19-20 MAY 2011

3 rd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES & ENERGY EFFICIENCY

19-20 MAY 2011

Conference Proceedings

Hilton Hotel, Nicosia-Cyprus

3rd International Conference on

Under the Auspices of The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism

Organised by:

Co-organisers:

• Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Energy Service • Electricity Authority of Cyprus • Cyprus Scientiﬁc and Technical Chamber • Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority • University of Cyprus • Cyprus University of Technology • National Technical University of Athens • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki • Frederick University • The Cyprus Institute • Transmission System Operator, Cyprus

www.ccci.org.cy

Main Sponsor: Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism

Sponsors: Electricity Authority Cyprus

Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority

EMSc (Cyprus) Ltd Abengoa Solar

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Conference Proceedings

Proceedings of the 3nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency 19 – 20 May 2011, Hilton Hotel Nicosia, Cyprus

ISBN 978-9963-567-02-7

Edited by Ioannis Michaelides

Chairman, Scientific Committee

Associate Professor, Cyprus University of Technology

Ektoras Charalambides Director, MSE Congress Plus

Executive Organising Committee Chairman: Andreas Theofanous Members: George Partasides, Ministry of Commerce Industry and Tourism Andreas Poullikas, Electricity Authority of Cyprus Christos Maxoulis, Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber Panayiotis Keliris, Cyprus Energy regulatory Authority George Georgiou, Cyprus University Ioannis Michaelides, Cyprus University of Technology Evangelos Dialynas, National Technical University of Athens Agis Papadopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki George Demosthenous, Frederick University Costas C. Papanicolas, Cyprus Institute George Ashikalis, Transmission System Operator, Cyprus

Scientific Committee Chairman: Ioannis Michaelides, Cyprus University of Technology Members: Ahmet Lokurlu, Germany Andreas Athienitis, Canada Andreas Poullikas, Cyprus Chris Christodoulou, Cyprus Costas Costa, Cyprus Derek Wilson, United Kingdom Despina Serghides, Cyprus Elias Kyriakides, Cyprus Emiel Hanekamp, Netherlands George Georgiou, Cyprus Giorgos Tsilingirides, Greece Istvan Farkas, Hungary Kyriacos Tsiftes, Cyprus Manfred Lange, Cyprus Manthos Santamouris, Greece Peter Allen, Canada Polyvios Eleftheriou, Cyprus Stelios Choulis, Cyprus Theocharis Tsoutsos, Greece Toula Onoufriou, Cyprus Vassilios Geros, Greece Venizelos Efthymiou, Cyprus

Table of Contents CONFERENCE SESSIONS .................................................................................................................. 9 INVITED KEYNOTE LECTURES...................................................................................................... 9 RES 1: RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES - GENERAL ............................................................ 10 Increased res penetration within the autonomous electrical systems of non interconnected islands ................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Lightning Protection of Large - Extended Photovoltaic Installations ............................................. 13 Renewable Energy Potentials as Alternative Sources of Energy Supply in the Mediterranean Islands .................................................................................................................................................... 26 The greenhouse gases emissions of energy use from livestock breeding in Cyprus ........................ 37 State Estimator Accuracy Improvement Using Synchronized Measurements ............................... 38 Reduction of air pollutant emissions using natural gas in Cyprus’ power generation ................... 39 Overview of the Permitting procedures for RES in Cyprus ............................................................. 40 Modelling and Evaluation of “System Protection Schemes” in the Light of Increasing Distributed Generation for the E.A.C Network ..................................................................................................... 52 A comprehensive methodology for outdoor and indoor degradation studies on photovoltaic modules .................................................................................................................................................. 60 RES 2: SOLAR GENERATION - CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER – VARIOUS RES TOPICS ................................................................................................................................................. 61 Concentrating Solar Power – Technologies, Projects and Future Markets .................................... 62 Integration of Renewable Energy Systems in Mediterranean Countries ........................................ 63 Heliostat Error Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 64 Sustainability analysis of a solar thermal power project in Mediterranean application in the island of Crete ....................................................................................................................................... 73 Techno-economic evaluation for a concentrated photovoltaic park in Cyprus .............................. 86 Report on the conclusions of the techno-economic feasibility study for the co-generation of electricity and desalinated water by concentrated solar power (The CSP-DSW project) ............. 96 Recent commercial and demonstration solar tower power plants around the world ..................... 106 Smart Meter Project for higher penetration of RES ......................................................................... 115 Biofuels production and testing in internal combustion engines ...................................................... 116 Combine Heat and Power (CHP) Unit Utilizing Biogas as a Renewable Green Energy Source ... 129 An OTEC concept driven by the sea – air temperature difference .................................................. 138 The Encaged Turbine concept in Oscillating Water Column Plants ............................................... 151

RES 3: WIND GENERATION – WIND POWER INTEGRATION IN SMALL ISOLATED ISLAND SYSTEMS ............................................................................................................................. 164 An Energy Storage System Used in Isolated Power Systems for Increasing the Wind Power Penetration ............................................................................................................................................ 165 Some experimental measurements of the Diffuser flow in a Ducted Wind Turbine assisted by an ejector .................................................................................................................................................... 173 Wind farms and photovoltaic parks in Crete ..................................................................................... 184 Identifying Barriers preventing the Widespread of Wind Power in Europe – The GP-WIND Project ................................................................................................................................................... 185 RES 4: SOLAR GENERATION – SMALL PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS.................................. 195 The use of solar thermal in Greece – systems, applications and market development................... 196 Modeling and measurements of a polycrystalline BIPV roof after ten years of installation ......... 206 Novel Hybrid Photovoltaic-Thermal Solar Cells ............................................................................... 217 Organic Photovoltaic Technologies ..................................................................................................... 226 The effect of the use of Solar Home Systems on the income-generating capabilities of rural households of developing countries: Evidence from South Africa ................................................... 234 Vocational Training and Certification of PV Installers - The European initiative PVTRIN ........ 254 EE 1: SOLAR HEATING AND COOLING ...................................................................................... 264 High Combi – Pilot Projects of High Performance Solar Heating and Cooling Systems in European Buildings .............................................................................................................................. 265 Performance Monitoring of a Solar Based Air-conditioning System within IEA-SHC Task-38 ... 275 Performance Study of Solar Greenhouse Heating Using a Dynamic Model ................................... 285 Thermal Behaviour of a Solar Hot Water Storage Tank made of Mild Steel and Coated Internally with PE Using Rotational Moulding ................................................................................. 299 Solar energy availability for drying of biological materials.............................................................. 307 The use of solar thermal in Greece – systems, applications and market development................... 317 An overview of CSP cooling systems................................................................................................... 318 EE 2: MATERIALS, ANALYSIS AND DESIGN FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY ........................ 328 Electrical Energy Consumption Analysis in Tertiary Buildings ...................................................... 329 Management On the Use of Building Typologies to Assess the Energy Performance of the Hellenic Residential Building Stock .................................................................................................... 339 Zero Energy House Design for Cyprus ............................................................................................... 350 Combining Vernacular Techniques with Emerging Technologies ................................................... 350 Web-based Energy Management and Automation Systems for Buildings ...................................... 351

Visual Comfort Evaluation in Educational Spaces of Typical Educational Buildings in Cyprus 352 Adapting to Climate Change in Cyprus: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment ................. 361 The study of thermal technical behavior of thermal insulating materials based on natural fibers ................................................................................................................................................................ 362 The development of thermal insulating plasters for the insulation of historical buildings ............ 367 Composite materials for constructions of modern power engineering systems with higher resistance to corrosive environment.................................................................................................... 372 Bioclimatic performance of an innovative façade’s sun protection system: the case of CNA ....... 381 Energy Performance Evaluation and Heat Insulation Measures for Typical Educational Buildings in Cyprus .............................................................................................................................. 382 The Urban Heat Island Effect in Cyprus: Existing knowledge and recent findings of the research project TOPEUM ................................................................................................................................. 392 EE 3: ENERGY AUDIT ...................................................................................................................... 393 Energy Performance Certificates - Lessons learned in Europe and national efforts in Greece .... 394 Energy Performance Certificates - Lessons learned in Europe and national efforts in Greece .... 394 Energy Auditing in Three Schools in the Mountainous Climatic Zone in Cyprus ......................... 404 Energy Auditing in Three Schools in the Inland Climatic Zone in Cyprus .................................... 405 Energy Auditing in Three Schools in the Coastal Climatic Zone in Cyprus ................................... 406 The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive as Applied in Cyprus and its Recast.................. 407 Brief Energy Audit and Energy Saving Analysis of Large Commercial Buildings in 5 Districts of Cyprus ................................................................................................................................................... 409 An Overview of the New Hellenic Regulation on the Energy Performance of Buildings (KENAK) ................................................................................................................................................................ 420 EE 4: ENERGY EFFICIENCY – GENERAL ................................................................................... 431 Energy Efficiency or Renewables ........................................................................................................ 432 Voltage Optimisation – Reducing the losses in Inductive systems ................................................... 433 Towards Energy Autonomous Aquacultures: The Case of the Mediterranean Countries ............ 434 Cogeneration in the field of Health ..................................................................................................... 444 Design and Construction of a Small Scale Four-Effect Distillation Unit for Thermal Desalination ................................................................................................................................................................ 456 Characterization of Operation of Transparent Multiple Effect Distillation Unit with Parallel Plate Falling Film Heat Exchanger ..................................................................................................... 463 Long-Term Energy Forecasts for Cyprus up to 2035: Scenarios and Policy Options ................... 464 An Overview of VSC-Based HVDC Systems ..................................................................................... 485

3rd Int. Conference on Renewable Energy Sources & Energy Efficiency, Nicosia, Cyprus, 19-20 May, 2011

Energy Performance Certificates - Lessons learned in Europe and national efforts in Greece C.A. Balaras1, V. Touchtidis2, E.G. Dascalaki1 1

Group Energy Conservation, Institute of Environmental Research and Sustainable, Development, National Observatory of Athens, Greece [email protected], [email protected] 2

M.Sc. Energy Programme, Mechanical Engineering Department, Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus, Greece [email protected]

KEYWORDS - energy performance certificates, EPBD, Greece. ABSTRACT The European Directive on the energy performance of buildings - EPBD (2002/91/EC) requires that an energy performance certificate (EPC) is made available when buildings are constructed, sold or rented out. The EPC benchmarks the energy performance of the building, provides insight information on the energy use and includes recommendations for the cost effective improvement of the energy performance. In Greece, the national EPBD implementation follows the provisions of Law N.3661/08 and the new regulation on the energy assessment of buildings – KENAK” (ΦΕΚ 407 9/4/2010). National building certification efforts were initiated as of January 2011 and in the first month of implementation over 5000 certificates have been issued. This paper first reviews the status of energy performance certification in European countries that have progressed at a faster pace thus gaining practical experience from implementation, accumulating feedback on market acceptability and identifying possible problems that have encountered. For the first time, this work evaluates the proposed national EPC format and contents, and its general acceptability in Greece, based on input and practical feedback from: (a) the Hellenic market collected using a standardized questionnaire on a web application; (b) a case study, performing an energy audit of a residential building to issue a demo EPC that was elaborated with the building owners. Although this investigation was performed in 2010, prior to the official EPC implementation, the results provide some practical insight on the value of EPCs, identify the problems / weaknesses of the reference national EPC, assess the potential reaction of the real estate market from the introduction of EPC and provide some ideas on how to improve the value and effectiveness of the national EPC in Greece. 1

INTRODUCTION

The European Commission has adopted an action plan aimed at achieving a 20% reduction in energy consumption by 2020 [1], which was reconfirmed in November 2010 through the communication "Energy 2020" that defines its strategy towards 2020 for a competitive, sustainable and secure energy [2]. It includes measures to improve the energy performance of products, buildings and services, to improve the yield of energy production and distribution, to reduce the impact of transport on energy consumption, to facilitate financing and investments in the sector, to encourage and consolidate rational energy consumption behavior and to step up international action on energy efficiency. The biggest energy savings are expected in: residential and non-residential buildings (27% and 30%, respectively), the manufacturing industry (25%), and transport (26%). The main legislative instrument for improving the energy efficiency of the European building stock is the European Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD). This Directive forms part of the Community initiatives on climate change (commitments under the 394


Kyoto Protocol) and security of supply. EPBD mandated that by 2006 all EU Member States bring into force national laws, regulations and administrative provisions for setting minimum requirements on the energy performance of new and existing buildings above 1000 m 2 that are subject to major renovations, and for energy performance certification (EPC) of buildings. Additional requirements include regular inspection of building systems and installations, an assessment of the existing facilities and to provide advice on possible improvements and on alternative solutions. Over the years, it has been evident that most EU Member States faced several difficulties with EPBD transposition and some are still struggling with practical implementation issues. Only some EU-27 Member States have managed to fully implement EPBD [3]. The Concerted Action EPBD (www.epbd-ca.org) and the European portal for energy efficiency in buildings – BUILD UP (www.buildup.eu) provide updated information on national implementation status. According to the EPBD recast (Directive 2010/31/EC) that was recently published, all existing buildings that undergo major refurbishment (25% of building surface or value) should meet minimum energy performance standards and not only for those above 1000 m2 foreseen in EPBD, while national policies and specific measures should stimulate the transformation of refurbished buildings into nearly zero energy buildings. Attribution of EPC to European buildings is a major first step to gain an insight on the energy performance of existing buildings and improve the energy performance of new buildings. The EPCs are issued when buildings are constructed, sold, or rented out and they are valid for up to ten years. The detailed contents of the EPC are elaborated in the relevant European standard EN 15217 [4]. The certificate documents the building’s energy performance, expressed as an index in terms of energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions or energy cost per unit of conditioned area to facilitate comparison between buildings and allow for benchmarking based on distinct energy classes. The certificate expresses the building’s energy performance, defined as “the amount of energy actually consumed or estimated to meet the different needs associated with a standardized use of the building”, accounting for the building’s heat gains and losses through the thermal envelope, technical and installation characteristics, design and positioning in relation to local climate, on-site energy generation, and other factors that influence energy performance, to secure indoor environmental quality. The labeling indicator may be based on (a) calculated (Asset Rating) or (b) measured (Operational Rating) energy consumption, and in some cases they may be combined (e.g., start with an asset rating for a new building and confirm with an operational rating after a year or two of actual operation). For each approach, there are advantages and disadvantages. However, to adapt an operational rating, one needs detailed data on the building stock and information regarding the actual energy consumption of comparable buildings to determine rating levels. For example, the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey – CBECS of the US Energy Information Administration that has been identifying and collecting data critical to understanding and forecasting trends in buildings’ energy use. However, it is a difficult task to have available data for every specific building end-use to derive statistically relevant data for benchmarking for all possible needs. Apparently, depending on available data, it may be necessary to use either an asset or an operation rating. In the UK, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has developed both asset and operational ratings. However, most EU Member States have adopted the asset rating, with calculations based on national procedures or in accordance to the various European CEN standards that were developed to support EPBD implementation. EPCs in some countries (e.g. Austria, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia) provide for an energy performance division into sub-classes, e.g. A+ and A- or B+ and B, thus illustrating even small scale improvements that would otherwise not be evident, to further encourage and differentiate buildings towards the high end energy performance. Some examples of European EPCs are illustrated in Figure 1. Benchmarking is performed according to energy and/or CO2 emissions per unit floor area, while some national labels also include other environmental parameters (e.g., water consumption). 395


Austria

England & Wales

Greece

Italy

ASHRAE eQTM (USA)

Figure 1: Examples of four European EPCs and the ASHRAE eQTM label (right). Similar efforts have also been initiated in the United States, through the ASHRAE Building Energy Quotient label [5] through a voluntary program to provide motivation for reducing energy use in commercial buildings by expressing the energy performance of buildings in a tangible way. The ASHRAE building eQTM program (http://buildingeq.com) provides a method to rate a buildings energy performance both As Designed (Asset Rating) and as As Operated (Operational Rating). It was initiated in 2009 and is currently in a pilot phase, while the full launch of the program is expected in mid-2011. Similar efforts are also underway by the Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) Buildings and Appliances Task Force (www.asiapacificpartnership.org). Accordingly, energy labeling is recognized as a key mechanism for ensuring effective energy-saving management with a broader, positive and important effect on economy-wide energy savings. The evaluation of building’s energy performance and labeling will not only demonstrate their potential to save energy but also improve market transparency, which can be a catalyst for greater energy efficiency in buildings. In order to overcome institutional, market and other barriers, APP has proposed 15 activities that will foster building energy labeling, primarily targeting: 1) policy and management systems, 2) technical standards and evaluation methods, 3) plans for building energy labeling, and 4) exchange of information on building energy labeling. For existing buildings, according to EPBD, the EPC includes recommendations for specific cost effective improvement of the building’s energy performance (e.g., estimated energy savings, CO2 emissions, investment costs and payback period). For promotion purposes, public buildings have to display the EPC visible to the public. Among the frontrunners, Denmark introduced a mandatory energy labeling scheme for residential buildings in 1997. Along the same lines, The Netherlands introduced an energy labeling program that was carried out through the Energy Performance Advice scheme (EPA), targeted to encourage energy saving in residential building retrofits [6]. EPA became widely known and relatively well used in the Dutch housing sector. During the initial program implementation, the energy audits and some of the recommended energy conservation measures (ECMs) were supported by government subsidies but they were terminated in 2003. As a result, the number of EPA audits and certificates slowed down due to cost considerations. Overall, the scheme became popular to large developers where it was well marketed and the subsidies used to support market visibility proved very successful. It is widely recognized that building energy labeling can play an important role in any building energy performance improvement policy approach, while public display and disclosure of buildings’ energy efficiency attributes and energy use intensity should be a relevant factor in real estate transactions [7]. Marketplace actors would take this information into account when buying, selling or financing a commercial property. Energy-efficient buildings should command more favorable terms in the real estate market, all other factors being equal. Conversely, buildings that are documented as having high energy use and energy operating costs should be perceived as having less value in the market. Research by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program and other organizations indicate that energy efficiency investments can have positive 396


financial benefits for building owners and operators [7], for example: $2.50 to $3.75 in incremental asset value for $1 invested in office buildings, each $1 saved in energy costs equivalent to generating new revenues of $20 in hospitals, 10% reduction in energy use is equivalent to increasing net profit margins by 15% in supermarkets, 10% reduction in energy costs is equivalent to increasing average daily rate by 2.6% and increasing occupancy rate by 4.3% in hotels. 2

HELLENIC EPBD TRANSPOSITION & EPC

In Greece, EPBD transposition was enacted by the national law N.3661/2008 (FEK 89/Α 19.5.2008). The “Regulation on Energy Performance in the Building Sector – KENAK” (Ministerial Decision D6/B/5825 published in April 2010) outlines the general calculation approach that is in accordance to European standards. All the supporting technical specifications and necessary information for the implementation of KENAK are included in four technical guidelines (TOTEE 20701/2010) prepared by the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE). They specify the characteristics of a reference building used for benchmarking and the detailed quasi-steady state monthly calculation procedures, provide guidance for the design of new buildings and the use of renewable energy sources, set the minimum thermal insulation requirements, provide the necessary Hellenic climatic data, and provide detailed procedures and standardized forms for performing building energy audits, preparing the EPC and performing the HVAC inspections. A software (TEE-KENAK) was developed by the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) for TEE to support all these actions. Specific issues on the professional qualifications, training, accreditation, control mechanisms and regulatory framework for the energy inspectors, are handled by a Presidential Decree (P.D. 100 FEK 177Α/6.10.2010). Temporary accreditation of energy inspectors has been issued to about 7500 qualified experts that were selected among engineers and others with technical education, with 10 year professional or scientific experience in building design and construction, electromechanical installations, energy audits etc. All qualified inspectors are listed in a publicly available electronic registry. Permanent certification will be issued following mandatory professional training seminars that are currently being developed and an examination, planned for the end of 2011. The final contents of the two-page Hellenic EPC are described in TOTEE 20701-4/2010 (Figure 2). The first-page of the EPC includes the general building data (end-use, climatic zone, address, owner, year of construction, total floor area, heated floor area and a picture), ranking label (building class) based on the calculated primary energy consumption (compared to the reference building), the annual calculated and actual (if available) primary energy consumption and resulting CO2 emissions normalized per unit floor area, and an evaluation of indoor environmental quality. The second-page of the EPC includes the breakdown of the contribution of the various energy sources to the final end-uses, annual primary energy consumption for the different end-uses per unit floor area, at least one and up to three of the most cost effective recommendations for improving the building’s energy performance (including initial cost, calculated annual energy conservation and the abatement of CO2 emissions, and the simple payback period). As of October 2010, all new buildings and existing buildings that undergo major renovations, in order to obtain a building permit must be at least class-B. The EPC is issued upon completion of the building that has been designed and constructed according to KENAK. Getting a building permit for new buildings and existing buildings that undergo major renovations, it will be necessary to also submit an energy design study prepared by the architect and mechanical engineer, thus encouraging a more holistic building design and construction approach. As of January 2011, the EPC is compulsory for all buildings that are being sold and for entire buildings that are being rented out for the first time to a new tenant. For the time being, the EPC for a building unit (e.g. an apartment) that is being rented out for the first time to a new tenant is postponed till June 2011. The obligation to issue an EPC during the renewal of a lease, i.e. a building or a building unit that is being rented to the same tenant, is excluded in accordance to the EPBD recast. 397


Figure 2: The two page Hellenic Energy Performance Certificate. An electronic database collects all the data from the energy audits and issues the official EPC, building audit and HVAC inspection reports. As of February 2011, over 5000 EPCs have been issued. The cost of the EPC is different for residential and non-residential buildings, depending on the size of the building. For residential buildings, the cost is: 1 Euro/m2 when the entire building is audited, with a nominal cost of 200 Euro; 2 Euro/m2 when a building unit (e.g. an apartment) is audited, with a nominal cost of 150 Euro; 1.5 Euro/m2 for a house audited, with a nominal cost of 200 Euro. For non-residential buildings, the cost is: 2.5 Euro/m2 when the building is up to 1000 m2, with a nominal cost of 300 Euro; for larger size buildings, the additional cost is 1.5 Euro/m2 of the additional floor area. The cost in other European countries [8] averages below 100 Euro (16% of the EU Member States), 100-200 Euro (20%), 200-300 Euro (24%), 300-400 Euro (20%), 400-500 Euro (20%). EPBD implementation with the attribution of EPCs to European buildings has initiated the mapping process for the existing European building stock. This is a unique opportunity to collect and organize the necessary data that will reveal key information for accessing and improving buildings. To this extend, a common European effort developed the necessary infrastructure for the exploitation of the information from the national EPCs and reports from building energy audits and HVAC inspections that will be kept in the nationally established electronic registers [9]. It includes a harmonized database and a set of analysis tools for organizing, monitoring and processing the data using different criteria. 3

ASSESSING EPC

It is evident that following EPBD transposition, practical implementation and potential value of EPCs will vary across Europe, depending on national market characteristics and acceptance, along with specific support mechanisms. A European collaborative effort in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain attempted to test the process of energy performance certification for existing buildings in practice through several pilots, exchange experiences and identify success factors and derive recommendations for improvement of certification schemes [10]. Accordingly, the priorities for ensuring that the EPCs are easy to understand by end-users were to: avoid misunderstandings on differences between calculated and metered energy consumption (energy bills); properly explain technical terms (e.g., primary energy, final energy, CO2-emissions) since most end-users may not be familiar with them; provide easy access to contact information of 398


the inspectors that may provide additional explanations on the contents of the EPC or even for follow-up activities on implementing the recommended ECMs. For all practical purposes, the EPC should: have clear content and layout, follow the officially approved format, be issued by a qualified inspector, have a low cost, be customized by including a picture of the audited building, be elaborated with the owner / end-user. Qualitative interviews with home owners in Belgium (with a voluntary EPC) and Denmark (with a mandatory EPC) revealed that personal contact with the inspector engenders trust; the reputation of the audit/labelling system or the inspector does matter; too obvious or simple knowledge devaluates the trust whereas too complicated knowledge is ignored; information from different sources (including the inspector) must be convergent; even if trust in the energy inspector is high, advice from the inspector will always be interpreted in-line with the owner’s previous knowledge; resistance to implement recommendations is most likely when information is in conflict with established norms. [11] On the other hand, there may be acceptance obstacles from housing associations/companies that object specifically the inclusion of the recommended ECMs, because they fear that tenants may use this information for demanding improvements or as argument for not paying the (entire) rent [10]. A previous market survey at the early years of EPBD implementation [12] on the acceptability of EPCs in seven EU Member States, was performed using a questionnaire for professionals and for owners/tenants in seven EU Member States, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Sweden and The Netherlands. According to the overall results from 466 responses, the main value of the EPC is for: assessing maintenance and running costs (82%), planning maintenance and/or renovation (80%), developing renovation, reconstruction and maintenance strategies (74%), making investment / acquisition decisions (73%), developing environmental and energy management strategies (68%), marketing (67%), and assessing the market value of a building (67%). Overall, EPBD awareness was higher in Sweden and The Netherlands, countries where there was previously some kind of related national activity. As for the value of the EPC, the most popular response was that it was considered as a valuable tool for assessing the maintenance and operating costs of their property. The participants also anticipated that real estate market prices can and possibly will be affected by the use of EPCs. Among the major findings, the competence of the energy inspector was regarded important to the quality of the EPC, along with its specific contents that should be based on reliable and common calculation methodologies and technical standards. The visual quality and understandability of the EPC by non-professionals is very important and a critical element for its market acceptance. The feasibility, comprehensiveness and reliability of the recommended ECMs were critical to the quality of an EPC. Building owners considered the competence of the energy inspector and the use of technical standards more important than building management, maintenance and property developers for whom the priority was the need for quality control by public authorities and a reliable and common calculation methodology. The expertise and the quality performance of the inspector is a critical element for the EPC acceptance. Accordingly, energy inspectors should be well trained, preferably have a technical background with at least 3 to 5 years professional experience, act in a professional manner, while their licensing should be the responsibility of public authorities or technical chambers that are also responsible for their training. A recent conference of the International Union of Property Owners - UIPI [13] once again emphasized the lack of relative information to building owners, technical guidance, financial assistance and practical support of the EU and the Member States, and as a result energy savings may not be seen in practice. On the other hand, UIPI opposed EPC for all buildings and called for high quality audits of energy leaking buildings, “red-tape” elimination, substantial economic incentives (tax exemptions, reduced VAT) for both materials and works, loans to interested owners and legal protection against those who would try to block the implementation of building renovations. 399


Greece had no experience on issuing EPCs until 2011 and despite some sporadic efforts there was limited public awareness. Furthermore, there was evident disbelief in the general public and the technical world on whether EPBD will finally be enforced in Greece, due to continuous cancellations for completing the necessary legislation over the past several years. A survey among professionals and concerned engineers of a well-targeted and representative Greek audience of 125 participants, in late 2008 revealed that 50% were not aware of the upcoming national regulation – KENAK, and an overwhelming 90% were not satisfied with the relevant information they receive on this issue [14]. The majority of participants believed that there will be problems with national implementation efforts with regard to the adequate and on-time training of the energy inspectors, the quality control of the audit process on a national level, lack of public awareness, potential mistrust of building owners towards inspectors, and the need to introduce financial incentives for the implementation of the proposed ECMs. 3.1

Methodology

This work was performed during the 3rd quarter of 2009, in an effort to evaluate the reference national EPC in consultation with building owners and other interested parties. The work was performed using a standardized questionnaire to collect practical market feedback, identify problems/weaknesses of the reference national EPC (e.g., difficulties of owners to understand, trust and accept the value of the EPC, recommendations for improving the energy performance, qualifications of the inspectors etc), and evaluate the potential impact / reaction of the real estate market from the introduction of EPC. The questionnaire addressed the following major issues: EPBD and national legislation awareness, general appearance and the specific contents of the EPC, cost of EPC, qualifications of the energy inspectors, and overall recommendations to improve the EPC and the energy audits. During the first stage of the investigation, a total of 212 questionnaires were successfully completed out of the 282 circulated. The questionnaires were either distributed to a randomly selected sample or were collected electronically through a web application that was prepared for this purpose. Accordingly, out of the 70 printed questionnaires that were distributed, 62 were completed successfully and returned (88.5% success rate). Another 150 questionnaires were collected electronically through the web application. The questionnaire was available online in an automatic electronic form where the user had to respond to the same questions with the same options as the other printed version. For the online system, an Internet Protocol (IP) filter was used to prevent the same users from duplicate entries. During the second stage of the investigation, the goal was to generate a fully completed and tailored EPC for an existing building that was then personally elaborated with the building occupants. The building energy audit was performed for an apartment building in Thessaloniki (constructed in 2001 with five floors and nine apartments). The EPC was personally elaborated with nine building occupants-tenants (one from each building apartment) following the same questionnaire format. During this personal EPC elaboration, the participants received a briefing about the EPC contents and had the opportunity to look at a completed EPC for their own building. Selected results are presented in the following section. All the results and the detailed data are available in [15]. 3.2

Results

During the first stage of the investigation, out of the total sample population of 212 responses, 140 were building owners, 74 residence tenants, 25 business tenants and 99 were both. In terms of their education level, 8.5% had a doctorate degree, 32.5% had a master degree, 25.5% had a university degree, 14.6% had a technical degree, 12.3% were high school (12-year programme) and 6.6% were intermediate (nine year mandatory) school graduates. Of the building owners, only 26% were aware of the national regulation and over a third (35%) had limited knowledge (i.e. have heard or read something about KENAK but they were not aware of its contents). The results for the entire 400


population were 24% and 31%, respectively. Accordingly, although building owners are responsible for obtaining an EPC for their property, it does not appear that they were more knowledgeable; lack of relevant information is common among the entire population. Responses to the question whether availability of an EPC that informs them about the energy needs of a building would be taken into consideration for comparing different building choices for their business or housing, the vast majority of building owners (75%) responded positively that they would seriously take it into consideration, and only 24% would not consider it among their priority criteria. Overall, 73% of all the respondents, 88% of the business tenants and 70% of house tenants, gave a positive response that they would take it into serious consideration. On the other hand, only 12% of the business and house tenants, and 17% in overall, reported that the EPC would not be one of their priorities. Finally, it is promising that none of the building owners (0%), and a very small percentage of tenants (7%) and in overall (4%) felt that they would make a decision without even considering the EPC. Based on these results it is apparent that people are concerned about the energy performance of their property, leased property etc., even if this interest is due to economic or environmental concerns. Most of the responses reveal that once an EPC becomes available, it is quite possible that people will take it into serious consideration for making a choice for buying or renting a building for a business or residence. Property owners and tenants (dwelling & business premises) greatly valued the list with the cost effective recommendations for improving the building’s energy performance, on the secondpage of the EPC, with 60% and 53%, respectively. About one quarter (24%) of the owners believe that this kind of information is important only for them and not for tenants or possible buyers. About 27% of the tenants gave the same response. Finally, 16% of the owners and 20% of the tenants believe that this information is not very important for tenants and buyers who may use them to get a price decrease for the property they are renting or buying. Specifically, with regard to whether the EPC implementation will affect the property cost, either the price of selling or renting a property, the vast majority (85%) responded positively or most probably will affect the price for selling the property and 79% for renting the property. Evidently, this will be another factor that may drive prices up or down, along the lines of similar criteria, for example, when a building is near a metro station or in an peaceful neighbourhood or even whether it is on the 1st or 5th floor of a building with an open view or not. The overall assessment of the EPC contents revealed that the most difficult to understand section of the EPC was the calculated annual energy consumption (19%). About 80% of the respondents had at least one difficulty in understanding the EPC contents, i.e. calculated energy consumption (13%), CO2 emissions (13%), building classes (11%). Only 20% of the respondents had no difficulty in understanding the EPC in its entirety. Searching for ways to make the EPC more acceptable, friendlier and easier to understand or even more attractive as a tool for the public, the participants responded most positive to the following ideas: the need for a high accuracy tool that will be used to calculate the building’s energy consumption and its final energy class and the reliability of the methodology that will be implemented was the most popular response (21%). Following, was the need for inspectors professional behaviour and good performance (18%). The need for the repeatability of the results (a follow-up audit of the same building to produce the same results) was the third most popular response (13%). About 12% also felt that the results of a building audit should be presented to the client with an opportunity to present and elaborate on the EPC contents. With regard to the inspectors, 42% responded that they should be from the private sector and certified from an independent authority, compared with 29% that responded that they should be from the private sector and certified by a public authority, about 10% that would prefer to be public employees and about 19% that did not have any preference. Finally, in terms of the inspector’s professional qualifications, the responses showed a preference to environmental engineers (33%), mechanical engineers (27%), electrical engineers (9%), architects (8%) and civil engineers (5%). During the second stage of the investigation, it was again evident that there was lack of public awareness on EPBD and the national legislation, since only 33% of the building’s respondents had 401


some limited knowledge, while the vast majority (67%) had no previous knowledge. This stage of the survey was performed through personal contact and elaboration of a completed EPC for the respondents own building. The positive responses to the question that the EPC would be considered for comparing different housing choices reached 83%, while the remaining 17% that didn’t consider it their first priority would still take it into account. About half of the respondents had problems understanding the contents of the EPC, over a third (33%) wanted some explanations and only 17% were clear with all the EPC contents. The most difficult to understand section of the EPC was the calculated annual energy consumption (34%) and building classes (25%), although 40% of the occupants felt that this labeling system is the most interesting feature in the EPC. 4

CONCLUSION

EPCs will bring more transparency to the real estate market and provide all market stakeholders with useful and reliable information about the energy performance of buildings. The certificate could provide an additional criterion and support the decision-making process during the quest to buy or rent the best property. It is evident that a large scale public campaign should be organized by public authorities in order to inform the market about the benefits of the EPC. Already, during the first month of its implementation over 5000 EPCs have been issued; this rate will significantly increase as soon as the EPCs will start being issued for a building unit (e.g. an apartment) that is being rented out for the first time to a new tenant, currently planned for mid2011. The on-going national programme by YPEKA, for supporting the implementation of ECMs in existing old residential buildings (constructed prior to 1980 that are not thermally insulated) providing direct subsidies and low interest loans for upgrading their dwellings (http://exoikonomisi.ypeka.gr), will assist in the increase awareness of the EPC. Actually, this is the first large scale use of EPCs that are mandated and have to be issued in order to qualify and participate in the programme. At the same time, a number of voluntary training seminars are being organized throughout the country to inform temporary inspectors with the KENAK related issues, in effort to also improve the quality of the EPCs. The first steps are sometimes the most difficult, but it is evident that the effort in Greece is on the right track. Already, a specialized unit for the energy inspectors in YPEKA is overlooking the quality of the EPCs and the work of the temporary inspectors (e.g., contents and number of EPC issued, average awarded building-classes, etc) to identify any oversights and inconsistencies in the EPCs, in order to secure an acceptable level of quality. They are also responsible for issuing warnings to the energy inspectors, imposing penalties and even cancelling their accreditation if they fail to comply with their obligations. Gaining the necessary experience with KENAK and EPCs will manage to achieve tangible results for reducing the energy consumption of the building sector, for the benefit of the public and the national energy balance. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The field work was carried out by Mr. V. Touchtidis, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an M.Sc. in Energy at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus, Athens, Greece and the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, HeriotWatt University, Edinburgh, UK. REFERENCES [1] European Commission, Action Plan for Energy Efficiency: Realising the Potential, Communication from the Commission, COM (2006) 545 final of 19 October 2006. 402


[2] European Commission, Energy 2020 - A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy, Communication from the Commission, COM (2010) 639 final of 10 November 2010. [3] A.P.F. Andaloro, R. Salomone, G. Ioppolo, and L. Andaloro, Energy certification of buildings: A comparative analysis of progress towards implementation in European countries, Energy Policy 38 (2010) 5840. [4] ΕΝ 15217, Energy performance of buildings – Methods for expressing energy performance and for energy certification of buildings, European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, 2007. [5] R.E. Jarnagin, ASHRAE Building EQ, ASHRAE J. 51 (2009) 18. [6] M. Beerepoot, M. Sunikka, The role of the EC energy certificate in improving sustainability of post-war housing areas, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 32 (2004) 21. [7] R.E. Jarnagin, C.A. Balaras, H. Misuriello, M. Hydeman, P. Torcellini, A. Hallstrom, D. Nall, M. Weiland, D. Hewitt, J. Lupinacci, A. Hinge, B. Hunn, L. Pratt, ASHRAE Building Energy Labeling Program - Promoting the Value of Energy Efficiency In the Real Estate Market, 32 p., American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, June, 2008. [8] E. Maldonado (Editor), Executive Summary Report on the Interim Conclusions of the CA EPBD (2007 – 2010) supporting transposition and implementation of the Directive 2002/91/EC, 24 p., Concerted Action, February 2010. [9] E. Dascalaki, P. Droutsa, A. Gaglia, S. Kontoyiannidis and C.A. Balaras, Data collection and analysis of the building stock and its energy performance – An example for Hellenic buildings, Energy & Buildings 42 (2010) 1231. [10] S. Joosen, F. Zegers, Cross country evaluation of the energy performance certification, IMPACT - Improving energy performance assessments and certification schemes by tests, November 2006. [11] K. Gram-Hanssen, F. Bartiaux, O.M. Jensen, M. Cantaert, Do homeowners use energy labels? A comparison between Denmark and Belgium, Energy Policy 35 (2007) 2879. [12] Securing the take-off of building energy certification: Improving market attractiveness through building owner involvement, Stable Final Project Report 2007. [13] International Union of Property Owners - UIPI, 40th International Conference of Owners –, Energy Efficient Performance for low costs and sustainable development, Stockholm, Sweden 13-14 June 2009. [14] E. Dascalaki, C.A. Balaras, A.G. Gaglia, S. Kontoyiannidis, Κ. Droutsa, Datamine – Discovering the Hellenic Building Stock, Technica 249 (2008) 16. In Greek [15] V. Touxtidis, Energy Performance Certificate of Buildings. Lessons Learned in Europe and National Efforts in Greece, 148 p., M.Sc. Energy programme at the Dept of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus and School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University September 2010.

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• Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry

• Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism

• Electricity Authority of Cyprus

• Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber

• Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority

• University of Cyprus

• Cyprus University of Technology

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• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

• Frederick University

• The Cyprus Institute

• Transmission System Operator, Cyprus

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