Performance Gap Workshop (09/03/2022)

Date

9 March 2022

Time

8:30-16:30

Location

Telford Hotel & Golf Resort

Organisers

BECCI University of Wolverhampton

The Event

Extensive research studies in many countries have found gaps between the design intent and real-world operation of buildings, which often lead to much higher consumption in practice than was predicted at design stage. While the reasons for such performance gaps are varied and complex, The Built Environment Climate Change Innovations (BECCI) research team at University of Wolverhampton have been busy understanding this issue. The aim of this workshop is to share the findings from this research and to provide updates on other innovative work taking place. Event -What causes the Energy Performance Gap? For new buildings, the energy performance is predicted by SAP to ensure the design is compliant with part of the Building Regulations. In real life however it is often the case that buildings use more energy than the prediction. They will take you on a journey where we illustrate what happened with the measured results of 4 new-build homes – built for a social housing provider – and compares the energy performance over a year with those predicted by SAP and a selection of modelling packages – Design Builder, PHPP and WUFI. A breakdown of the difference between the predicted and actual performance in each building is identified and presented at the workshop. Questions addressed by the event • Why the assumptions made at the energy modelling stage are critical? • How important / critical is poor building quality in measuring the performance gap? • Accuracy of the Veritherm overnight thermal performance test – are there limitations and what impact will this have on the industry testing & diagnostic capability? • What is the impact of occupant behaviour?