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Abstract: This paper presents the results of a computational study on the energy consumption and related CO2 emissions for heating and cooling of an office building within the Urban Heat Island of London, currently and in the future. The study developed twenty weather files in an East-West axis through London; the weather files were constructed according to future climate change scenario for 2050 suitable for the UK which have been modified to represent specific locations within the London UHI based on measurements and predictions from a program developed for this purpose (LSSAT). The study simulated an office with typical construction, heat gains and operational patterns with an advanced thermal simulation program (IESVE). The predictions confirm that heating load decreases, cooling load and overheating hours increase as the office location moves from rural to urban sites and from present to future years. It is shown that internal heat gains are an important factor affecting energy performance and that night cooling using natural ventilation will have a beneficial effect at rural and city locations. As overheating will increase in the future, more buildings will use cooling; it is shown that this might lead to a five-fold increase of CO2 emission for city centre offices in London in 2050. The paper presents detailed results of the typical office placed on the East-West axis of the city, arguing the necessity to consider using weather files based on climate projections and urban heat island for the design of current buildings to safeguard their efficiency in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reviews the annual energy and water performance of an aspiring low energy/carbon affordable housing development in southern UK, comprising 25 houses heated by a biomass fueled district heating network. Electrical, heat and water consumption data was collected for all dwellings and more detailed data logging was conducted on a sample of four. The data was analysed to benchmark the overall site performance and compare the individual dwellings. The individual dwellings performed efficiently in terms of electricity, heat and water consumption. Significant variation was identified between maximum and minimum consumers, even when typical performance correlates (i.e. number of occupants, floor area) were accounted for. Water consumption varies by a factor of > 7 and heat and electrical consumption by > 3 which, given the homogeneous design and specification of the buildings, suggested that occupant behaviour was important. Site-wide energy consumption and losses (over and above individual dwelling use) reduced energy and carbon emissions performance by 85% and 70% respectively. Although energy consumption in UK homes can be substantially reduced, the challenge for zero-carbon design is to address issues of total system performance, occupant behaviour and whole-building energy performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]