BRANZ work included in renowned research journal

BRANZ work included in renowned research publication

The BRANZ Household Energy End-use Project (HEEP) project has been given further international recognition by its recent inclusion into the journal ‘Building Research and Information.’

A paper addressing energy use in New Zealand houses based on HEEP was recently published in the journal’s special issue on ‘Housing occupancy feedback: linking behaviours and performance.’

HEEP was a multidisciplinary research project which looked at energy use in New Zealand homes and included monitoring of fuel use and temperatures, occupant surveys and physical audits of some 400 randomly selected houses throughout the different climate zones.

A key strength of the project was that it matched independently measured energy-use data, with data about the households and their behaviours, as well as data about the dwellings in which those households live.

In the context of international research on residential energy use, HEEP is unique as it used both a nationally representative sample and monitored all energy sources and many end-uses for at least 11 months in each house.

Member of the Journal‘s Editorial Board and BRANZ Levy Administrator Manager, Dr John Duncan, is pleased with HEEP’s inclusion into the publication.

“I know the Editor of the Journal, and the Guest Editors who assisted him with this issue, see HEEP as a world-class project which broke new ground in an emerging field and is being carefully studied internationally for emulation,” says John.

The HEEP research paper was joined by others from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and UK which looked at subjects as diverse as the effect on householders’ energy use of having ‘smart’ meters, how householders manage their housing depending on its type, and the use of feedback from those living in prototype houses to improve new housing designs.

BRANZ’s Principal Scientist Nigel Isaacs said that the inclusion of the paper in this internationally respected peer-reviewed journal was an acknowledgement of the quality of New Zealand research.

“The HEEP research has provided critical new knowledge to help improve the health and comfort of New Zealand homes. The lessons we have learnt are now being made available to support not only the development of New Zealand policy, business and design, but to the wider international community,” says Nigel.

“The skills and experience from HEEP are now being directed to improving our understanding of non-residential buildings, with the Building Energy End-use Study,” he adds.

BRANZ Energy Efficiency Scientists’ Dr Michael Camilleri, Lisa Burrough and Andrew Pollard also contributed to the paper along with Centre for Research Evaluation and Social Assessment (CRESA) Director, Kay Saville-Smith.

To access this journal go to: www.rbri.co.uk or view the HEEP paper and other reports go to the BRANZ bookshop on www.branz.co.nz.

ENDS

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