This research was commissioned by Historic Scotland, to ascertain what, if any, characteristics specific to traditionally constructed (stone masonry) dwellings in Scotland could impact on the result of an energy assessment. The research uses five case study dwellings, whose energy consumption has been assessed using three separate calculation methodologies: the two Government-accredited steady state methodologies SAP and RdSAP, in addition to a dynamic simulation using the IES Virtual Environment. The research finds primarily that traditionally constructed dwellings use more energy than the UK average, and that certain aspects of the steady state calculation methodologies give erroneous results. These errors are either specific to stone masonry dwellings through application of assumptions with respect to thermal storage and movement, or specific to Scottish dwellings through application of UK average climate variables. Furthermore, there are significant challenges to using dynamic simulations for these dwellings, which may not outweigh the benefits of perceived accuracy by the occupant. Therefore, the research concludes that the steady state methodologies should continue to be utilised, but with the awareness that the methodologies have limitations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:643469 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Ingram, Victoria |
| Contributors | Banfill, Phil; Forster, Alan |
| Publisher | Heriot-Watt University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10399/2746 |
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