Recorded Energy Consumption of NZEB Dwellings – and Corresponding Interior Temperatures. Initial Results from the NZEB101 Project.

Ireland is mandating the unprecedented mass market deployment of low-energy dwellings via the near Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) standard, from 1 January 2021 due to the EU wide Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). This is among the first academic papers to provide recorded energy and temperature data for nZEB compliant dwellings in Ireland. It reports on initial results of the www.nZEB101.ie Post Occupancy Evaluation project, the objective of which is to uncover key nZEB design and operations lessons, to aid the next iteration of the country’s building regulations. This paper reports on the analysis of winter temperatures and the energy consumption of 17 nZEB compliant dwellings, each of which have been monitored for at least a 12 month period. While analysis of further properties is needed to further validate the findings, key findings to date include significantly higher than expected interior temperatures and energy consumption, and a usage profile which is significantly different from the assumptions in the DEAP National energy rating software.