Case Study of Multiple Regression as Evaluation Tool for the Study of Relationships between Energy Demand, Air Tightness, and Associated Factors
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 1
Abstract
Addressing air leakage and its influencing factors in buildings is very important for further improvement of buildings’ energy efficiency. The evaluation of how energy use is influenced by the design parameters of buildings is also crucial for architects in early design stages when there is a need for rapid assessment of the effect of minor and major design changes in overall energy demand. This paper helps fill the information gap on predictive models for this field, which became evident during literature review. This work examines the relationship between energy demand, air-tightness, and their influencing factors including volume, treated floor area, building age, compactness, window-to-wall ratio, and frame-length factor of 18 dwellings constructed between 2005 and 2014 in Estonia. The buildings involved in the study are mostly energy-efficient buildings, e.g., there were two passive houses and one net-zero energy building that also qualifies as a plus-energy building. The paper employs the ANOVA to compare the means of air tightness and energy demand in relation to other individual factors. Important contributions of this paper include two novel linear functions to predict energy demand based on four and seven common building variables. This proof-of-concept approach demonstrates a possible paradigm shift for the building industry, where such predictive equations derived by multiple approaches and using conventional parameters can serve as a practically useful guide for designers at early stages of the design process to achieve energy efficiency. The findings from the developed predictive model for estimating the energy demand of dwellings with the multiple-regression technique should contribute in predicting the influence of design parameters on achieving air tightness and energy efficiency on buildings.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the European Social Fund’s Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme DoRa, which is carried out by the Foundation Archimedes, and was also supported by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.
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Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 1 • February 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 19, 2015
Accepted: Feb 24, 2016
Published online: May 17, 2016
Discussion open until: Oct 17, 2016
Published in print: Feb 1, 2017
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