Integrating building modelling with future energy systems

The low-carbon building design process for a building engineer is often confined to construction, building services and occupancy. However, as we see coincident changes in climate, technologies, fuels and operation, it becomes important to extend this understanding to include wider energy systems, while clarifying the importance of the built environment within that system. With energy systems, such as the National Grid, involving multiple actors from different disciplines, a key challenge is to provide guidance and future projections that are translated into different discipline-specific vernaculars, but with a genesis of common assumptions. More generally, integration across the disciplines must be reflected by modelling approaches, policy-making frameworks and outputs. This article will demonstrate the initial stages of the energy demand research of the Centre of Energy Systems Integration project, where novel modelling techniques are being used to explore the effect of future buildings on national energy systems. Practical application: The tools and techniques described within this article are designed with future industry practice in mind. The driver is the increased importance of external factors outside the traditional building envelope in determining the energy and carbon performance of a building (or buildings). Building engineers, and others within building design teams, require a new portfolio of tools and resources to better account for the impact of buildings on wider energy systems and vice versa. The role of such practitioners is therefore likely to evolve.