Domestic upgrade policy development

Policy formation for the upgrade of domestic sector housing is an in-creasingly important research area. A major difficulty is to account for the large variations in location, age, climate, construction, occupant use and appliances; and the inclusion of renewable and low carbon technologies.
Detailed simulation tools in a policy context have mostly been applied to representative designs rather than large housing stocks. This paper reports the development of a housing stock modelling tool based on simulation. It establishes a rational approach to refurbishment poli-cy guidance by providing information on energy and emissions impli-cations of upgrade options. It can be applied at any scale from a single dwelling to a national housing stock. The tool is aligned with the UK’s Standard Assessment Procedure, which is the regulatory compliance calculation method for dwellings. The paper describes the modelling procedure and presents outcomes from application to the Scottish housing stock.