Professor Kevin Lomas (PI) Dr David Allison, Mr Matt Li

Project description

Smart meter data can provide the measured energy demands of homes, and In-Home Displays (IHDs) could display the current and past energy use, perhaps comparing this to other households. However, the best way to present this data so that it is transparent, meaningful and up to date, and so it enables fair inter-home comparisons, needs to be resolved. A prototype Domestic Operational Rating (DOR) that achieves some of these objectives, for some homes, has already been developed following six years of field work and analysis funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The DOR is complementary to the existing domestic asset rating scheme which, using the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP), generates an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). Just as the operational rating of non-domestic buildings, as shown in the Display Energy Certificate, is complementary to the non-domestic asset rating, shown in the EPC. The important difference between the DOR and an EPC is that the DOR quantifies the actual, in-use energy demand (DORED), GHG emissions (DORGG) and energy costs (DOREC) of homes. In contrast the EPC estimates what the demand might be assuming a standard occupant behaviour. The DOR can account for all fuel types, the physical form of the dwelling, the heating system installed, the effects of changing ambient temperatures, and, crucially, the behaviour of the dwelling’s occupants.

The key features of the DOR is that it provides a weather-corrected, normalised and benchmarked indication of demand, emissions and costs. This permits comparisons between homes of different size, in different locations, measured over different periods, and between the DORs of a given home in successive years. DORs can be used for observing changes in actual domestic energy demands and actual CO2 emissions and costs at national, regional and sub-regional level and as a stimulus to better management by households and energy system operators.