Buildings | Solar Energy Resources | Energy Modeling & Planning

The European Union in order to fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and provide clean energy to all, has set binding climate and energy targets for 2030: reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55, increase energy efficiency by at least 32.5% (proposed to reduce by 36% the final energy and by 39% the primary energy), increase the share of renewable energy to at least 32% (proposed to reach 40%) of EU energy use and guarantee at least 15% electricity inter-connection levels between neighbouring Member States. Greece has set a 2030 national target to reduce GHG by 40% compared to 1990, and –by 55% compared to 2005. These efforts form part of the EU initiatives on climate change (under Kyoto Protocol) and security of energy supply.

The building sector plays a key role in the European energy policy since it represents about 40% of the total EU final energy consumption and about one third of the carbon dioxide emissions. As a result the biggest energy savings are expected in the buildings sector that will also have a major contribution towards the goal of a decarbonized EU economy by 2050. The energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD) transposition in Greece was enacted with KENAK in 2010 and updated in July 2017, imposing stricter building requirements. Since 2020, new buildings are nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) with very low amount of energy use, covered mainly by renewable sources. The new challenge is renovating the existing building stock and moving towards plus energy buildings (PEB) that produce more energy from renewables than they import over a year.

Solar energy monitoring, modeling, forecasting and facilitating the dissemination of resources can support the exploitation of solar centralized and decentralized systems. This is part of the EU Technology Map for low-carbon technologies and policies that includes solar power generation and applications.

Energy modeling for different sectors can estimate the evolution of energy demand and assess various energy conservation and RES technologies. The need is to develop planning strategies for meeting the national energy and environmental goals in the context of the EU energy and climate initiatives, as well as other international conventions.

Building energy conservation & Indoor environmental quality (IEQ)

• High performance buildings and decarbonization of the built environment
• Sustainability assessment of the built environment
• Energy & diagnostic audits
• Building typologies – Building stock modeling
• Benchmarking and baselines of buildings energy use and embodied energy
• Environmental impact

Solar energy resources modeling & forecasting

• Assessment of atmospheric conditions & weather systems
• Mapping solar radiation availability on tilted surfaces
• Meteorological radiation modeling

Energy demand & emissions sectoral evolution

• Energy balance forecast
• Energy externalities and cost-benefit analysis
• Green energy investments and services
• Forecasting power demand