Essay: Design of an energy efficient building – research gap

As the government is promoting the ‘zero carbon’ housing by the implementation of sustainable design as well as using micro-generation technologies. To design a ‘Zero energy building’ (ZEB) and minimise the energy use in building two main strategies can be adopted – (1) Energy efficient measure and (2) integration of RETs to overcome the household energy use.(Danny et al., 2013)
2.2 THE ENERGY PERFORMANCE GAP
Due to this current U.K housing is experiencing rapidly changing standards due to experimental phase as the standards, materials and technologies are rapidly changing. (Kapsali and Gupta, 2015) Many studies are being conducted to study this and there is significant gap exists between the measured and the predicted energy output.(Cohen and Bordass, 2015; Menezes et al., 2011; Wilde, 2014) This difference between actual and calculated energy is called the ‘energy -performance gap’. (Borgstein et al., 2016; Brom et al., 2018; Gram-Hanssen and george, 2018) This issue of ‘the gap’ is not new and have been a topic of discussion since a long time. (Shove, 1998) Therefore there is an immediate need for understanding the behaviour and occupancy patterns in order to find the performance gap. (Menezes et al., 2011) Findings from the PROBE studies also (Post Occupancy Review of Buildings and their Engineering) demonstrated that the actual energy consumption in buildings will usually be twice as much as predicted while other recent findings by CIBSE from the Carbon Trust’s Low Carbon Buildings Accelerator and the Low Carbon Buildings Programme have demonstrated that in-use energy consumption can be 5 times higher than compliance calculations. Also, this needs the analysis from the provision side rather than occupant side and how it shapes the technology. As the everyday practices of professional are not given much importance which tend to influence the performance of buildings.
2.3 REASONS FOR PERFORMANCE GAP
Also there is notable differences between the predicted and actual energy performance of a building once it is inhabited.(Buso et al., 2015) There is not one but many reasons for this performance gap like lack of occupant feedback, lack of predicted in-use energy consumptions by installers, discrepancies between design specification and as-built all contribute to the energy performance. Though several researchers found that occupants have significant effect on residential energy consumption. (Steemers and Yun, 2009) (Bordass et al., 2001) and this energy performance gap is primarily caused by occupant behaviours. (Aydin et al., 2015; Kirsten Gram-Hanssen, 2011) while some studies bring up the effect of government policies and national standards such as FEED-IN tariffs that define PV components. It is widely acknowledged that a major gap exists between the technical calculations and the actual energy consumption by homes when occupied by real people, this has been identified and labelled as so called rebound and pre-bound effect.(Sunikka-Blank and Galvin, 2012) Generally, the fabric improvements are put into a lot of focus and the new researches are coming up with studying the gap relating to the on-site renewable energy technologies. (McElroy and Rosenow, 2018) Other reasons can be high predictions taken into account during design stage, communication gap between the user and installer, modelling simulation disparities or installation gaps. (van den Brom, Meijer et al. 2018) While Wilde classifies these into 3 main root causes (Wilde, 2014): The one at the design stage which happens due to inaccurate modelling of the predicted performance. (Sunikka-Blank and Galvin, 2012; Wilde, 2014) The second cause being the gap during the construction stage such as poor construction and/or installation.(Bordass et al., 2001) The final being the operational at the operational stage which majorly happens due to the occupants and their use of technology. Due to this gap the newly constructed energy efficient buildings often do not achieve the expected energy consumption during their real lifetime (Larsen and Bruno 2010) leading to a failure for the national carbon reduction plan, and effects the consumer confidence in these technologies.
Though some discrepancy cannot be overcome between the predicted and measured since there may be numerical errors in simulation and experimental variation in observation.(Wilde, 2014)
2.4 LOW CARBON TECHNOLOGIES
The UK has set a target of making all new domestic buildings ‘zero carbon’ by 2016 and all new non-domestic buildings zero-carbon by 2019. (DCLG :Department for Communities and Local Government, 2006) Since renewable energy is one of the major reasons that can be adopted to make the building energy efficient therefore this might be one of the issue due to which the ZEB fail. Though adopting RETs is one of the best measure available and Solar P.V is one of the technologies which have great scope in domestic microgeneration while there are other measures such as heat pumps, solar thermal heater etc. (Sharma and Tiwari, 2012; Tiwari and Mishra, 2012)
The popularity of microgeneration technologies such as solar P.V is increasingly becoming popular as policy makers are looking to address fuel poverty and environmental concerns. (Keirstead, 2006) Due to this the government is promoting the P.V installation in the U.K through the introduction of FIT scheme. Also, this was the major push for P.V installation and promoted 99% of increase in installations by the end of 2016 and growing the capacity by 81%. (BEIS, 2017)The PV has the versatility to be incorporated into new as well as existing construction and can be integrated into roofs, facades or ground mounted systems. P.V Stands for two words: Photo means light and Voltaic which is the unit of electricity. The solar PV converts sunlight into electricity generating clean, affordable source of energy for consumption. The smallest unit of the system is a cell which converts sunlight into electricity. Since the output is generated by a group of cells which make a panel and a group of panels combined make a string. These systems either generate electricity into DC that can be directed into appliances or AC to run AC appliances. The generated electricity can be used by the building itself and the surplus can be fed to the national grid to gain cost benefits. The solar P. V’s efficiency various according to the time of the day, the orientation as well as the climatic conditions of the place. The energy generated can me measure using electric metres as well as through online metering.(Li et al., 2012; Su et al., 2012)
In order for the energy efficient building to perform as intended it is important to analyse the interdependencies between building, technologies and the actors involved such as the occupants and the installers.(Kapsali and Gupta, 2015) Developing effective building performance evaluation and feedback process is a vital part of efforts to global reduction of building energy use and gain insight into actual performance of buildings and technologies.(Stevenson and Baborska-Narozny, 2017) Also the domestic sector has relatively lower amount of data published on post occupancy evaluation as compared to other sectors.(Stevenson and Leaman, 2010) This leads to a necessity for POE an emerging research area in the domestic sector and taking into consideration the user behaviours and perceptions in relation to building performance.(Stevenson and Leaman, 2010) According to shove for carbon reduction policies and strategies to be adopted, it is important to know how the energy is known, measured and understood. (Shove, 2017) Since the occupants affect the final consumption of the building, due to which it is necessary to get more detailed knowledge of it. (Gram-Hanssen, 2014)
2.5 THE ACTORS AFFECTING TECHNOLOGY
As there are many stakeholders whose actions should be considered and understood in order to minimise the performance gap.(Wade et al., 2017) Professionals are one of the main actors responsible for the shaping of occupants behaviours and activities. Since they have the potential of improving the technology as well as have authority to decide the aspects. Therefore, there is an immediate need to understand the new low carbon technologies and how professional integrate them in domestic houses. There is a central role of professionals such as P.V installers as well as Architect as they play an important role in influencing the domestic energy demand in a building. (Wade et al., 2017) The professionals are a classified into individual or groups whose works are to construct, refurbish, manage and supply materials or technology.(Janda and Parag, 2012) These actors have perceived expectations, preferences, thinking and knowledge according to which they behave and work and design and install the technologies.
2.6 SOCIAL PRACTICE THEORY
It is important to know the everyday habits to understand the energy efficient technologies. (Gram-Hanssen, 2014) Practice-oriented approaches have become increasingly influential and applied to the analysis of phenomenon as different as science, policy making etc. (Nicolini, 2012) Though there is not one unified theory but fragments and parts of theories which are applied to understand the energy society relationship by analysing the practices, material arrangements and social orders and how energy is occupied by difference material arrangements. (Shove and Walker, 2014)
Theories help to analyse a problem through a different set of lenses and find a way to look at the problems and social issues that arise in everyday living by revealing things that are hidden behind culture and activities. Since energy is one of the most important matter of understanding on which the practices are enacted, reproduced and transformed.(Shove and Walker, 2014) The practice theory or praxis, praxeology helps to understand the practices in a processual way so as not losing touch with the mundane nature of everyday life. It is a theoretical orientation which helps to study various aspects of social science and human where the methodological element remains central. Social Practice Theory (SPT) was first theorised through the work of Giddens and Bourdieu and the term practice theory was First used in 1984 by Sherry Ortner to pier ideas. Though Gram-Hanssen mainly developed this theory of Practice inspired by Schatzki.
2.7 PRACTICE THEORY BY GRAM-HANSSEN
I will be adopting the practice theory formulated by Gram-Hanssen as he focuses on the routines and consumer practices and that the four elements hold each other together. As I have to study the behaviour and knowledge of occupants, the routines need to study. Routines in daily life are crucial for consumption of energy and water in household and therefore knowledge of how routines develop, and change is extremely relevant from sustainable consumption perspective.(Gram-Hanssen, 2008) According to him there is always a goal related that is guiding the practice and this goal is the reason to perform the practices and not energy. People perform activities unconsciously, as it would be unbearable to consciously think about all the small things that we do every time. (Gram-Hanssen, 2014) Also the element know-how and habits are very important for my analysis as this is required to know what occupants know about the technology also how they behave with the new technology. Another important element due to which I chose his practice theory is the institutionalised knowledge which helps to explore the installer’s thinking and earlier knowledge gained.
When doing energy consuming practices, it is thus relevant to include all the four elements at the same time and to understand practices are not just something individuals decide based on their norms and attitudes. Energy is consumed by the routinised activities through embodied habits and know-how such as washing clothes, boiling water in a kettle and many unconscious practices which cannot be recorded, and this is indirectly consumed by the occupants. They are the skills and knowledge owned by the occupants and the installers. Engagements is one of the four elements which is the reason behind why people take part and perform practices and that every action means something. Gram-Hansen’s engagement is similar to Schatzki’s “teleo affective structures’ which is the “ends, projects, purpose, beliefs, emotions or beliefs”.(Reindl, 2017; Schatzki, 2001) The fourth element technology holds the energy consuming practices together. Since technology affects how the practices are being carried out such as if a home has P.V installed then he would use the washing machine differently as compared when he doesn’t have the technology. The way practice theory helps to see the individual and practices is the best way to conceptualise how the technology affects and is affected by energy consuming practices.
Though there are many different people such as installers or occupants who share same practice even though they do not know each other. practices begin to change and shapes according to new ‘rules’. The installers apply ‘practical intelligibility’ to design and install PV technology while the occupants use ‘practical intelligibility’ to guide his/her activities and hence helps to hold the practices together.
2.7 CONCLUSION AND RESEARCH GAP
As seen from the literature review above the primary focus of the earlier literature is mainly on the energy-efficiency of ZEB and why they can’t achieve the required performance. Earlier researches on social practices from the occupant’s side has been the topic of research for several sociologists (Gram-Hanssen, 2008; Warde, 2005) but from that of installers appears to be lacking research. They have tried to bridge this gap by studying occupant behaviour and how it affects the technology. But my research I am to study how decisions about energy measure are made and apply practice theory to understand the interaction between actors and technology. As the field is yet to be researched well, due to which there exists a gap in literature that focuses on the professional’s assumptions and how occupants affect it. This should be understood from the design stage by studying the provision side actors who influence the design decisions of this technology rather than solely focusing on the occupant’s practice. This is because PV technology performance is promoted and reported solely in terms of cost and energy efficiency goals without holistic consideration of other contributing factors such occupants ability to effectively manage PV system. (Baborska-Narozny et al., 2016) Though there is still limited evidence for the actual influence of occupants on domestic energy consumption, therefore a better clearer knowledge of all the actors (both human and non-human) that affects this consumption is needed. Therefore evaluation of user perceptions and behaviour in relation to building performance in housing is therefore an emerging research area (Leaman and Stevenson, 2010)
Taken together the studies it suggests that further research is needed on the specific daily practice that generates energy use. When a new technology is introduced the routines of the occupants change drastically including the everyday practices. Change in routines is caused by technologies, this is because technologies and behaviour are directly linked with material things and if one of the changes the other also gets affected. It is thus important to study and analyse this behavioural change and how these develop due to new technology. This is how social practices develop and collectively shared and developed in a society thus shaping a technology. It is important to shape the technology sustainably as well as well integrated in a ZEB to achieve desired results and performance.
In Bourdieu’s practice theoretical approach, the focus is on the collective structures of practices and on what guides the everyday practices that people perform. These practices make people consume energy though consuming energy is not a practice.
According to Nicolini most practice theory conceives practices as routine bodily activities made possible by the active contribution of array of material resources.(Nicolini, 2012) Objects both participate in the accomplishment of the practice and make this accomplishment durable over time. The focus is not on the action of the individual but on the practice.
Elizabeth Shove argued that the routinised and technologically structured parts of consumer practices had to be more in focus to understand households’ energy consumption (Shove, 2003) energy, such as cooking or washing, are practices and these are guided by different elements. But in Gram-Hanssen’s approach there are two elements (1) habits and (2) institutionalised knowledge for only 1 element of Shove “competences”.
While Schatzki’s practice theory is also quite relatable with Gram-Hanssen though he elaborated more on the study of organisations. According to Theodore Schatzki the practices are dispersed sets of doings and sayings held by something common. He also points that practices are considered social material arrangements which are inevitably entangled and are important because they can affect human actions.(Schatzki, 2002) He also talks about four types of material objects such as human beings, artefacts, organisms and things. He then explains the relation between these and other human and non-human actors and termed them as ‘bundled up interactions’ which explains the building performance gap. (Stevenson and Baborska-Narozny, 2017) This is because Schatzki didn’t consider technology as an element and technology is one of the main elements that needs to be considered to understand the behaviour around it.
The practice theory provided by Gram-Hanssen is very simple and clear and it can be applied empirically. Gram-Hansen sets her study in household context and approach to study the routinised practices of P.V installers and occupants and analysing their knowledge and behaviour with the help of his four elements. Therefore, the analysis of this research is based on the four key elements produced by Gram-Hanssen.