Sensitivity Analysis of the EPBD Energy Performance Grading of Buildings

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) obligates EU member states to develop a reliablemethodology capable of calculating and certifying the energy performance (EP) of their building stock. In this paper, studies on a series of school buildings, based on Standard prEN15217:2005, consider the impact that a lack of transparency in the data gathering procedure might have on the repeatability of the EP grades. The resultsshowed that variations in EP grades ranging from 0.06 to 1.06 EP grades were possible. The sensitivity of prEN15217: 2005 to variations of input parameters was also investigated and was found to be most sensitiveto air change rates and boiler efficiency with grade changes of up to 1.5 grades possible. It was also found that prEN15217:2005 was not heavily influenced by improvements in roof and window specifications.