Exploring the performance gap in UK homes: new evidence from smart home and smart meter data

The performance gap between measured and predicted energy consumption in buildings is long established. This paper explores the reasons for the performance gap using data collected in ten UK homes. Predictions made by steady state energy models were compared to measured building performance data. Model inputs relating to external conditions and occupant practices were changed to align with measured data. The results show that the performance gap in individual homes is still significant after accounting for occupant practices and suggests that more work is required to develop techniques to estimate the thermal properties of the building fabric using measured data.