Operational Energy
______ CIBSE TM54 methodology addresses the growing awareness that buildings in operation do not always perform as the designers predicted. This can apply to both energy cost and emissions.
As energy costs have risen, this awareness has started to spread from designers to building owners, who hear much about low energy buildings and subscribe to programmes that rate the design of the building, only to find that their ‘low energy design’ turns out to be have a typical energy bill.
The performance of low energy designs is often better than that of older buildings. There is however a mismatch in expectations surrounding the performance of a new building and the reality of utility bills. This difference between expected and realised energy performance has come to be known as the ‘performance gap’. Estimating energy consumption before a property is built can flag up areas where the actual energy use would be higher than the estimated use.
Assessing these areas at concept design stage creates time and opportunity to solve issues before the design and build progresses, making any alterations cheaper and easier to carry out, and ultimately making the building more energy efficient, with a lower energy bill for its occupants.
Our team of building physicists use dynamic simulation software to provide detailed analysis of regulated and in-use operatonal energy performance. Engaging with us at concept design stage will help to deliver low energy buildings that achieve the desired level of energy performance.