Webinar 3 – EPB regulations: how to make good use of the outputs of the EPB assessments (12h00 – 13h30 – 16 April 2020)

Optimizing Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) regulations is a very challenging task. All the more so when the energy performance requirements become very strict.

The set of EPB standards produces as outputs a great number of overall and partial EPB indicators. The regulatory use of these outputs can be called "post-processing" of the EPB assessment.

This is dealt with in the EPB standards EN ISO 52003 & EN ISO 52018 (*), which will be presented in this webinar.

Standard EN ISO 52003-1 and its accompanying technical report (part 2) provide general insight on how to put these EPB outputs to good use for different purposes.

In the webinar, special attention has be devoted to the optimal formulation of EPB requirements, by tailoring them to selected characteristics of each individual construction project. This will be illustrated with practical examples.

The webinar also gave a brief snapshot of standard EN ISO 52018-1 and its accompanying technical report (part 2), which deal with partial EPB requirements concerning the fabric and the thermal energy balance.

EPB requirements

Although the webinar covered various aspects of post-processing, including certificates, specific attention will be paid to the process of tailoring requirements.

The set of EPB standards contains the procedures to assess the overall energy performance of a building. As has been shown in the presentations of the first and second webinar of this series, many aspects are taken into account to assess the overall energy performance in a balanced way, i.e. with sufficient detail to appreciate the impact of design choices with respect to fabric and technical building systems in the specific context of a specific building, while avoiding irrelevant complications.

In contrast to such sophisticated approach, the EPB requirements are sometimes formulated as a crude number. Such simple formulation may however not always constitute a proper basis for judging the energetic quality of a building. It carries the risk of making it for some projects extremely hard to achieve the requirements, while for other projects the requirements may still be relatively lax.

In order to arrive at equitable requirements or a meaningful rating, a more advanced approach is often needed. Among other things, this webinar discussed this issue.

Main audience

This webinar may be particularly interesting for anyone involved in the development and understanding of EPB regulations: policy makers, administrators, stakeholder organisations, research institutes, consultants, etc. Written questions can be submitted throughout the webinar, and ample time is foreseen to answer them.

Programme:

• Introduction by the moderator (overview, practical information on participation (Q&A), etc.)
• 12h05 - 12h16 – Dirk VAN ORSHOVEN, independent energy engineer
  
  • Overview of the relations between buildings & product standards and regulations
• 12h16 - 12h27 – Dick VAN DIJK, EPB expert, EPB Center
  
  • Features, indicators and requirements
• 12h27 - 12h38 – Dirk VAN ORSHOVEN, independent energy engineer
  
  • Tailoring EPB requirements
• 12h38 - 12h49 – Dick VAN DIJK, EPB expert, EPB Center
  
  • EPB ratings and certificates
• 12h49 - 13h00 – Dirk VAN ORSHOVEN, independent energy engineer
  
  • Partial EPB requirements concerning the fabric and the thermal energy balance (highlights of EN ISO 52018)
• 13h00 - 13h28 – Moderated Q&A
• Closing remarks by the moderator

(*) EPB documents

The full titles of the aforementioned documents are:

EN ISO 52003:2017 Energy performance of buildings — Indicators, requirements, ratings and certificates

• Part 1 (standard): General aspects and application to the overall energy performance;
• Part 2 (technical report): Explanation and justification of ISO 52003-1.

EN ISO 52018:2017 Energy performance of buildings — Indicators for partial EPB requirements related to thermal energy balance and fabric features

• Part 1 (standard): Overview of options;
• Part 2 (technical report): Explanation and justification of ISO 52018-1.

For more detailed information please check out this EPB Center webpage, which contains links to introductory articles.

Series of webinars on the EPB standards

This webinar series is jointly organized by BUILD UP and EPB Center’s experts under the scope of Service Contract ENER/C3/2017-437/SI2-785.185 “Support the dissemination and roll-out of the set of Energy Performance of Buildings standards developed under EC Mandate M/480” (duration September 2018 - September 2021).

Watch it now!