Three-level Energy Performance Calculation and Assessment Method for Information Poor Buildings

A thorough assessment is critical for understating and enhancing building energy performance. This paper presents a three-level energy performance assessment method for information-poor buildings where very limited energy use data are available. Using this method, the energy performance of a building can be assessed at multiple levels (i.e., building level, system level and component level ) based on limited energy use data and few in-situ measurement and/or catalogue data of air-conditioning systems. The core part of this assessment method is a quantitative energy performance calculation method that consists of two basic energy balances, simplified models of air-conditioning components and an optimization algorithm based on the energy balances within buildings. The proposed assessment method is well validated in a high-rise building in Hong Kong by comparing the energy performance data from the proposed method with that from detailed measurements. Results show that this method can estimate the energy performance indicators quantitatively at three levels with acceptable accuracy.