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Energy and Buildings 89 (2015) 3948

2014 Elsevier B.V. All Rights Reserved

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.12.024

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.
Pietro FLORIO1*, Olivier TEISSIER2

LESO, EPFL, Station 18, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

DESH, CSTB, 14 Boulevard Isaac Newton, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne, France

*corresponding author:

tel : +41 21 69 33363, e-mail : pietro.florio@epfl.ch

Abstract
The European Union stresses the accent on the need of energy consumption and expenditure data related
to housing stock (1). 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 Enqute Nationale Logements (abbr. 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) 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/(m2 year)] is issued for every single ENL row.
The calculation outcomes are assessed through a sensitivity analysis and compared to other national
statistics; finally the energy labels distribution is discussed. Many purposes of results exploitations are
cited, concerning in particular the fuel poverty evaluation and the energy expenditure per household
estimation.

Introduction and purposes

The elaboration of an efficient energy saving policy requires a more and more accurate estimation of the
energy consumptions and expenditure related to building stocks. The European Union, with the publication
of the EPBD Recast (1) stresses the accent on the need of an assessment procedure taking into account the
energetic cost of buildings. The aim is to set minimum energy performance requirements for buildings or
building units with a view to achieving cost-optimal levels.
The present calculation process produces an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), instructed by the
international standard EN 15217 and transposed into the national legislations. The energy performance
indicators are issued as a result of a national evaluation method, with reference to a well-established
European set of standards concerning the building envelope and equipment. This method underpins a
complex range of technical variables to be collected by a professional or a qualified person. The amount of
data required is complex to collect at national stocks scale. Usually this burden exceeds the data collection
budget and purposes of a national statistic survey.
Most of housing and living conditions databases investigate the housing status of a concerned region
through a survey to be submitted to the sampled households. The structure of this survey includes then a
1

set of easy-to-answer questions, accessible and understandable to anyone, that does not need a
professional support to be filled. The outcome is a qualitative characterisation of the building stock that
makes it difficult to quantify the energy performance and compare it.
The present paper investigates an approach consisting in a simplified calculation procedure, which only
focuses on the most characterising features of the building and associate them to default energy needs, but
this would lack in accuracy. Otherwise an energy performance assessment could be committed but a
smaller sample is then imposed. This is the case of the United Kingdom: the English Housing Survey consists
of a first part including 13300 interviews per year and a second part involving a physical inspection of a
housing subsample (6200 households) (2). Also France has a national housing enquiry (Enqute Nationale
Logements) concerning almost 37000 households and a more detailed energy performance survey (Phbus)
based on 2500 rows (3).
The article 11 paragraph 7 of the EPBD Recast asserts that certification for single-family houses may be
based on the assessment of another representative building of similar design and size with a similar actual
energy performance quality. Within this spirit, the aim of this paper is to experiment a data crossing
between a national large-sampled housing survey (in this case the French Enqute Nationale Logements,
abbr. ENL) and a residential typology database, the European Typology Approach for Building Stock Energy
Assessment (4) for France. A specific algorithm is intended to associate a reference building from TABULA
to each housing unit of the ENL in order to merge the gross qualitative characterisation provided by the
household interview with a consolidated set of technical and geometrical features. In this way the building
envelope and the HVAC system are defined in detail and in accordance with the European Standards.
Energy needs and requirements are then estimated and an energy performance label is issued for each row
of the whole ENL sample. The results are then compared to other national data distributions concerning
energy use. The adoption of a European validated calculation tool allows the use of this dataset for
international comparisons and analysis too. The conclusions of this paper present a possible further
exploitation of this methodology and the related results.

Presentation of the data sources: ENL and TABULA

This section presents the structure of the chosen data sources to clarify the purposes of this paper. A
detailed focus on the concerned variables is provided in the next section.
Enqute Nationale Logements, ENL 2006
The French Enqute nationale logements (ENL) purpose is to describe housing conditions of households and
their spending in housing at a national scale. It is one of the most important surveys of the national
statistical institute (INSEE), by its age (since 1955), its frequency (every 4/5 years) and the size of its sample
(roughly 40 000 households). The survey gives lots of details both on housing units (size, number of rooms,
age, comfort, equipment, surroundings and urban position, rent, loan, charges, energy spending, etc.) and
on households characteristics (number and ages of people, education, professional activity and distance
from work, incomes and social benefits, etc.). In this condition, the thermal quality of the dwelling is not a
central subject, but a lot of information can be used to make estimations (see below).
Typology Approach for Building Stock Energy Assessment, TABULA 2011
Firstly the IEE project DATAMINE (2006-2008) collected 19000 Energy Performance Certificates across the
European partners and transferred them to a common database by use of commonly defined data fields.
For different age and size groups average buildings were defined which are representative for the
respective sample subsets. During the following IEE project TABULA (2009-2012) residential building
2

typologies have been developed for 13 European countries. Each national typology consists of a
classification scheme grouping buildings according to their size, age and further parameters and a set of
exemplary buildings representing the building types. A selection of HVAC (heating, ventilation and airconditioning) systems is also provided to be associated together with the building types. Each reference
building is then characterised with typical energy consumption values and an estimation of the possible
energy savings through the implementation of different refurbishment measures.
The method is focused on the energy use for space heating and domestic hot water of residential buildings.
Cooling, air conditioning, lighting, electric appliances are until now not considered in the concept but can of
course be supplemented later. The results of this process have been published by the project partners in
national Building Typology Brochures, written in their respective languages and enclosed with statistical
data for buildings and supply systems.
Each building type in TABULA is identified through a code which resumes its main features, in particular:
the national and regional relevance (e.g.: according to climate zones), the housing size (single family house,
terraced house, multifamily house, apartment blocks), the building age (in 10 classes, from 1800 to 2000),
the reference type (Real example building, real average building, theoretical statistical model) and the
increasing refurbishment package code (001 to 003). The reference HVAC system as well is defined by a
national code and by three components related to the concerned heating, DHW and ventilation system.
More details can be found in the TABULA final report (5): an outline of the code composition is presented in
Figure 1.

climatic zone
[N; H1; H2; H3]

building age
[01-10]

FR

national code

TH

housing type

H1

[Re.Ex; Re.Av;
Sy.Av]

[SFH; TH; MFH; AB]

07

heating
system type

Gen
reference type

[FR; IT; ...]

national code
[FR; IT; ...]

<B>

DHW system
type

<A>

building size
[SUH; MUH;
Gen]

Re.Ex

ventilation
system type

001

FR

refurbishment
code [001-003]

<C>
Gen

building size
[SUH; MUH;
Gen]

Figure 1: code structure of the TABULA reference building (left) and the TABULA reference HVAC system (right), resuming their
main features.

Variables employed in the calculation process

The ENL 2006 survey provides a set of variables that can be exploited for an energetic characterisation of
the concerned buildings. As can be remarked, most of them state a broad qualitative description of the
building, with banded values. Three variables (SOURCE, SOURCEECS and MODE) were designed on purpose
to resume the output of several other variables. Even if these data are not detailed enough to attempt an
energy performance evaluation, they can be used to select a reference building from the TABULA database.
3

In fact, the features listed in Table 1 are comparable with the ones outlined in Figure 1. A conversion
algorithm described in the following sections of this paper links each row of ENL to a reference building and
a reference HVAC system of TABULA. This is done by the use of the TABULA code structure, according to
the variables listed in Table 1.
Table 1: list of ENL variables providing a building characterisation, used to refer to TABULA database.

VARIABLE
GENERALS

TYPE VALUES

DESCRIPTION

IAAT
HTL
IMI
INDCOLL
INE
INL
DEP

Qual
Qual
Qual
Qual
Nr
Nr
Nr

1-10
1-8
1-3
1-2
0-99
2-9338
01-97

classes of building construction achievement

housing unit type (collective building, single family house)
individual housing type (detached, terraced, )
independent room location (collective or individual building)
number of building stories
number of building housing units
local authority department number

Qual
Nr

1-3
1-999

classes of ceiling height in the housing unit

floor surface of the housing unit

Qual
Qual
Qual

1-7
1-5
1-3

type of main faade coating materials

roof thermal insulation
double-glazing windows

qual
qual
built
qual
qual
qual
qual
built
qual

1-11
1-4
source1-4
1-2
1-2
1-2
1-2
1-2
1-2

heating mode (district heating, collective heating, individual heating)

renewable heating source
heating source (gas/electricity/oil and others)
presence of standing radiators / coils
presence of mobile radiators / coils
heating by floor / ceiling
heating by radiative panels
individual / collective heating
use of a coal as heating source

qual
nr
built
qual

1-2
1-10
1-5
1-2

presence of independent DHW devices

number of DHW energy sources
main DHW energy source
use of solar energy as DHW energy source

qual

1-3

presence of a mechanical ventilation

GEOMETRY
HAUT
HSH1

ENVELOPE
GFACRBIS
GTOIT2
GVIT1

HEATING
KCLN
KMOD1EN
SOURCE
KEMEA_1
KEMEA_2
KEMEA_4
KEMEA_5
MODE
KCC1_4

DHW
KAO_3
KCEC_N
SOURCEECS
KCEC_8

VENTILATION
GVMC

ENL to TABULA algorithm description

First step: associating each housing unit of ENL with a reference building in TABULA
With reference to Figure 1, the TABULA code is assumed as a standard to identify every row of ENL. The
aim of the described algorithm is then to assign a TABULA code to each of the 36.955 ENL housing units and
pair them to a specific reference building equipped with different reference HVAC systems. This process
can be easily automated and it returned 1,1% of uncertainties at this stage.
As a first step, the number of the department which hosts the housing unit (variable DEP in ENL) is related
to a climatic zone according to a ministerial table (6). Three climatic zones are settled in France: H1, H2, and
H3 (colder to warmer).
The second point focuses on the building construction achievement date. It identifies the technologic
typology of the building, as well as the usually employed materials. This information is contained in variable
4

IAAT of ENL, grouped by classes. The ENL housing units, gathered in ten classes from before 1871 to
1999 and beyond, are re-organised in ten classes as well from 1800-1900 to 1990-2000, according to
the TABULA classification.
After that, the building size typology is defined by a complex set of conditions. First, it considers the
housing type mentioned in variable HTL of ENL and consequently it considers the sub-specification
provided by variable IMI in case of individual housing and by variable INDCOLL in case of independent
rooms. So the individual or collective setting is better specified (detached or terraced houses, studioapartments or family flats, ). Then, the number of stories (INE) and of the housing units (INL) crossed with
the constructional period (IAAT) determine the final type assignment in TABULA code (SFH for single
family house, MFH for multifamily house, TH for terraced house, AB for apartment blocks). In this
way the building typology changes according to the achievement date and to the size: for example an
apartment block dating 1970s counts a larger number of housing units than a 1870s one.

Figure 2: French reference buildings table, according to the constructional period (rows) and to the building size (columns). (4).

At this point, each ENL row is represented by a reference building, characterised itself by a typical geometry
and a set of materials related to the constructional date. This base case might have been refurbished with
an insulation envelope or by a windows set replacement to save thermal energy. Variable GVIT1 of ENL
marks the presence of double glazing windows in most of the housing rooms, while GTOIT2 identifies a
qualitative roof-insulation degree of the housing unit (recent insulation, within the last 10 years; aged
but adequate insulation; aged and poor insulation; no insulation). The base case, marked as 001 by
the TABULA refurbishment code, is upgraded to 002 if double glazing windows are installed in the
apartment, and raised to 003 if both the double glazing windows installation and a satisfying roofinsulation degree are attained (recent or aged but adequate insulation).
Second step: associating each HVAC system of ENL with a reference system in TABULA
Modelling an HVAC system composed by a heating, a Domestic Hot Water (DHW) and a ventilation
component allows an estimation of the primary energy requirements of the housing unit according to an
Energy Performance Certification method. Even if this represents just theoretical household energy
consumption and does not take into account the specific consumption of electrical appliances, an EPC
rating can be easily employed to compare the energy performance within different housing groups, at a
national or regional level. The most difficult task of the algorithm construction is the choice of an HVAC
system, from the list proposed by TABULA (Table 2), according to the few information provided by ENL.
Firstly, the heating system is selected through the analysis of different variables. The most important one
concerns the heating energy source: the dummy variables from KCC1_1 to KCC1_7 of ENL about each fuel
use were resumed in a unique variable named SOURCE. Three groups of heating energy sources were
identified: gas, electricity, oil or other fuels. After that, the type of heating equipment is considered: this
can be a district heating exchanger, a single or multi family unit boiler, an independent heater or a heat
pump. Variable KCLN of ENL provides the employed heating production mode; KMOD1EN identifies the
presence of a renewable heating system as a heat pump possibly coupled with solar captors. Finally, the
type of heating emission expressed in variables from KEMEA1 to KEMEA6 of ENL is taken into account. In
fact radiators, fan coils and radiative panels require different hot water loop temperatures.
At this point most of necessary information to identify a heating system is assumed. The installation date
can better specify the global efficiency of heat production (for example in presence of a condensing boiler,
strongly developed in the last decade). Unfortunately, ENL does not collect any data concerning the last
heating system set-up. However, for the purposes of this research, a modelling assumption can be made:
the heating system is intended to be installed when the building construction was achieved, and never
replaced. This statement is confirmed by a strong correlation between the building constructional date and
the heating consumptions, as showed by the last CEREN report (7).
A similar process is settled to select the DHW system from the TABULA proposition list. As a first step, the
system structure of each ENL housing unit is observed: if the DHW and the heating production are
combined, a unique boiler is normally installed. In that case the chosen DHW system is the same as the
heating one. Otherwise, the independent DHW appliances are selected as before, according to the fuel use
marked in variable SOURCEECS (which reassembles variables from KCEC_0 to KCEC_9 of ENL). Gas, electric
or oil independent water heaters are likely outputs, possibly coupled with solar captors. The installation
date is also considered with the assumption mentioned above.
Finally, a standard air change rate between 0,4 and 0,8 [vol/h] is assumed according to the building type
and the expected infiltrations (8). The installation of mechanical ventilation is identified by variable GVMC
6

of ENL, which specifies the occurrence of air handling devices in all rooms or just in humid rooms
(bathrooms and kitchens). If the presence of mechanical ventilation is marked, a standard ventilation
system that needs 3 [kWh,el/(m2 year)] is considered according to the TABULA assumptions (8).
Table 2: Heating and DHW systems. Energy expenditure by energy source and by system typology. (4).

ENERGY EXPENDITURE
(Energy demand / Heat
production), [-]
HEATING
independent coils

gas

electricity

oil

other

multi
unit

single unit
single
unit

multi
unit

single
unit

multi
unit

single
unit

multi
unit

renewable
geothermal

air/water

3,76

heat pump

0,29
period 1

2,12

2,23

period 2

1,65

1,87

period 3

2,12

period 4
condensing
boiler
low
temperature
loop

1,83

1,45

2,12^

1,41

1,41

1,46

1,46

3,76

2,62

1,53

DHW
heat pump

heat exchanger

district
heating

0,45

heat exchanger

water heater

coal

1,06

stove

boiler

wood

0,86
period 1

2,07

2,12

1,59;
1,44*

period 2

1,84

1,99

1,48

1,57
1,41

period 3

3,16

1,87

period 4
condensing
heater
low
temperature
loop

1,98

1,37

AUXILIARY SYSTEM
*=
implemented
solar captors system
^=
implemented
wood stove
system

3,27

1,51*

1,89

1,57*

1,96*

3,44*

2,39

Energy performance certification method

Usually an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) issues an energy label from A to G, according to seven
different primary energy requirement classes, expressed in [kWh,ep/(m2 year)] bands. The aim of this
7

research is to rate each ENL housing unit from A to G following its primary energy needs for heating, DHW
and ventilation purposes.
The first step is to calculate the thermal energy requirements for space heating, including ventilation, of the
housing unit. This can be done by knowing the heating end-use energy needs (the energy to be delivered by
the heating system in the housing unit in order to reach a certain set-point temperature). Such a quantity is
influenced by some technical, geometrical and climate-related variables.
In the previous section both a technical and a climate profile were defined for each of the ENL rows.
Construction materials, age, size typology of the building on one side and climate zone on the other side
were chosen and assembled in the TABULA reference models list to be referred in ENL. As a result, TABULA
already provides a heating end-use energy need value. Unfortunately, this takes into account the geometry
of the TABULA reference building. Therefore, an adjustment factor is needed to represent the ENL
geometry instead. This factor is intended as the ratio between the geometrical indicators of the ENL
housing unit and the TABULA reference building. In particular, such a geometrical indicator is the
compactness ratio between the outdoor-exposed surface and the heated volume of the building (also
known as S/V ratio). The S/V ratio can be easily calculated for each of the TABULA reference buildings,
while the absence of information concerning the outdoor-exposed surface in ENL forces the adoption of
another assumption. In place of the outdoor-exposed surface, the living area of the housing unit is retained
and corrected by the ratio between the outdoor-exposed surface and the living area of the TABULA
selected building for that ENL row. As a result, the simplified equation appears like this:
, = ,

kWh, th

m2 year

assuming Qh as the heating end-use energy need and h as the housing unit height. In this way, if an ENL
housing unit is more compact than its TABULA reference (greater height with an equal volume): the heating
need Qh will be higher because the heated volume is bigger, but it will be adjusted by a lower
compactness ratio. This resulting thermal energy amount per surface unit is multiplied by an energy
expenditure coefficient that depends on the selected heating system (see Table 2).
Concerning the DHW energy requirements, 10 [kWh/(m2 year)] are considered as the standard need for a
single-family house (15 for a multi-family house to take into account a higher number of occupants per
square meter) (8); these needs are multiplied, as before, by an energy expenditure coefficient related to
the chosen DHW heating system. Finally, the selection of a particular ventilation system already provides an
electrical energy need per square meter (as stated before).
In order to merge all these energy amounts to a unique primary energy output, the heating, the DHW and
the ventilation needs must be multiplied each by a fuel conversion factor, according to the employed
energy source (2,58 for electricity and 1,00 for every other source in France) (9 p. 893). The resulting
primary energy requirements are classed according to a list of energy amount ranges, marked with a letter
(from A to G) (10).

Results
In order to be successfully extended to the whole French population, the results are weighted through the
QEX statistical factor of ENL before being aggregated. The first step of the algorithm produces the building
typology distribution presented in Table 3.
8

Table 3: building typology distribution of the modelled ENL (weighted sample), according to the constructional date and the
building size.
construction year class

period
< 1915
19151948
19491967
19681974
19751981
19821989
19901999
20002005

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

SFH

TH
6,00%
3,88%
3,83%
3,52%
4,74%
4,44%
3,18%
3,70%
33%

sum

MFH
6,18%
5,01%
3,74%
2,33%
2,48%
2,67%
2,03%
2,16%
27%

AB
4,24%
3,64%
6,28%
4,54%
2,30%
1,99%
2,03%
1,65%
27%

sum
0,76%
0,81%
3,42%
2,91%
2,35%
1,00%
1,29%
0,91%
13%

17%
13%
17%
13%
12%
10%
9%
8%
100%

The second step of the calculation process concerning the HVAC system can be compared either to the
heating energy table of the CEREN statistics (7) or to the Energy Performance Certificate National database
Observatoire DPE (11). As can be seen the modelled values are very similar to the CEREN ones for 2006.
The Energy Performance Certificate National database is not a statistical sample, but it just collects the
input data from the EPC redaction in the whole France corresponding to transactions (rent or sale) , so
the results must be weighted and treated carefully.
Table 4: energy source usage quotas of the modelled ENL (weighted sample), of the CEREN statistics (7), and of the Energy
Performance Certificate National database (11).
Energy source

Modelled ENL

CEREN, 2006

CEREN, 2013

Gas

38,1%

40,2%

44,1%

Observatoire
DPE,
12/12/2013
35,0%

Electricity

29,4%

29,2%

31,5%

42,0%

Oil+Others

32,5%

30,5%

24,5%

23,0%

<50

>51<90

>91<150

16.4%

>151<230

31.4%

>231<330

23.5%

>331<450

13.6%

The energy labels output of the calculation process is shown in Figure 3 (1,1% is missing due to modelling
uncertainties). These data can be compared to other French national references (12), (11) to validate the
calculation model. The results are compliant with the ANAH report (12 p. 10) and close to the Obsevatoire
DPE ones (see Table 5). In fact ANAH used a fairly similar method: it combined data from ENL 2002 and a
collection of 600 energy performance audits. Observatoire DPE is quite different, as explained above; it is
rather normal that some differences occur.

>450

kWh/m2 year -

1.4% 373'726
2.8% 741'588
4'295'402
8'232'976
6'156'735
3'574'064

9.9%

2'589'238

2'000'000

4'000'000

6'000'000

8'000'000

10'000'000

Figure 3: calculation results: DPE labels of the modelled ENL French housing stock (weighted sample; 1,1% of modelling errors).

Table 5: energy labels comparison of the modelled ENL (weighted sample), of the ANAH report (12), and of the Energy
Performance Certificate National database (11).
Energy label

Modelled ENL

Modelling uncertainties
G
>450
F
>331<450
E
>231<330
D
>151<230
C
>91<150
B
>51<90
A
<50

ANAH, 2008
1,1%
9,9%
13,6%
23,5%
31,4%
16,4%
2,8%
1,4%

0%
15%*
9%
22%
31%
18%
3%
0%

Observatoire DPE,
12/12/2013
0,0%
5,3%
11,9%
26,8%
32,1%
13,9%
5,6%
4,4%

* = classes G+H+I

Sensitivity analysis
A sensitivity analysis was set up to better evaluate the impact of every single variable on final results. The
chosen output of the analysis process is the primary energy requirement (kWh/m2 year) for heating, DHW
and ventilation in every dwelling. This amount expresses the energy efficiency class into a quantified value
and makes it easy to compare different scenarios. Input of the analysis process is chosen among building
age, envelope and HVAC system performance variables in the first phase of the conversion algorithm. The
compactness ratio is also tested. Variation scenarios are listed in Table 6. Both increasing and decreasing
values are assessed for each variable:
Table 6: list of variation scenarios in sensitivity analysis
Variation Scenario
BASE CASE
OLDER BUILDING
MORE RECENT BUILDING
HIGHER PERFORMANCE
LOWER PERFORMANCE
10% HIGHER COMPACTNESS
10% LOWER COMPACTNESS
10% HIGHER HEATING SYSTEM
EFFICIENCY
10 % LOWER HEATING SYSTEM
EFFICIENCY
10% HIGHER DHW EFFICIENCY
10% LOWER DHW EFFICIENCY
ALL MECHANICAL VENTILATION ON
ALL MECHANICAL VENTILATION OFF

Input variable
Constructional period
Constructional period
Refurbishment code
Refurbishment code
Compactness ratio
Compactness ratio
Heating System energy expenditure factor

Variation entity
1 class decrease
1 class increase
1 class increase
1 class decrease
10% decrease
10% increase
10% decrease

Heating System energy expenditure factor

10% increase

DHW energy expenditure factor

DHW energy expenditure factor
Annual specific electricity demand
Annual specific electricity demand

10% decrease
10% decrease
Value set to 3 kWh/m2 year in all rows
Value set to 0 kWh/m2 year in all rows

10

Variables with classed values are assessed with increasing or decreasing class scenarios, with unchanged
values in highest or lowest class; quantitative continuous variables are assessed with 10% value increase or
decrease.
Results of the sensitivity analysis are shown in Figure 4. Boxplot figures reveal a sprawled distribution with
few values above 400 kWh/m2 year of primary energy requirements. This can be avoided by refining the
statistical data validation process, but it doesnt affect the results and the conclusions since all nonperforming dwellings are together in G class. Most of the scenarios have the same interquartile range,
staying between the D and E label.
Building age has a moderate impact on the final consumption with index variations between 5% and 10%.
Compactness variations influence the S/V ratio, increasing the energy need by rising the outdoor exposed
surface. Among HVAC variations, heating system efficiency is the most impacting as expected, with 5% to
10% shift.
Nevertheless, the decisive variable is the refurbishment class, with a 20% to 30% impact on median. The
identification of the refurbishment class, as described above, can not rely on dedicated variables in ENL.
Therefore, the accuracy of this operation is not guaranteed, but the comparison with other databases (see
Table 5) presents compliant results, showing a resilient algorythm adaptation. Further refining tools will be
provided by Phbus, but such a high sensitivity of the model to refurbishment variables suggests a growing
need of on-site surveys, able to track the fast evolution of performance of existing buildings in line with
more and more binding legislative requirements.

11

2300

Q1

MIN

MED

MAX

Q3

AV

1800

ALL M.VENT. OFF

ALL M.VENT. ON

10%LOWER DHW EFF.

10%HIGHER DHW EFF.

10%LOWER H.S. EFF.

10%HIGHER H.S. EFF.

10%LOWER
COMPACTNESS

10%HIGHER
COMPACTNESS

LOWER PERFORMANCE

HIGHER PERFORMANCE

MORE RECENT
BUILDING

OLDER BUILDING

BASE CASE

G
F
E
D

ALL M.VENT. OFF

ALL M.VENT. ON

10%LOWER DHW EFF.

10%HIGHER DHW EFF.

10%LOWER H.S. EFF.

10%HIGHER H.S. EFF.

10%LOWER
COMPACTNESS

10%HIGHER
COMPACTNESS

LOWER PERFORMANCE

HIGHER PERFORMANCE

shift (%)

40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
-10.00%
-20.00%
-30.00%
-40.00%

MORE RECENT
BUILDING

C
B
A
OLDER BUILDING

800
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

BASE CASE

EP (kWh/m2 year)

1300

BASE
CASE

MORE
10%HIG 10%LOW
10%HIG
OLDER
HIGHER LOWER
10%HIG 10%LOW
10%LOW
ALL
ALL
RECENT
HER
ER
HER
BUILDIN
PERFOR PERFOR
HER H.S. ER H.S.
ER DHW M.VENT. M.VENT.
BUILDIN
COMPAC COMPAC
DHW
G
MANCE MANCE
EFF.
EFF.
EFF.
ON
OFF
G
TNESS
TNESS
EFF.

Q1

0.00%

8.27%

MIN

0.00%

4.05%

0.00%

MED

0.00%

7.99%

-5.72%

MAX

0.00%

0.00%

0.58%

Q3

0.00%

6.36%

AV

0.00%

7.43%

-5.97%

-20.85%

25.28%

-7.29%

7.22%

-7.29%

7.22%

-2.31%

2.47%

2.32%

-2.67%

0.90%

3.01%

-0.28%

0.28%

-0.28%

0.28%

-9.72%

9.72%

27.61%

-14.19%

-20.00%

30.41%

-7.73%

7.70%

-7.73%

7.70%

-2.18%

2.06%

1.70%

-1.84%

-30.83%

0.00%

-9.55%

9.55%

-9.55%

9.55%

-0.45%

0.45%

0.58%

0.00%

-7.79%

-21.41%

18.08%

-8.45%

8.44%

-8.45%

8.44%

-1.38%

1.51%

0.76%

-1.70%

-4.48%

-22.44%

19.79%

-8.22%

8.22%

-8.22%

8.22%

-1.64%

1.64%

1.66%

-1.43%

Figure 4: results of the sensitivity analysis. The upper part shows the boxplots of primary energy requirements according to the
different variation scenarios (DPE labels are marked on the right axis). The lower part shows the shift (%) of distribution indexes
st
rd
such as 1 quartile, minimum value, median, maximum value, 3 quartile, average value compared to the base case.

12

Results exploitation and conclusion

One of the advantages of the ENL survey is the combination of information concerning both the housing
quality and the financial situation of households, referring to a large sample (37000 households vs. 2500 in
Phbus). The model elaborated in this paper can be used for many purposes to drive public policies:

this is a tool to elaborate and analyse several scenarios of energetic transition at different
geographic scales. Used at national or regional level, it is a very detailed diagnostic of energy
consumption in the building sector. This is a first step to identify the main potentials for energy
savings and elaborate a strategy of refurbishment. Upgrading progressively the refurbishment code
(001 to 002 and 003) in certain types of buildings enables to derive scenarios of transition towards
a low emission and consumption sector in 2050. In comparison with existing models (ENERTER for
instance) (13), this method also gives economic information on the households. It means the
refurbishments choice can be analysed for each household, considering levels of investments,
savings and impacts on the household budget. Moreover, economic incentives (national or regional
subvention, tax credit, etc.) can be directly taken into account, in addition to regulatory measures;
this is a powerful model to evaluate public policies impacts on households incomes, in particular
those related to energy. As ENL contains very precise information on incomes and energy
expenditures, this model can help to analyse redistributive effects on households. In particular, the
effects of incentives to energy efficiency (carbon tax and energy taxes as subventions and tax
credit) can be evaluated in a very precise way. Their impact on the refurbishment process and the
energy efficiency improvement of the building stock can be roughly estimated. One specific
application would be the elaboration of an incentive conditioned by the building energy label.
Coupling detailed analysis (for a lot of households types) on economic, housing and energetic
features is barely possible.

An analysis of fuel poverty demonstrates the exploiting opportunities offered by the model. Between 3
and 5 million households in France are considered as fuel poor, depending on the applied indicator; the
phenomenon ensues from low income, poor thermal quality of housing and high price of energy. The
evaluation of the fuel poverty condition needs precise information both on revenue and energy spending.
As it was mentioned in the introduction, the Phbus enquiry has been made available in 2014, and a first
exploitation has been made by the national statistical institute (INSEE) (14); the detailed results will provide
a crossed estimation of the energy performance of buildings and the living conditions and incomes of
families. An historical comparison of these data is then strongly needed in order to obtain fuel poverty
trends and to formulate suitable coping policies; moreover, up to now, the 2006 data are the most updated
ones and still represent a reliable reference.
The use of the energy labels distribution elaborated in this paper coupled with a fuel poverty indicators list
allows an assessment of the phenomenon and its correlation with the energy performance of housing. In
Figure 5 the estimated number of fuel poor households in France is displayed, according to different kinds
of indicators:

the 10% threshold, as the number of units above the 10% ratio between the energy expenditure
and the households income;
the Hills LIHC indicator (for low income high cost of energy), as the number of units beneath the
60% of the median income, at the same time affected by a higher-than-median energy
expenditure;
13

a declarative indicator like the feeling of cold, as the number of people declaring having felt cold
at least 24h during the previous winter (because of different reasons, including poor quality of
housing and budget restriction).

>151<230

A
C

>91<150

>231<330

>51<90

>331<450

<50

Concerning the 10% threshold and the feeling of cold, both the entire population and the lowest 3 deciles
of income are considered. In this way the fuel poor households can be better identified. Further
information concerning the fuel poverty indicators and the fuel poor profiles for France can be found in the
2014 ONPE annual report (15).

>450

kWh/m2 year -

BRDE_UC
LIHC
per consuming unit
BRDE_m2
LIHC
per m2
Froid_3dec
Feeling
of cold (3 deciles)
Froid of cold
Feeling
10%
threshold (3 dciles)
TEE_rduit
10%
TEE threshold

500'000

1'000'000

1'500'000

Figure 5: estimated number of fuel poor housing units in the modelled ENL according to different indicators.

These results are particularly important as they refer to a well described population, characterised by a
national enquiry both on the technical and on the social profile. The existence of housing refurbishment
works is tracked as well as the households living conditions (education, employment, urban mobility, social
aids, relationship with the territory, etc). As a consequence, this approach allows a more complete
awareness in the fuel poor identification process compared with other methodologies (e.g. Prcariter
software by Energies Demain based on the census of the population 2008, which can just roughly estimate
the incomes and the energy expenditure) (13).
In conclusion, this is a simple but reliable method to estimate the energy performance at a large scale,
suitable for public policies analysis and evaluation. It can be set-up on a spreadsheet, the logical sequence
is pragmatic and operational. In spite of this, it must be refined to deal with building stock managing
purposes and more detailed technical issues.
Further considerations could be made by implementing the model with an estimation of the energetic
theoretical expenditure per household. Some standard data concerning the specific electricity use of
appliances and equipment (16) would be added to the HVAC consumptions to better approximate the total
14

household energy needs. After that, a set of standard tariffs (17) would be applied to the energy
consumptions in order to model a theoretical expenditure, to be compared with the real expenditure
charged to the household. The determinants of the gaps should be analysed in order to reveal other
correlations (18). For example a lower real expenditure would indicate the presence of energy restrictions,
which is a form of fuel poverty particularly difficult to identify.

Acknowledgements
This paper is produced through the help of the entire Economics and Social Sciences Department (DESH) of
the Building Scientific and Technical Centre (CSTB). Academic support has been given by the Solar Energy
and Building Physics Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (LESO-PB at EPFL).

15

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17