Building Performance Evaluation protocols now available

I am pleased that EcoSmart's BPE Protocol and pilot building evaluations are now complete and ready for general use. There are a series of free, downloadable spreadsheets and guides which enable building owners, facility managers and consultants to learn about and improve their buildings.

Developed by Stantec led by Dr Rosie Hyde, the BPE Protocol presents a method to evaluate the performance of buildings currently in use. It has been piloted on six buildings and improvements have been incorporated into the protocol throughout and at the end of the pilot process.

There are two protocols: one for commercial buildings (xls worksheet) and one for multi-unit residential projects (xls worksheet).

The overall goal of the BPE Project has been to improve the design of buildings while minimizing their environmental impacts. By learning from the successes and deficiencies of built projects, as revealed through Building Performance Evaluation, designers can strengthen their capacity to design buildings with reduced energy and emissions and satisfactory occupant comfort.

The evaluation finds, collates and encourages reflection upon information about:

• building’s resource consumption (energy, water),
• occupant satisfaction with building (overall satisfaction, social capital development,
• thermal comfort, lighting, acoustic and indoor air quality, washroom usability),
• building operation experiences, and
• to what extent the building meets the design intention

The information is fed back to the design team and to the building design community with the purpose of helping to improve design practice.

Building Performance Evaluation involves inspecting a building between one and five years after its completion, and assessing whether and to what extent it has met its design goals for resource consumption and occupant satisfaction.

The primary purpose of BPE is to improve design practice. The methodology includes reviews of design documentation, interviews with operators and occupants, site inspection, analysis of utility data and occupant satisfaction surveys. Finally feedback is provided to the design team.
While this might sound like a mechanism to look over the shoulder of design consultants and pick out short-comings, this is far from the truth. Green building involves the implementation of a wide range of innovative products, processes and design practices. For innovative firms working at the leading edge, feedback is critical to success.

In other innovative industries, such as software development, this process is both entrenched and valued. Software design teams use measurement tools and iterative loops with their carious users to constantly improve their products. It is a powerful mechanism with which to engage stakeholders and to manage risk.

Additionally, the development and collection of green building metrics is essential for determining the value of a green building and calculating return on investment. Light House research has shown that lack of meaningful data on green building performance is hampering market adoption. With these simple and accessible protocols, the industry can now begin to measure what matters and to embrace innovation while managing risk.