Heat loss rate of the Finnish building stock

This paper presents a bottom-up model for studying the heat loss rate of the building stock. The model is a step towards more complex building-stock power modeling, whose goal is to predict the sources and the amount of demand response potential under different conditions. The heat loss rate is the fraction of thermal power needed to compensate for the heat loss via exterior walls, windows, roofs, floors and ventilation in the buildings. The heat loss rate depends on the physical characteristics of the building envelope and ventilation and on weather conditions. We first examine the current state of power and energy modeling. We then describe the research object of this study and the calculation method. The calculation results presented in the third section are illustrated at the hourly level, sorted by the main source of the heating energy of the building. In addition to the analysis of the building stock level, the heat loss rate was calculated on a building level using some typical building information models for validation purposes. The validation indicated that the results obtained with the two methods were consistent and that the order of magnitude was reasonable. The Finnish building stock was used as a research object in the demonstration of the model. Finally, some further needs for research are discussed. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.