of bSmart software, an automatic search method which locates favourable demand/supply matches.

Computer simulation is used to determine the multivariate performance of an initial model of the building (in this case corresponding to current best practice design). The multivariate performance data are then presented in the form of an integrated performance view [IPV] as shown (base case) The model is then modified by incorporating one of the renewable technologies, applied separately or jointly, and the different possible permutations compared (base case and passive/active.)

Overall it can be seen that the deployment of these passive technologies will bring about a 64% reduction in the annual energy demand.

Base case