IES Blog

Get it right, from Day 1

Posted : September 25, 2009 by Alex, Category: Building Regulations, Sustainability

Maximising a building’s energy efficiency is a process that needs to be implemented at the very inception of new-build projects. Too often, energy efficiency is only considered upon the production of a failing BRUKL certificate, where it becomes a reactive measure designed to achieve nothing more than a successful submission to building control.

With little more than a set of drawings and a scheme design for building services, it is possible to conduct a variety of useful carbon-crunching simulations long before compliance with building regulations is considered. The most significant carbon savings can be made during the early stages of design, where variations of building orientation, footprint, servicing strategy and fabric performance are all possible.

The measures described above represent some of the most cost-effective solutions for reducing carbon emissions. So how do we make the most of the <Virtual Environment> with a view to carbon reduction when little information about the building is available?

The answer lies in the techniques of comparative analysis ; essentially running a number of simulations whereby only one input (or a set of inputs) are defined by the design team as being a potential design variation. All other inputs remain constant throughout the study; the eventual outcome being that the design team can analyse the relative effects of one variation and make an informed decision based on sound scientific principles.

As a case study, a set of results are given below for the annual whole-building energy consumption for a speculative office building, as well as the total annual solar gain. The four sets of results represent four variations of the site orientation. All other inputs remained constant during the analysis, such that the relative effects of changing the buildings orientation can be measured against other design variations.

The results suggest that the orientation of the building analysed may affect the chiller load by as much as 20%. Conducting further comparative simulations to ascertain the relative effects of changing the fabric specification, building footprint and servicing strategy can give designers an early indication of the best combination of the variables considered.

In an industry where financial constraints frequently rule out the possibility of on-site renewable generation, the value of using building analysis tools can significantly reduce capital and running costs, ensure compliance with energy performance legislation, and provide a solid platform for achieving energy performance certification through schemes like BREEAM and LEED.

Tags:Carbon Savings, Energy Efficiency, Solar Gain