Development of energy performance benchmarks and building energy ratings for non-domestic buildings: An example for Irish primary schools

The EU Member States are in the process of implementing energy rating procedures for buildings. For non-domestic buildings in particular, devisinga robustand cost effective energyrating method isnot asimple task. The situation becomes morecomplicated where countries donot have a tradition of performing energy calculations or undertaking energy measurements in buildings. This paper outlines a methodology to develop energy benchmarks and rating systems starting from thevery first step of data collection from the building stock. Methods for rating a sample Irish school according to both calculated and measured ratings are applied, and finally the paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.