Standards, Regulations and Policies:
Energy and Buildings
Roger Hitchin
Part of the BRE Trust
What is a standard? BSI says:
– “In essence, a standard is an agreed way of doing something.”
– “Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in
their subject matter and who know the needs of the
organizations they represent.”
Standards are not Regulations (or Policies)
– Policies may involve Regulations
– Typically to cause people or organisations to do (or
desist from doing) something which may be in their
direct interest but not that of society as a whole
– Regulations may call on Standards
– To specify what must be done
– Or how it should be done
An illustration: Policy Options for Air Conditioning Energy in Europe
- Air conditioning is only one element of building energy use
- Energy consumption is only one aspect of sustainability
- But the policy options illustrate some generic issues relating to
standards
The European Air Conditioning Market
– Ownership of air conditioning is
increasing
– In new and existing buildings
Estimated Stock
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
GW Stock
• Chart shows installed GW cooling
capacity
2005
2010
2015
2020
2025
Movables
Ducted split
Rooftops
VRF
Multisplit
Chillers
Room air conditioners > 12 kW
Room air conditioners < 12 kW
Source: Roger Hitchin, Christine Pout, Philippe Riviere
Assessing the market for air conditioning systems in European buildings
– Energy consumption is likely to
increase further
There is substantial potential for Energy Savings
– Existing studies have shown significant potential
for savings through
– Load reduction
– Improved efficiency
– Better operation
– Barriers to realising savings include
– Low rates of building refurbishment
– Long product and system lifetimes
Cooling Savings potential
24%
37%
39%
Fabric and equipment
Plant
O+M
Source: Knight I et al,
HARMONAC project final report
The Market is rather Complex:
– and so are the policy possibilities
Energy Consumption for Cooling and
Associated Air Movement
2%
17%
31%
– Three main categories of air conditioning
– Moveable units; Packaged systems and products;
Central systems; plus energy used for air movement
50%
Moveable
RAC
Central cooling
Air Movement
– 30 countries: EU- 27, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein
– Different climates, energy regulations, a/c market history
Cooling Energy by
Country
– New-build and existing buildings
– Many types of building
Source: BRE Report ‘Study to assess barriers and opportunities to improving energy efficiency in cooling appliances/systems’
Key policy options, potential saving up to 30% over a 10 year period
Demanding minimum performance requirements for chillers,
room air conditioners and other packaged units
Performance requirements for specific fan power and air
leakage
Minimum energy performance requirements for complete
systems
Minimum performance requirements integrating building and
system characteristics
Reduced fresh air in spaces where smoking is now prohibited
Detailed energy audits of air conditioning systems
0
Cooling
20
40
Air movement
60
80
100
120
140
10-year savings TWh
Source: BRE Report ‘Study to assess barriers and opportunities to improving energy efficiency in cooling appliances/systems
160
180
200
1. Demanding MEPS for Chillers and packaged cooling systems
– Policy prevents the use of low-efficiency products
– Applies to series-produced products
– But efficient products alone do not guarantee efficient systems
– Performance Regulation sets levels of requirements
– Already implemented for some products via Energy-related Products
Directive
• Applied across Europe irrespective of climate or use (single market issue)
1. Demanding MEPS for Chillers and packaged cooling systems
– Standards exist and are central to implementation
– Define assessment methods
• Under standard operating conditions (including part-load)
• Developed in conjunction with users
– Performance classes (energy labels) are defined in regulation, not
standards
2. Performance requirements for air handling subsystems
– Policy. Imposes minimum efficiency requirements for parts of
systems that are designed for particular buildings.
– Ductwork leakage, specific fan power
– Regulations set performance requirements
– Implemented at national level. (Has to be tested on-site)
– Already in some national building energy codes or guidance
2. Performance requirements for air handling subsystems
– European Standards provide source material
– Define assessment procedures
– And performance classes (but in different standards)
– National implementations use some information from standards but
do not generally cite them directly
3. Whole-system Performance Requirements
– Policy. Sets minimum performance standards for the whole system
– Regulations. Would set performance levels
– Required by Recast EPBD
– No Regulations so far
• Most savings could be achieved more easily through other instruments
• Several difficult issues unresolved, including implementation route
3. Whole-system Performance Requirements
– Standards. None exist at present
– Several difficult technical issues unresolved:
– Choice of metric
– Agreed calculation method
– Policy looks difficult to implement and of doubtful extra impact
• So role for standards is uncertain
4. Demanding Integrated Building plus System MEPS
- Policy. Minimum Performance Standards and Energy Labels for
the building plus its fixed building services.
- Includes savings from reductions of cooling load
- Regulation. European regulation via EPBD
- Does not set specific requirement levels or procedures
- Subsidiarity applies
- And national climates, policy priorities differ
- Therefore implemented through national regulations
- Usually based on calculation, rather than measurement
4. Demanding Integrated Building plus System MEPS
– Standards. European standards exist
– Used selectively by Member States as sources of information for
national regulations
– Substantial gap between requirements of users (MS regulators)
and standards-writers. (Who are largely separate from each other)
• Standards mainly deal with complex calculation methods requiring
using good data and high resource level
• Application is mainly to existing buildings where data are uncertain
and time is limited
• Easy Quality Assurance is important in practice
5. Better operational practice
– Policy. Reduce energy wastage due to poor operation and
management
– Regulation. European implementation through EPBD
– But instruments are not very effective
• Mandatory system inspections
• Feedback of measured annual consumption
– Savings can be made quickly but can disappear equally fast
5. Better operational practice
– Standards. European standards support existing instruments
– Member States use them extensively (but selectively)
– Value of standards is weak because Regulatory instruments are
largely ineffective
6. Reduction of outdoor air supply
– Policy. Avoid over-ventilating spaces where smoking is not now
permitted
– Regulation. National design guidelines exist for new systems and
buildings.
– Unclear whether there are regulations for existing ones
6. Reduction of outdoor air supply
– Standards. European standards exist for system design
– Generally reflected in national regulations and guidance
– Standards support guidance and regulation but these are patchy
Reflections
– Standards are crucial to regulations for series-produced products
– Define mandatory procedures in support of Regulations
– At building- or system- level standards have a different role
– Source material for national regulators to use selectively
– Ideally this would be accompanied by guidance as to strengths and
weaknesses of options
• But would they then be “standards”?
– This role is not recognised by most standard-makers
Reprise - What is a standard?
– “In essence, a standard is an agreed way of doing something.”
– “Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in
their subject matter and who know the needs of the organizations
they represent.”
– My Comment: Unlike series produced products, there are few
people with the experience, time and motivation to write formal
standards for buildings or systems.
– However, there are voluntary “standards”, mainly for buildings