The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket) has initialized a compilation of knowledge about the current situation in Swedish ventilation. The purpose being to summarize an as broad and correct understanding as possible of who the industry is, what rules that applies, where there are knowledge centres and what development needs are required to be supported for the industry. Ventilation systems has developed from simple to high-tech sensor-controlled with the main task of removing unwanted airborne substances (e.g. odours) and excess heat, in an energy efficient way. 

Data was collected from stakeholders dealing with ventilation and indoor climate. A group of knowledgably consultants and scientists have collected information, analysed different aspects of ventilation, and presents the results in a report available in Swedish. 

Ventilation situation in residential buildings varies from other types of buildings that house widely differing businesses. Different types of activities place different demands on the buildings' air quality, thermal comfort, etc. For the operation of a building, it is important to clarify the conditions and requirements that determine needed airflow. Quite small, oversights and mistakes can ruin the possibilities for the ventilation system's to function properly. 

The main outcome of the project is the presentation of the state-of-the-art position of ventilation in Sweden. Ventilation is a vital part of the building's system and the prerequisites for correct ventilation function. Seemingly, banal user behaviours can have a major impact on the control of the indoor climate. 

Regulations and rules that govern and apply for ventilation and indoor climate comes from a number of international, national organisations. More than ten Swedish authorities define regulations influencing ventilation. This affects how measurement and verification of indoor climate and ventilation can take place with different methods and instruments depending on which properties are studied. 

The survey contributes to the dissemination of knowledge about the industry, stakeholders, technology, systems, construction, controls, operation and maintenance as well as research and development. 

The individual heat cost allocation is one of the recent topics which is well-known not only for the possibility of increasing the energy efficiency but also for the related problems. However, there is no comprehensive work where the main problems are shown and adequate solutions are proposed. This article presents the main aspects which are important in the area of heat cost allocation. Firstly, the policy issues were underlined and the recommendations for the introduction of general rules for heating costs allocation at the level of a given country were provided. Secondly, the main possibilities, problems and solutions connected to the devices and methods for heat cost allocation were introduced. Then, the energy savings obtained using heat cost allocation were shown on the example of long term field research (8 heating seasons) carried out for six residential buildings, where heat cost allocators were uninstalled. Lastly, comprehensive recommendations were provided, the introduction of which will allow to minimizing the problems connected with heat cost allocation and maximizing the energy savings while maintaining the thermal comfort in the heated rooms.

Since 2002, the European Union (EU) has promoted individual metering of energy consumption as an ef- fective tool to improve energy efficiency in buildings. In 2012, the Energy Efficiency Directive has set mandatory the individual heat accounting in buildings when centralized heating/cooling systems are present, when technically feasible and cost efficient. As a consequence, EU Member States adopted dif- ferent allocation rules mainly due to differences in building stocks and climatic conditions. This measure has led to a series of technical, legal and consumer protection issues which still need to be solved. In this paper, more than 130 publications have been analysed and critically reviewed, highlighting the dif- ferent approaches adopted in EU Member States concerning heat accounting and the related issues. To this aim, the authors focussed the following subjects: (i) the allocation rules adopted by EU Member States, (ii) the heat metering and sub-metering technologies, (iii) the cost-benefit analysis of individual heat metering and accounting systems. This review is useful for researchers since the existing regulation and technologies for heat accounting and their related potential are discussed together with the analysis of the existing gap in terms of technical standard and consumer protection. Finally, the analysis provides policy makers with several suggestions to improve transparency and reliability of allocation rules.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the accuracy of allocating heat cost by measuring the delivered amount of heat in an energy-efficient multi-apartment building with underfloor heating. The main issue with heat cost allocation is heat transfer between adjacent apartments, which means that purchased heat might not be the same as the used heat in an apartment. This study analyses the fluctuation of the energy consumption in 31 apartments during a time span of one month over four years. The fluctuation is presented as the standard deviation of the spreading. Most of the apartments show a large fluctuation, with the average standard deviation measuring at 3.47 kWh/m2. However, when examining the entire building as a complete unit, the standard deviation only amounts to 0.13 kWh/m2. The result indicates significant heat transfer between adjacent apartments.

Individual metering and charging (IMC) allows energy costs to be apportioned among tenants in multi-apartment buildings based on their own energy use. This can result in reduced energy use due to an increased saving behaviour by tenants, which has caught the attention of the European Parliament. In the EU-directive 2012/27/EU there is a requirement for IMC to be installed by December 31, 2016 in multi-apartment buildings. Two techniques are mentioned in the directive for IMC: individual consumption meters and individual heat cost allocators. Either of these two techniques can be used as a method to measure the supplied energy to an apartment. Another method, not mentioned in the EU-directive, is temperature metering which means that the heating cost is instead based on measurements of the actual temperatures through sensors in certain locations in the apartment. However, some shortcomings have been identified with the aforementioned methods. The purpose of this study is to investigate how internal heat production, solar radiation, an apartment’s location within the building and local defects in the building envelope affect the accuracy of IMC. The Energy demands of three apartments in different locations within the building have been simulated in the computer program VIP-Energy. The results of energy calculations prove that the accuracy of IMC is highly questionable in some of the investigated cases. The implication of the study is that it is difficult to measure the actual heat used for an individual apartment, which obstructs accurate and fair apportioning of heating costs among individual tenants.

Individual metering and charging have earlier been found to increase the tenant’s awareness of costs and have in most cases resulted in a saving behavior and energy conservation. In the new EU-directive2012/27/EU there is a decree of heat cost allocation in multi-apartment buildings and two techniques are mentioned to achieve this. The first technique mentioned is to mount an energy meter on the radiator circuit and one can measure the amount of heat (thermal energy) delivered to an apartment. The second technique is heat cost allocators mounted at each radiator. Both techniques result in that the delivered amount of heat to an apartment is measured, and this can be done fairly accurate. However, earlier studies have shown on large amount of heat leaking between adjacent apartments making heat cost allocation based on the measurement incorrect.The purpose of this study is to develop a cost-efficient method for estimating the size of heat adjacent apartments in multi-apartment buildings. The objective is to use these estimations for reallocation of heating costs due to heat transfers when measuring the delivered amount of heating energy to an apartment. The methodology used for the purpose is an earlier presented model as a base which has been further developed. The method is tested on an existing multi-apartment building with 16apartments. An attempt to verify the method has also been done with computer based simulations. The study demonstrates a possibility to make corrections for heat transfer between adjacent apartments in a fairly cost-efficient manner. However, the accuracy of the method has to be improved by more studies in other multi-apartment buildings.

On 14 November 2012 the new EU-directive 2012/27EU was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. In the directive there is a requirement, among others, for individual consumption meters for heat and hot water to be installed by 31 December 2016 in multi-apartment buildings. Individual consumption meters had earlier been found to create a saving behavior due to the tenants being charged for their own use of heat and hot water. The purpose of this study is to investigate how widespread is the use of individual metering and charging (IMC) of heat and hot water among cooperatively owned multi-apartment buildings in Sweden. An additional purpose is to investigate the level of knowledge of and the attitude to IMC. This has been done through data collection and interviews of board members in randomly selected housing cooperatives, divided into different categories. The result indicates a very low spread and a strong resistance against IMC for heat and hot water. The perception of a low cost-efficiency is probably the most important reason, but also a low level of knowledge about IMC could contribute. The result can give some indication of the work needed to carry out the new EU-directive.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look more closely at incentives for a landlord to use individual metering and charging of heat and water. This paper also aims to look at the possible reasons for the differences in use of individual metering and charging between Sweden and Germany. Design/methodology/approach – The research in this paper is based on a questionnaire and interviews with landlords, in Sweden, using individual metering and charging. Findings – The two main incentives for the landlords in the survey to use individual metering are the possibility to save energy and the possibility to create a fair allocation of heating cost between tenants. Sweden has a long history of heat and water included in the rent leading to a possibly tougher transition to individual metering. Originality/value – To see the overall picture and understand the purpose of individual metering is important to avoid conflicts between landlords and tenants. The paper aids this process. Keywords Energy consumption, Residential property, Sweden, Tenancy, Incentive schemes Paper type Research paper

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look more closely at the residents’ attitude to individual heat metering and charging systems (IMC) of multi-family dwellings in residential properties, and to evaluate the tenant’s perception of IMC and how it may affect the continued expansion of such systems. Design/methodology/approach – The research in this paper is based on a questionnaire and interviews with tenants at two municipal housing companies, in Sweden, that currently are using IMC. Findings – The studies in this paper show certain dissatisfaction with the applied IMC systems. This depends partly on the tenant’s perceived lack of knowledge and partly because of the technical shortcomings of the IMC system. Originality/value – In order to increase the extension of IMC a better understanding is required of how the systems work and why they are used. Information to the tenants needs to be improved and techniques need to be developed to create fairer systems of IMC and thus increase the level of acceptance from both landlords and tenants. Keywords Heat measurement, Residential property, Tenancy, Sweden

Syftet med forskningen är att öka förståelsen för individuell mätning och debitering av värme och vatten i flera bostadshus, ett system som syftar till att individuellt fördela kostnader. Individuell mätning är för närvarande på dagordningen i Sverige, inte bara på grund av EU’s påtryckningar på byggsektorn för att förbättra energiprestandan, men även på grund av brister i mätmetoderna för debitering av värme samt om huruvida individuell mätning faktiskt är nödvändigt och gör någon nytta. En undersökning har genomförts genom enkäter och intervjuer med fastighetsägare och boende i flerbostadshus samt genom litteraturstudier. Undersökningen visar på ett behov av individuellmätning och debitering. De boende anser att de som använder mer också ska betala mer. Men brister i mätmetoderna gör det svårt att uppnå en rättvis fördelning av värmekostnaderna. Dessutom är mätningarna svåra att förstå för de boende. Två huvudsakliga incitament för fastighetsägare att installera individuell mätning och debitering ärenergibesparingar och därmed miljön samt rättvis kostnadsfördelning. Undersökningen visar dock att kritik från de boende kan leda till ytterligare administrativa kostnader som kan påverka lönsamheten med mätningarna. Undersökningen visar också att det är mer ekonomiskt lönsamt med individuell mätning av vatten än värme. Några av fastighetsägarna får inte någon vinst alls med individuell mätning av värmen. Men individuell mätning och debitering är ändå en möjlighet att minska energianvändningen i flerbostadshus.