Contact Jeremy Laycock Campbell (J.Laycock@leeds.ac.uk) Employer University of Leeds State/Province England (United Kingdom) Title Research Fellow (Full-time) Employment Dates Jun. 2021 — Sep. 2021 Duration 100% (3 months) Tasks and Duties June 2021-Sept 2021 , Project E3L2 Effective and Efficient Local Energy Systems, University of Leeds. I was broadly tasked to consider opportunities and challenges of the possible development of “energy passports” successor of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). I was specifically tasked to create a decision tool to assist stakeholders decision making (retrofitting, selling/buying/renting). I also was tasked to explore pathways for agricultural waste biomass residuals as carbon sequestration.
The Effective and Efficient Local Energy Systems (E3L2) project emerged within the interdisciplinary ‘Re-energising the North’ programme organised by Energy Leeds. E3L2 aimsed at achieving high impact with the view of benefiting the end user, with challenging issues such as affordability, fairness, and fuel poverty in mind. Following a workshop organised with the assistance of Energy Leeds on-line 12th April 2021 I was later employed and line-managed by Dr Miryana Grigorova (financial and actuarial mathematics) , with Dr Salma Al Arefi (electrical engineering) and Dr Hu Li (chemical engineering), acting as co-investigators. Renewable Energy expert Prof Alison Tomlin had additionally contributed a wind map that is useful for estimating the contribution of low-voltage wind turbines within urban portions of Leeds and other cities, but these do not extend into the case study area, Otley in Wharfedale, 3 miles north of Leeds-Bradford airport.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings suggest a building renovation roadmap for owners of premises, firstly highlighting measures to improve building fabric. Fabric-first renovations substantially reduce capital and operating costs of replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump. Based upon Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP 2012), EPC ratings are modelled from the dimensions and materials of construction using nominal energy prices and assumed weather. Real-world performance could be incorporated into future EPCs, possibly from SMART meters, if a scheme can be established to adjust for user behaviours. Representative Projects A Pilot Study in Collaboration with Otley Energy Subscribers who are utility bill payers (and potential renovation financiers) collaborated to confirm if EPC ratings reflect actual operational data, adjusted for individual occupancy demands, and to assess if there are flaws in the fabric (insulation) using a thermal imaging smart phone.
7th June – 23rd July 2021 I developed a manual methodology subsequently tested in practice at a neighbourhood level (Town of Otley). I developed and documented the methodology so that it may be developed as software for households, small businesses, and local councils to roadmap optimal energy solutions. The following details my contribution 6 September – 8 October.
Regarding focus on consensual analysis of household data. I applied the survey methodology within the Town of Otley involving recruitment September 18th by Otley Energy via the Otley 2030 webserver (Otley_2030, 2021). I received eight positive responses by email from household bill payers dwelling within Otley’s postcode prefix LS21, while adding my own household (#7) to the sample as he is working from home in Otley. The last consenting household (#9) have been in residence long enough that no EPC exists. Concerned with Covid-19 risks, household #9 did not consent until after the end of September, and so there was no site visit, occupancy questionnaire, nor thermal imaging.
After initial engagement by email confirmation, I submitted a packet to each household (#1-#8) containing a Research Information Sheet together with postage paid stamped envelope or return of signed consent form and household survey questionnaire. Households were separately emailed analysis of their EPC and recent annual demand for gas and electricity.
I also compared each household (#1 - #9) with the median demand of each local postcode as published years 2013, and 2015-2019. Without my knowledge of the median household’s floor area it was not possible to determine the operational EPC score, but I did report if each case study household’s offtake of gas or electricity was more or less than most dwellings that share the same postcode. For electricity as well as gas 4 out of 9 case studies were marginally worse than their local median while 5 out of 9 were marginally better than their local postcode median in 2019. Electricity and gas network offtake is the annual averaged over two years.
In this pilot-study, I worked on behalf of households to verify their EPC (the Product). Three household EPCs were confirmed within the same alphabetic band as was obtained by calculation from the UK Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP2012). One household’s SAP2012 score was 21% better than their EPC, and four households performed worse than would be expected, suggesting demotion of one alphabetic band. Occupancy surveys suggest last year’s lockdowns contributed to these households’ performance gap, while the one that performed better explained that they had moved in last year when it had been vacant.
The software algorithms I developed was intended for self-service use by householders, which could be automated with sufficient funding. Meanwhile, my development of preliminary spreadsheet template could be given to further interested householders if they are able to provide their annual electricity and gas network offtake figures, which they could copy/paste into the application.
I did not discriminate between electricity demand and rooftop solar generation in the pilot survey. I justified this by arguing that the net-metering the ebbs and flows of electricity may suffice as long as the same nominal price is assumed in either direction. I have explained in my report the maximum possible 100-point SAP score of the EPC scheme is reserved for premises where the nominal value of on-site renewable energy generation is greater or equal to the nominal annual cost of space heating, service hot water, and lighting. The EPC doesn’t include energy costs of home appliances (i.e. fridge, oven, TV). I reported also that any significant demand for charging electric vehicles (EVs) needs to be excluded from the EPC energy balance, and so that should be determined in process of further development of the computer program, to be deducted from network offtake figures. Access to half-hourly smart metering data would be very useful to identify patterns associated with renewable energy generation, appliances, and EV charging.