Energy used in residential buildings is a major energy use in Canada (21% of all energy) and presumably in most areas in the Northern hemisphere. A substantial fraction of this energy (24%) is used in multi-residential buildings. However, very little attention has been given to examining the patterns of energy and water consumption, let alone how they can be improved. This report suggests that significant savings and improvements in the efficiency of multi-residential systems are achievable, and this could go a long way toward reducing energy usage and fulfilling Canadian Kyoto obligations. Watershed Technologies Inc. and OZZ Energy Solutions Inc. have been monitoring energy and water usage in multi-residential buildings in the Toronto area since 1996. The present analysis looks at detailed (hourly) gas and electricity loads in 34 buildings and water consumption in 21 buildings over a two-year period from May 2001 to April 2003. An earlier report by OZZ documented the different physical features of these buildings and presented an overall summary and a preliminary analysis of gas, electricity and water consumption data along with daily and seasonal summaries. A more detailed analysis is offered in the present report. A new model is developed which describes the building's energy consumption for cooling and heating more effectively than the traditional degree-day model. The new model quantifies not only the changes in energy load per unit change in temperature but also its effective thermal capacity, the heating system overhead and system response to other weather factors, namely wind, relative humidity and solar access. More than two fold differences in the energy per unit area or water used per apartment unit among the buildings are observed. A study of seasonal and daily variability suggests that at least a part of these differences in the building energy efficiency can be attributed to poor or complete lack of energy management in many of the buildings. The data also suggests that in-suite electric heating is 2.5 times more efficient than central gas heating systems in multi-residential buildings. The same appears true of in-suite air conditioning, when compared to centralized cooling systems.

This research project was undertaken to review detailed energy and water consumption monitoring data which has been collected for 34 multi-unit residential buildings. The project used the data to determine annual energy and water consumption as well as hourly, weekly and monthly energy and water use patterns. Concurrent natural gas and electricity consumption is also detailed. An analysis was undertaken to determine if there was any correlation between the characteristics of the buildings and energy or water use patterns observed. The research revealed that significant variations exist in the normalized energy and water use from building to building and that patterns in the variations were difficult to predict based on building characteristics and occupancy type.

The United States is embarking on an ambitious transition to a 100% clean energy economy by 2050, which will require improving the flexibility of electric grids. One way to achieve grid flexibility is to shed or shift demand to align with changing grid needs. To facilitate this, it is critical to understand how and when energy is used. High- quality end-use load profiles (EULPs) provide this information, and can help cities, states, and utilities understand the time-sensitive value of energy efficiency, demand response, and distributed energy resources. Publicly available EULPs have traditionally had limited application because of age and incomplete geographic representation (Frick, Eckman, and Goldman 2017; Frick 2019). To help fill this gap, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded a three-year project - End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock - that culminated in the release of a publicly available dataset1 of simulated EULPs representing residential and commercial buildings across the contiguous United States. The motivation for this work is further detailed in a November 2019 report: Market Needs, Use Cases, and Data Gaps (Mims Frick et al. 2019). This Methodology and Results report provides detailed descriptions of how the dataset was developed, intended for an audience of dataset and model users interested in the technical details. These details include descriptions of all of the model improvements made for calibration and the final comparisons to empirical data sources. A companion report, End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock: Applications and Opportunities, will be published subsequently and will describe example applications and considerations for using the dataset, intended for an audience of general dataset users.