Use Case 7: Provide inputs to the development of the National Comprehensive Assessment Report
Target Users
National Energy Agency, policy makers, national regulatory bodies, and consultants supporting policy implementation.
User Story Description
The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) emphasizes the need for national-level assessments to identify and promote cost-effective energy efficiency measures, including space cooling. Member States are required to conduct comprehensive assessments of energy efficiency potentials, integrating cooling demand and supply into long-term energy planning. The directive mandates that space cooling be assessed alongside heating and district energy systems, ensuring alignment with decarbonization targets, energy security, and affordability considerations. This analysis supports the development of national energy efficiency action plans and strategic frameworks, ensuring compliance with EU climate goals.
Research Question
How can national-level assessments of space cooling, as required by the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), support the identification of cost-effective efficiency measures, promote the integration of district cooling, and align with long-term decarbonization and energy security targets?
Comprehensive Assessment
The following sections outline how the capabilities of the CoolLIFE tool, combined with the resources available in the KnowledgeHub, can support member states in conducting comprehensive cooling analyses and developing strategic cooling plans. These efforts directly contribute to the preparation of national comprehensive assessment reports.
The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) mandates that EU Member States conduct a Comprehensive Assessment to identify the most resource- and cost-efficient solutions for meeting heating and cooling demands. This assessment is crucial for promoting energy efficiency and integrating high-efficiency cogeneration and efficient district heating and cooling systems. The following sections outline how the capabilities of the CoolLIFE tool, combined with the resources available in the KnowledgeHub, can support member states in conducting comprehensive cooling analyses and developing strategic cooling plans. These efforts directly contribute to the preparation of national comprehensive assessment reports. Focusing on the cooling sector, the Comprehensive Assessment requires the following aspects to be covered:
- Data Collection: Map cooling demand and define system boundaries to accurately capture needs.
- Technical Potential: Assess the potential for efficient cooling, including district cooling and renewable sources.
- Scenarios: Develop a baseline (current demand) and alternative scenarios with efficient cooling measures.
- Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA): Conduct a cooling-focused CBA, including environmental and health benefits.
- Optimal Solutions: Identify the most cost-effective cooling strategies, prioritizing efficient and renewable options.
The methodology/strategy used with the CoolLIFE toolbox allows a user to generate results that can be seen as first-level inputs to the Comprehensive Assessment report. This methodology can provide preliminary data and insights, supporting detailed assessments required by the EED and facilitating efficient planning of cooling strategies.
The following figure shows the sequence of methodological steps for evaluating the cooling energy scenarios for the cooling energy demand.
To maintain user-friendliness, the toolbox minimizes user input requirements by offering a selection of pre-defined scenarios. This allows users to evaluate different combinations of active and passive measures for development.
For the distribution of the building stock, in the predefined scearios, the building physics parameters are first configured in order to simulate the passive measures. In this way, the potential energy savings can be estimated under different scenarios for the implementation of passive measures. This is done on the basis of the Invert/EE-Lab model [<<<
In the subsequent phase of the assessment, the user can focus on the cooling energy demand (final energy demand), which indicates the actual energy consumption after the implementation of active cooling technologies. The user can select from a range of different rates of technological development and a mix of active technologies. In the course of this, it is assumed that technological progress leads to improved performance figures. For each of the resulting scenarios, electricity requirements and economic key figures are determined by the tool. This allows the user to compare, evaluate, and interpret these scenarios.
Pre-defined scenario assumptions theoretical cooling requirement with region-specific values:
| Parameter | Region | Baseline | Moderate Efficiency (Manual Systems) | High Efficiency (Radiation-Controlled Systems) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activation of sun protection systems (South) | Category Mediterranean | 0.66 | 0.67 | 0.88 |
| Category Rest | 0.66 | 0.67 | 0.79 | |
| Activation of sun protection systems (East-West) | Category Mediterranean | 0.39 | 0.54 | 0.81 |
| Category Rest | 0.24 | 0.36 | 0.7 | |
| Activation of sun protection systems (North) | Category Mediterranean | 0 | 0.03 | 0.43 |
| Category Rest | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Proportion of shading devices on window surfaces (South) | Category Mediterranean | 0.5 | 0.67 | 1 |
| Category Rest | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | |
| Proportion of shading devices on window surfaces (East-West) | Category Mediterranean | 0.33 | 0.39 | 0.5 |
| Category Rest | 0.33 | 0.33 | 0.5 | |
| Proportion of shading devices on window surfaces (North) | Category Mediterranean | 0 | 0.03 | 0.43 |
| Category Rest | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Reduction factor z for movable sun protection systems | Category Mediterranean | 0.7 | 0.62 | 0.24 |
| Category Rest | 1 | 0.8 | 0.24 | |
| g-value | Category Mediterranean | 0.75 | 0.52 | 0.25 |
| Category Rest | 0.65 | 0.35 | 0.25 | |
| Night ventilation (Air exchange rate during night ventilation) | Category Mediterranean | Baseline | Baseline | Baseline |
| Category Rest | Baseline | Baseline * 1.5 | Baseline * 2 | |
| Average indoor temperature of cooled building areas | Category Mediterranean | Baseline | Baseline + 1 | Baseline + 2 |
| Category Rest | Baseline | Baseline + 2 | Baseline + 4 |
The pre-defined assumption for practical and useful energy demand and need:
| Scenario Dimension | Name | Range of Scenario Design |
|---|---|---|
| Market Penetration of Active Cooling | High-Moderate-Low | High Market Penetration: +10% by 2050 compared to "moderate" Moderate Market Penetration: 2% increase by 2050 Low Market Penetration: No increase in market penetration compared to the base year |
| Annual Utilization Rate of Active Cooling | High-Moderate-Low | High Annual Utilization Rate: Average annual performance factors increase by a value of 6 by 2050. Moderate Annual Utilization Rate: Average annual performance factors increase by a value of 3 by 2050. Low Annual Utilization Rate: No increase in annual performance factors compared to the base year |
For each run of the calculation module, the user can generate results in terms of the following parameters:
- Parameters
- Total Final Energy demand from the scenario
- Useful Energy saving potential from the selected scenario in the year 2050
- Percentage Final Energy demand savings
- Description of the Scenario
- Charts
- Total Useful Energy demand of the scenario vs. Baseline for years 2030,2040 and 2050
- Total Final Energy demand of the scenario vs. Baseline for years 2030,2040 and 2050
- Break down of total investment in active and passive measures (scenario vs. Baseline)
- Comparison of levelized cost of cooling (Passive - Euros per MWh of saved useful energy demand; Active - Euros per MWh of supplied useful energy demand) For specific details on running the calculation module check CM: Economic Feasibility
The results for each run of the calculation module can be analyzed by the user, making it possible to compare different scenarios.
How To Cite
Aadit Malla, in CoolLIFE-Wiki, User Story 7: Provide inputs to the development of the National Comprehensive Assessment Report
Authors And Reviewers
This page was written by Aadit Malla EEG-TU WIEN
This page was reviewed by Ardak Akhatova e-think
This page was reviewed by Simon Pezzuto EURAC Research
License
Copyright © 2024-2025: Aadit Malla
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 International License.
SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
License-Text: https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html
Acknowledgement
We would like to convey our deepest appreciation to the LIFE Programme CoolLIFE Project (Grant Agreement number 101075405), which co-funded the present investigation.