The study of building performance is emerging as a special niche within architecture. While not fully understood or recognised within the profession, it’s important for several reasons. I share some points below on why Building Performance is important for your project.
Energy Efficiency and Sustainability:
Understanding building performance helps in optimizing energy usage, reducing waste, and promoting sustainable practices. This includes assessing the efficiency of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems, lighting, and overall building envelope. Aims to minimize energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to environmental conservation and addressing climate change.
Cost Savings:
Efficient building performance directly translates to cost savings over time. By identifying areas of inefficiency such as air leaks, insulation gaps, or inefficient equipment, building owners can implement targeted improvements. They lead to reduced energy bills and operational costs. Additionally, optimizing maintenance schedules based on performance data can extend the lifespan of building systems and components, further saving on replacement and repair expenses.
Occupant Comfort and Productivity:
A well-performing building, provides optimal indoor environmental quality (IEQ), including comfortable temperature levels, good air quality, appropriate lighting, and acoustical comfort. Maintaining such conditions positively impacts occupant health, well-being, and productivity. Studies have shown that employees in such comfortable and healthy indoor environments are more engaged, focused. They are more satisfied with their work, leading to higher productivity levels and lower absenteeism rates.
Regulatory Compliance and Certification:
Many countries have established building codes, standards, and certifications (e.g., LEED, BREEAM) that require buildings to meet specific performance criteria. They may be related to energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and sustainability. In India, the codes are emerging rapidly with relevant ones being ECBC, Eco Niwas Samhita which still in process of being made mandatory by all states of India but with regional variations. Studying building performance helps stakeholders ensure compliance with regulations and achieve certifications that enhance market competitiveness, attract tenants, and demonstrate environmental stewardship.
Risk Management and Resilience:
Monitoring building performance allows for early detection of potential issues such as equipment failures, leaks, or indoor air quality problems that may risk occupants. Proactive maintenance and timely interventions based on performance data can mitigate risks, prevent costly downtime, and ensure business continuity. Moreover, resilient building designs informed by performance analysis can withstand and adapt to changing environmental conditions. These including extreme weather events (e.g. heatwaves) and natural disasters (e.g. flooding, grid failure).
Data-Driven Decision Making:
Building performance data is collected through sensors, meters, and monitoring systems. They provide valuable insights for informed decision-making. Analysing trends, identifying patterns, and benchmarking against industry standards or similar buildings enables stakeholders to prioritize investments, track progress over time, and continuously improve building operations and sustainability performance.
Unique Design Approaches:
Building performance integration during early stages of design offers unique opportunities for designers. It allows exploration of time-tested passive design features ( thermal mass, ventilation, shading etc.) along with new technologies ( HVAC , energy generation etc.). This leads to unique design solutions which sets these ‘High Performance Buildings’ apart from market driven, business as usual design approaches. However, this requires designers to prioritize exploration of performance requirements and build up analytical skills to support such performance driven design processes.
In summary, the study of building performance is essential. It helps in optimizing energy use, reducing costs, enhancing occupant well-being and productivity, complying with regulations, managing risks, making data-driven decisions while creating unique architectural solutions that contribute to a more sustainable and resilient built environment.
Author: Harsh Thapar, is an experienced architect and sustainability expert. He has 20 years of international experience in high performance building design.