Estimation of the Energy Performance Certificate of a housing stock characterised via qualitative variables through a typology-based approach model: A fuel poverty evaluation tool

The European Union stresses the accent on the need of energy consumption and expenditure data related to housing stock (EP, 2010). Most of housing and living conditions databases of Member States investigate the housing status of a concerned region through a survey to be submitted to the sampled households. The assessment of energy performance then requires a simplified energy performance certification method, based on qualitative variables. In this paper the French Enquete Nationale Logements (ENL) is considered. A conversion algorithm is elaborated to refer each of the ENL housing units to a reference building and a reference HVAC system of the European Typology Approach for Building Stock Energy Assessment database (TABULA-EPISCOPE, 2013) for France. The ENL housing stock is better specified in its technical and energetic features through a typological data crossing. As a result, an energy label and an energy performance index expressed in [(kWh, ep)/(m(2) year)] are issued for every single ENL row. The calculation outcomes are assessed through a sensitivity analysis and compared to other national statistics; finally the distribution of energy labels is discussed. Many purposes of results exploitations are cited, concerning in particular the fuel poverty evaluation and the energy expenditure per household estimation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.