Building 'in' tenant energy performance : a new method of benchmarking variations in patterns of use by building tenure

• Main Author: Morton, Emma Mellanie
• Published: University of Strathclyde 2017
• Subjects: 629.1
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.730798

To deliver the overarching EU Energy Performance of Building Directive energy reduction targets and deliver efficient building energy performance in practice, improved methods of communicating building performance evaluation, at design and operational stage, are necessary to review (i) the impact of variation in patterns of use and its effect on overall building performance and (ii) whether the building or the occupants patterns of use are operating effectively. The thesis aims to make contributions in these areas. The approach taken was to make the hypothesis that a new method could be developed, to ensure a fairer and more informed demonstration of a tenant’s patterns of use on energy performance, which could be integrated into the existing design and evaluation process. The new method is developed through (i) consideration of the building energy performance evaluation field and reference to current regulatory processes and guidance (ii) tested in application through evaluating the impact of variations in patterns of use on energy performance between building tenures, sharing the same building (ii) furthermore by simulating and calculating potential impacts of extreme usage patterns by demonstrating how the building would perform under minimum and maximum scenarios and (iv) critically evaluating integration into the existing energy performance evaluation process. The new method is defined from adjustments to the articulation of occupancy capacity present in regulatory and compliance calculations, which are offered and critically reviewed. The adjustments are (i) to assess tenure energy performance scenarios with new minimum and maximum tenure occupancy load factor benchmarks (ii) measure aggregated energy use of a full-time employee defined by tenure occupancy load factors and (iii) determine occupant and building ineffective practices. The new method of evaluating a building's energy performance range takes into account variations in patterns of use, which exist between building tenant groups to identify where the tenant group sits in relation to a set of 5 predefined benchmarks to evaluate if the building is performing badly or if in fact, it's the practices of the building users, which are inefficient. The research demonstrates that variations in patterns of use can account for a 44% increase in energy use per m2 and 112% increase per person in commercial offices. This illustrates that the current method of predicting energy consumption patterns based on fixed occupancy and set hours of operation for a sole tenant is misleading and allows for a large margin of uncertainty unless the exact patterns of use can be established at the design stage. The outcome of the new method is intended to contribute energy efficient building design and operation to improve energy resource efficiency in practice. This results in a new method, integrated throughout the lifecycle of the building, to support green tenancy agreements, such as the Tenant Energy Efficiency Regulations 2018 and other energy performance contracts. The integration of the proposed new method into the existing regulatory and guidance methodologies is proposed and demonstrated. The development of the method is focused on a specific building purpose group; yet, the method could be reviewed and applied to other building groups with appropriate methods and metrics. The thesis provides foundation and motivation for further research in this area.