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Highlights • A pre and post renovation energy use analysis of almost 90,000 renovated dwellings. • The (p)rebound effects explain only partly disappointing energy renovation results. • Effectiveness of renovations are dependent on state of building prior to renovation. • Effectiveness of renovations are dependent on type of occupant. • Deep renovations often save less energy than expected but are the most effective. Abstract Energy renovations often result in lower energy savings than expected. Therefore, in this study we investigate nearly 90,000 renovated dwellings in the Netherlands with pre and post renovation data of actual and calculated energy consumption. One of the main additions of this paper, compared to previous studies on thermal renovation, is that it only takes dwellings into account with the same occupants before and after renovation, using a large longitudinal dataset. Overall this paper shows new insights towards the influence of the energy efficiency state of a building prior to energy renovation, the type of building, the number of occupants, the income level of the occupants and the occupancy time on the actual energy savings, the energy saving gap and on the probability of lower energy savings than expected. We also investigate if the influence is different per type of thermal renovation measure. Some of the findings are: it is impossible to conclude which single thermal renovation measure is the most effective because this is dependent on the energy efficiency of the building prior to the energy renovation, type of building, income level and occupancy; occupants with a high income save more energy than occupants with low income; dwellings with employed occupants benefit more from improved building installations than dwellings occupied by unemployed occupants; The prebound and rebound effects are only part of the explanations for lower than expected energy savings; Deep renovations result more often in lower than expected energy savings than single renovation measures but nevertheless they result in the highest average energy saving compared to other thermal renovation measures. The results could be used for more realistic expectations of the energy reduction achieved by thermal renovations, which is important for (amongst others) policy makers, clients and contractors who make use of energy performance contracting, home owners, landlords and (social) housing associations and as a starting point to improve the energy calculation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential sector represents about 30% of the total energy demand in Europe. Included in this percentage, lighting consumption is one of the basic end uses in all households and it may come to represents 15–20% of the total electricity bill. This figure can be reduced using advanced control techniques or more efficient lighting technologies, requiring previous detailed information about current consumption patterns. In this context, bottom-up stochastic models are established as the main tools to study new energy savings. In this paper, a high-resolution stochastic model for simulating lighting consumption profiles was developed, obtaining both daily active and reactive instantaneous power demand profiles, with a 1-min resolution. The model takes into account the number of household residents and differentiates between weekdays and weekends. Moreover, the monthly and annual amounts of electricity demanded by lighting in Spanish households were simulated. The proposed model was also used to quantify the impact of LED technology's penetration into domestic lighting systems on consumption patterns. Research has revealed the existence of two consumption peaks matching with morning and evening. Although these peaks are hard to shift since they are due to human behavior, they are easy to reduce through the improvement of lighting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• End-use of electricity consumption in residential buildings in Gulf Cooperation Council countries was presented. • Discrepancies in certain indicators have been observed by the end-use of electricity consumption. • Improving the efficiency of air conditioners and thermal insulation of the walls are the best measures to conserve electricity in residential buildings. • The results can be used in areas with a similar climate, living standard, buildings types, and the inhabitants' behavior. Energy conservation and improvement in energy efficiency yield multiple technical, economic, environmental, and social benefits and realize comfort and sustainability of residential buildings (RBs). This review paper presents the end-use of electricity consumption in RBs and the results of economic analysis. In addition, a description and discussion of studies on energy conservation measures, Net Zero Energy Building, and renewable energy in RBs are discussed. The percentage of end-used energy consumption for different purposes obtained in many studies are often not consistent. Moreover, discrepancies in certain indicators have been observed, necessitating the need to clarify the factors in the consumption of electricity in RBs. Further, a few studies used the term energy consumption in buildings (total or electrical); however, specifying the type of buildings to identify and use the necessary indicators of energy consumption in each type of building are desirable. Furthermore, most studies emphasized improving the efficiency of air conditioners and thermal insulation of the walls as these are the best measures to conserve electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The same building geometries and the same thermal properties of building envelope for different seven climatic cities were assumed. • Energy conservation effect including saving amount and saving ratio were discussed annually and monthly among seven cities. • The inner mechanism of the difference was revealed from the hourly and daily perspectives through two extremely contrast climatic cities. • Guidance and reference were provided for both standard determination and behavioral energy saving for air conditioning systems. Indoor setting temperature is a key controllable parameter by users, highly impacting the total cooling energy usage. In this paper, the hourly cooling load of residential buildings is simulated for seven cities respectively when the cooling setting temperature (CST) increases by 1°C, and the dissimilarity and internal mechanism of the energy saving effect are discussed and revealed from the hourly and daily perspectives through two extremely contrast climatic cities. The results show that although the higher yearly energy saving amount (ESA) can appear in a hotter city, energy saving effect is all significant in different cities. The ESA in hotter months of hotter cities may not be higher than that in the corresponding months of cooler cities, and the hotter cities have more obvious platform features while the cooler cities have single peak features, and the peak value is much higher than the plateau value. The yearly cooling saving ratio (CSR) is higher in cooler cities because CSR depends on both the hourly CSR and its weightiness, and the proportion of the higher ratio hours in cool cities is larger. This study can provide references for both standard determination and behavioral energy saving for air conditioning systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]