An indicator for discriminating annual changes in energy use patterns: Enhancing disclosure policies

To encourage individuals to reduce their energy consumption through energy disclosure policies voluntarily, the reliability of building-type classifications and benchmarks is crucial. This requires building energy-consumption data with long-term operational consistency. This study develops an indicator to distinguish annual changes in time-series energy consumption patterns for buildings and regions and presents a method to visually identify buildings with long-term operational consistency on a map. The proposed indicator is expected to be utilized in the following ways: First, it can be used for initial building type classification to compare energy use levels and to assess classification validity after time has passed. Second, it can be used to estimate priorities for performance improvement targets by identifying buildings sensitive to external conditions. Third, when applied to regional consumption data, it can diagnose changes in urban structure or the reliability of carbon emission reporting. Finally, because the monthly energy consumption patterns of cities are closely related to seasonal energy supply plans, these patterns can be utilized in regional energy supply and energy-mix strategies.