Energy performance of Scottish public buildings and its impact on their ability to use low-temperature heat

Reguis, Antoine; Tunzi, Michele; Vand, Behrang; Tuohy, Paul; Currie, John

Abstract

Decarbonising heat in the UK by 2050 will require the wider adoption of low-temperature heat. Current systems, largely relying on gas boilers, have design operating temperatures of 82/71°C (supply/return) while new standards for 4th Generation District Heating are 55/25°C. Local authorities must set-up strategies to get their buildings “Heat network ready” but this raises the question of the ability for existing buildings to use low-temperature heat. The aim and the novelty of this paper is to establish a relationship between an energy ‘performance gap’ in Scottish public buildings and their ability to use low-temperature heat. This performance gap has been evaluated for 121 non-domestic buildings, primarily schools, operated by The City of Edinburgh Council. Space heating system are assumed oversized by 10%. The results show that renovation of the building envelope, while highly desirable, is not a pre-requisite for using low-temperature heat in pre-1980 constructed buildings, which represent 64% of the stock. It also highlights that post-1980 buildings, predominantly utilising mechanical ventilation systems, demonstrate an increasing performance gap which could limit their ability to use reduced operating temperature, especially in windy conditions.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 6, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 13, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-07
• Deposit Date: Apr 17, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 17, 2023
• Journal: Energy and Buildings
• Print ISSN: 0378-7788
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 290
• Article Number: 113064
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113064
• Keywords: Performance gap, low-temperature heat, public buildings, 4GDH, district heating, non-domestic, Scotland, local authorities, radiator output, oversizing, U-values