Hidden energy poverty and the energy performance gap: integrating building energy simulation, thermal comfort monitoring, and actual energy consumption
Traditional energy poverty indicators based on observed expenditure or consumption tend to underestimate households that restrict their energy use due to economic constraints. This study evaluates 53 urban dwellings in Temuco (Chile) and integrates the Energy Performance Gap (EPG), defined as the di...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
15 August 2026
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| In: |
Energy and buildings
Year: 2026, Volume: 365, Pages: 1-19 |
| ISSN: | 1872-6178 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117669 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117669 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778826007292 
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| Author Notes: | Aner Martinez-Soto, Katherine Castro-Coliqueo, Daniel Sanhueza-Catalán, Alejandro Reyes-Riveros, Alexander Zipf |
| Summary: | Traditional energy poverty indicators based on observed expenditure or consumption tend to underestimate households that restrict their energy use due to economic constraints. This study evaluates 53 urban dwellings in Temuco (Chile) and integrates the Energy Performance Gap (EPG), defined as the difference between theoretical energy demand and actual consumption, together with the %EDA indicator, which quantifies the annual share of hours associated with indoor energy demand activation conditions. Results show that 53% of the dwellings exhibit positive EPG values (ranging from +2% to +66%), suggesting potential underconsumption associated with thermal deprivation. In environmental terms, 45% of households present %EDA values above the sample mean (34%), while 11% exceed 60% of the year outside operational indoor ranges. A weak concordance is observed between conventional indices (TPR, MEPI, and hEP) and the physical metrics of building performance and habitability, reflected in low Spearman correlations (ρ between −0.10 and 0.16). After incorporating EPG and %EDA, the adapted indices show a substantial improvement in their association with physical variables (up to ρ = 0.51 with %EDA). These findings reveal the presence of hidden energy poverty not captured by expenditure-based approaches and underscore the need to integrate economic and physical metrics to improve diagnostic accuracy at the dwelling level. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 12.08.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1872-6178 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117669 |