Performance of exemplar buildings in use: Bridging the performance gap FB 78

BRE (Building Research Establishment) is an independent, research-based consultancy, testing and training organisation, operating in the built environment and associated industries.

Performance of exemplar buildings in use: Bridging the performance gap (FB 78) was edited by Yetunde Abdul and Mindy Hadi and published by BRE on 17 February 2016.

The 32-page report reviews the operational performance of three public-sector office buildings that were designed to achieve energy and water efficiency (although many of the lessons learned are equally applicable to the private sector).

It is based on a study carried out in 2010–2012, funded by BRE Trust, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which highlighted the benefits and challenges of environmental design in relation to the building handover process and the management of facilities.

All of the buildings were completed between 2005 and 2008, allowing enough time for the systems to bed down and for the building managers and FM teams to become familiar with managing them. They were designed to achieve an Excellent rating based on the version of BREEAM used at the time. They were reviewed for their energy and water consumption, and consumption trends were analysed. Feedback on their general operational performance was gathered from public-sector staff and their facilities management teams.

The report reviews the issues faced by designers, clients and building managers in bridging the gap between the designed performance and the actual operational performance of buildings over their lifetime.

The contents of the report are:

• Executive summary.
• Introduction.
• Background.
• Analysing data for the case study buildings.
• Case study 1.
• Case study 2.
• Case study 3.
• Summary of environmental performance for the case studies.
• Summary of issues identified and lessons learned.
• Outcomes and conclusions.
• Discussion.
• Moving forward: tools and initiatives.
• References.

--BRE Group

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