BeREAL – close the performance gap between the projected energy use and the operational energy use Development of product specification of software application
BeREAL is a software application – an ad-on to Be10. It can explain the differences between estimated energy use and operational energy use in a given building. Is the performance gap caused by weather conditions or unexpected usage? Or is it due to factors such as poor construction quality, poor installations or poor operational performance?
Low-carbon buildings do not always perform as well as anticipated. Rather large differences between the design prediction and the operational performance can be documented.
BeREAL is a software application that functions as an ad-on to Be10. With BeREAL you will be able to document what is actually causing the performance gap (in regards to energy use) for a given building.
BeREAL provides a realistic A) Forecast and a detailed B) Post Analysis.
A) Forecast. BeREAL can be applied in the design phase and will give you a more realistic forecast of the operational energy use. This will motivate to include energy performance measures in the requirements specification (to the contractor). It will also motivate the development of a detailed energy monitoring strategy in the design phase.
B) Post Analysis: With BeREAL you can conduct a detailed comparison of the predicted energy use and the operational energy use. You will be able to identify what is causing differences. Is a performance gap caused by weather conditions, unexpected usage of the building, miscalculations, poor construction quality, poor installations or poor operational performance?
The project includes the development of a requirement specification of the software application and the development of a business plan and go-to-market plan.
BeREAL can be used for:
1) to make realistic estimate of the actual energy consumption in the design phase, and
2) to make a fair comparison of the calculated energy need and the actual measured energy consumption. The developed method is based on a probability princip called 'Three point estimate' which also is knowned as succesive calculation. Details behind this method is explained in the Danish report 'Energisyndere i lavenergibyggeri - spor 1: Metode til estimat af faktisk energiforbrug i designfasen og sammenligning af beregnet energibehov med faktisk målt energiforbrug” (Elforsk projekt 345‐002).
This method can give a realistic estimate of the actual energy consumption used for managing a building throughout the design and planning phase but it needs thorough considerations before specifying the expected, optimistic and pessimistic consumptions compared to the three point estimate. If this is done corretly, the advantage by using the three point estimate, that you can list input parameters by falling variance and hereby get a prioritized list of which parameters you should be aware of through the further construction process - from the first phases of designing and planning to delivery.
This analysis is usefull if the building owners wishes to proof wether their building meets the expected energy consumption and for explaining and adjust differences between the expected and actual consumption. BeReal is a converter who makes it possible to fairly compare the calculated energy consumption (Be10) with the actual energy consumption. To get a reasonable comparison the data set must live up to a minimum demand and a comparison based on good managing data will have less uncertainities as data from secondary meters.
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Category
Participants
| Partner | Subsidy | Auto financing |
|---|---|---|
| Aarhus Universitet | ||
| Rainbow Riders | ||
| henrik-innovation ApS |
