Regulating energy performance of residential buildings in cold climate : a study of indicators, criteria, and evaluation methods

Abstract: Building energy performance has been important in Fennoscandia ever since the early vernacular houses, to combat the cold climate. Due to EU directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD recast), building energy performance has become even more relevant in northern Europe the last decade. Objectives for improving building energy performance may include reducing cost and CO2-emissions, increasing energy independency, and improving the indoor climate. Different indicators, criteria, and evaluations methods may be used to reach these objectives. This dissertation addresses indicators, criteria, and evaluation methods used to regulate energy performance of residential buildings in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. Four research objectives are covered: (RO1) comparing criteria and evaluation methods used to regulate energy performance of residential buildings in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, (RO2) studying the perspective of professionals with experience in building energy performance evaluation on (a) methods for evaluating envelope air leakage of residential buildings in Sweden and Finland and (b) potential energy performance indicators in the Swedish procurement process of multi-family buildings, (RO3) developing an approach for analysing the performance gap between design predictions and measurements that can be used to verify compliance with requirements on building energy use in practice, and (RO4) comparing the stringency of the energy performance criteria for residential buildings between the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Russian national building code. Many differences were found between how energy performance of residential buildings was regulated in the four countries. In Sweden, measurements were used more for evaluating building energy performance than in the other countries. As of 1st January 2020, the Finnish building code was characterized by its focus on the building heat loss and stringent energy performance criteria compared to the other countries. The Norwegian building code was characterized by a relatively narrow system perspective on energy performance, with no regulation of the energy production efficiency or energy source. The Russian building code also had a narrow system perspective but was also characterized by its focus on the form factor – the relationship between building volume and enclosing area. The practitioners wanted to minimize the influence from building operation and user behaviour on energy performance evaluations in the Swedish building procurement process of multi-family buildings. Hence, they preferred component-focused indicators or indicators with a narrow system boundary. An approach has been developed for analyzing the performance gap between design phase predictions and measurements. The approach can be used to verify the finished building’s energy performance, with minimal influence from occupant behavior and building operation.