LAUSR

Abstract Domestic energy retrofit has significant potential in reducing carbon emission and energy demand. However, the actual energy saving from retrofit projects often falls short of expectations. One of the main reasons for this is occupant behaviour being addressed inadequately in energy models. Large variations in occupant behaviour may not have been considered (or are averaged) when making predictions of retrofit savings, and occupants may exploit energy efficiency to improve their comfort by increasing the use of heating and appliances. Unfortunately, Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), as one of the main platforms to provide retrofit advice in the UK, use the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) with standard behavioural input to generate retrofit recommendations. This research has developed a modelling approach incorporating household archetypes to improve the reliability of retrofit advice and offer more targeted retrofit strategies that consider occupants’ behavioural variations. It developed five household archetypes using statistical analyses of data obtained from a questionnaire survey. It showed that retrofit effectiveness vary significantly, distinguished by the use of household archetypes. It also illustrated that using household archetypes can yield higher savings compared with the conventional method in EPCs at urban level. The results suggested that energy retrofits on an urban scale using such tailored approach with household archetypes could save a further 20% of the annual energy costs and reduces the payback by typically 2 years. This research demonstrates that using a modelling approach with household archetypes for energy retrofit design can significantly improve overall saving potential while maintaining occupant comfort.