An Open Access Tool for Building Energy Audits Harmonizing European Standards

SEAS (Simplified Energy Auditing Software) is an open access tool for energy audits of residential and office buildings, developed by the University of Pisa (Department of Energy, Systems, Territory, and Construction Engineering), in collaboration with ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Economic Development), under a funding of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. The analyzed services are: winter heating by hydronic systems, production of domestic hot water, and lighting and other electrical uses. Production of heat and electricity by renewable energy sources (solar thermal, photovoltaic, biomass heat generators, and heat pumps) is also calculated. The application assesses the different energy flows contributing to the energy balance of the building system on a monthly basis. The calculation methods are based on Italian and European technical standards, properly modified to take into account daily schedules of building usage. The tool has been developed with the intention of spreading energy auditing activities, thanks to the definition of a unified and inexpensive procedure, comprising the economic evaluation of retrofit actions by means of common investment metrics. All the worksheets are freely accessible to energy auditors, together with technical and user manuals (in Italian). Local Governments are expected to promote the use of SEAS, as part of their energy efficiency strategies. As for the reliability of energy calculations, they have been double-validated by both dynamic simulation results (tests have been run on TRNSYS 17) and comparison with actual energy billings. Two test cases are presented: a unit of a duplex house and a historical educational building, with classrooms and offices.