The building energy performance gap: Up close and personal

Abstract

Measurements of completed projects confirm significant gaps between the predicted and actual energy performance of buildings. This is due to: actual occupant behaviour; weather conditions; workmanship/installation errors; systems’ control settings and modelling issues. Recent developments in automated meter reading (AMR) and monitoring and targeting (M&T) make the performance gap visible to owners/operators. Bridging the gap becomes even more important if the industry intends to ‘occupant/climate change proof’ buildings. This paper reviews energy performance gap literature, the findings of a workshop on the subject, and presents ongoing work in this area. It concludes that the energy performance gap can only be bridged through better definition and joint efforts across all actors involved in the design, construction and operation of buildings/building (sub) systems.