TIMEPAC Academy

In the context of European climate-neutrality and sustainability goals, energy performance certification is expected to become an effective assessment methodology for systematically analyzing and enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings over their successive renovation stages. 

This webinar aims to explore the synergies between energy performance certification, technical system inspections, and energy auditing. Our objective is to streamline the process of generating EPCs - including their generation from BIM models - by identifying the essential elements for efficient data extraction from various sources, ensuring their accuracy and reliability. We will delve into practical strategies, gathering and validating data, starting at the desktop, with a comprehensive analysis of drawings, inspection reports, and energy audits. This information will be complemented with data obtained during on-site visits, such as renovation status, size, construction materials, and insulation levels. Additionally, we will address the importance of capturing additional information about HVAC systems, lighting, appliances, occupancy rates, and space utilization patterns to assess the actual performance of buildings. The webinar will also feature insights into the TIMEPAC Code of Conduct for Smart Readiness and Sustainability Rating. 

The upcoming EPBD recast recommends that architects and planners utilize 3D-based modelling and simulation technologies throughout the planning, design, construction, and renovation phases of residential areas to enhance and assess building energy performance. Integrating BIM models with simulation tools can improve the assessment of building performance and support renovation efforts.

These digital technologies are particularly beneficial for creating building renovation passports and digital building logbooks, while incorporating smart readiness indicators and life-cycle global warming in building performance simulations. Assessing building performance with these tools enables a more comprehensive evaluation over time and facilitates the transition from one-off certification to continuous performance assessment.

This webinar will offer insights into using BIM models to generate EPCs for both new buildings and successive renovation stages throughout their lifespan. Practical cases will demonstrate the capabilities of available technologies.

The upcoming recast of the EPBD includes various measures to facilitate targeted financing for investments in the residential building sector and to gradually introduce minimum energy performance standards for non-residential buildings. Their ultimate aim is to decarbonize the building stock by increasing renovation and improving building energy performance. Moreover, these initiatives should lead to increased reliability, quality, and digitalization of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), with energy performance classes being established based on common criteria. 

In the context of the TIMEPAC project, EPCs are not perceived as mere paper-based documents; rather, they are envisioned as digital repositories of integrated information. However, the current EPCs predominantly cater for end-users, offering limited and often unreliable technical data. Consequently, the enhanced EPC should serve multiple functions, evolving into a central document accessible to various stakeholders, including end-users, energy certifiers, and local, regional, and national authorities. Thus, the next-generation energy certificate should be tailored to specific audiences and intended purposes. 

In this webinar, we will delve into the analysis and visualization of EPC data and its utilization in the development of innovative energy services. Our objective is to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to harness EPC data for the preparation of deep energy renovation projects. Additionally, the webinar will offer insights into monitoring and verifying energy savings, including the potential role of EPCs in this process. 

The upcoming recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) outlines a pathway to achieve a decarbonised building stock by 2050. One of its objectives is that new buildings achieve zero emission status by 2030, compelling Member States to develop national plans for reducing primary energy consumption. In this context, energy performance certificates (EPCs) can play an instrumental role in assessing building performance and implementing large scale rehabilitation programmes. 

During this webinar, we will explore the potential of utilizing open data from EPCs in Catalonia to enhance their effectiveness as tools for building renovation. We will delve into how the TIMEPAC project has analysed information from this registry, identifying unreliable data and grouping buildings based on characteristics such as climatic zone, use, and year of construction in order create representative archetypes of the building stock. In the absence of data on all buildings, these archetypes serve as a valuable tool to extrapolate their characteristics to the building stock. This enables the assessment of the impact of large-scale rehabilitation measures, ensuring compliance with the EPBD objectives. Additionally, the integration of EPC databases with other sources can facilitate a comprehensive analysis of the built environment, complementing EPC data with information such as population statistics, renewable energy production, transport networks, and public amenities. Insights about this integration will also be provided during the sessions.

The upcoming recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) introduces the national building renovation plan to support the decarbonisation of the European building stock by 2050. This requires data and models to rank the overall energy and environmental performance of the building stock. Archetypes that representative of building clusters play a crucial role in the development of a national building renovation plan, because they encapsulate the heterogeneity of the building stock characteristics. By exploiting bottom-up energy models, the archetype-based approach enhances accuracy in urban energy modelling and, in the same time, reduces model complexity. The content of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) databases, properly processed to remove erroneous data, represents a core source of information to create the archetypes, to analyse the performance status of the building stock, and to assess the effectiveness of renovation strategies. 

This webinar explores the potential to use EPC databases to develop an archetype-based urban building energy model, as devised in the TIMEPAC project. The webinar offers comprehensive training in the statistical analysis of the EPC database, with the goal of leveraging it for benchmarking initiatives. Examples of energy renovation scenarios both at the individual building scale (e.g., by exploiting the information provided in the Building Renovation Passport), and at broader building stock levels will be provided. The training materials cover the workflow of statistical analysis on EPC databases, quality control activities for EPC data, and the development of building stock models.

The new EPBD recast aims to increase the rate of renovations of energy-inefficient buildings and improve information on energy performance. Member States shall ensure that energy performance certificates (EPCs) are affordable and issued by independent experts following an on-site visit. 

In the context of the TIMEPAC project, on-site visit is essential element of the EPC generation process and must be properly planned. During the on-site visit, the certifier should visually inspect the condition of the equipment, systems, and living/working spaces. During this webinar, we will explore how to combine the on-site visit with re-commissioning activities. Our goal is to empower participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide cost-effective optimization advice based on activities during EPC generation. Re-commissioning (Re-Co) is the expression used to describe an energy-system operation-optimization service in existing buildings. It focuses on improving the overall performance of a building by investigating and improving how systems operate together. It consists of a rapid energy audit of the buildings, focused on a check and re-set of the energy system’s operating parameters. Even though they might give rise to some additional costs, Re-Co services can be carried out successfully and be a cost-effective part of the EPC-generation process because they will generate additional benefits for the owners and building users. The webinar will also provide insights into the monitoring and targeting techniques and comparing the existing with the expected performance.