LAUSR

Abstract The paper presents a summary of the KNOW HOWse project, a prototype house’s designed and built to participate to the international competition Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 in Dubai. The study compares the building simulated energy performance with the real monitored consumptions, with the objective of assessing the energy calculation assumptions, and validating the suitability of such prediction method in assisting the design of an energy efficient house. The study contributes to merge the gap between monitored and simulated energy assessments presenting the results of a case-study in a warm scenario that, being characterized by transient phenomena, can pose extra limitations to the efficacy of energy prediction. The novelty of the presented case study is the extremely controlled environment granted by the strict rules of the competition, which significantly limit the factors, known by literature, that mostly cause the performance gap. The simulations are run with the reliable software Design Buider/Energy Plus, while the monitored results are validated by a third-party organization (competition committee), as confirmed by the broad scientific literature on Solar Decathlon studies. After analysing and comparing the monitored house energy performance to the simulated result, the two were found encouragingly aligned, mostly due to the precision in estimating aleatory variables such as the occupant behaviour and the real weather conditions, confirming the accuracy of the energy simulation software and therefore its suitability to assist the environmental design of an energy efficient residential building in the warm UAE climate.