Objective: Energy Use and Management in Buildings

Intent: To understand the national implications of individual household interactions between socio-demographic factors, temperature and energy use.

Project: Household Energy End-use Project (HEEP)

One aim of HEEP is to develop suitable analysis techniques to understand the relationship between monitored energy use and physical parameters, such as indoor temperatures. This includes accounting for climatic variations and utilising localised indoor temperature measurements to characterise the whole house. Another aim is to evaluate quantitative indicative relationships between the socio-demographic and physical characteristics of the household, and the energy use and temperature patterns of the house. The data will allow the comparison of temperature and energy performance of different buildings designs and construction types. The results will be made available for the revision of NZBC Clause H1 and related Standards as appropriate.

The relationships found in the first two parts of this project will be merged with a modified 'ALF' calculation model to produce a wider model linking socio-demographic and physical household factors with energy consumption and temperature patterns. Completion date for this part of the project is 2005.

Research Highlights

Other projects in the energy use and management in buildings area include:

• domestic energy models
• new and emerging energy technologies in buildings
• investigation of bulk insulation settling and recovery processes
• pilot survey of insulation installation effectiveness in houses
• whole-wall R values.