The Development of an Energy Index to Assess Energy Reduction

This short paper presents a methodology to allow the easy comparison of energy consumption between different flats, during different seasons and at different locations, while keeping a low budget perspective for the work. This methodology develops an energy index to normalise and evaluate the heating energy performance of different properties. The energy index is based on the energy consumption in kWh, internal temperature and outdoor conditions by the use of degree days. Degree days are calculated based on the location of the property and the internal temperature as base temperature for the calculation. The degree days will be generated according to the period for the meter reading, allowing meter reading to be variable in length but it I advisable to do so on roughly four weeks period. The normalised energy index is finally generated by combining the meter reading in kWh and the degree days for the reading period. The energy index methodology is applied to four flats located in East Anglia. Results show that the behaviour changing was effective in reducing energy use and allow to understand energy consumption during different seasons and sudden weather changes. The use of the energy index methodology presented in this paper should allow energy professionals, tenants and social housing providers to monitor and evaluate the energy use across seasons and locations, the effectiveness of new retrofitted technology and/or the application of behaviour change strategies, while keeping a low budget approach to the data captured and analysis.