Successful retrofit: Measuring Energy Performance in Domestic Buildings Accurately

Reducing fuel poverty and improving the energy performance of domestic buildings is priority for not only national Government but also Local Authorities, Housing Association and RSL's. In challenging economic times, major improvements and energy saving initiatives need to deliver maximum value for money. The only way to do this is though accurate and targeted projects based on robust building performance data. Whilst EPC's, based on the SAP assessment, give an overview, they do not reflect accurately the performance of the building or enable a pre and post project assessment of performance. 

It is essential to understand how building stock is performing before making an investment decision! Achieving an accurate benchmark of energy performance before, during and after a project enables the validation of projects and makes it possible to measure success both from a financial and energy perspective.

The Measuring energy performance of domestic buildings one day course provides professionals involved in social housing, private housing and property sectors with an understanding of why, what, when and how to monitor and measure energy use in domestic buildings.

Objectives

There is a disparity between real world domestic building performance and Government targets and policy, and with the growing demand for knowledge and skills in understanding energy use in housing stock, there is a need to distinguish the policies from real life situations.

Therefore, this course aims to tackle this knowledge gap to ensure that participants have a thorough background of the policies, but learn how to distinguish this from reality and understand what needs to be done in real life scenarios to effectively measure energy use in domestic buildings.

This Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course has been developed following industry leading research conducted at the unique Energy House at the University of Salford. The Energy House is a fully functioning and automated test house built in an environmentally controlled chamber. Testing, monitoring and research conducted at the Energy House has led to a unique understanding of the challenges and solutions when monitoring energy use in domestic properties.

The course will explore a range of topics including:

• Introduction to energy consumption in domestic buildings 
• Understanding what to measure – different metrics and the value of measurement. 
• Choosing sensors and data gathering technologies 
• Installing sensors correctly 
• Interpreting and analysing the data

Learning Outcomes

Attendance at this course will provide you with a knowledge and skills set that you will be able to take back to your workplace to the benefit of you organisation, including: 

• Understanding energy use in domestic buildings 
• The ability to identify key metrics and measurement tools 
• The knowledge of current industry sensor technologies 
• Understanding how to place sensors correctly to achieve accurate results 
• Developing the skills required to accurately interpret and analyse sensor data

Audience

This course is aimed at:

• Architects
• Building Surveyors
• Social Landlords
• Private Landlords
• Commercial Landlords
• Facilities managers
• Construction Companies
• Developers
• Energy Assessors
• Energy Consultants